The Architecture of Image

The Architecture of Image explores the shared experiential ground of architecture and cinema through the notion of existential space. Cinema projects experientially true images of life, whereas architecture frames human existence and provides a horizon of understanding the human condition. Both art forms poeticize existential experience. The Architecture of Image opens up an unexplored territory of architectural expression, while simultaneously revealing the essential role of architectural image of cinematic expression. Through analyses of films by Alfred Hitchcock, Stanley Kubrick, Michelangelo Antonioni and Andrei Tarkovsky, the writer illuminates the directors' use of architectural imagery in evoking and maintaining specific mental states. Whereas the actually built architecture of today tends to confine emotional response to the realm of utilitarian rationality, the inherent architecture of cinema projects the full range of human emotions: fear and despair, alienation and nostalgia, affection and intimacy, long and bliss.The writer suggests that the architectural imagery of poets, painters and film directors could re-sensitize the architectural profession to the inherent poetics of architecture. The book weaves architectural and cinematic experiences with images of paintings, literary descriptions as well as philosophical views.