Polyphilo, or the Dark Forest Revisited: An Erotic Epiphany of Architecture

by Alberto Pérez Gómez

Departing from the conventional genres of architectural writing, this book is a completely original reflection on the erotics of architecture. Perez-Gomez retells the love story of the famous Renaissance novel/treatise Hypnerotomachia Poliphili in late twentieth-century terms. The original work, long a cult book among architects, takes place in a forest. In the retelling, the forest has been replaced by the high- tech environment of appliances and airports. Both versions exist somewhere in the borderland between fiction, theory, and pornography.

Genres: Architecture, Nonfiction

344 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1992

Reviews

[Magpie · Rating 2 out of 5]

I think it's really interesting that this book was written in part to disprove the stereotype that architects are not artists, because the only stereotype I've heard about architects is that they're pretentious

[Five · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hm, I think some sort of strange intersexism and misogyny, however, I may just not be Getting it. It's a very technical book despite it being a narrative book so in light of that 3 stars because I think it could've been better if it was written by someone with an understanding of feminism and queer theory but I don't know if I understood it well enough to fully critique what was going on.

[Lance Grabmiller · Rating 4 out of 5]

A continental flight as alchemist's journey in a language not unlike The Atrocity Exhibition or Crash era J.G. Ballard. And so much more, with so many folds and corridors and twists and games and references and dreams and diversions. Kinda indescribable.