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Human Space

'Human space' is a publication project that makes O.F. Bollnow’s seminal work 'Mensch und Raum' (1963) available to an English-speaking audience for the first time. The publication forms a significant scholarly contribution to the field of study concerning the perception of space in the 20th century, and the history of theories in this domain.

The book was edited, co-translated and designed by Joseph Kohlmaier who conceived the idea to publish it. Building on several years of research, an afterword by Kohlmaier situates Bollnow’s work in the context of philosophy, and architectural theory where the book formed a key contribution to the reception of Heidegger’s thinking in the English-speaking domain through the writings of Christan Norberg-Schulz and others. Meticulously researched, this first English edition offers readers access to both original sources and their English translations, often making important corrections and improvements. A full index not present in the original was included.

Rooted in early phenomenological traditions in psychology and philosophy, 'Human space' is a study of space as we experience it, and how this experience is expressed in our culture and imagination. It is an important point of reference in our understanding of what we know today as the ‘spatial turn’ in late twentieth-century philosophy. The text complements Gaston Bachelard’s 'The poetics of space', of which it offers a critique, and opens a window on a wide range of early thinking in the field of spatial anthropology, including many sources that were still little known outside the German-speaking domain up until now.

Of all Bollnow’s books 'Human space' has had the most lasting impact outside philosophy and pedagogy. Now in its eleventh printing, the German original continues to attract a diverse readership and has generated considerable interest in the domain of environmental psychology, architecture and urban design.