Course code Arhi3078

Credit points 3

Introduction to Architectural Phenomenology

Total Hours in Course81

Number of hours for lectures22

Number of hours for seminars and practical classes10

Independent study hours49

Date of course confirmation10.03.2021

Responsible UnitInstutute of Landscape Architecture and Environmental Engineering

Course developer

author Ainavu arhitektūras un vides inženierijas institūts

Renāte Čaupale

Dr. arch.

Prior knowledge

Arhi3074, Architecture I

Course abstract

The studies show the influence of phenomenology – direction of philosophy – on contemporary architecture. The classes concern the Architectural phenomenology as the discursive and realist attempt to understand and embody the philosophical insights of phenomenology within the discipline of architecture. The emphasis is on the importance of architecture as an artificial environment and urban landscape from the point of view of the phenomenological belief system: the phenomenological approach to architectural design which includes the relation between architecture and the human experience of space. Students introduce to the phenomenological approach to architecture and landscape architecture with the aim of applying it practically.

Learning outcomes and their assessment

Knowledge: student understands the main theories, concepts, methods, the philosophical context of architecture phenomenology. The student understands the theory of interpretation of the experience of environmental perception from a phenomenological point of view, as well as the importance of philosophy in contemporary architecture (Practical work 1, Theoretically study).
Skills: student is able to analyze and interpret research: define the phenomenological approach in creating architecture; evaluate the phenomenological approach and describe the perception of the environment from a phenomenological point of view. (Practical work 2, Theoretically analytical study)
Competence: student understands and is able to define, describe and analyse the given architecture examples in the context of phenomenology selecting the necessary information and using theories for their definition; student understands the analysis of processes occurring in architecture in the context of the phenomenological approach and proposes his/her own solution or interpretation (Seminar).
Ability to analyse and describe the essence of the phenomenological approach and justify it with theory and practical examples – theoretical knowledge testing (Exam).

Course Content(Calendar)

1. General aspects of philosophy and phenomenology. (2 h - lecture)
2. The combination and diversity of views of Phenomenology theorists Edmund Husserl, Martin Heidegger, and Maurice Merleau-Ponty. (4 h - lecture)
3. Theoretical guidelines of architectural phenomenology. Philosophy and architecture of XX and XXI centuries (2h – lecture, 2h – 1st Practical work)
4. Aspects of architectural understanding: art, ethics and space. Their contemporary phenomenological understanding. (2 h - lecture)
5. Phenomenology and Space in Architecture: Experience, sensation and meaning. The perception of the urban environment from K. Norberg-Schulz viewpoint. Genius loci. (4 h - lecture)
6. Juhani Pallasma, Peter Zumthor and the phenomenological approach in architecture. (2h – lecture, 2h – 2nd Practical work)
7. The perception of the urban environment from the perspective of Yi-Fu Tuan and David Canter. Place attachment and place identity. (2 h - lecture)
8. Urban landscape / environment (traditional, postmodern), environment and architectural space and atmosphere. Alvar Aalto and the meaning of the rhythm of architectural forms. (2h – lecture, 2h – 2nd Practical work)
9. Topophilia and topophobia. Heidegger, phenomenology and the ethics of Land Art. (2 h - lecture)

10. Phenomenological approach to architecture (4h – Seminar)

Requirements for awarding credit points

Class visiting should be at least 75%. Assessment works have to be done in time. Works submitted after the specified time (unless there is a justifiable reason) will have their grade reduced in accordance with the assessment rules approved by the institute. To pass the study course, study work assessments have to be positive.

Description of the organization and tasks of students’ independent work

1st practical work. Theory analysis. By analysing theoretical works, the student gains knowledge and understanding of theories, concepts and methods of architectural phenomenology; about architectural phenomenology as a discursive and realistic attempt to understand and embody the philosophical assumptions of phenomenology in the discipline of architecture. (1200-word text)
2nd practical work. Theoretical analytical study. The student demonstrates the ability to use the theory of the phenomenological approach in creating architecture and to evaluate phenomenological methods in the perception of the built environment. By analysing a specific object, the human sensory experience of space is examined in a phenomenological approach (1200-word text).
Seminar. The student understands and is able to formulate, describe and analyse given examples in the context of architectural phenomenology, selecting the necessary information and using theory to define them, analyses processes occurring in architecture and presents an example of landscape architecture in the context of a phenomenological approach (PowerPoint presentation).

Exam. Is able to analyse and describe the essence of the phenomenological approach and support it with theory and practical examples (testing theoretical knowledge).

Criteria for Evaluating Learning Outcomes

The final assessment of the study course (cumulative exam) is made up of the cumulative assessment of the final seminar and the exam – theoretical knowledge test.

Compulsory reading

1. Shirazi M. Reza. Towards an Articulated Phenomenological Interpretation of Architecture: Phenomenal Phenomenology. Routledge, 2014. ISBN 978-1138229259
2. Merlo-Pontī M. Uztvere fenomenoloģija. Rīga: LU Filozofijas un socioloģijas institūts, 2018. ISBN 978-9934506529
3. Norberg-Schulz C. Genius Loci: Towards a Phenomenology of Architecture. New York: Rizzoli, 1980. ISBN 978-0847802876

4. Kūle M., Kūlis R. Filosofija. Zvaigzne ABC, 1998. ISBN 978-9984171197

Further reading

1. Bachelard G. The Poetics of Space. Boston: Beacon Press, 1994. ISBN 978-0807064733 [available at:] https://sites.evergreen.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/88/2015/05/Gaston-Bachelard-the-Poetics-of-Space.pdf
2. Sirowy B. Phenomenological Concepts in Architecture: Towards a User-Oriented Practice. Thesis, Oslo School of Architecture and Design, Oslo, 2010. ISBN 978-8254702338 [available at:] https://www.researchgate.net/

3. Tuan Yi-Fu. Space And Place: The Perspective of Experience. Univ. of Minnesota Press, 2001. ISBN 978-0816638772.

Periodicals and other sources

1. Environmental & Architectural Phenomenology [online] https://ophen.org/CollView.php?coll=377
2. Latvijas Universitātes Raksti / Acta Universitatis Latviensis https://www.apgads.lu.lv/izdevumi/brivpieejas-izdevumi/zurnali-un-periodiskie-izdevumi/latvijas-universitates-raksti-acta-universitatis-latviensis/

3. Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy [online] https://plato.stanford.edu/index.html

Notes

Compulsory course in full-time studies of MVZF study program "Landscape Architecture and Planning" (Bachelor). The course exploitable in English.