Norberg-Schultz’s “Genius Loci” was the reading which was most helpful and thought provoking for me this week as it connected the previous ideas presented in other readings and also made connections to other architects/theories we have discussed.
Norberf Schultz describes dwelling as a place in which someone identifies himself and that “being ‘at home’ means means much more than having a roof over one’s head”(Norberg-Schultz 59). This definition to me is very clear as it shows that he understands people’s varying lifestyles don’t allow all of them to correlate to one unique definition of dwelling; people cant prioritize their place of work or have no one single location to identify with. This is one of the problems I had with Heidgger’s “Building Dwelling Thinking” (although there is a high chance I misunderstood) as he separates life and work completely by saying “we work here and dwell there” (Heidegger 349).
One of the lines that stood out to me the most was “Human identity therefore requires identity of place” (Norberg-Schultz 59) as my immigrant experience has made me struggle with this. When asked where I am from, I still don’t know in which way to answer. An example is portrayed by “How I Met Your Mother”’s character Robin Schebartbsky when she doesn’t feel like she belongs to any place when deciding if she should keep her Canadian citizenship or apply to become an American citizen.
It’s also important to note how Rossi’s thoughts on “memory” add to the idea of dwelling and can completely change the idea of what is good architecture. By this I mean that good architecture does not necessarily have to be works of Frank Lloyd Wright or whichever famous architect one can name, but it can be defined simply as a space one spends a lot of time that has been part of many of their memories.
Heidegger, Martin. Building Dwelling Thinking, 1971.
Norberg-Schulz, “Genius Loci” (1976)
A very cogent example of place and identity – to push the matter further, how does Norberg-Schulz’s ideas align with what seems to be a world in which mobility is becoming the norm? In terms of ‘immigrant experience,’ it would be great to hear how you can relate your own take on ‘placeness’ with things, that is, with actual objects, textures, and sites.