Publisher: Uro Publications, 2025, ISBN: 9781922601322, Author: Leon van Schaik, Format: Softback with jacket, layflat binding, 168 x 240mm, 148pp

In Thinking Space, architect and educator Leon van Schaik explores how books, and book collecting, have framed his lifelong research into spatial intelligence – the ways in which our past experiences in physical space shape our mental space, which in turn informs how we act in the world.

A journey through the history of the author’s own library – a collection gathered and refined over decades of teaching and thinking about place, space and architecture – the book reveals some of his most prized texts, the often deeply personal relationships they represent, and their influence on him as conceptual touchstones.

Thinking Space is an extended reflection on a life lived thoughtfully – a celebration of the art, poetry and philosophy of inhabitation, and its power to change our understanding of the world.

About the author:
Leon van Schaik AO, Emeritus Professor of Architecture (RMIT University) gardens and writes. Recent books include Doing, Seeing; Seeing, Doing (Uro Publications 2021), Kerstin Thompson Architects (Thames and Hudson 2021), and Suburbia Reimagined (with Nigel Bertram, Routledge 2018).

What others think...
‘Poignant and hopeful, capturing in its pages the author’s deep immersion in architecture, cultural production and ideas.’
—Professor Vivian Mitsogianni, Dean of the School of Architecture & Urban Design, RMIT University

‘Eloquently argues for a more nuanced and discerning approach to knowledge and decision-making. A must-read for anyone intrigued by the quirks of human behaviour.’
—CJ Lim, Professor of Architecture & Urbanism, The Bartlett, UCL