This book examines the life and work of the seminal architectural thinker Christian Norberg-Schulz (1926 – 2000). It draws new attention to his modern and postmodern architectural designs and re-examines his acclaimed theoretical work on the phenomenology of architecture and place within the context of a biography of his life.
Taking a novel, experimental approach, the book also explores the potential of the essay-film as an innovative new approach to producing architectural history. Bridging archival research and artistic exploration, its ten chapters, written by an architectural historian who is also a film-maker, are each accompanied by a short documentary film, hosted online and linked from within the chapter, which use the medium of film to creatively explore and delve deeper into little-known aspects of Norberg-Schulz’s theory of genius loci and the phenomenology of architecture.
There is growing interest within academic architectural research in practice-led research methodologies, particularly in the practice of film-making and the essay film, and as well as providing an insightful account of the life, work, and theory of a key thinker, this book also provides a highly innovative example of an academic monograph which bridges the text-film gap.