WEEK 6 | Psychogeography

What is it?

• Exploration of urban environments that emphasizes playfulness and "drifting"

Is it New?

• While the term originated in the 1950’s, we can go much further back to gothic representations of the city, and even as far back as Defoe, who could be said to be the progenitor of a psychogeographic analysis of urban space. For psychogeography as a movement is essentially the tale of two cities: London and Paris.

Are there any 'name' or individuals associated with it's history?

• The term psychogeography was invented by the Marxist theorist Guy Debord in 1955 in order to explore this. Inspired by the French nineteenth century poet and writer Charles Baudelaire’s concept of the flâneur – an urban wanderer – Debord suggested playful and inventive ways of navigating the urban environment in order to examine its architecture and spaces.