Eating Architecture [Hardcover]

Jamie Horwitz (Editor), Paulette Singley (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 21, 2004

The contributors to this highly original collection of essays explore the relationship between food and architecture, asking what can be learned by examining the (often metaphorical) intersection of the preparation of meals and the production of space. In a culture that includes the Food Channel and the knife-juggling chefs of Benihana, food has become not only an obsession but an alternative art form. The nineteen essays and "Gallery of Recipes" in Eating Architecture seize this moment to investigate how art and architecture engage issues of identity, ideology, conviviality, memory, and loss that cookery evokes. This is a book for all those who opt for the "combination platter" of cultural inquiry as well as for the readers of M. F. K. Fisher and Ruth Reichl.The essays are organized into four sections that lead the reader from the landscape to the kitchen, the table, and finally the mouth. The essays in "Place Settings" examine the relationships between food and location that arise in culinary colonialism and the global economy of tourism. "Philosophy in the Kitchen" traces the routines that create a site for aesthetic experimentation, including an examination of gingerbread houses as art, food, and architectural space. The essays in "Table Rules" consider the spatial and performative aspects of eating and the ways in which shared meals are among the most perishable and preserved cultural artifacts. Finally, "Embodied Taste" considers the sensual apprehension of food and what it means to consume a work of art. The "Gallery of Recipes" contains images by contemporary architects on the subject of eating architecture.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

These 20 inquisitive, sophisticated and offbeat essays explore the junctions between cookery and architecture, probing the unexpected links between the two art forms. They’re more numerous than one might imagine-as Phyllis Pray Bober reminds readers in the volume’s prologue, Antonin Careme, father of French cuisine, claimed, "Most noble of all the arts is architecture, and its greatest manifestation is the art of the pastry chef." Separated into four sections, "Place Settings," "Philosophy in the Kitchen," "Table Rules," and "Embodied Taste," these essays delve into colonialism, tourism, Canada and modern art, all examined through the twin lenses of food and form. Barbara L. Miller, who teaches art at Western Washington University, uses the theme of gingerbread houses to discuss, among other things, the spaces of 1950’s domesticity. Ferruccio Trabalzi, a Los Angeles urban planner, writes about the ways in which places like Napa Valley, the Champagne region and Tuscany have thrived commercially by protecting their original foodways and architecture. And Daniel S. Friedman, director of the Univ. of Illinois, Chicago’s architecture school, writes beautifully of the food-based cinematic masterpiece Babette’s Feast. The volume also includes a selection of weirdly lovely full-color images of food and food-related ideas as depicted by architects. While undeniably academic in tone-and tough going in spots-this book is also accessible and fascinating, a delicious tour through modern culture as experienced through the buildings we inhabit and the foods we eat.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Review

"Carême threw down the gauntlet when he declared architecture the most noble of the arts and pastry the highest form of architecture. A century and half later, *Eating Architecture* picks up the gauntlet and runs to imaginative lengths in its exploration of the architectural aspects of food and the gastronomic aspects of architecture. An important and original contribution, full of delightful surprises."--Barbara Kirshenblatt-Gimblett, Tisch School of the Arts, New York University, author of *Destination Culture: Tourism, Museums, and Heritage*

"Poolside reading for gourmets with upper-echelon IQs." Metropolitan Home

"...Serves up a surprisingly palatable experience." Julia Mandell Architecture

"*Eating Architecture* is an immensely original and fascinating work. It brings together analyses of food and drink with materialities and design to produce a delightful feast."--John Urry, Department of Sociology, Lancaster University

"Like the chef at a fusion grill, *Eating Architecture* revels in the eclectic, the diverse, even the idiosyncratic. The editors have wisely resisted the temptation to elicit homogeneity from their contributors, and the result is a collection of essays that truly sings -- a bold polyphony of distinct voices that jostle and flirt as they map, trace, and sculpt the interpenetrations of food and space. From the analytic to the anecdotal, from the incisive to the suggestive, the essays in *Eating Architecture* will both challenge and reward the curious reader."--Mark Morton, University of Winnipeg, author of *Cupboard Love: A Dictionary of Culinary Curiosities*

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 380 pages
• Publisher: The MIT Press (May 21, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0262083221
• ISBN-13: 978-0262083225
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 8 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #625,025 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars My pleasure, April 9, 2011

By 

Leslie (mid Atlantic) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Eating Architecture (Hardcover)

I first discovered this jewel at my college library. I enjoyed it so much I ultimately purchased a copy for my own Food Studies collection. It is visually attractive and an excellent example of fine writing with a thought provoking perspective. Highly recommended.

4 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Delicious!, July 10, 2004

By A Customer

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Eating Architecture (Hardcover)

Editors Horwitz and Singley have assembled a delectable recipe of essays that graze on an admixture of architecture and food. Highly recommended.

0 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars I've never seen it or read it!, May 20, 2011

By 

cinbin - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Eating Architecture (Paperback)

Sorry, I can't help you. I've never seen the book, but the title was very appropriate for the person it was chosen for. It was sent to a relative who's an architect and loves to eat and cook. Obviously, the title appealed. I do hope he likes it, but I haven't heard anything yet. Thanks