Monsters of Architecture: Anthropomorphism in Architectural Theory

This book is a theoretical narrative for a reader who is willing to be bewitched by a theory that sees the presence of human bodies in the constructed world. Frascari theorizes that if the human body is an appropriate creative expression for the development of an architectural form, then the body can be viewed as a useful tool for activating the imagination and applying the meanings and reasons that are necessary in architectural production. The author presents the bodily basis of architectural production as it develops out of the secularization of the myth of the body in architectural demonstrations. Frascari suggests that we think of buildings in terms of the action and structure of our bodily habits, in the same way as we think of our bodies from the vantage point of our dwelling habits. This inquiry into the relationship between theory and practice in the discipline of architecture is from a semiotic point of view. It introduces some of the current theoretical-philosophical and methodological structures and procedures which support the author's inquiry, and provides a connection between the inquiry and various theories of architects. Frascari's book includes an important historical investigation into a neglected area and will be of great interest to students of semiotics, phenomenology, and architectural theory.