The Architecture of the Playing Field

"The author argues that sports and architecture share many concerns, as both center "the interplay of settings and bodies in motion." He sets out to study their conceptual and physical intersection, and to show what the aesthetics and spatial relationships of playing fields can tell us about sports and the cultures that create them. Cleary's scholarly background and personal experience as a fencer and soccer referee led him to the questions that drive this project. In this relatively brief meditation on physical space in sports, he argues convincingly "that related inquiries in one domain can inspire new readings in others while respecting the unique qualities of each. The Sports Center fan, the architecture enthusiast, and the balletomane have more to discuss than they may think." The subjects of Cleary's intriguing "new readings" range widely, from the translucent courts of the 2019 Women's World Squash Championships, to the introduction of the three-point line in basketball, to the similarities between Dutch architects' and Dutch soccer's emphasis on flexibility and multivalence"--