Richard Koeck – författare

Cine-scapes explores the relationship between urban space, architecture and the moving image. While an impressive amount of research has been done with regards to the way in which architecture is portrayed in film, this book offers a new perspective....

What happens if we begin to see the city as a place for an embodied visual consumption; a visual apparatus or, perhaps, a system that is based on movement, light and the body, and which we can explore in kinematic, kinetic, and kinaesthetic ways?

Using film as a lens through which we look at urban spaces and places, Richard Koeck reveals the filmic and cinematic phenomena and spatial qualities that are present in postmodern landscapes, and which are perhaps otherwise disregarded or merely passively consumed.

Drawing on the author’s extensive knowledge derived from architectural and film practice, Cine-scapes:

Cine-scapes ignites new ways of seeing, thinking and debating the nature of architecture and urban spaces.

Cine-scapes explores the relationship between urban space, architecture and the moving image. While an impressive amount of research has been done with regards to the way in which architecture is portrayed in film, this book offers a new perspective....

What happens if we begin to see the city as a place for an embodied visual consumption; a visual apparatus or, perhaps, a system that is based on movement, light and the body, and which we can explore in kinematic, kinetic, and kinaesthetic ways?

Using film as a lens through which we look at urban spaces and places, Richard Koeck reveals the filmic and cinematic phenomena and spatial qualities that are present in postmodern landscapes, and which are perhaps otherwise disregarded or merely passively consumed.

Drawing on the author’s extensive knowledge derived from architectural and film practice, Cine-scapes:

Cine-scapes ignites new ways of seeing, thinking and debating the nature of architecture and urban spaces.

This book proposes new methodological tools and approaches in order to tease out and elicit the different facets of urban fragmentation through the medium of cinema and the moving image, as a contribution to our understanding of cities and their topographies. In doing so it makes a significant contribution to the literature in the growing field of cartographic cinema and urban cinematics, by charting the many trajectories and points of contact between film and its topographical context. Under the influence of new technologies, the opening and the availability of previously unexplored archives but also the contribution of new scholars with novel approaches in addition to new work by experienced academics, Cinematic Urban Geographies demonstrates how we can reread the cinematic past with a view to construct the urban present and anticipate its future. 

Contemporary art, entertainment, and architecture cultures offer a growing amount of digitally mediated spatial experiences, situated either in the metaverse (e.g. VR) or location-based in physical realms (e.g. AR), increasingly powered by generative systems (e.g. AI). Are such spatially “immersive experiences” a new phenomenon and dependent on digital innovation?

The Art of Spatial Illusion: Immersive Encounters between People, Media, and Place is an insightful exploration of the evolving relationship between humans, media, and spatial environments, tracing their progression from the Renaissance, via Modernity and Postmodernity, to today’s digital age. The author offers a compelling reading and re-evaluation of architectural history and media theory, drawing connections between historical practices, technological innovations, and contemporary immersive experiences.

Inspired by scholars such as Walter Benjamin and Jean Baudrillard, the book discusses how technological advancements have transformed our situatedness in “image-spaces”, highlighting the shift from material authenticity to digital reproductions. The book is structured into four parts – The Surface, The Stage, The Interface, and The Hybrid – each exploring different aspects of spatial illusions and their implications. It offers a critical perspective on the creation of architectural, immersive environments, examining the motivations behind them and their broader cultural and political contexts.

Richly illustrated and deeply researched, The Art of Spatial Illusion is an essential reading for anyone interested in architecture and art as well as media archaeology, history, and theory. Seeing new, thought-provoking architectural propositions emerging on our horizon, the author provides a comprehensive understanding of how immersive experiences shape our perception of reality.

Chapter 3 of this book is freely available as a downloadable Open Access PDF at http://www.taylorfrancis.com under a Creative Commons (CC-BY) 4.0 license.