WEEK6: Norberg-Schultz & Pallasmaa

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

Norberg-Schultze believes that places cannot be described by a means of analytic concepts because in doing so, one loses that which makes up the world of everyday life, which should be of real concern to architects and planners. It is no surprise then, that he is very drawn to Heidegger’s ideas of dwelling as a conceptual beginning to his own ideas of phenomenology in architecture, which are searching for more concrete conclusions. This is very clear in Norberg-Schultz’s grasping on to Heidegger’s relating a true description of space to Trakl’s poem ‘A Winter Evening.’ This is where Heidegger’s conceptual ideas transform to more concrete understandings.  Norbeg-Schultz believes that poetry is able to “…concretize those totalities [of space]  which can elude science and may; therefore, suggest how we might proceed to obtain the needed understanding.” The poem both describes the structure of place in terms of ‘landscape’ and ‘settlement’ while also describing the “space” and “character.” These connections in their descriptions of the phenomenology of space, I believe, is why Norberg-Schultz is so attracted to Heidegger’s ideas.

How can we understand and determine a person’s experience of architecture?

I think that we can understand and determine a person’s experience of architecture only by knowing and understanding that person, which would most likely come from having a dialogue with that person.  He or she would then have the opportunity to describe, in his or her own words, what it is that they feel of that architecture. The interviewer should then ask why he/she feels this way, wherein the interviewee might relate a personal experience or bias. We all have preferences and biases, but often they are tied to the individuality of that person and his/her past experiences and how he/she interprets those experiences.

How do you interpret Pallasmaa’s ideas about the following?

All art emanates from the body……….

I believe this would be the conclusion statement to a series of truths. All art is a depiction of a response to something. All responses are some form (or forms) of emotion. Emotions originate within the body. Therefore, all art emanates from the body.

Early childhood memories inform and form us as we grow up……….

I agree that early childhood memories inform and form us as we grow up. I certainly feel that way about my own experiences. Of my earliest memory in life, I could describe to you where I was sitting, what the furniture looked like, the color of the carpet, the way the light was falling into the living room window, all of the details of the space within the living room of our 1920’s bungalow home. I don’t recall these details because of their architectural or spatial significance, but because the action occurring in that space at that time was significant to me and my family. I believe this is what Pallasmaa calls ‘personal indentifiability and emotional force’. Is it a coincidence that all of my collective memories are organized in my mind by the spaces in which they occurred? I don’t think so.

Other arts create the importance of place and our experience……….

I don’t think that what Pallasmaa is saying is that other arts create the importance of place and experience, but rather, that they provide an insight that is unconstrained. Because of that untethered perspective, other arts can observe more clearly experiences that those within the architectural discipline might overlook or misunderstand through over-analysis. Pallasmaa likens this perspective to a “‘pure looking’ of a child’s way of experiencing things.’ By child, Pallasmaa does not mean immature or lacking, but in an unbiased fashion.

Loneliness and silence of buildings……….

Palllasmaa attributes the loneliness and silence of building to the “…private dialogue between the work and person experiencing it, which excludes all other interaction.”  I disagree that lack of interaction equates to loneliness. Of the works of architecture I’ve found moving, I experience an introspection sparked by the recognition of a sense of understanding and of being understood. I am simultaneously aware of a greater importance beyond myself, but also my part in that. For me, it feels like being in a room and meditating with fifty others (also meditating). We are not interacting, but I am aware of and comforted by their presence. For me, silence does not equal loneliness, but reverence.