Dwelling and Architecture: From Heidegger to Koolhaas

For the German philosopher Martin Heidegger, "Dwelling" ("Wohnen") was a crucial development of his fascination with "Being" ("Sein"), an ontological extension whose practice humankind had to learn and relearn. In his landmark essay "Building Dwelling Thinking," Heidegger linked this approach to "dwelling" to an ethic of "building," asserting that "man's relation to locations, and through locations to spaces, inheres in his dwelling," and that consequently "only if we are capable of dwelling can we then build." "Dwelling and Architecture: From Heidegger to Koolhaas" explores the influence of Heidegger's conceptions on the various disputes regarding the major narratives of modern and contemporary architecture. Concentrating on the philosopher's intimate approach to the Positivism of Le Corbusier, it traces Heidegger's thinking into the current debate on architecture generated by modern-day architects and thinkers such as Aaron Betsky and Rem Koolhaas.