Norberg-Shultz

Why has Norberg-Shultz been drawn to Heidegger’s ideas as they relate to today’s architects and their work?

Norberg-Shultz has been drawn to Heidegger’s ideas because he is searching for meaning in architecture while Heidegger is searching for authenticity in architecture, which in turn is a search for meaning. Both seek to define what it means to dwell. When an enclosure becomes more than just walls and a roof; at what point does it become a dwelling? Norberg points to phenomenology, describing it as a ‘return to things.’ This is what has been lost in todays architects. In doing research for my case study on the Sarphatistraat Offices by Steven Holl, I learned at least one of today’s architects is still concerned with the phenomenology of place. Steven Holl, however, prefers to think of phenomenology as the essences of place that are intrinsic to site and circumstance.