Existential Space
Existential Space
Definition
Existential space is Christian Norberg-Schulz's term for the spatial dimension of being-in-the-world — the lived, meaningful space that architecture "concretizes." It is divided into the complementary terms space (orientation) and character (identification), corresponding to the psychic functions of knowing where one is and how one is situated. Architecture gives man an "existential foothold" by concretizing existential space into built form: "Man dwells when he can orientate himself within and identify himself with an environment ... when he experiences the environment as meaningful." The concept draws on Heidegger's account of dwelling as the fundamental character of human being and on the phenomenological "return to things" against abstract, scientific, functionalist spatial theory.
Key Thinkers
- Christian Norberg-Schulz — developed the concept across Existence, Space & Architecture (1971) and Genius Loci (1980).
- Martin Heidegger — the ontological foundation: dwelling as being-in-the-world; the thing as "gathering."
Related Concepts
- Genius Loci — the "spirit of place" that existential space concretizes; the character-side of identification.
- Dwelling — the purpose of architecture in Norberg-Schulz's framework; dwelling = existential foothold.
- Atmosphere — the qualitative, "total" phenomenon of place; the felt character that existential space makes legible.
- Being-in-the-World — Heidegger's ontological ground of existential space.
Source Support
Sources in the wiki that discuss this concept:
Open Questions
- Is "existential space" a universal human structure, or is it historically and culturally specific — and if the latter, what happens to it under the conditions of globalized, image-driven architectural production?
- Does Norberg-Schulz's framework survive the post-phenomenological critique (e.g., the atmospheric turn in Böhme, Borch) that shifts emphasis from meaning to affect?