Forms of Experienced Environments: Questioning Relations between Humans, Aesthetics, and Sciences

This book explores ‘environmental forms’ in terms of their relationships to the socio-politico-ecological transformations currently in progress. Today, the environment is a central theme in political discourse, scientific work and everyday life. It is multi-dimensional: it is a living space, a socio-ecological system and a field of research and action. However, despite the presence and diversity of existing approaches, the ways in which policies address environmental issues remain mainly focused on control, highlighting the techno-ecological, managerial and curative dimensions of public actions. Although public action tends to instrumentalise the environment, the humanities and social sciences have initiated significant reflections in this field, proposing alternative ways of thinking about the environment in its multiple aspects and scales. As part of ‘another approach’ to the environment that mirrors contemporary developments, this book adopts a form-based approach which has been largely neglected by previous studies dealing with environmental themes. The analyses provided here will open up a new perspective on the relationships between people, aesthetics and environments, and are drawn from different schools of research, highlighting the huge potential of reading the environment through forms or, conversely, a reading of environmental forms.


Nathalie Blanc is a Research Director at the French National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS) and Managing Director of the Earth Politics Center. A pioneer of ecocriticism in France, she has published and coordinated numerous research programs in areas such as habitability, environmental aesthetics, literature and the environment and nature in the city. Her most recent publication is Form, Art, and Environment: Engaging in Sustainability (2016).

Théa Manola is an architect (DPLG), and holds a Master’s and a PhD in Urban studies. She is a Lecturer on Social and Human Sciences for Architecture at the School of Architecture of Grenoble, France, and a Researcher at the CRESSON/CNRS Laboratory ‘Ambiences, Architecture, Urbanities’, France. Her scientific work focuses on the socio-political and environmental aspects of sensitive approaches. She is interested in ordinary sensory experiences, sensescapes, and socio-environmental and participatory issues and their place in the urban fabric.

Patrick Degeorges is a philosopher. From 2004 to 2010, he was responsible for the implementation of predator management policies in the French Ministry of the Environment, before serving as a senior advisor in prospective and strategic issues, where he participated in the design of policies for biodiversity conservation and adaptation to climate change, both nationally and internationally. He is currently a member of the Complex Systems Institute (IXXI), the Michel Serres Institute and the INRIA (Datasphere Team) and he directs the Anthropocene Curriculum of the Ecole Normale Supérieure of Lyon, France.

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ISBN: 1-5275-4528-8

ISBN13: 978-1-5275-4528-1

Release Date: 9th April 2020

Pages: 224

Price: £61.99

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