Towards a Phenomenology of

Architecture: Norberg-Schulz

PHIL 314
PHILOSOPHY AND THE CITY
 some terminology

 Dwelling: gaining an existential

foothold (5)
 Genius loci: the spirit of the place (5,
 Place: the concrete manifestation of
human’s dwelling
 Concretize: to make the general
“visible” as a concrete, local situation
 Cultural landscape: “an environment
where man has found his meaningful
place within the totality.” (40)
 3 steps towards a
phenomenology of place
1. Distinguish between natural (landscape) and
human-made phenomena (settlement) (p. 10)
2. Categories of earth/sky, outside/inside
3. Character: “the basic mode in which the world
is ‘given’” (p. 14)
Possible relationships between
natural and human-made
places: gathering
1. Visualize: building demonstrates
human understanding of nature by
replicating what is seen in nature
2. Complement: building adds what is
perceived to be lacking in nature
3. Symbolize: building demonstrates
human understanding of nature and
self by translating that understanding
onto built form (Genius Loci, p. 17)
 Genius Loci

 Socio-economic factors are not the most

important in shaping genius loci: “The
existential meanings have deeper roots.
They are determined by the structure of
our being-in-the-world.” (6)
 “if the settlements are organically related
to their environment, it implies that they
serve as foci where the environment is
condensed and ‘explained.’” (10)
 Protecting and conserving the genius loci
means interpreting it in ever new ways
(18)
 Cultural Landscapes

“Through the interaction of surface

relief, vegetation and water,
characteristic totalities or places
are formed which constitute the
basic elements of landscapes.” (37)
3 archetypes:
 Romantic
 Cosmic
 Classical
Romantic Landscapes

 Original forces
strongly felt
 Rugged with lots of
places
 Dwelling an
interaction between
humans and earth
e.g., Norwegian farm
Cosmic Landscape

 Earth doesn’t provide

foothold
 No individual places
structured
 Sky is structured by
the sun rather than
the earth
 Genius loci a
manifestation of
absolute
e.g., Ulurul (Australia)
Classical Landscape

 Intelligible
composition of
distinct elements
 Meaningful order
 Human scale
 Dwelling by
placing as equal
partners—humans
and nature
e.g.,Tuscany
 Complex Landscapes

 Mixture of “pure”
archetypes

 E.g., Beirut,
Lebanon