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Arranging Things: A Rhetoric on Object Placement

Arranging Things: A Rhetoric on Object Placement - Main image
Arranging Things: A Rhetoric on Object PlacementArranging Things: A Rhetoric on Object PlacementArranging Things: A Rhetoric on Object PlacementArranging Things: A Rhetoric on Object PlacementArranging Things: A Rhetoric on Object Placement
$32.5 $65 In stock

Category: Architecture

'Most arrangements are little noticed, yet some stop you in your tracks'. Originally published in 2003, Leonard Koren’s highly sought-after Arranging Things: A Rhetoric of Object Placement utilises the language of rhetoric to portray visual arrangement as a ‘communicational act: its own language-like form of aesthetic expression’.

Koren’s insightful meditation is further distilled into eight rhetorical principles presented alognside 23 idiosyncratic paintings by artist Nathalie Du Pasquier which illustrate the volume. With a welcoming tone, Arranging Things offers an accessible strategy which can be used to analyse any arrangement.

Back by popular demand, this new edition of Arranging Things presents Du Pasquier’s artistic works in a generous format in celebration of Koren’s visual journey through the heart of design philosophy. Arranging Things is not merely a popular book on design; it is a landmark text, a practical manifesto of aesthetic beauty, one for brightening and broadening the way we understand and arrange our worlds.

Customer Reviews (4.8 / 5 · 5 reviews)

Benjamin ★★★★★

I was expecting a dry design manual, but Koren’s prose feels almost philosophical, and the 2003 original text still reads fresh today. The way he frames placement as rhetoric made me rethink every shelf and tabletop I own.

Riley A. ★★★★★

The way Koren breaks down why certain arrangements feel “right” versus merely tolerable is genuinely eye-opening—I caught myself rearranging my bookshelf halfway through chapter three. Short read, but it’s the kind of thinking that sticks with you long after you put it down.

Ryan ★★★★★

I’d read about this 2003 edition being hard to find, so I was glad to finally get my hands on it—Koren’s take on why some shelf arrangements feel “right” is genuinely thought-provoking. The prose is dense but rewarding, and it’s made me rethink every tabletop I own.

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