An exploration of the urge in human beings to feel at home in the world, and the role that architecture plays in this process.
We human beings are governed by the urge to conform and blend in with our surroundings. We follow fashion. We become part of cultures of conformity―religious communities, military groups, sports teams; we take on corporate identities. Likewise, we seem to have the capacity to grow into our built environment, to familiarize ourselves with it, and eventually to find ourselves at home there. We have a chameleonlike urge to adapt, and, given the increasing mobility of contemporary life, we are constantly having to do so.The desire for camouflage is a desire to feel connected―to find our place in the world and to feel at home. In Camouflage Neil Leach analyzes this desire and its consequences for architectural concerns. Design, Leach argues, can aid the process of assimilation we go through when we adapt to our surroundings. Design can provide a form of connectivity―a mediation between us and our environment―and it can contribute to a sense of belonging. Architecture, and indeed all forms of design and creativity―fashion, art, cinema, and others―can be an effective realm for forging a sense of belonging and establishing an identity.
Camouflage offers a range of overlapping and intersecting theoretical perspectives―from an overview of psychoanalytic insights to an account of the magical properties of architectural models―that together suggest a way to rethink our relationship to the world and the role that design plays in that relationship.

Camouflage (Mit Press)

Arts & Photography

Leach, Neil

Architecture

The MIT Press

Brought together for the first time - the seminal writing on architecture by key philosophers and cultural theorist of the twentieth century.Issues around the built environment are increasingly central to the study of the social sciences and humanities. The essays offer a refreshing take on the question of architecture and provocatively rethink many of the accepted tenets of architecture theory from a broader cultural perspective.The book represents a careful selection of the very best theoretical writings on the ideas which have shaped our cities and our experiences of architecture. As such, Rethinking Architecture provides invaluable core source material for students on a range of courses.

Rethinking Architecture: A Reader in Cultural Theory

Reference

Routledge

The Politics of Space: Selected essays

What exactly is the relationship between architecture and politics? Opinions range between two quite polarised positions - one that architecture is the very embodiment of political ideals, and the other claiming that architecture may provide the settings for political events, but in and of itself it has nothing to do with politics.   The Politics of Space addresses these questions, and offers the first comprehensive theoretical overview of the relationship between architecture and politics. Drawing upon material from the author's Rethinking Architecture, the book uses ideas from philosophers and cultural theorists to challenge many received views within architectural theory. Spanning the period from the fall of the Berlin Wall to the architectural legacy of Tony Blair, it cites examples from a range of cities, including New York, Berlin, Bucharest, Johannesburg, London, San Francisco, Kyoto, Beijing, Shanghai and Hong Kong.

Current Trends in Connectionism: Proceedings of the 1995 Swedish Conference on Connectionism

Architecture in the Age of Artificial Intelligence: An Introduction to AI for Architects

Artificial intelligence is everywhere – from the apps on our phones to the algorithms of search engines. Without us noticing, the AI revolution has arrived. But what does this mean for the world of design? The first volume in a two-book series, Architecture in the Age of Artificial Intelligence introduces AI for designers and considers its positive potential for the future of architecture and design.\nExplaining what AI is and how it works, the book examines how different manifestations of AI will impact the discipline and profession of architecture. Highlighting current case-studies as well as near-future applications, it shows how AI is already being used as a powerful design tool, and how AI-driven information systems will soon transform the design of buildings and cities.\nFar-sighted, provocative and challenging, yet rooted in careful research and cautious speculation, this book, written by architect and theorist Neil Leach, is a must-read for all architects and designers – including students of architecture and all design professionals interested in keeping their practice at the cutting edge of technology.

Computers & Technology

Computer Science

Bloomsbury Visual Arts

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Leach, Neil. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Leach, Neil