This book presents an original study of the work of Pritzker Prize-winning Portuguese architect Įlvaro Siza from the perspective of architecture as an interpretation of human life. It combines philosophical hermeneutics, narrative textual description, and history and theory research to provide a rich account of Sizas work.
The book gives a detailed analysis of three of Sizas works from this perspective: the Tidal Pool (Piscina das Marés) in Leēa da Palmeira, Portugal; the Galician Centre of Contemporary Art (Centro Galego de Arte Contemporįnea) in Santiago de Compostela, Spain; and the Santa Maria Church in Marco de Canaveses, Portugal. This form of analysis provides insight into the unique temporal dimension of Sizas work, both in the memory inscribed by the structure and in how what is inscribed is revealed by degrees to those who come into contact with it. Drawing on Hans-Georg Gadamer and Paul Ricoeur, this book defines both building and inhabiting as acts of interpretation. Through employing the technique of writing architecture as a mode of phenomenological description, the book uses one form of creative configuration narrative to draw out the meaning inscribed in another form of creative configuration architecture.
The book contributes a unique perspective to scholarship on Siza and an in-depth study to the growing field of hermeneutics of architecture. It will be of interest to researchers and students of architecture and philosophy.
List of figures
Foreword
Preface
Acknowledgements
Introduction
Įlvaro Siza
Philosophical Hermeneutics
A Swimming Pool, a Museum, a Church
The Books Approach
The Books Structure
CHAPTER ONE Understanding, Hermeneutics and Mimesis
Heidegger and Understanding as Being
Gadamer, Tradition and Horizon
Ricoeur and Understanding through Narrative
CHAPTER TWO Architecture as Hermeneutic Practice
The Conditions under which Interpretive Understanding is Possible:
Prefiguration
Making Sense of Life through Building: Configuration
The Act of Inhabiting as an Act of Interpretation: Refiguration
CHAPTER THREE Įlvaro Sizas Hermeneutically Conscious Practice
Įlvaro Sizas Architectural Practice
The Conditions of Įlvaro Sizas Architectural Configuration
The Poetics of Įlvaro Sizas Architectural Configuration
CHAPTER FOUR Tidal Pool (Piscina das Marés), Leēa da Palmeira
Humanising Space
Three Forms of Dialogue
Hermeneutic Situation
CHAPTER FIVE Galician Centre of Contemporary Art (Centro Galego de Arte
Contemporįnea), Santiago de Compostela
Consciously Entering Dialogue
Three Forms of Dialogue
Hermeneutic Situation
CHAPTER SIX Santa Maria Church, Marco de Canaveses
Individual Contemplation
Communal Worship
Three Forms of Dialogue
Hermeneutic Situation
Conclusion
Natural Forces, the Human Condition and the Divine
The Hermeneutic Beings Relationship to Architecture
An Exemplar of Hermeneutically Conscious Practice
Sally J. Faulder is an architectural researcher who examines the process through which sociocultural values are inscribed in the built environment and reproduced in the lived experience of those who inhabit that environment. Her research draws on the thought and varying approaches to the production of knowledge of architecture, hermeneutic philosophy, and anthropology. Sally completed a Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy and Anthropology at National University of Ireland, Maynooth, and later a Bachelor of Arts in Architecture at the University of Westminster. After spending some time in practice, Sally then obtained her PhD in Architecture from Queens University, Belfast.
