Phenomenology, Space, Architecture
Dejan Milivojević
https://doi.org/10.60152/f3v4zrix
Abstract: The study of the relationship between phenomenology as a philosophical method and phenomenology as an architectural method reveals that they contradict each other. Phenomenology does not imply hypotheses or theoretical generalisations. The method of phenomenological reduction and recording perceives space as a form of self-realisation, without any components of the objective or subjective in the traditional sense of their duality. Phenomenology is the truth in which space and being are perceived as one, and such a unity is phenomenal, i.e. present without temporal constraints. Architecture has different viewpoints. In architecture, space is embodied in the form. The architect has deserted the phenomenon of space in order to oppose it. Yet, there is the content in architecture, which is a phenomenological image (eidos). Thus, a place is created which we describe sensually given that volume, texture, materials, fenestrations, details, craftsmanship and technological perfection, horticulture, etc. are also present, but as the motives of everyday temporal space. Architecture is not space, but space as a phenomenon would not exist without architecture and subjective reality in general. The phenomenon of space is, thus originated from the process of individuation. This implies that the job of an architect is not to deal with designing the philosophy of architectural space; actually, we are talking about the geometry of assemblage. Nevertheless, dealing with philosophy is desirable because, as Vitruvius wrote, philosophy refines the architect. The paper examines what phenomenology is and how we understand it, as well as how it addresses the problem of space. Architecture is closely related to people and their living environment, and thus, to the problem of space. Investigating these questions, we turned to the founder of phenomenology, Edmund Husserl and his student, Martin Heidegger. Studying the perspectives of architectural practice in the second half of the 20th century, we relied on two concepts: science of space and post-modernism. These two theoretical approaches differ greatly but share a historically justified and well-established method in the process of form constitution, which is an analytical procedure related to the geometry of assemblage. It is what reinforces our conviction of the need for further research into the geometry of the architectural form assemblage. Notable contemporary architects agree.
Keywords: phenomenology, space, architecture,Science of Space, Postmodernism
How to cite this Paper (Harvard referencing style):
Milivojević, D. (2024) ‘Phenomenology, Space, Architecture’, in R. Bogdanović (ed.) On Architecture — Shaping the City through Architecture, Proceedings. Belgrade, Serbia: STRAND, pp. 131–138.