Henri Lefebvre on Space
Architecture, Urban Research, and the Production of Theory
Shows how Lefebvre’s theory of space developed out of direct engagement with architecture, urbanism, and urban sociology
Details
Henri Lefebvre on Space
Architecture, Urban Research, and the Production of Theory
ISBN: 9780816666171
Publication date: August 1st, 2011
400 Pages
10 x 7
"Henri Lefebvre’s diverse contributions to sociospatial and urban theory have inspired considerable commentary in recent years. Lukasz Stanek’s brilliant, erudite book takes the discussion to a new level of philosophical sophistication while also grounding Lefebvre’s work in relation to a series of concrete engagements with architecture and urbanism in postwar France. This is a pathbreaking work, indispensable for anyone concerned to understand Lefebvre’s powerful contemporary resonance as an urban thinker." —Neil Brenner, New York University
"This book is a strong and important reassessment of the theories and writings of Lefebvre. As cities are becoming more and more an essential part of our political, spatial, and architectural world, Lukasz Stanek launches a type of new generational take on Lefebvre, one that is both more contextual and more speculative." —Mark Jarzombek, MIT
Countering the prevailing view, which reduces Lefebvre’s theory of space to a projection of his philosophical positions, Stanek argues that Lefebvre’s work grew out of his concrete, empirical engagement with everyday practices of dwelling in postwar France and his exchanges with architects and planners. Stanek focuses on the interaction between architecture, urbanism, sociology, and philosophy that occurred in France in the 1960s and 1970s, which was marked by a shift in the processes of urbanization at all scales, from the neighborhood to the global level. Lefebvre’s thinking was central to this encounter, which informed both his theory of space and the concept of urbanization becoming global.
Stanek offers a deeper and clearer understanding of Lefebvre’s thought and its implications for the present day. At a time when cities are increasingly important to our political, spatial, and architectural world, this reassessment proposes a new empirical, and practical, interpretation of Lefebvre’s ideas on urbanism.
1. Henri Lefebvre: The Production of Theory
2. Research: From Practices of Habitation to the Production of Space
3. Critique: Space as Concrete Abstraction
4. Project: Urban Society and its Architecture
Afterword: Toward an Architecture of Jouissance
Acknowledgments
Notes
Bibliography
Index
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