Living in the Landscape - Towards an Environmental Aesthetics

Author: Arnold Berleant / Chen Pan (USA)
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-03-01
Features: This book explores how people live and could live within the environment surrounding us. Through the concepts of "aesthetic participation" and "environmental continuity," the authors present an exemplary new holistic approach to studying the environment and the meaning of life. Although environmental aesthetics is often associated with striking, commemorative landscapes, such as the Grand Canyon, Berleant focuses more on the ordinary environments of daily life. He argues that aesthetic participation in family life, work, local practices, and recreation within our living environments can help us discover potential continuity, pleasure, and meaning. The book positions the study of environmental aesthetics based on the types of experiences, their significance, and their unique value. It reviews the history, forms, and content of environmental aesthetics and analyzes the origins and branches of the emerging discipline of environmental aesthetics. Using Disney as an example, it examines how aesthetic criticism can guide specific environments. It conducts a comprehensive study of both positive and negative aesthetic values and proposes a theoretical framework for negative aesthetic judgments. The authors hope to imbue their work with constructive meaning, and thus the book analyzes a series of concepts and issues both theoretically and conceptually. This series of analyses begins with the expanded concept of aesthetic function discussed in Chapter 5, elaborates on the issue of environmental continuity, and expands the topic from the body to architecture, educational processes, and communities. Finally, the discussion on creativity and sacred environments, though intangible, is a real dimension of human perception of the environment. All chapters are connected by the theme of "continuity," which is the foundation of the authors' thought. The authors argue that the book could actually be titled "Natural Continuity," as it identifies the potential concept that links various aspects of the environment. Berleant often discusses issues related to the environmental movement, such as environmental protection, pollution control, and quality of life. However, his research is interdisciplinary, so this book should be attractive to scholars and students interested in art and aesthetics, landscape architecture and planning, urban and environmental design, cultural geography, and environmental studies. Crucially, it will also appeal to readers interested in environmental issues and willing to think about their meaning and dilemmas in a different way.