1996
Edited by Alberto Pérez-Gómez and Stephen Parcell
Contents and authors
Socrates in the Agora
Gregory Paul Caicco
gregory.caicco [at] asu.edu (Gregory Paul Caicco) was born in Bridgeport, Connecticut, in 1962. He is the Lincoln Professor of Ethics at Arizona State University's School of Architecture. He obtained a Bachelor of Architecture degree with high distinction in 1987 from Carleton University in Ottawa, and in 1989 a Master's degree in the history and philosophy of architecture from Cambridge University in England. He was a member of the Jesuit Order from 1989 until 1993 where he studied languages, philosophy, spirituality, and the Spiritual Exercises at Ignatius College in Guelph and at Loyola University in Chicago. He has worked in various architectural offices and most recently was the editor of Refugee Update as well as an educator and network coordinator with the Jesuit Refugee Service in Latin America and Toronto. Gregory completed his doctorate at McGill with a thesis entitled Ethics and Poetics: The Early Franciscan Contribution to Architecture.
On the Use of Architecture: The Destination of Buildings Revisited
Lily H. Chi
lhc3 [at] cornell.edu (Lily Chi) is associate professor of architecture at Cornell University. She received a bachelor of architecture degree with high distinction from Carleton University in 1984, and a master's degree in architectural history and theory from Cambridge University in 1987. She completed a doctoral dissertation at McGill University on the idea of character in early modern architectural theory.
Hermes' Laugh: Philibert de l'Orme's Imagery as a Case of Analogical Edification
Jean-Pierre Chupin
jean-pierre.chupin [at] umontreal.ca (Jean-Pierre Chupin) was born in France in 1960. He received professional degrees in architecture from Nantes (France) and Portsmouth (England), as well as a master's degree in history and theory of architecture from McGill University in 1990. He taught design studio and history at the Université du Québec à Montréal and has practised architecture in Montreal with Léa Zeppetelli and Nicolas Reeves. Jean-Pierre obtained his Ph.D. at the Université de Montreal where he now teaches. His dissertation on the potential of analogical thinking considers a definition of project pedagogy.
The Angel and the Mirror: Reflections on the Architecture of the Amalgam
Terrance Galvin
tg4penn [at] dolphin.upenn.edu (Terrance Galvin) pursued his doctoral studies at the University of Pennsylvania. He is a graduate of the Architectural History and Theory graduate program at McGill university, having previously studied at the Technical University of Nova Scotia and at the University of Toronto.
Lessons of a Dream
Karsten Harries
Karsten Harries is professor of philosophy at Yale University. He has also taught at the University of Texas (Austin) and the University of Bonn. He has published widely on Heidegger, early modern philosophy, and philosophy of art and architecture. He is the author of four books, The Meaning of Modern Art (1965), The Bavarian Rococo Church: Between Faith and Aestheticism (1983), The Broken Frame: Three Lectures (1990), and The Ethical Function of Architecture (1996). With Christoph Jamme he has edited Martin Heidegger: Politics, Art, and Technology (1994).
Architecture as a Site of Reception. Part II: Sea-Food and Vampires
Donald Kunze
dek4 [at] psu.edu (Donald Kunze) was born in North Carolina, where he received his bachelor of architecture degree in 1970. He later received a master's and a doctoral degree in geography. He teaches architecture theory and general arts courses at the Pennsylvania State University. He has lectured and published on the subjects of architecture's relationship to language, theory, philosophy, and perception. Dr Kunze is currently studying the structure of artifacts of travel and tourism, developing interactive courses for distance education, and completing a book on architecture theory. He lives with his wife and three cats in Boalsburg, Pennsylvania, the birthplace of Memorial Day.
Concrete Blonde: A Probe into Negative Space where Mysteries are Created
Joanna Merwood
Joanna Merwood graduated from New Zealand's Victoria University of Wellington in 1992, gaining a bachelor of building science and a bachelor of architecture degree with honours. She taught design studio at Victoria and was engaged in architectural practice in Wellington. She completed a master's degree at McGill University in history and theory of architecture in the area of mid- to late-nineteenth century architectural representation, and obtained her Ph.D. from Princeton.
Surrealist Paris: The Non-Perspectival Space of the Lived City
Dagmar Motycka Weston
Dagmar Motycka Weston was born in Prague. After graduating in architecture at the University of Toronto, she worked in architectural practice. She studied history and theory at the Graduate School of the Architectural Association, before going on to the Department of Architecture at the University of Cambridge, where she received a PhD in 1995. She has lectured in the history and philosophy of architecture at the University of Toronto and at Carleton University. She is currently teaching architecture at the University of Edinburgh.
The Metaphoric Architecture of the Panorama
Stephen Parcell
Stephen Parcell is associate professor of architecture at the Technical University of Nova Scotia and an external advisor for the graduate program in architectural history and theory at McGill University. He previously taught at Carleton University, after receiving a bachelor of architecture degree from the University of Toronto and a master of architecture degree from the Cranbrook Academy of Art. His research on natural history dioramas is part of a series of representational studies involving other perspectival institutions - panorama buildings, stereographic images, and a late Renaissance perspective treatise. He is presently doing research towards his Ph.D. on the relationships between music and architecture.
The Legend of the Golem
Bram Ratner
Bram Ratner was born in Montreal in 1964. He received a bachelor of architecture degree from McGill University, 1987 and a master's degree in history and theory of architecture in 1992 at the same institution. He lectured and published papers on Jewish-related architecture, including most recently "The Symbol of the Western Wall." He is employed at Moshe Safdie Architects in Jerusalem.
Paradoxical Spaces in Literature, Film and Architecture: A Dialogue with Alain Robbe-Grillet
Alain Robbe-Grillet/Alberto Pérez-Gómez
Writer and filmmaker Alain Robbe-Grillet has for the last forty years been one of France's most prominent authors. In 1954 he received the Fénéon award for his novel Les Gommes. Among his most celebrated titles, translated into many languages, are Le Voyeur, Jalousie, La maison de rendez-vous, Projet pour une révolution à New York, and Topologie d' ne cité fantôme, as well as numerous essays on the nouveau roman, and more recently a series of autobiographical texts. In 1961, M. Robbe-Grillet wrote the scenario and dialogue for the film L'année dernière à Marienbad, directed by Alain Resnais. He subsequently directed other films, such as L'immortelle, L'homme qui manque, Glissements progressifs du plaisir, and La belle captive.
When the Old Mirror is not yet Polished, What Would You Say of it?
Tracey Eve Winton
traceywinton [at] yahoo.ca (Tracey Eve Winton) has a Bachelor of Architecture degree from the University of Waterloo, obtained a Master's in the History and Theory of Architecture program at McGill University, and a Ph.D. from the University of Cambridge. Her research has centered upon the Hypnerotomachia Poliphili and other hermetic topics. Her lucky number is 42.
Introduction
CHORA 2 continues to offer ample space to meditate on the possibility of such an architecture, capable of both respecting cultural differences and acknowledging the globalization of technological culture. The essays in this volume continue to operate from within the discipline of architecture, while furthering an interdisciplinary understanding. Karsten Harries provides a fresh and long-overdue reading of Heidegger's well-known essay, "Building Dwelling Thinking." Donald Kunze and Stephen Parcell consider possibilities of meaningful architectural space for a visual culture, continuing themes they addressed in CHORA 1. Further reflections on the spaces of literature, cinema, and architecture include an interview with French writer Alain Robbe-Grillet and articles by Dagmar Motycka Weston on the surrealist city, Tracey Eve Winton on the museum as a paradigmatic modern building, and Terrance Galvin on spiritual space in the works of Jean Cocteau. Jean-Pierre Chupin and Bram Ratner explore historical themes in their essays on French Renaissance architect Philibert de L'Orme and the Jewish myth of the Golem. Gregory Paul Caicco addresses ethical questions in his essay on the Greek agora and the death of Socrates, as does Lily Chi in her meditation on the critical issue of use in architectural works. A concern with architectural representation and generative strategies for the making of architecture is present throughout, especially in the essay by Joanna Merwood on the provocative House by British artist Rachel Whiteread.
While the main philosophical framework for CHORA stems from phenomenology and hermeneutic ontology, the architectural pursuits in this collection could be placed generally in the context of Continental European philosophy, which demands a fundamental redefinition of thought and action and a substantial rethinking of traditionally accepted values.