Architectural Discourse as Hermeneutics

general courses

Fluency in English (B2)

Understanding architecture is essential for our self-understanding and architecture itself. We can, therefore, consider architectural discourse as hermeneutics.

Being in the world with Others discloses the centrality of understanding in our life. Understanding our situatedness in the world brings together thinking, dwelling, and building.

A critical review of the history of architecture confronts us with the way human beings related to their environments. The coexistence of historical horizons and of our belonging to this multifaceted heritage allows us to experience the horizon of history. This horizon is not added to our experience but grows out of it and co-creates it.

One of the essential aspects of architecture is to respond to human desires and the need for a home. Homelessness and homecoming (Heimkunft) are widespread phenomena we experience in our contemporary culture that provoke our preoccupations with nihilism and modern technology. Following Heidegger’s engagement with technology, we can move beyond his notion of homecoming as related to the reawakening of the German spirit and see the potential of the homecoming of humanity at large. Finding a home describes a dynamic of human life built upon love. As Alberto Perez-Gomez postulates, architecture must continue to be built upon love by responding “to a desire for an eloquent place to dwell, one that lovingly provides a sense of order resonant with our dreams, a gift contributing to our self-understanding as humans inhabiting a mortal world.”

Architecture situated between poetics and ethics is a hermeneutic enterprise. Every human activity is an ethical endeavor. Any architectural work is an ethical work: Ethical consideration is not added to an architectural discourse, but rather, instead of being a goal-oriented is a good-oriented human undertaking. There is a powerful connection between being an architect and being a human being in the world with Others. The architects, builders, and the beneficiaries of their work, we all are actual participants in critical care for our broken planet (Angelika Fitz and Elke Krasny). Love and care are at the very core of architecture itself. They also inform and transform our way of being in the world as the creators and custodians of Being (Heidegger’s Wächter des Seins).

Juhani Pallasmaa, The Eyes of the Skin: Architecture and the Senses (New York: John Wiley, 2005).

Juhani Pallasmaa, The Embodied Image: Imagination and Imagery in Architecture (New York:: John Wiley., 2011).

Alberto Pérez-Gómez, Architecture and the Crisis of Modern Science (Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press, 1983)

Alberto Pérez-Gómez, Built upon Love: Architectural Longing after Ethics and Aesthetics (Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press, 20162006).

Alberto Pérez-Gómez, Attunement (Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press, 2016).

Learning outcomes

Knowledge:

o student is familiar with new literature on the literature as indicated in the bibliography

o is familiar with philosophical hermeneutics and hermeneutic philosophy

o knows the state of research in the hermeneutics of education and is able to design an innovative research project

Skills:

o can identify philosophical aspects of education

o can address the importance of feelings (curiosity, patience, courage, uncertainty, self-esteem) and validates them in the process of learning

o has skills in presenting aspects of philosophical hermeneutics in discussing issues in contemporary education in an international setting

o can effectively communicate with other scholars in hermeneutic philosophy and liberal arts

o as a creative and insightful student shows depth in thinking of and elaborating on original and novel ideas

Social competences:

o appreciates the need to learn to understand one’s life

o can set measurable, achievable, realistic, and timely goals and ways to achieve them in the context of academic, professional, and social activity

o sees the need for a dialogue between different academic disciplines and schools of thought

Students must attend classes, actively participate in discussions, and write a research paper of ca. 2500 words. The grade will be based on the paper 50%. Students should clear their topic with the instructor before writing. Final revised paper due Friday, January 20, 2023. Attendance/ Active in-class participation (50%). Along with the final paper, students are required to submit a detailed report about their attendance and self-evaluation of their activity in the class.