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The Poetics of Space Hardcover – January 1, 1964

by Gaston Bachelard (Author), Etienne Gilson (Foreword)
4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars 928 ratings
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The Poetics of Space
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  1. Print length
    276 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    The Orion Press
  4. Publication date
    January 1, 1964
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Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B0007DWFXK
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ The Orion Press; First Edition (January 1, 1964)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 276 pages
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1 pounds
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars 928 ratings

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  1. M. Jolas

    M. Jolas

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Customer reviews

4.6 out of 5 stars
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Top reviews from the United States

MJSH
5.0 out of 5 stars Arrived as expected
Reviewed in the United States on February 13, 2024
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Daughter in college needed this for a class - best price found here. Delivered fast and she had it in her hands for the next time the class met.
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Juan
5.0 out of 5 stars Its a must have
Reviewed in the United States on December 28, 2013
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Im into the whole space and body theme in architecture. Bachelard makes a very compelling book about how space transforms and inspires us.
Its not an easy book. It requires dedication and notes (i took a lot of notes and highlights of the book).
But in the end, its worth it. Very interesting and something you think about it. Something you really sit and dream of future projects without having that stigma that is to look at other projects and try to copy them.
It is a book to dream
14 people found this helpful
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Draven family
5.0 out of 5 stars The Drive Behind All Art And Poetry
Reviewed in the United States on October 2, 2019
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I LOVE this book. I’m a freshman in college now(and holy crap @ that) and an art major, and when I read the first excerpts from this for my favorite class, I bought it immediately— despite not needing to. Gaston Bachelard speaks to the root of poetic experience, how we perceive and affect the spaces around us; in effect, that our perceptions and memories *create* places in our existence that are both “real” memory and that filter of subjectivity.

Look, I’m exhausted and I can’t really express both how fascinating and fantastic this book is and WHY it’s fantastic. But if you are a writer, a poet, a musician, or any kind of artist, or really, if you’re a thinking and perceptive human being, take the chance on reading this. It lifted my soul up, I swear to god: it reads like a scientist had a completely immersive acid trip and devoted the rest of his life to looking for the meaning of art— and thus, life.

A note: at first, the language may seem super-dense and off-putting. STICK WITH IT. It finds its own almost poetic rhythm.
87 people found this helpful
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iamlistening
4.0 out of 5 stars Difficult but interesting read
Reviewed in the United States on October 24, 2013
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I purchased this book after reading the quote by Gaston Bachelard, “I should say: the house shelters day-dreaming, the house protects the dreamer, the house allows one to dream in peace.” I was intrigued by the idea that the spaces we live and have lived in shape who were are. I've been reading this in bits as it's very "deep" and somewhat hard to digest. Not a light read, but very though provoking.
12 people found this helpful
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Allen Berg
5.0 out of 5 stars The Poetics of Space is a classic book...
Reviewed in the United States on February 3, 2012
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I read this book as a graduate student in Boston about 40 years ago, and re-purchased it just recently to have a second leisurely look at it...to remember its beauty and provocative meanings. This book changed my life in a wonderful way; it gave me a new vocabulary to understand my experiences of living, it confirmed and affirmed how I daily lived with a personal 'poetics' called Me...
Professor Gaston Bachelard, from France, defined a sensibility and sensitivity called "intimate immensities", which is one way of expressing a pantheistic and human "phenomenology". If you are an artist or musician or poet, etc. you "got it in you" and you recognize "it" in everything around you... Lao Tzu in ancient China called it the Tao, there are many other names from many countries and cultures...

The only caution I would note about this book, is that it is densely written in a professorial philosophical way; it not a casual read. I can suggest many children's picture books that express a similar sentiment, more with pictures than with university-level text. But if you enjoy "a sudden salience on the surface of the psyche" (page 1 of the Introduction), then this book is for you...
47 people found this helpful
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Matthew G. Belge
5.0 out of 5 stars A deep, inspiring book that changed how I look at things
Reviewed in the United States on November 1, 1997
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The Poetics of Space is one of the most inspiring books I have ever read. It is to be taken slowly - the author's primary idea is that people crave spaces that inspire them to daydream. The style of the book is one that inspires daydreams itself; you will suddenly find that you have placed the book in your lap and you were off daydreaming! Poetics of Space is a methodical, carefully argued book which tells us that we read spaces like we read a book. There is a distinct psychology to each type of space - attics, cellars, the forest, and nests are just some of the spaces examined. The author was chair of the Philosophy department at the Sorbonne. For most of his life, he examined the philosophy of science, but in his later years he turned to artistic reverie as his main subject. The book is written with thought, love, and passion and is a tour-de-force. Highly recommended to those who enjoy poetry, philosophy, architecture or art.
231 people found this helpful
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David R. Scheer
5.0 out of 5 stars The classic work of architectural phenomenology
Reviewed in the United States on August 21, 2005
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Phenomenology is the school of philosophy that claims to begin its analysis of existence with a careful study of human experience. Its founder, Edmund Husserl, and its most famous exponent, Martin Heidegger, laid its groundwork with studies of the epistemological foundations of science and the nature of Being. Bachelard apples their methods to architecture, basing his analysis not on purported origins (as was the trend in Enlightenment thinking about architecture) but on lived experience of architecture. He is thus led to consider such emotionally charged spatial types as the attic, the cellar, drawers and the like. In its emphasis on actual experience, it is refreshingly real, in contrast to much recent architectural theory that treats architecture as "text". The proof of the phenomenological pudding is always in the reader's response to the experiences being described. Bachelard is an exceptionally acute writer of such descriptions. This book implicitly urges architects to base their work on the experiences it will engender rather than on abstract rationales that may or may not affect viewers and users of architecture.
46 people found this helpful
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Laurel P.
3.0 out of 5 stars Full of insights, but too dense for me.
Reviewed in the United States on May 8, 2022
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Very heavy to read, very long sentences with multiple ideas. Hard to follow.
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Top reviews from other countries

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Joao H. Dos Santos
5.0 out of 5 stars Um livro fundamental
Reviewed in Brazil on January 25, 2022
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É um livro fundamental para a compreensão da teoria da arquitetura vista por uma perspectiva poética e quase lírica.
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Kindle Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars Persevere through the introduction!
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 16, 2024
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It's amazing what Bachelard has as his ability. Showing how we limit our imagination or, better yet, how we expand it. Thoroughly enjoyed this book. It's difficult at times but so worthwhile. The chapter on immensity blows the mind.
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F
1.0 out of 5 stars Pointless ramblings
Reviewed in Italy on March 4, 2022
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Hard to say why this book was even written.
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Cliente Amazon
5.0 out of 5 stars The Poetics of Space
Reviewed in the Netherlands on August 31, 2021
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het boek is prima! de bezorging is waardeloos: de eerste nooit ontvangen, geklaagd, opnieuw gestuurd en het tweede per ongeluk bij iemand anders afgeleverd!
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juanpablo g
4.0 out of 5 stars Gran libro
Reviewed in Mexico on April 20, 2020
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No es una lectura fácil, hay párrafos que confunden con su lenguaje de forma innecesaria, especialmente si lo compras en ingles. Pero, aun así, me gustó mucho este libro que habla sobre la memoria, recuerdos, imágenes del pasado y la psicología de todas estas. Para arquitectos interesados en la vivienda está genial.
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