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duparker's review against another edition
2.0
This was a struggle. I wanted it to end almost as quickly as it began. That said, I think the timing was my problem. This is a text book and a dry one at that. I should have left it for a reading period other than vacation when I am not looking for text books. I liked most of the topic chapters and found use in each one, but felt that it took too much effort to find that use.
ladydoubtless's review against another edition
3.0
My rating for this book reflects more that I've been thinking about these ideas, and so I didn't find as much information that was new to me as I'd hoped.
Ellard is an engaging writer, and this is an interesting topic, particularly it's implications for healing and for effective city planning.
Ellard is an engaging writer, and this is an interesting topic, particularly it's implications for healing and for effective city planning.
breadandmushrooms's review against another edition
informative
lighthearted
reflective
slow-paced
3.0
julietabb's review against another edition
3.0
Parts of this book were extremely interesting and have given me things to think about. I want to seek out more books like this one. However, the book as a whole wasn't cohesive. The writing wandered a lot and could use more editing to make it stronger. I would also really have liked some illustrations! Overall, an intriguing topic, I'm very glad I read it, but I did a lot of skimming.
reydan's review against another edition
3.0
Read the first half of the book, skip the part about VR and smartphones (since the story told is too old for this kind of technology)
ahnmur's review
5.0
Objectively, I think this is a great book.
Subjectively, it changed my life. Every once in a while you get the chance to read something that articulates your feelings, fascinations, and potential trajectories. This is the joy of reading, of stumbling upon your fate. And that was Places of the Heart for me.
Writing these notes now for future reference.
It has become my mission in my career / pursuits to use VR study and apply the affect of space on one's psyche. To me, with my interest in this field, this is a seminal work.
Subjectively, it changed my life. Every once in a while you get the chance to read something that articulates your feelings, fascinations, and potential trajectories. This is the joy of reading, of stumbling upon your fate. And that was Places of the Heart for me.
Writing these notes now for future reference.
It has become my mission in my career / pursuits to use VR study and apply the affect of space on one's psyche. To me, with my interest in this field, this is a seminal work.
sandyd's review
4.0
Very thought-provoking book about architecture, communication, the Internet, and our brains. How does the built environment affect our behavior? Our emotions? The research on this is scholarly and astonishing (and much of the most cutting-edge stuff was done by the author), though Ellard's writing style is not always as smoothly captivating as that some of my favorite nonfiction authors. It's interesting to think about his ideas about monumental architecture as they apply to famous archaeological centers - and Ellard himself uses Stonehenge as one personal example.
hilaritas's review
2.0
This book never delivers. Ellard fills out a lot of pages with various bric-a-brac, from tantalizing summaries of actual psychological studies on architecture or effects of place (few), passages geeking out on the VR rigs in his lab (many), and fatuous speculating on evolutionary psychology and/or the general metaphysics of place (scattered and scatterbrained). I found little insightful here, although it wasn't terrible for all that. He mentions lots of interesting stuff, primarily channeled as non sequiturs, but at least it reminded me of other, better books where I first encountered the ideas. These include references to Gaston Bachelard, the importance of the Black Forest to Heidegger, infant perceptions of aggression, Becker's theories about the terror of death, and Le Corbusier's ideas on city planning. It just never had much to do with how architecture affects our psychology, which is what I thought he was writing about. Oh well.