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?