Will I love The Eyes of the Skin?

Exploring how and why Romans built their houses to impact all bodily senses sits at the heart of my book.

Whilst interest in planning and building for such full body experiences in architecture today has declined, Pallasmaa’s The Eyes of the Skin presents a compelling argument for the importance of understanding the role of the multiple bodily senses in our experience of built spaces around us.

Divided into two main sections, the first of these examines the pre-eminence of sight in the West and its detrimental impact on architectural practise and our built environs.

The second part considers the role… show more.

In my profession and working in a world that is bombarded with high-resolution images it might seem ironic to choose this book. Discovering this title as a student I was struck by the straightforward exploration of the broader sensory ability we all share. Pallasmaa explores the full sensory perception of built space and how relying on the merely visual, particularly at the design stage, robs us of a deeper sensory understanding of the architecture we create and inhabit. This book taught me how to recognise and trust what all my senses tell me rather than assuming I can fully understand… show more.