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“Experience of an experience” is tinged with a pseudo philosophical air. It is also the most enigmatic phrase in the hypothesis. Experience in the singular, unrepeated and not reflected upon, is a complex and at best ill-defined process. It is unclear, at first blush, how doubling such a term enhances clarity. In fact, it seemsContinue reading ““Experience of an experience …””

To establish a meaning-oriented practice of architecture and eventually to build meaning-oriented buildings first requires understanding what architectural meaning is. What are its limits? Its ambitions? In other words, is every memorable experience in or of a work of architecture an instantiation of architectural meaning or is there a qualitative threshold between architecture and mereContinue reading “Consider the hypothesis”

The question appears simple. Almost everyone who thinks about it for any length of time, of course, realizes meaning is easy to feel or intuit but far from simple to frame in language. The more we reflect, the muddier things get. In fact, the word “feel,” a couple of sentences ago, isn’t correct. Nor isContinue reading “What counts as architectural meaning?”

In these meditations, there are no rehearsals of established architectural styles, or of the litany of established architectural theories, or of the theorists who founded or currently trade in them. Academic trivia, particularly the architectural variety, is not invoked here as starting point nor as framework nor as proof. The topic at hand is complexContinue reading “Obscure experience as a value unto itself”

Meaning is sanctified in architecture, held up as a human rights issue or other noble virtue. Grandiose claims laid on such inert objects as buildings result in an aura of mystery and privileged understanding. Perhaps that is the goal: a grail to be sought but never quite found. This observation is harsh but factual. GivenContinue reading “So much intellectual cover”

Illusions of importance are as persistent as those of progress and reflect back to reinforce notions of truth or goodness or a muddled mix of the two. When you think back on the first time your mom hung a drawing you made on the refrigerator door as a “masterpiece” or you received that long hoped-forContinue reading “All the idols of architecture”

Illusions of progress are persistent. Progress in most cases entails pursuit of better standards of living (deemed good) or more accurate information (deemed true) or a combination of true and good that works to the detriment of both concepts. This last effect is troubling as much for architecture as any other aspect of life.  ArchitectureContinue reading “And true and good are corollaries of importance”

The illusion of progress is persistent. It is fair to say there are really two illusions in most cultures. There is an illusion of progress propagated by systems of moral and ethical training – progress toward good and away from evil. Churches are the most easily recognized examples of such systems but there are manyContinue reading “Where good and true become synonyms”

Architecture’s history is replete with self-glorifying tales of heroic designers questing after truth and justice (and in America, the American way). Architecture is a calling in these tales, noble insofar as its aims are good and rooted, unsurprisingly, in a reality just beyond the conceivability of ordinary people. Architects, by extension, are special. They areContinue reading “Leading us to accept a discipline closer to law or medicine than art”

Almost everything that can be said about architecture has been said. The topic of architectural experience and its meaning has been exhausted at least, if not its evolving material, assemblage, and professional practices. Evidence for this statement consists of the thousands of books and journals and films and lectures and critiques collected physically and digitallyContinue reading “Everything that has been said is mistaken”