The Thinking Hand Existential and Embodied Wisdom in Architecture

In our current global networked culture that puts so much emphasison the virtual and the visual, the mind and the body have becomedetached and ultimately disconnected. Though physical appearance isidolised for its sexual appeal and its social identity, the role ofthe body in developing a full understanding of the physical worldand the human condition has become neglected. The potential of thehuman body as a knowing entity – with all our senses as wellas our entire bodily functions being structured to produce andmaintain silent knowledge together – fails to be recognised. It is only through the unity of mind and body that craftsmanshipand artistic work can be fully realised. Even those endeavours thatare generally regarded as solely intellectual, such as writing andthinking, depend on this union of mental and manual skills. In The Thinking Hand, Juhani Pallasmaa reveals themiraculous potential of the human hand. He shows how the pencil inthe hand of the artist or architect becomes the bridge between theimagining mind and the emerging image. The book surveys themultiple essences of the hand, its biological evolution and itsrole in the shaping of culture, highlighting how thehand–tool union and eye–hand–mind fusion areessential for dexterity and how ultimately the body and the sensesplay a crucial role in memory and creative work. Pallasmaa herecontinues the exploration begun in his classic work The Eyes ofthe Skin by further investigating the interplay of emotion andimagination, intelligence and making, theory and life, once againredefining the task of art and architecture through well-groundedhuman truths.