Existence, Space & Architecture
Existence, Space & Architecture
Author: Christian Norberg-Schulz
Year: 1971 (Praeger; London: Studio Vista)
Source type: book
Raw file: raw/books/norberg-schulz-1971-existence-space-architecture.md
Summary
Norberg-Schulz's Existence, Space & Architecture introduces the concept of "existential space" — the basic relationships between man and his environment — as the foundation for a phenomenological understanding of architecture. He develops the topologies of place, path, and domain (center, direction, area), and treats architecture as the "concretization of existential space": giving structure and meaning to human dwelling and place-identification.
Key Claims
- Existential space: "existential space" is not a logico-mathematical term but the "basic relationships between man and his environment"; it is the lived, meaningful structure of space that precedes and grounds abstract, geometric space.
- Place, path, and domain: the fundamental topological elements of existential space are place (a center), path (a direction/axis), and domain (an area); defined by center, direction, and area. Human existence is structured through these — orientation and identification.
- Concretization of existential space: architecture is understood as "a concretization of existential space" — translating the lived relations of man and environment into built form; "space" and "character" (orientation and identification) are the complementary terms (developed further in Genius Loci).
- Dwelling and meaning: "man dwells" — is at home — when he can orientate himself within and identify himself with a place; architecture gives an "existential foothold" and makes the environment meaningful.
- Against abstract functionalism: against the "scientific"/abstract analysis that misses "the concrete environmental character," Norberg-Schulz advocates a phenomenological return to the concrete everyday life-world.
Connections
Concepts: Dwelling · Atmosphere · Everyday Life Authors: Christian Norberg-Schulz · Martin Heidegger Debates: (phenomenology of place) Related source notes: Genius Loci (Norberg-Schulz 1980) · Building Dwelling Thinking (Heidegger)
Direct Quotes
"[E]xistential space … comprises the basic relationships between man and his environment."
"Man dwells when he can orientate himself within and identify himself with an environment … when he experiences the environment as meaningful."
"Architecture represents a means to give man an 'existential foothold.'"
Open Questions
- Can a phenomenology of "existential space" (place/path/domain) resist being co-opted by place-branding, or does it give an indispensable critical ground for questioning the loss of place under spectacle and financialization?
