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Architectural Phenomenology: Towards A Design Methodology of Person and Place
Architectural Phenomenology: Towards A Design Methodology of Person and Place
ARCHITECTURAL PHENOMENOLOGY:
TOWARDS A DESIGN METHODOLOGY OF PERSON AND PLACE
by David Thomas VonderBrink
This thesis document investigates the philosophical movement of phenomenology and its
implications in forming an architectural design methodology. The writings of such
existential philosophers and authors as Martin Heidegger, Maurice Merleau-Ponty, and
Christian Norberg-Schulz are discussed. To position the argument within a current
dialectically opposing discourse, the deconstructivist writings of Jacques Derrida and his
influence on the architecture of Bernard Tschumi and Peter Eisenman are explored.
Steven Holls Museum of Contemporary Art and Louis Kahns Salk Institute for
Biological Studies illustrate a phenomenological approach in design through a foundation
in the writings of the aforementioned authors. Through these examinations a design
methodology that seeks to express the interdependent relationship between person and
place is formulated. This methodology is then tested in the design of a large residential
and pedestrian path sited in Cincinnati, Ohio.
Architectural Phenomenology:
Towards a Design Methodology of Person and Place
A Thesis
Submitted to the
Faculty of Miami University
in partial fulfillment of
the requirements for the degree of
Master of Architecture
Department of Architecture and Interior Design
by
David Thomas VonderBrink
Miami University
Oxford, Ohio
2007
____________________________
John Reynolds - Advisor
____________________________
Craig Hinrichs - Reader
____________________________
Gerardo Brown-Manrique Reader
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page #
1.
INTRODUCTION
2.
Heidegger
2.
Merleau-Ponty
3.
Norberg-Schulz
4.
Deconstruction
6.
Bernard Tschumi
7.
Peter Eisenman
8.
Steven Holl
11.
Louis I. Kahn
13.
DESIGN METHODOLOGY
14.
ADDENDUM
21.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
25-41.
ii
INTRODUCTION
The essence of our existence consists
To understand phenomenology in
and cities.
will
discuss
the
deconstructivist
Phenomenology, a philosophy of
Tschumi
Illustrating
such
as
scientific,
diagrammatic,
and
Peter
Eisenman.
phenomenological
the
seen
in
its
totality
Thus,
within
seeks
aforementioned
to
express
interdependent
architectural
design
through
of
bridging
the
authors,
or
Steven
reveal
relationship
the
between
Heidegger
In the text Being and Time (1962),
the
German
philosopher
Martin
in
the
early
nineteenth
century,
origins
architectural
In an
recognized.
subject.
ultimately
reacts.
of
language.
Within
discipline,
an
Heideggers
form
in
order to
built
experience.
sense,
humans dwell.
In
this
objects
create
place
for
Merleau-Ponty
phenomenology
an
philosophy
Heidegger,
like
existential
but
body
experience.
relationship.
and
perceptual
knowledge
Heideggers notion of
world).
thing.
of
the
body
(recalling
being-in-the-
Norberg-Schulz
with
the
Their
qualitative
architecture.
investigation
into
how
This
one
dwells
world.
Deconstruction
Within
framework
within
known
the-world.
through
Dwelling,
a
and
philosophy
as
phenomenological
an
and
architectural
architecture
deconstruction.
This
identity.
environment".
what
the
German
poet
language.
Friedrich
the
subject-object
relationship
The
and
especially
Heideggers
language
reveals
structures.
creation
basic
Derrida
and
belief
that
existential
redefines
operation
metaphysical
of
assumptions
of
text,
the
textual
potentially
construction.
concerns
present
and
in
matters
of
given
human
perception.
Whereas
architectural
unlike
phenomenological
or
form.
detached
sensibilities.
Thus,
from
the
any
The
writing
and
experiential
deconstructivist
architects.
supposedly
relationship of being-in-the-world, is
unifying
and
idealistic,
to
dissect
traditional,
simply
or
Bernard Tschumi
A major constructed manifestation of
this
method
emerged
of
steel
pavilions
that
Bernard
architecture
contemporary
configurations.
society's
in
collection
disjunction
of
The
unexpected
process
and
three
order.
ordering
systems:
points
(or
Fig.2
However,
the
infinite
plurality
instability of experience.
and
As seen in
Thus,
meaning
is
inherently
Modern
creating
and order.
Peter Eisenman
American
architect
Peter
context.
materials,
diverse
according
The
them
by
The
Architecture
By the
of
Part
of
the
deconstructivist
building.
Indeed
deconstruction
Fig.4
form
unpredictable
and
is
inevitably
results
in
mere
Fig. 5
self-analysis
void
of
the
deconstructivist,
Similar to
Rather than
The
Museum
of
Fig.7
a starting point.
through movement.
notion
of
anchoring
strategies.
process
that
is
In
simultaneously
Helsinki,
Holl
creates
two
from
intertwining,
Merleau-Ponty
occurs
that
where
means
the
Helsinki.
Here,
folded
planes
that
create
However,
Fig.8
The folded
Thus Holl
The
surroundings
become
primary
importance.
phenomenological
of
approach,
the
explain
through
building
brings
relatively
unadorned
mass
of
the
Recalling
Louis I. Kahn
The architecture of Louis Kahn
courtyard
architecture of phenomenology.
Kahn
are
fused
by
[this]
not
speak
directly
of
Fig. 9
evident.
and
Bergsons
belief
interconnected
in
the
relationship
of
world.
writings as this:
It
is
also
evident
that
constructed.
Silence to Light
Light to Silence
The threshold of their crossing
is the Singularity
is Inspiration
(Where the desire to express meets
the possible)
is the Sanctuary of Art
is the Treasury of the Shadows
(Material casts shadows shadows
belong to light)
Fig. 10
12
DESIGN METHODOLOGY
In order for humans to dwell, and
therefore
experience
As
Holl
accomplished
in
his
concrete
The
specific situation.
To
begin
phenomenological
which
to
discover
underlying
phenomena
and
relying
more
on
that
surrounds
perception,
our
us
bodys
general
qualities
In other
and
experiences of humans.
itself.
13
meaning.
methodology
denies
abstract
methods
seemingly
such
of
as
applied
within
phenomenological
methodology
grounded
design
within
14
ADDENDUM
As I began thinking about which site
Ohio River.
method
Conservatory.
of
designing
through
The
Ohio
River,
Cincinnati
my investigation.
exploring
architectural
Cincinnati, Ohio.
restaurant,
childrens
the
playground,
Montgomery
tennis,
Inn
Plan)
15
space.
Once
not be ignored.
Columbia
Parkway
could
not
be
elements
the
include
relatively
dense
earth
below.
The
necessary
16
Fig. 30 Plaza)
Cantilevered
There
awkwardly
into my site.
intersects
narrow
17
units,
From
framed
these
by
plazas
the
and
cantilevered
pedestrian
(See
beyond.
18
metaphysical
The
crossing
slender
pedestrian
Eastern
also
bridge
creates
beyond.
connection,
like
the
an
Section)
the
as
almost
community
human
interconnectedness
existing
hillside,
sublime
but
rooftop
just
19
experience
with
and
our
the
world
as
adjacencies,
well
as
begin
to
form
and
exemplify
methodology
rooted
concepts of phenomenology.
in
the
The
of
person-world
interconnection.
When I visited Louis Kahns Salk
Institute, I was able to explore and begin
to understand what Heidegger meant
when he explained that built objects
create a place for ontological events;
what Steven Holl meant by anchoring
and intertwining; and what Christian
Norberg-Schulz meant when he urged us
to uncover the meanings potentially
present in the given environment. It is
these things that I sought to uncover and
exemplify in my approach, my method,
and my design and hope to explore even
further as I continue through my
architectural career.
20
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