“Less is more” goes the modernist dictum. But is it? In an age when we are endlessly urged to do “more with less”, can we still romanticise the pretensions of minimalism? For Pier Vittorio Aureli, the return of “austerity chic” is a perversion of what ought to be a meaningful way of life. Charting the rise of asceticism in early Christianity and its institutionalisation with th...
“Less is more” goes the modernist dictum. But is it? In an age when we are endlessly urged to do “more with less”, can we still romanticise the pretensions of minimalism? For Pier Vittorio Aureli, the return of “austerity chic” is a perversion of what ought to be a meaningful way of life. Charting the rise of asceticism in early Christianity and its institutionalisation with the medieval monasteries, Aureli examines how the basic unit of the reclusive life – the monk’s cell – becomes the foundation of private property. And from there, he argues, it all starts to go wrong. By late capitalism, asceticism has been utterly aestheticised. It manifests itself as monasteries inspired by Calvin Klein stores, in the monkish lifestyle of Steve Jobs and Apple’s aura of restraint. Amid all the hypocrisy, it must still be possible to reprise the idea of “less” as a radical alternative, as the first step to living the life examined.
作者简介
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Pier Vittorio Aureli is an architect and theorist. He currently teaches at the Architectural Association School of Architecture in London, and is visiting professor at Yale University. He is the author of many essays and several books, including The Project of Autonomy (2008) and The Possibility of an Absolute Architecture (2011).
The desire to secure ownership of something is motivated not just by its use but by its potential to become an economic asset, to generate profit.
The concept of use, in this sense, is the antithesis of the concept of private property. (查看原文)
早期禁欲主义的初衷是将人从世俗生活中解放出来。随着资本主义的发展，禁欲主义被不断曲解，伪造成一种道德义务从而推动社会对人的进一步异化。“less is more”作为这一社会制度下现代主义运动的格言，这句话中所提倡的极简主义、朴素生活也只是一种对于早期禁欲主义中的超脱、诗性的一种曲解。less不应该成为一种意识形态来指导人们应该如何生活，“less is only less”，可是通向另一种美好生...早期禁欲主义的初衷是将人从世俗生活中解放出来。随着资本主义的发展，禁欲主义被不断曲解，伪造成一种道德义务从而推动社会对人的进一步异化。“less is more”作为这一社会制度下现代主义运动的格言，这句话中所提倡的极简主义、朴素生活也只是一种对于早期禁欲主义中的超脱、诗性的一种曲解。less不应该成为一种意识形态来指导人们应该如何生活，“less is only less”，可是通向另一种美好生活的答案是否真的存在以及是否可行依旧令人存疑。(展开)
A critic towards the contemporary world of design, the world largely relies on creativity, where the possibility of creating a new structure of life has been ironically uprooted. In the world ruled by capital, less is never more, less is less, and there is ...
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In essence, it is a book that is less about how we design architecture, but about how we live. For me, the inspiring point is the interpretation of asceticism as everyday activities that train our body and mind instead of an ideology. It is precisely when w...
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ZJJ
Moly！
1 有用 l0 2021-09-23 18:24:17
早期禁欲主义的初衷是将人从世俗生活中解放出来。随着资本主义的发展，禁欲主义被不断曲解，伪造成一种道德义务从而推动社会对人的进一步异化。“less is more”作为这一社会制度下现代主义运动的格言，这句话中所提倡的极简主义、朴素生活也只是一种对于早期禁欲主义中的超脱、诗性的一种曲解。less不应该成为一种意识形态来指导人们应该如何生活，“less is only less”，可是通向另一种美好生... 早期禁欲主义的初衷是将人从世俗生活中解放出来。随着资本主义的发展，禁欲主义被不断曲解，伪造成一种道德义务从而推动社会对人的进一步异化。“less is more”作为这一社会制度下现代主义运动的格言，这句话中所提倡的极简主义、朴素生活也只是一种对于早期禁欲主义中的超脱、诗性的一种曲解。less不应该成为一种意识形态来指导人们应该如何生活，“less is only less”，可是通向另一种美好生活的答案是否真的存在以及是否可行依旧令人存疑。 (展开)
0 有用 木易焦 2013-11-23 21:33:12
挺小的一本。可以感受男神的smart，但是新意不多，建筑学的讨论也不多，乔布斯的部分有点语焉不详。
2 有用 Silence 2016-11-14 20:47:42
Very brief, delicate, yet powerful.
1 有用 输入昵称 2021-02-06 11:59:01
Less is not more,less is just enough.对于less is more的再思考和分析的确非常有见地，收获很大，但是对抗和应对的方法显得有些无力，真的有用吗？出路在哪里？
0 有用 米粉侠 2019-05-17 16:29:44
http://thecityasaproject.org/2015/05/the-theology-of-tabula-rasa-walter-benjamin-and-architecture-in-the-age-of-precarity/