From Existentialism to Ecological Consciousness: Architectural Philosophies of Chinese Architect Wang Shu
Disciplines
Architectural History and Criticism
Abstract (300 words maximum)
From the 19th century, architects have been grappling with the question of existence in their practices. It was Frank Lloyd Wright who famously opposed the alienation of abstract modernist architecture. Relying on Transcendental philosophy, Wright’s prairie style exhibited an architecture that was rooted in respect for the landscape and the sense of the place. Later, phenomenologists too expressed a new conception of architecture that shifted the focus on the visual and the eye to other senses, especially touch and tacticity. The award winning Chinese architect, Wang Shu offers the third way. Chinese architect Wang Shu’s( 1963-) work portrayed his perspective in ecological phenomenology and his analysis of human relationships with place and nature, play in materiality and tactility in materials, and integration of traditional thought and modern technology. This paper also mentions German Architect Martin Heidegger’s (1889-1976) 1927 famous work, Time and Being, view on fundamental meaning of being that connect us to relationship between past, real time, and everydayness, and French Architect Maurice Merleau -Ponty’s(1908-1961) perspective on phenomenology- inevitability aspects of inhabiting leads back to our relationship of embodied present. This paper explores how modernism connects to our denial of culture and cultivation, and it becomes an era where annihilation of the Traditional school of thought contributed to the alienation of our nature. Before analyzing the works of Wang shu, works of Heidegger and Ponty’s were first considered, as their work were highly influenced on ecology studies. As modern day creates a fragmentation and barrier to our expression and directedness within the world, the works of three architects all argue that the importance of understanding being, dwelling, relationship to body and material, relationship of a different idea of vision. These fundamental concepts are discussed in hope of creating a more meaningful and enriching culture.
Academic department under which the project should be listed
CACM - Architecture
Primary Investigator (PI) Name
Ehsan Sheikholharam
From Existentialism to Ecological Consciousness: Architectural Philosophies of Chinese Architect Wang Shu
From the 19th century, architects have been grappling with the question of existence in their practices. It was Frank Lloyd Wright who famously opposed the alienation of abstract modernist architecture. Relying on Transcendental philosophy, Wright’s prairie style exhibited an architecture that was rooted in respect for the landscape and the sense of the place. Later, phenomenologists too expressed a new conception of architecture that shifted the focus on the visual and the eye to other senses, especially touch and tacticity. The award winning Chinese architect, Wang Shu offers the third way. Chinese architect Wang Shu’s( 1963-) work portrayed his perspective in ecological phenomenology and his analysis of human relationships with place and nature, play in materiality and tactility in materials, and integration of traditional thought and modern technology. This paper also mentions German Architect Martin Heidegger’s (1889-1976) 1927 famous work, Time and Being, view on fundamental meaning of being that connect us to relationship between past, real time, and everydayness, and French Architect Maurice Merleau -Ponty’s(1908-1961) perspective on phenomenology- inevitability aspects of inhabiting leads back to our relationship of embodied present. This paper explores how modernism connects to our denial of culture and cultivation, and it becomes an era where annihilation of the Traditional school of thought contributed to the alienation of our nature. Before analyzing the works of Wang shu, works of Heidegger and Ponty’s were first considered, as their work were highly influenced on ecology studies. As modern day creates a fragmentation and barrier to our expression and directedness within the world, the works of three architects all argue that the importance of understanding being, dwelling, relationship to body and material, relationship of a different idea of vision. These fundamental concepts are discussed in hope of creating a more meaningful and enriching culture.