Toward an Architecture of Enjoyment

"We finally have access to [Henri Lefebvre’s] most forceful meditation on the spatial utopia he aspired to. We owe the rescue and publication of this notable book to the perseverance and talent of Łukasz Stanek, who wrote the volume’s excellent and comprehensive introduction."—Environment & Planning D: Society and Space

"A work that is profound, relevant, and important."—Canadian Journal of Sociology

"This book, which focuses on architecture and redefines it. . . according to Lefebvre, architecture should work towards enjoyment and against aestheticism."—Finnish Architectural Review

"Toward an Architecture of Enjoyment not only provides critical insight into Lefebvre, whose impact is still palpable, but reveals new connections between his ideas and design and, ultimately, capitalism and the built environment."—Buildings & Landscapes

Toward an Architecture of Enjoyment is the first publication in any language of the only book devoted to architecture by Henri Lefebvre. Written in 1973 but only recently discovered in a private archive, this work extends Lefebvre’s influential theory of urban space to the question of architecture. Taking the practices and perspective of habitation as his starting place, Lefebvre redefines architecture as a mode of imagination rather than a specialized process or a collection of monuments. He calls for an architecture of jouissance—of pleasure or enjoyment—centered on the body and its rhythms and based on the possibilities of the senses.

Examining architectural examples from the Renaissance to the postwar period, Lefebvre investigates the bodily pleasures of moving in and around buildings and monuments, urban spaces, and gardens and landscapes. He argues that areas dedicated to enjoyment, sensuality, and desire are important sites for a society passing beyond industrial modernization.

Lefebvre’s theories on space and urbanization fundamentally reshaped the way we understand cities. Toward an Architecture of Enjoyment promises a similar impact on how we think about, and live within, architecture.

Contents

Translator’s NoteIntroduction: A Manuscript Found in Saragossa

Łukasz StanekToward an Architecture of Enjoyment1. The Question2. The Scope of the Inquiry3. The Quest4. Objections5. Philosophy6. Anthropology7. History8. Psychology and Psychoanalysis9. Semantics and Semiology10. Economics11. Architecture12. Conclusion (Injunctions)

NotesIndex