Genius Loci Essay

1749 Words7 Pages
THEORY OF SETTLEMENTS Assignment 2 – Genius Loci Karishma Sehgal A/2303/2010 IIIrd Yr. Sec C What is Genius Loci? The concept of genius loci falls within the philosophical branch of ‘architectural phenomenology.’ This field of architectural discourse is most notably explored by theorist Christian Norberg-Schulz in his book, Genius Loci: Towards a Phenomenology of Architecture. “A place is a space which has character. Since ancient times the genius loci, or 'spirit of place' has been recognized as the concrete identity man has to face and come to terms with in his daily life" (Norberg-Schulz 1980, 5) This identity is defined by the notion of character. All places have character, that is, distinctive features, for example, ‘festive’, ‘solemn’, ‘protective’ for buildings; or ‘barren,’ ‘fertile’, ‘threatening’, etc, for landscapes. People perceive these characteristics and features that provide them with an orientation which has an identifiable atmosphere that goes beyond the built form. To interpret this concept of ‘going beyond the built form’ better, we must understand that to live in a specific place is actually to live in two places at once. The physical that includes roads, buildings, parks, and related infrastructure, this is where we work, live, eat, and play on a routine basis. Beside the physical is the contextual. It is the area of feelings, citizens, residents and visitors. It is what gives places their ‘life’ and directly shapes our experience. This existing context is not constant, but changes over the time. This changing, however, does not mean that it becomes completely different. Rather, every place keeps its particularities and preserves them. Thus, even though places may change and never have a fixed structure, their genius loci do not necessarily change. Even time does not cancel out genius loci completely.
Open Document