Ralf Weber

Originally published in 1995 as part of the Ethnoscapes: Current Challenges in the Environmental Social Sciences series, reissued now with a new series introduction, On the Aesthetics of Architecture is a result of an interdisciplinary study in architectural theory, psychology and philosophy and the author's experience as a practicing architect. It tries to relate theories of aesthetics and recent advances in the psychology of visual perception to the practice of design. The text starts with an analysis of traditional and contemporary schools of thought in architectural theory, and then proceeds through the formulation of a general theory of aesthetics based on perceptual and cognitive information processing to a description of the actual conditions under which aesthetic experiences of buildings and cities take place. It exemplifies principles of aesthetic appropriateness through an analysis of architectural space and form. Weber's book attempts to move the discussion of architectural aesthetics beyond the shifting doctrines of style and the often ambiguous dicta of critics. While the author makes no claim that his interpretation of psychological research will result in good architecture, he does insist on the need to bring the discussion of form back to more objective grounds. As such, it provided a valuable teaching resource and an important new contribution to the discussion among architects themselves, as well as between psychologists, philosophers and art theorists at the time.

Originally published in 1995 as part of the Ethnoscapes: Current Challenges in the Environmental Social Sciences series, reissued now with a new series introduction, On the Aesthetics of Architecture is a result of an interdisciplinary study in architectural theory, psychology and philosophy and the author’s experience as a practicing architect. It tries to relate theories of aesthetics and recent advances in the psychology of visual perception to the practice of design. The text starts with an analysis of traditional and contemporary schools of thought in architectural theory, and then proceeds through the formulation of a general theory of aesthetics based on perceptual and cognitive information processing to a description of the actual conditions under which aesthetic experiences of buildings and cities take place. It exemplifies principles of aesthetic appropriateness through an analysis of architectural space and form. Weber’s book attempts to move the discussion of architectural aesthetics beyond the shifting doctrines of style and the often ambiguous dicta of critics. While the author makes no claim that his interpretation of psychological research will result in good architecture, he does insist on the need to bring the discussion of form back to more objective grounds. As such, it provided a valuable teaching resource and an important new contribution to the discussion among architects themselves, as well as between psychologists, philosophers and art theorists at the time.

Gelterkinden in der Adventszeit. Im Schuhgesch ft Allmend bereitet man sich auf den traditionellen Winter-Gw rb-Sunntig vor. Vorfreude funkelt in den Augen von Paula und der Lehrtochter, die daran sind, den Laden h bsch zu dekorieren. Die Stimmung wendet sich rasant, als Paula nach der Mittagspause einen unbekannten Toten im Laden findet, erdrosselt mit einem Schn rsenkel. Der Verdacht f llt auf die Lehrtochter, weil diese die Mittagspause alleine im Laden verbracht hatte und weinend neben der Leiche sitzt. Um den wichtigsten Verkaufssonntag im Jahr nicht zu gef hrden, beschlie en die beiden, die Leiche verschwinden zu lassen. Dabei geraten sie in ein haarstr ubendes Abenteuer.

Die Arbeit beschreibt zynisches Handeln als eine Form psychischer Realitatsbewaltigung. Der erste Teil spannt dabei einen Theoriebogen von Konzepten der Handlungstheorie und der Rollentheorie bis hin zu den Ansatzen der modernen coping-Forschung. Ausgehend von einem empirisch hergeleiteten Zynismus-Begriff wird eine Basis entwickelt, von der aus die gesellschaftlichen Bedingungen individuellen zynischen Handelns sichtbar werden. Wachsende moralische Handlungsaufforderungen, so die These des Buches, sind mit zunehmend geringeren Handlungsspielraumen der gegenwartigen Gesellschaft konfrontiert. Diesem Dilemma entzieht sich der Zyniker. Durch die zynische Handlung wird der grundlegende Konflikt lediglich entsorgt, aber niemals bewaltigt. In einem skizzenhaften Schlusspanorama werden exemplarische Zynismen dreier Zeitgenossen untersucht."