About This Book
Breathing Space is Tim Altenhof's wide-ranging study of how breathing itself became a driving force in modern architecture. Beginning in the mid-nineteenth century, as breathing shifted from an unconscious bodily act to a widely studied cultural and physiological phenomenon, architects began designing buildings that responded directly to the science of respiration — from factories engineered as chimneys to homes and medical facilities built around airflow and ventilation.
Key Features
Close readings of built structures including Mendelsohn's Luckenwalde hat factory, alongside Swiss environmental design and the broader tradition Altenhof calls “respiratory modernism.” Richly illustrated throughout, with archival images supporting the book's argument that lungs and buildings share a common atmosphere.
What You'll Discover
How the involuntary act of breathing came to shape architectural thinking on ventilation, air pollution, and disease; how figures from Ledoux to Le Corbusier engaged with the physiology of respiration; and how this history connects to present-day questions about air, enclosure, and the buildings we occupy.
About the Author
Tim Altenhof is an architect and historian whose work examines the intersections of architecture, the body, and environmental science.
Specifications
Format: Hardcover
Dimensions: 15 x 23 cm
Pages: 248
Language: English
ISBN: 9781945861116
Publisher: Zone Books
Publication Date: March 2026
Perfect For
Readers interested in architectural history, the history of science and the body, and anyone drawn to unconventional cultural histories of everyday phenomena.