Abstract
The main assumption underlying this article is that aesthetic categories and spatial practices are intrinsically connected. I argue that aesthetic experience and aesthetic judgment assume an importance for their high potential to activate the agency of urban actors. Any study of the evolution of urban space in Switzerland should account for the high importance assigned by different urban actors to aesthetic questions. As “small” actors engage in a production of their “aesthetics of existence” (term coined by Foucault in Polit Philos Cult Interviews Writ 1984:47–53, 1977), their actions play the fundamental role in the structuring of urban space. The aesthetic sensibilities in Switzerland have been developing in the particular spatial, social and historical conditions with the city image in a pivotal role.
Ph.D., 2017, “Aesthetic Space: The visible and the invisible in urban agency”, Supervisor: Jacques Lévy.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Notes
- 1.
If we define urbanity as a combination of functional and sociological diversity and multidimensional density (built environment, flows, people, ideas), the compact city represents the highest gradient of urbanity (Lévy 1999).
- 2.
The cultural construction of the Alps emerged with writings of Romantics who “celebrated wild landscapes, (…) empty deserts, impenetrable forests, frozen ice wastes and, in particular, rugged mountains. (…) Orderliness and regularity were out; untamed wildness was in” (Beattie 2006, p. 125). Before the 18th century, the Alps were perceived as an inhospitable land and aesthetically dismissed (Senici 2005 p. 23). Under the influence of Romantic literature, firstly from England and then from Switzerland, there’s been a shift in a perception of the Alps. The writings of Jean-Jacques Rousseau had a particularly profound influence on Western attitudes towards the countryside and mountain landscapes.
References
Beattie, A., 2006, The Alps: a cultural history, Oxford University Press.
Cavin, J. S. (2005). La ville mal-aimée. Représentations Anti-Urbaines Aménage. Due Territ. En Suisse Anal. Comp. Évolution Lausanne Press. Polytech. Univ. Romandes.
Crettaz, B. (1987). Un si joli village, essai sur un mythe helvétique. Peuples Inanimés Avez-Vous Donc Une Âme (pp. 5–18).
Diener, R., Herzog, J., Meili, M., de Meuron, P., & Schmid, C. (2005). Switzerland–an Urban Portrait, Vol. 1: Introduction; Vol. 2: Borders, Communes–a Brief History of the Territory; Vol. 3: Materials. Walter de Gruyter.
Fatio, G. (1904). Ouvrons les yeux: voyage esthétique à travers la Suisse. Société Genevoise d’Edition “Atar”.
Foucault, M. (1977). An aesthetics of existence. Politics Philosophy Culture: Interviews and other Writings, 1984, 47–53.
Garnier, A. (1985). Une région périurbaine suisse: Le Gros-de-Vaud. DisP—The Planning Review, 21, 77–83.
Hermann, M., & Leuthold, H. (2003). Atlas der politischen Landschaften: ein weltanschauliches Porträt der Schweiz. vdf Hochschulverlag AG.
Kohler, F., & Goebel, V. (2014). Areas with Urban Character 2012. Neuchâtel: Federal Statistical Office (FSO).
Le Dinh, D. (1992). Le Heimatschutz, une ligue pour la beauté: esthétique et conscience culturelle au début du siècle en Suisse, PU Romandes.
Lévy, J. (1999). Le tournant géographique: penser l’espace pour lire le monde. Belin.
Longchamp, J. (1989). La périurbanisation dans l’Ouest lémanique. Faculté des Lettres: Université de Lausanne.
Meili, A. (1942). Bases sociales et éthiques de l’aménagement national. Bulletin Technique Suisse Romande, 271–274.
Scruton, R., & Sparshott, F. (1979). The aesthetics of architecture. NJ: Princeton University Press Princeton.
Senic, E. (2005). Landscape and gender in Italian opera: The Alpine virgin from Bellini to Puccini, Cambridge University Press.
Sitte, C. (1986). City planning according to artistic principles, Rizzoli.
Uhel, R. (2006). Urban sprawl in Europe: The ignored challenge (EAA Rep. 10).
Van Den Hende, A. (2015). Settling and dwelling in the Swiss peri-urban areas: Residential trajectories and life course events. University of Geneva.
Walter, F. (1994). La suisse urbaine 1750–1950, Éditions Zoé.
Walter, F. (1985). Fédéralisme et propriété privée 1930–1950: Les attitudes face à l’aménagement du territoire en temps de crise et de pleins pouvoirs. DisP—The Planning Review, 21, 21–27.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2018 Springer International Publishing AG, part of Springer Nature
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Tursic, M. (2018). Aesthetics and Spatial Practices. Some Examples from Switzerland. In: Viganò, P., Cavalieri, C., Barcelloni Corte, M. (eds) The Horizontal Metropolis Between Urbanism and Urbanization. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-75975-3_10
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-75975-3_10
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-75974-6
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-75975-3
eBook Packages: Social SciencesSocial Sciences (R0)