CHRISTIAN NORBERG-SCHULZ
This volume developed out of a wish to provide architecture with an existential foundation. Therefore, the being of man in the world, and in particular, the spatial aspects of his presence, are taken as points of departure. The first three chapters deal with the being of man in the world under the titles of use, comprehension, and implementation. Use refers here to fundamental actions, rather than the particular "functions" understood by modernism. The corresponding architectural forms are briefly indicated and exemplified. The chapter comprehension distinguidhes the quialitative comphension that man has of his environment from the customary array of its measurable proprtics. The chapter implementation states that architecture is the art of building, which presupposes a language under the titles of typology morphology and topology. Now, the point of departure is a comprehension of being in terms of memory, dentification, and orientation. therefore, figural, foromal, and spatial structures are analysed and the fundametnal Gestalt qualities of works of architecture are explained.
