Christian Norberg Schulz and the Project of Phenomenology in Architecture

Elie G. Haddad
Lebanese American University

Abstract
This paper will examine the theoretical work of one of the major proponents of a
‘phenomenological’ approach in architecture, the historian-theoretician Christian
Norberg-Schulz, examining the development of his ideas across thirty years.
While Norberg-Schulz started out with Intentions in Architecture [1963], a work
inspired by the structuralist studies in semiotics, sociology and psychology, he
soon shifted to a phenomenological approach with Existence, Space and
Architecture [1971], continuing with Genius Loci [1980] and The Concept of
Dwelling [1985]. This paper will explore the theoertical writings of Christian
Norberg-Schulz, in an attempt to evaluate his interpretation of phenomenology
and its application to architecture, as well as its ambiguous relation to the project
of modernity.

Biography

Elie Haddad is an architect and associate professor of architecture at the

Lebanese American University in Byblos, Lebanon. He has completed his
architectural studies at the University of Pennsylvania where he earned a PhD in
Architecture in 1998. He has been teaching design studios and architectural
theory at the Lebanese American University since 1994, where he also served as
Chair of the Department of Architecture & Design from 2000 to 2005.
Haddad’s research interests include topics in modern architecture, contemporary
architecture in the Arab world as well as urban developments in Lebanon. He has
contributed several articles on these topics to local and international journals.

Paper accepted for publication in Architecture Theory Review- March 2010 1

Existential Space and Phenomenology
It is paradoxical that the
phenomenological discourse appeared on
the architectural scene after the decline of
structuralism and semiotics, while in
Philosophy and the Humanities, it was the
decline of phenomenology in the 1960’s
that prompted the development of
structuralism. This ambiguous situation
may be explained by the time-lapse which
usually accompanies the translation of
philosophical ideas or tendencies in the
architectural field.
The phenomenological discourse in
architecture took as its major reference
Fig.1.Diagram from Intentions in
point the later writings of Martin
Architecture
Heidegger, and was most prominently
represented by the interpretative work of
Norberg Schulz’s first theoretical work was
Christian Norberg-Schulz. Martin
very much influenced by the structuralist
Heidegger’s later works, especially the
tendencies of the 1960’s. Intentions in
series of essays “On the Essence of
Architecture appeared in 1963 and
Truth”, “The Origin of the Work of Art”,
constituted an ambitious project to
and “Building, Dwelling, Thinking”,
develop an overarching ‘system’ that
reflected a turn in his orientation from the
would account for the various poles of
earlier Being and Time towards a
architectural activity. Norberg-Schulz’s
mythopoeic approach that privileged a
framework for his study included a survey
direct reflection on the nature of
of scientific methods from sociology to
elements, influenced by artistic practices.1
psychology to semiotics. Already at this
time, Norberg-Schulz attributed the
condition of ‘crisis’ to the failure of
modern architecture to take account of
some of the essential factors that give
significance to the built environment,
among those the role of ‘perception’ as

Paper accepted for publication in Architecture Theory Review- March 2010 2

well as the importance of history as a
source of meanings.2
Norberg-Schulz’s discussion of perception
was influenced by Gestalt psychology, to
which were also added the socialization of
perception, and the process of
‘schematization’, which deals with the way
in which perception leads to the
construction of an understanding of the
world, based on the pioneering studies of
Jean Piaget in child psychology. From this,
he proceeded to outline a theoretical
Fig.2. Existence, Space and Architecture
framework which would comprise all the
semiotic dimensions. This theory, based
Existence, Space and Architecture marked
on semiotics but also supplemented by
a turning point in Norberg-Schulz’s
other relevant studies, was an attempt to
theoretical project. While his first work
create a comprehensive structure that
was still based on a structuralist
would account for the ‘architectural
approach, this work betrayed a shift which
totality’ in all its aspects: the technical
would concretize later into a more
structure, environment and context, scale,
committed move towards a
and ornament.3 It is worthy to note that
phenomenological approach to
this work did not list any single reference
architecture. In the foreword, Norberg-
to Heidegger in its bibliography, only
Schulz announced in fact a “new approach
mentioning him in a single footnote.
to the problem of architectural space”,
attempting to “develop the idea that
Few years later, Norberg-Schulz published
architectural space may be understood as
a work with a very indicative title,
a concretization of environmental
Existence, Space and Architecture [1971],
schemata or images, which form a
followed by Genius Loci [1980] and The
necessary part of man’s general
Concept of Dwelling [1985] which
orientation or ‘being in the world’.”5 This
constituted his trilogy on phenomenology
reference to ‘being in the world’ is already
in architecture, within a theoretical
indicative of the new direction, supported
framework that derived its main impetus
by several quotations of Heidegger. Still,
from the writings of Martin Heidegger.4
in this ‘transitional’ work, Norberg-Schulz
stood on a middle ground between the

Paper accepted for publication in Architecture Theory Review- March 2010 3

structuralist positions of Piaget, Arnheim that would be developed later into a
and others, and the ‘phenomenological’ separate thesis, that of genius loci, or
position represented by Heidegger and ‘sense of place’.9 He identified four levels
Bollnow6, among others. This attempt at of ‘existential space’: geography and
reconciling structuralism with landscape, the urban level, the house and
phenomenology can be traced even in his the thing. In discussing the house,
subsequent work and never seemed to Norberg-Schulz referred to Heidegger’s
pose any problems for Norberg Schulz. essay on dwelling and the etymological
roots of ‘building’, stressing the role of the
The major concept in Existence, Space house as the ‘central place of human
and Architecture is ‘space’. The discussion existence’:
of ‘space’ was motivated by what the The House, therefore, remains the
author perceived as a reductive reading of central place of human existence,
that concept, first given currency by the place where the child learns to
Giedion, and later revived by others, understand his being in the world,
7
particularly Bruno Zevi. Norberg Schulz and the place from which man
qualified this as ‘existential space’, departs and to which he returns.10
structured into schemata and centers,
directions, paths, and domains; concepts The last chapter discussed the concept of
that he illustrated by concrete examples ‘architectural space’ which he defined as a
derived from multiple sources, from ‘concretization of existential space’,
Mircea Eliade to Otto Bollnow, Gaston illustrated by a historical survey of various
Bachelard, Claude Levi-Strauss and Kevin architectural works, from villages and
Lynch. The center, for instance, was towns to specific architectural artifacts,
illustrated by the image drawn from classified into center, path and domain;
Eliade’s discussion on mythology, a and described in terms of their
mythical origin traversed by a diagram of phenomenological attributes. Existential
the axis mundi, which represents a space was thus defined as a qualitative
connection between the different cosmic space, manifest in the monumental
8
realms. Similarly, the path was discussed architecture of the Parthenon as well as
in connection with the idea of departure that of the medieval towns, in the
and return home, and therefore of a dynamic architecture of Borromini as well
division into the ‘inner’ and ‘outer’ as the Renaissance, in the work of Le
domains of existence, as explained by Corbusier, La Tourette being a favored
Bollnow. He also introduced a new concept example, as well as in Louis Kahn’s and

Paper accepted for publication in Architecture Theory Review- March 2010 4

Paolo Portoghesi’s works. For Norberg- the interaction between different levels of
Schulz, there exist multiple variations to space, resulting in a balanced relation
the concept of ‘architectural space’, but its between the building and its environment.
essential aspects have been obliterated by Norberg-Schulz concluded with a
some modern works, especially at the statement from Heidegger, “Mortals dwell
level of urbanism. There, the figural in as much as they save the earth…” as a
quality of the street and its variations, the confirmation of the necessity of re-
centrality of the town square and its appropriating the elements of existential
existential role, have been ignored by space as a foundation for architecture.12
architects, which led to deficient urban
environments. In this respect, he joined
Venturi, Jacobs, and Rossi in criticizing
Modern Architecture for its shortcomings,
especially at the level of the urban
environment. Again, as in the case of
Venturi, but using a different approach,
Norberg-Schulz returned to history in its
wider sense to give comparative examples
of buildings, towns and landscapes as
examples that naturally incorporate these
qualities of ‘existential space’, creating
meaningful and harmonious
Fig.3. Genius Loci
environments.
Norberg-Schulz reiterated the necessary
Genius Loci
recognition and understanding of the
Norberg-Schulz introduced his major
different levels of architectural space that 13
opus, Genius Loci, as a sequel to his
“form a structured totality which
previous two works in architectural
corresponds to the structure of existential
theory, despite the radically different
11
space”. This understanding of ‘existential
direction that this work took in relation to
space’, ignored by ‘orthodox modernism’,
the first. Genius Loci was perhaps the
reappeared according to Norberg-Schulz
most influential of Norberg Schulz’s
in the work of Louis Kahn, Robert Venturi
writings, as it came out at a time when
and Paolo Portoghesi. The latter was
questions of meaning, history, and
singled out for his supposed mastery,
mythology assumed greater importance in
through the application of geometry, of
architectural discourse, in a post-

Paper accepted for publication in Architecture Theory Review- March 2010 5

modernist climate that gave back Heidegger’s essays. The main lesson of
credibility to these themes. And unlike his this poem, as explained by Norberg
previous works, this one was more Schulz, is the importance of ‘concrete
explicitly concerned with the interpretation images’ that constitute our experiences,
of phenomenology in architecture as its represented by poets, architects and
subtitle indicated, and as clearly stated in artists. The phenomenological challenge
the introduction that acknowledged the lies therefore in reviving this poetic
debt to Heidegger’s ideas, particularly the dimension of things, and re-establishing
essays gathered in Poetry, Language, the lost connection between the various
14
Thought. elements that constitute our world.
Specifically, Norberg Schulz stressed the
connection between the man-made world
and the natural world, historically evident
in various places and environments from
around the world. This relationship is
established through a three-point process
of visualization, complementation, and
16
symbolization, a process that was
attributed to Heidegger’s concept of
‘gathering’. Its last phase, symbolization,
plays a more crucial role in the
concretization of meaning in a place, and
in the realization of the concept of
‘gathering’. Norberg Schulz’s main thesis

Fig.4. The Acropolis, from Genius Loci rested on the marriage of these two
concepts, Heidegger’s concept of

In this photographic essay on ‘gathering’ and the old Roman concept of

architecture,15 ranging from the Genius Loci:

macroscopic scale of landscapes to the The existential purpose of building

microscopic scale of architectural details, (architecture) is therefore to make

Norberg Schulz proposed to elaborate the a site become a place, that is, to

constituting elements of a uncover the meanings potentially

‘phenomenology of place’, using as a present in the given environment.

keynote the poem of Georg Trakl, A […] Genius Loci is a Roman

Winter Evening, quoted in one of concept. According to ancient

Paper accepted for publication in Architecture Theory Review- March 2010 6

 Roman belief every ‘independent’ back Heidegger, specifically his essay on
being has its genius, its guardian “The Origin of the Work of Art”.18 As for
spirit. This spirit gives life to people landscapes, Norberg-Schulz again drew on
and places, accompanies them Heidegger in calling for a ‘phenomenology
from birth to death, and of natural place’ which recalls the different
determines their character or topological contexts and reexamines their
essence. Even the gods had their etymologies in the hope of uncovering
genius, a fact which illustrates the their original meanings:
fundamental nature of the Whereas valleys and basins have a
17
concept. macro or medium scale, a ravine
(cleft, gorge) is distinguished by a
In what amounts to a mixing of mythology “forbidding” narrowness. It has the
with philosophy, Norberg-Schulz quality of an “under-world” which
proceeded to develop his theory, gives access to the “inside” of the
supported by a litany of well chosen earth. In a ravine we feel caught or
photographs that depict various conditions trapped, and the etymology of the
and sites, from the historic towns of word in fact leads us back to
Europe to the landscapes of Tuscany, rapere, that is to “seize”.19
Switzerland, Finland and Sudan, and from
the characteristic images of people Norberg-Schulz’s personal religious
walking in the Nordic winter snow to affinities played a significant role in the
barefoot children posing in their desert definition of his particular theoretical
20
village in Sudan. This ‘photo- position. Thus, it is not only landscape in
historiography’, as pointedly analyzed by general that stimulates a
Jorge Otero-Pailos, also encompassed phenomenological understanding of the
select examples of historical periods, from world, but specific places within the
Greek to Baroque and Modern landscape that create a favorable
Architecture. The reference to Greek condition for ‘intimate dwelling’. These
examples, such as the iconic Tholos and ‘sub-places’, such as the Carceri of St
Theater of Delphi, was of course Francis near Assisi or the Sacro Speco of
legitimized and necessitated by the appeal St Benedict near Subiaco, offer
to the concept of Genius Loci, with its “archetypal retreats where man may still
mythological aspects that invoke the experience the presence of the original
specific appropriations of places by forces of the earth”.21
different gods, a theme that also brings

Paper accepted for publication in Architecture Theory Review- March 2010 7

 framework for the unifying message
proclaimed by religions like Islam. The
Classical landscape appears like an in-
between condition which generates a
meaningful order and fosters a ‘human
fellowship’ where the individual is neither
absorbed by the totality [the cosmic
order] nor forced to seek his private
hiding place [the romantic world]. The
Classical landscape offers, accordingly, the
possibility for a ‘true gathering’, i.e. for
Fig.5. Sacro Speco of St Benedict near dwelling in the Heideggerian sense, not
Subiaco surprisingly echoing Heidegger’s ideas on
the Greek Temple as an ideal form.22
Yet what is most surprising in this These three types of landscape constitute
interpretation of the environment was ‘archetypes’, which do not always present
Norberg-Schulz’s reductive categorization themselves in the ‘pure’ form of the
of landscapes into three basic types: examples mentioned, sometimes leading
Romantic [the Nordic region being its to ‘complex’ landscapes, i.e. composite
main illustration], Cosmic [defined as an landscapes such as Naples or Venice, or
environment that makes an absolute and Brandenburg where “extension is
eternal order manifest, represented best squeezed in between a sandy moor and a
by the infinite desert], and Classical low, grey sky, creating a landscape which
[varied yet orderly, an example of which seems saturated by the monotonous,
is the Greek landscape]. But these cheerless rhythm of marching soldiers”.23
landscapes do not simply present abstract
topological conditions; they appear The same reductive approach that was
intimately connected to certain social or followed to categorize the various
cultural characteristics, which take the landscapes was also used to categorize
form of historically determined ‘man-made’ place, i.e. architecture, into
‘characteristics’. The Romantic landscape ‘Romantic architecture’, ‘Cosmic
for instance encourages an intimate architecture’ and ‘Classical architecture’.
relation with the earth, where dwelling While Classical architecture offers itself
takes the form of a refuge in the forest; more easily to categorization, as it is
while the desert seems to act as a natural historically recognized, it is interesting to

Paper accepted for publication in Architecture Theory Review- March 2010 8

note the selective reading of the author Prague, Khartoum and Rome. While
regarding the other categories, which Prague exudes a romantic sense of
proceeds from the same geographical mystery confirmed by the novels of Kafka
determinism applied to landscape. Thus, and supported by its rich and varied
‘Romantic architecture’ does not indicate a architectural heritage, the ‘cosmic’
specific style or period, but an Khartoum offers the opposite feeling of an
architecture “distinguished by multiplicity infinite landscape defined by the
and variety”, “irrational and subjective”, movement of the sun and the Nile River.
“phantastic and mysterious but also And while Rome was probably selected to
24
intimate and idyllic”. This unusual illustrate the third case, upon closer
definition brings together disparate scrutiny its genius loci appears to escape
examples, from the medieval towns of any strict definition, and thus emerges as
Germany to the vernacular architecture of a ‘complex’ case which ‘contains
Norway, extending to the work of Guimard everything’.
and Aalto in our own time. In the same
vein, cosmic architecture applies to works The last chapter in the book is dedicated
characterized by ‘uniformity and absolute to the discussion of the ‘loss of place’ in
order’ and supposedly finds its best the contemporary world. This is in
manifestation in Islamic architecture.25 essence, the second thesis of the book,
and presents the underlying project of
Norberg-Schulz, which is not different
from that of other theorists who were
preoccupied by the disintegrating urban
condition around the world. Here Norberg-
Schulz presented a pragmatic assessment
of the problem, from the destruction of
the ‘urban fabric’ to the loss of character

Fig.6. Prague and place. Yet once again, his conciliatory

[or one may even say ‘catholic’] approach

The following chapters were dedicated to left the issue unresolved, as he did not

a selective study of three environments take any firm stand regarding it. While the

that illustrate these three categories, a illustrations accompanying the text

study which in reality translates into featured the Federal Center in Chicago by

something in between a travel guide and Mies van der Rohe and the Green City by

an architectural survey of these cities, Le Corbusier as examples of this deficient

Paper accepted for publication in Architecture Theory Review- March 2010 9

urbanism, the text reads more like an descriptions come close to Heidegger’s.28
apologetic of the Modern Movement, A third generation of architects, led by
which attempted to give new forms to a Utzon, Pietila, Stirling and Bofill, appeared
‘new spirit’, reflecting the new genius loci, on the right path towards an architecture
with the aim of helping people ‘regain a that concretizes this recovery of place.29
true and meaningful existence’. The
author went as far as suggesting that The Concept of Dwelling
some of its early manifestations, such as The Concept of Dwelling constituted the
Neue Sachlichkeit, effectively meant a third part of Norberg-Schulz’s
return ‘back to things’ rather than a ‘New phenomenological trilogy, still supported
26
Rationalism’. This ‘return to things’ was by a framework of semiotic and
30
revealed in some of the masterpieces of behaviorist studies. In this work,
modern architecture, such as the Villa Norberg-Schulz directly addressed the
Savoye and the Haus Tugendhat which, issue of ‘dwelling’, a concept that was
despite their ‘lack of substance and singled out by Heidegger’s famous essay.
presence’, satisfy modern man’s search Here the subtitle indicated a movement
for freedom and identity. It is only when towards ‘figurative architecture’.31
moving to the urban dimension that
modern architecture fails to ‘gather’ and
to create significant environments.27 In
what amounts then to an apologetic of the
Modern Movement and a confirmation of
the theses of his teacher Giedion,
Norberg-Schulz concluded that the
underlying basis of the Modern Movement
was ‘profoundly meaningful’ and that only
at the hands of some imitators the
movement had lost its objectives. These
objectives were again being rediscovered
in this second phase which proposes to
“give buildings and places individuality, Fig.7. The Concept of Dwelling
with regard to space and character”, as
manifested in the works of Aalto, the late In the foreword, the author announced
works of Corbusier, and most significantly the basic premise of the book as the
in the work of Kahn whose poetic rediscovery of ‘dwelling’ in its

Paper accepted for publication in Architecture Theory Review- March 2010 10

comprehensive totality, leading towards a more recent discovery of Phenomenology.
final overcoming of functionalism and a Thus in this work, the author reexamined
32
return to figurative architecture. The the four categories of dwelling under the
keynote to this work is given by the structuralist template of ‘morphology’,
Norwegian story of Knut, a youngster who ‘topology’ and ‘typology’. These
recognizes, through a sort of spiritual constituted the organizing structure which
revelation, his presence in the forest as a was applied onto the dimension of ‘being’:
fundamental aspect of his existence. Two Man’s being-in-the-world is
illustrations, a Norwegian forest and a structured, and the structure is
farmhouse, accompany this introduction, kept and visualized by means of
further evoking this idea of dwelling as a architecture.34
return to the sources.33 And further:
The meaning of a work of
The Concept of Dwelling was organized architecture therefore consists in
into a structured study that proceeded its gathering the world in a general
from the general outline to the typical sense, in a local particular
development of the concept, from the sense, in a temporal historical
macro level of the settlement to that of sense, and, finally, as something,
the individual house, passing by the that is as the figural manifestation
intermediary ‘modes’ of dwelling, urban of a mode of dwelling between
space and institution, and organized earth and sky.35
around two ‘aspects’, identification and
orientation. Mingled in the text are various
quotations from Heidegger, Husserl and
Merleau-Ponty, to give a
‘phenomenological’ flavor to an otherwise
structuralist work that was still based on
the same concepts derived from Gestalt
psychology, from Kevin Lynch, in addition
to the work of Mircea Eliade on
mythology. In focusing his attention on Fig.8. Hill House by C.R. Mackinstosh
laying down the foundations of an
architectural ‘language’, Norberg-Schulz Once again, the selection of ‘particular’
returned back to the earlier phase of his examples of dwelling at the level of the
Intentions in Architecture, colored by his individual house is quite revealing of the

Paper accepted for publication in Architecture Theory Review- March 2010 11

author’s selective interpretation. The first
example mentioned was the Hill House by
Mackintosh, lauded for its fulfillment of
the task of dwelling, i.e. to “reveal the
world, not as essence but as presence,
that is as material and color, topography
and vegetation, seasons, weather and
light”.36
it did not look like a house. Hence, what
seems to be the problem is simply the
inability of the modern house to look like a
house, and not, as Heidegger had alluded
to, the inability of modern man to dwell.
Norberg-Schulz expressed here the hope
that the revival of this figural quality, as
evident in many post-modern projects,
will again make dwelling possible.37
Despite a cautionary remark against the
fall into eclecticism, the book ends on an
optimistic note that this recovery of the
figural quality would lead to a recovery of
dwelling, in which phenomenology would
play a major role as the catalyst for the
rediscovery of the poetic dimension in

Fig.9. Hvittrask Colony House, Finland architecture.38

After the Hill House, it is to vernacular Conclusion

architecture that the author turned, and Despite its wide dissemination in

particularly to the types of dwelling architectural circles during the 1980’s, the

mentioned by Heidegger, common in theoretical work of Norberg-Schulz

Northern European countries, from received relatively little critical overview,

Germany to Switzerland, Holland and apart from the usual book reviews which

Denmark. In addition to these, Saarinen’s were generally positive.39

Hvittrask complex, Behrens’ house in Yet the strongest attack against this

Darmstadt, Hoffmann’s Palais Stoclet and interpretation of phenomenology came

Wright’s various houses, which share little indirectly from Massimo Cacciari, in a

in common, are seen as good examples of premonitory article which criticized the

this interpretation of dwelling. Yet this naïve interpretations of Heidegger’s

time, the critique of the ‘modern house’ concept of dwelling that started to appear

was more explicit, and the author in the Seventies.40 Cacciari read in

recognized its failure to arrive at a Heidegger’s essay a recognition of the

satisfactory solution to the problem of ‘impossibility of dwelling’, rather than a

dwelling, for it lacked the ‘figural quality’:

Paper accepted for publication in Architecture Theory Review- March 2010 12

desire for a nostalgic return to pre-
modern conditions of dwelling: This of course does not absolve Norberg-
No nostalgia, then, in Heidegger – Schulz from criticism for his reductive
but rather the contrary. He interpretation of phenomenology, which
radicalizes the discourse supporting was used as a pretext for a return to
any possible “nostalgic” attitude, vernacular architecture on the one hand,
lays bare its logic, pitilessly and to advocate post-modernism on the
emphasizes its insurmountable other hand. In addition, Norberg-Schulz
distance from the actual never seemed to go beyond the surface,
41
condition. satisfying himself with the reading of the
later works of Heidegger, without
Cacciari’s reading of this ‘impossibility of attempting to examine some of the
dwelling’ in Heidegger can not be problematic issues raised by critics of
understood in isolation from the historical architectural phenomenology. Instead,
project of Modernity. Hilde Heynen and in his latest publication, Architecture:
pointed out this opposition between these Presence, Language, Place; Norberg-
two ideological positions, which she Schulz brought together once again the
termed as utopian-nostalgic and critical- various concepts from structuralism to
radical, represented respectively by phenomenology, into yet another
Christian Norberg-Schulz and Massimo synthetic work that attempted once again
Cacciari. In this opposition, Heynen to give a ‘comprehensive’ account of
recognized the deficiencies of both architecture from all periods and
43
positions, one for its simplistic reduction regions. Heidegger’s later reflections on
of the problematic to a question of art and architecture, and the mythopoeic
architectural form, the other for its turn that he took may also be partly
assimilation of the condition of anxiety as responsible for this misreading of the
42
a generative principle. Yet Heynen, in phenomenological approach in
what seems like a confirmation of architecture, which can not be reduced to
Norberg-Schulz’s interpretation of a preference for a certain style or period,
Heidegger, also found it hard to read and not even to a single concept such as
Heidegger’s essay on dwelling as an dwelling. The later developments in
affirmation of negation and the architecture, and the appropriations of the
impossibility of dwelling, when in fact it ‘figurative’ has in fact shown that the
implicitly carried within it a nostalgic ‘crisis of the object’, of which Tafuri
stance towards the loss of dwelling. spoke, can not be simply resolved by such

Paper accepted for publication in Architecture Theory Review- March 2010 13

measures. It remains to be seen whether within the current economic system, and
other phenomenological ‘projects’ in in restoring to architecture its full
architecture would succeed in resolving significance as an aesthetic practice.
the problematic condition of architecture

Endnotes

1
Dermot Moran. Introduction to Phenomenology. Routledge, 2000 [Ch.6]
2
Christian Norberg-Schulz. Intentions in Architecture, MIT Press, 1965 [21-2]. The
first edition of the book was published in 1962 by Oslo University Press. All
references in this article refer to the first MIT edition of 1965.
3
Norberg-Schulz, 1965 [101-2]
4
There were later works by Norberg-Schulz that reiterated the ideas presented in
this trilogy, which will not be discussed here, namely his Architecture: Presence,
Language, Space, published by Skira in 2000
5
Christian Norberg-Schulz. Existence, Space and Architecture. NY:Praeger, 1971 [7]
6
Otto F. Bollnow, author of Mensch und Raum, 1963 as well as a number of works
on German existential philosophy and hermeneutics, among others.
7
Norberg-Schulz,1971 [12]
8
Norberg-Schulz, 1971 [21]
9
Norberg-Schulz, 1971 [27]
10
Norberg-Schulz, 1971 [31]
11
Norberg-Schulz, 1971 [96]
12
Norberg-Schulz, 1971 [114]
13
Genius Loci: Towards a Phenomenology of Architecture. NY: Rizzoli, 1980. This
book was first published in Italian as Genius Loci- paesaggio, ambiente, architettura
by Electa in 1979. Interesting to note here that the Italian subtitle differs from the
one chosen for the English edition and does not include the explicit reference to
Phenomenology
14
Martin Heidegger. Poetry, Language, Thought. NY:1971
15
For a critique of Norberg Schulz’s visual approach, see Jorge Otero-Pailos’s
“Photo[historio]graphy: Christian Norberg-Schulz’s Demotion of Textual History”, in
Journal of Society of Architectural Historians 66:2, 2007 [220-241]. In one of the
few critical analysis of Norberg Schulz’s work, Otero-Pailos argues that the author
created a new type of history book, one which relies on images as an ‘alternate
narrative’ which was paradoxically anti-historical, in that it avoided critical reflection
by concealing its own historical construction.
16
Norberg-Schulz, 1980 [17]
17
Norberg-Schulz, 1980 [18]
18
In this essay, Heidegger referred to the Greek temple as a major example of the
significance and role of a work of art. Norberg-Schulz dedicated one of his essays to
discuss this text by Heidegger, published as “Heidegger’s Thinking on Architecture”
in Perspeta, Vol. 20, 1983, [61-80]
19
Norberg-Schulz, 1980 [37]
20
This has been also mentioned by Otero-Pailos in his article. Ibidem
21
Norberg-Schulz, 1980 [40]

Paper accepted for publication in Architecture Theory Review- March 2010 14

22
Norberg-Schulz, 1980 [46]
23
Norberg-Schulz, 1980 [47]
24
Norberg-Schulz, 1980 [68-69]
25
Norberg-Schulz, 1980 [71-73]
26
Norberg-Schulz, 1980 [191-192]
27
Norberg-Schulz, 1980 [194-195]
28
Norberg-Schulz, 1980 [195-198]
29
Norberg-Schulz, 1980 [198-200]
30
This work did not conclude the series on this topic, as the author published later
his Architecture: Presence, Language and Place [Skira, 2000] which reiterated the
same themes discussed in the previous books.
31
Christian Norberg-Schulz. The concept of dwelling: On the way to figurative
architecture. NY: Rizzoli, 1985. Again, the original publication came out one year
before in Italian, under Electa.
32
In a separate essay titled “On the Way to Figurative Architecture”, Norberg-Schulz
sheds further light on his interpretation of the ‘figurative’, using this concept to
support recent post-modernist projects by Venturi, Graves and Botta, among others.
See “On the Way to Figurative Architecture” in Christian Norberg-Schulz,
Architecture: Meaning and Place, NY: Electa/Rizzoli, 1988 [233-245]
33
Norberg-Schulz, 1985 [9-12]
34
Norberg-Schulz, 1985 [29]
35
Norberg-Schulz, 1985 [30]
36
Norberg-Schulz, 1985 [89]
37
Norberg-Schulz, 1985 [110]. It is noteworthy that two drawings were used to
illustrate the ‘figural quality’: the first a drawing by Louis Kahn, the second by
Michael Graves, titled “On the way to figurative architecture”. [pp.132, 134]
38
Norberg-Schulz, 1985 [135]
39
See for instance Harris N. Forusz’s review of Genius Loci in JAE, v. 34, n.3, Spring
1981 [32-33]
40
Massimo Cacciari. “Eupalinos or Architecture” in Oppositions 21, MIT, 1980 [106-
116]. Note that this article by Cacciari was written as a review of Tafuri & Dal Co’s
Architettura contemporanea, published in 1976. The article thus preceded the main
works of Norberg-Schulz, i.e. Genius Loci and The Concept of Dwelling.
41
Cacciari, 1980 [107]
42
Hilde Heynen. Architecture and Modernity. MIT Press, 1999 [18-25]
43
Christian Norberg-Schulz. Architecture: Presence, Language, Place. Milan: Skira,
2000

Paper accepted for publication in Architecture Theory Review- March 2010 15