{"product_id":"the-architecture-of-the-playing-field","title":"The Architecture of the Playing Field","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eA novel exploration of playing fields as aesthetic and architectural spaces that frame athletes' creativity and spectators' evolving experiences of sport.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe playing field is a laboratory of invention, where athletes and coaches create new uses for the human body in response to the constraints and affordance of space. \u003ci\u003eThe Architecture of the Playing Field\u003c\/i\u003e explores the aesthetic and physical experiences of the grounds on which we compete, from translucent squash courts to the NBA three-point line to the city streets adopted by skateboarders.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eRichard Cleary digs into the perspectives of spectators, athletes, coaches, and umpires, which have changed along with the shifting configuration of the playing surface and the mediation of the action, from early sports coverage to today's high-tech TV broadcasts. He shows how rules governing the size, shape, and divisions of the field reflect sports' entwinement with societies at large, in particular the politics of race and gender. Mindful as well that some sports resist containment, he analyzes the disruptive use of space by snowboarders and parkour athletes. \u003ci\u003eThe Architecture of the Playing Field\u003c\/i\u003e sensitizes us to the interplay of settings and bodies in motion fundamental to the power of sport.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57504955335029,"sku":"9781477335895","price":22.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9781477335895.jpg?v=1786953874","url":"https:\/\/backstory.london\/products\/the-architecture-of-the-playing-field","provider":"Backstory","version":"1.0","type":"link"}