"Those who have studied Goethean science will be familiar with the journey that begins at the end of a developmental process and traces its way back - in full consciousness - from the finished phenomena, up the formative stream of time, to the archetypal gestures that shaped them. While plants clearly demonstrate the unfolding of gesture in space as it occurs in the medium of time, and their metamorphosis has been widely researched, human development is far more complex, and its lawfulness more difficult to discern. The ...
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"Those who have studied Goethean science will be familiar with the journey that begins at the end of a developmental process and traces its way back - in full consciousness - from the finished phenomena, up the formative stream of time, to the archetypal gestures that shaped them. While plants clearly demonstrate the unfolding of gesture in space as it occurs in the medium of time, and their metamorphosis has been widely researched, human development is far more complex, and its lawfulness more difficult to discern. The unfolding of human projects over time - from their conception, through various planning stages, to their actual realization and future consequences - goes well beyond biology, and little research has been devoted to the subject. Despite the disparity of these three topics - plants, people, and projects - the author of this extraordinary, deeply refreshing little book, having worked intensively in each of these realms, shows us how similar archetypal developmental gestures can be observed in each of them. Beginning with easily surveyable phenomena in the plant world, author Jan Diek van Mansvelt carefully leads us on the journey upstream toward the gestures underlying their development. Deftly, and with great agility, he then guides us through some of the outstanding phases of human development. The more we become able to inwardly participate in their distinctive gestures, the more we will be moved by a sense of wonder when we recognize how differently, yet unmistakably, the same formative gestures we encountered in plants now reveal themselves to us in human development. In the final leg of this journey into the inner dynamics of development, architect Pieter van der Ree leads us through the phases of a building project. Each step of the way, he helps us to inwardly enter into the unique experiential gesture of each phase. Again, to the extent that we succeed in meeting him halfway by participating in this lively process, we can stand in awe as we begin to realize how differently developmental processes can take place and how nevertheless certain fundamental gestures are common to all of them."--Publisher description.
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