Space and Place: The Perspective of Experience this question feed

asked by runabout on November 6, 2006 7:09 PM
Geography

On the 25th anniversary of its publication, a new edition of this foundational work on human geography.

In the twenty years since its original publication, Space and Place has not only established the discipline of human geography, but it has proven influential in such diverse fields as theatre, literature, anthropology, psychology, and theology. Eminent geographer Yi-Fu Tuan considers the ways in which people feel and think about space, how they form attachments to home, neighborhood, and nation, and how feelings about space and place are affected by the sense of time. He suggests that place is security and space is freedom: we are attached to the one and long for the other. Whether he is considering sacred versus "biased" space, mythical space and place, time in experiential space, or cultural attachments to space, Tuan's analysis is thoughtful and insightful throughout.

Until retiring in 1998, Yi-Fu Tuan was a professor of geography at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He is ranked among the country's most distinguished cultural geographers and has earned numerous honors, among them a Guggenheim Fellowship, the Bracken Award for landscape architecture, and an award for meritorious contribution to geography from the Association of American Geographers. He was recently named the Lauréat d'Honneur 2000 of the International Geographers Union. He is the author of many essays and books, including Escapism (1998) and Cosmos and Hearth (Minnesota, 1999).


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In "Space and Place: The Perspective of Experience," Tuan provides a descriptive account of the concepts "space" and "place," drawing on the work of phenomenologists, anthropologists, psychologists, geographers, and others. He grounds his analysis in a structuralist framework, using anthropological research to illustrate how our experiences of space and place can "transcend cultural particularities" (Tuan 1977, p. 5). Tuan provides an original and intriguing discussion of a wide range of topics, such as the relationship between space and place, on the one hand, and myths, architecture, time, religion, and cognition, on the other. I would highly recommend this work to anyone interested in human geography, cultural geography, urban geography, urban studies, and to anyone interested in gaining a better understanding of the importance of space and place for our lives.
reviewed by literary on November 13, 2006 10:35 AM

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This book was one of several books I studied to better understand the role of place in architecture and interior design. It helped me understand the importance of working with clients to understand the meanings they infer from the environment around them. In the book, Tuan highlights the importance of meaning and an insider's view. He describes place as humanized space. The contrast of open space with enclosed, comforting areas enhances both. As a person's emotional bond to a space increases, so do familiarity, comfort, and the sense of insideness. Without personal control over space, this emotional bond is slow to develop. To create place, Tuan suggests that memorable architecture should strenghen our memories, enhance the self, and provide layers of meaning to a space.
reviewed by daddyadd on November 27, 2006 10:48 PM

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