The Eyes of the Skin: Architecture and the Senses by Juhani Pallasmaa (John Wiley & Sons Inc., 2024; 4th edition) explores the relationship between architecture and the sensory experience.
First published in 1996, The Eyes of the Skin is a classic of architectural theory. It asks the far-reaching question why, when there are five senses, is one single sense—sight—so predominant in architectural culture and design? With the ascendancy of the digital and the all-pervasive use of the image electronically, the subject is all the more pressing and topical since the first edition’s publication. Juhani Pallasmaa argues that the suppression of the other four sensory realms has led to the overall impoverishment of our built environment, often diminishing the emphasis on the spatial experience of a building and architecture’s ability to inspire, engage and be wholly life enhancing.
– Juhani Pallasmaa, The Eyes of the Skin: Architecture and the Senses (Wiley, 2024), book description
The text is in English. The book is illustrated with some black-and-white photographs and art images.
