The Dissolution of Place: Architecture, Identity, and the Body

by Shelton Waldrep, Eamonn Canniffe

Overview

This book examines in detail not only a wide range of architectural phenomena such as theme parks, casinos, specific modernist and postmodernist buildings, but also interrogates architecture in relation to identity, specifically Native American and gay male identities, as they are reflected in new notions of the built environment. In dealing specifically with the intersection between postmodern architecture and virtual and filmic definitions of space, as well as with theming, and gender and racial identities, this book provides ground-breaking insights not only into postmodern architecture, but into spatial thinking in general.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781472404329
Publisher:	Ashgate Publishing Ltd
Publication date:	02/28/2013
Series:	Ashgate Studies in Architecture
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
File size:	5 MB

About the Author

Shelton Waldrep is Professor of English at the University of Southern Maine, USA.

Table of Contents

Contents: Preface: letter from Portland, Maine; Introduction; The architectonics of post/modernist space; The global theme park: Disney in the world; The architecture of time: postmodern casinos in Las Vegas; In Her Majesty’s secret closet: Bond’s body; Reverse empire: architecture in Native American casinos; Philip Johnson and the architecture of the body; Bodies in space: architecture and the films of Stanley Kubrick; Coda: virtual communities; Bibliography; Index.

Editorial Reviews

A Yankee Book Peddler UK Core Title for 2013 ’Brimming with fresh and insightful analyses of contemporary architecture, urban planning, literature, and film, Shelton Waldrep’s The Dissolution of Place: Architecture, Identity and the Body brilliantly fulfills the promise of truly interdisciplinary cultural studies ... Turning a deep theoretical sophistication, a keen observational sensibility, and a razor-sharp intellect onto a breathtaking array of objects ... The Dissolution of Place transforms in significant ways our understanding and experiences of the spaces and places we must navigate in an ever more mediated post-contemporary present.’ Phillip E. Wegner, University of Florida, USA '... those with an acquaintance with the canon of modernist and postmodernist literature will find this an insightful and rewarding read.' LSE Review of Books

From the Publisher