Invitation

 to  ArchiPhen;  Some  Approaches  and  Interpretations  of  Phenomenology  in  Architecture,  
Iris  Aravot  and  Eran  Neuman  (eds.).  The  Technion  –  Israel  Institute  of  Technology,  Faculty  of  
Architecture  and  Town  Planning,  I.I.T.  Haifa,  Israel,  2007,  pp.  25-­‐27.  

STEVEN  HOLL:  A  TRANSLATION  OF  PHENOMENOLOGICAL  PHILOSOPHY  INTO  THE  REALM  

OF  ARCHITECTURE  
 
DERYA  YORGANCIOĞLU  
 
The  intellectual  and  phenomenal  particularity  in  Steven  Holl’s  architecture  derives  from  the  
philosophical  depth  that  interplays  in  his  thinking  on  and  making  of  architecture.  Holl  puts  
forward   an   interpretation   of   the   phenomenological   philosophy   of   Maurice   Merleau-­‐Ponty  
(1908-­‐1961)  and  its  translation  into  the  realm  of  architecture.    
 
In   his   major   book   Phenomenology   of   Perception,   Merleau-­‐Ponty   explores   the   essence   of  
being   as   it   resides   in   the   perceptual   situatedness   of   the   body-­‐subject   into   the   world.1  
Perception  is  considered  as  the  fundamental  act  that  enables  human  beings  to  inhabit  space  
and   time.   When   the   body-­‐subject   gains   access   into   the   world   through   perception,   the   world  
becomes  “what  we  perceive.”2    
 

 
Fig.  1.  Holl’s  conceptual  scheme  illustrating  the  two  main  conceptualizations  that  structure  his  architecture:  
“intertwining”  and  “anchoring”  relations  in  architecture  
Source:  Steven  Holl,  Intertwining  (New  York:  Princeton  Architectural  Press,  1998),  p.14.  
 
For  Steven  Holl,  a  re-­‐consideration  of  the  essence  of  being  by  looking  back  to  the  realm  of  
perceptual   experiences   allows   the   real   power   of   architecture   to   come   into   presence;   its  
experiential   power.   In   his   book   Parallax   (2000)   Holl   points   out   a   “path   of   passage   in  
architecture”  that  leads  “from  the  abstract  to  the  concrete,  the  unformed  to  the  formed.”3  
In  this  architectural  journey  the  “idea-­‐force”,  “phenomenal  properties”  and  “the  site-­‐force”  
interact  with  each  other  (Fig.  1.).  This  interaction  begins  with  the  formation  of  an  abstract  
idea,   the   formation   of   a   concept   out   of   this   idea   and   its   transformation   into   a   material,  
spatial  and  formal  reality  on  a  physical  site.      

1
 Invitation  to  ArchiPhen;  Some  Approaches  and  Interpretations  of  Phenomenology  in  Architecture,  
Iris  Aravot  and  Eran  Neuman  (eds.).  The  Technion  –  Israel  Institute  of  Technology,  Faculty  of  
Architecture  and  Town  Planning,  I.I.T.  Haifa,  Israel,  2007,  pp.  25-­‐27.  

 
 
Fig.  2.    Concept  sketch  of  “Seven  Bottles  of  Light  in  a  Stone  Box”,  the  Chapel  of  St.  Ignatus,  Seattle,  1994-­‐97.  
Source:  Steven  Holl,  Intertwining  (New  York:  Princeton  Architectural  Press,  1998),  p.158.  
 
For  Merleau-­‐Ponty  idea  is  “…  the  invisible  of  this  world,  which  inhabits  this  world,  sustains  it,  
and  renders  it  visible.”  Similarly,  Holl  is  interested  in  “the  phenomenal  nature  of  the  idea”  in  
his  search  for  “connect[ing]  the  phenomenal  properties  with  the  conceptual  strategy.”4  The  
architect   responds   to   every   project   by   re-­‐evaluating   the   physical,   cultural,   historical  
references  of  the  site,  time  or  program,  through  which  he  achieves  a  “limited  concept”  that  
establishes   “an   order,   a   field   of   inquiry,   a   limited   principle”   for   each   architectural   design  
process.5  (Fig.  2  and  Fig.  3)  
 

 
Fig.  3.  The  tectonic  particularity  and  use  of  light  in  the  The  Chapel  of  St.  Ignatus,  Seattle,  1994-­‐97.  
Source:  Steven  Holl,  Intertwining  (New  York:  Princeton  Architectural  Press,  1998),  p.  162.  

2
 Invitation  to  ArchiPhen;  Some  Approaches  and  Interpretations  of  Phenomenology  in  Architecture,  
Iris  Aravot  and  Eran  Neuman  (eds.).  The  Technion  –  Israel  Institute  of  Technology,  Faculty  of  
Architecture  and  Town  Planning,  I.I.T.  Haifa,  Israel,  2007,  pp.  25-­‐27.  

 
For  Holl,  the  intertwining  of  idea  and  phenomena  occurs  with  the  realization  of  a  building  as  
the   means   for   the   materialization   of   the   idea   force.   Merleau-­‐Pontien   argument   of   “a  
reciprocal  insertion  and  intertwining”6  of  the  body  and  the  world  drives  Holl  to  reconsider  
“the   reciprocal   insertion   of   the   body   -­‐oneself-­‐   in   the   interwoven   landscapes   of  
architecture.”7   “Anchoring”   designates,   indeed,   such   an   intertwined   relationship   between  
the  building,  site  and  situation  in  architecture.  As  the  body-­‐subject  is  perceptually  situated  
into   the   world   by   inhabiting   space   and   time,   a   building   is   rooted   into   a   specific   site   and  
situation  by  inhabiting  the  visible  and  invisible  of  the  site  and  situation.    
 

                 
Fig.  4.  and  Fig.  5.  “Motility”  providing  fluid  and  dynamic  spatial  perceptions,  
Helsinki  Museum  of  Contemporary  Art,  1993-­‐98.  
Source:  Steven  Holl,  Idea  and  Phenomena  in  Architekturzentrum  Wien  ed.  (Switzerland:  Lars  Müller  Publishers,  
2002),  p.  47  and  p.  43.  
 
By   locating   the   body   “at   the   very   essence   of   our   being   and   our   spatial   perception,”8   Holl  
redefines   architectural   space   as   perceived   space   with   reference   to   the   perceiving   body-­‐
subject.  As  “the  change  in  the  arrangement  of  surfaces  that  define  space  as  a  result  of  the  
change   in   the   position   of   a   viewer,”   “parallax”   is   an   experiential   tool   as   well   as   a   design   tool  
in   which   architectural   space   is   redefined   with   reference   to   the   moving   body’s   constantly  
changing  spatial  perceptions.9  (Fig.  4  and  Fig.  5)  
 
The   analysis   of   the   formative   impact   of   the   phenomenological   arguments   of   Maurice  
Merleau-­‐Ponty   on   Steven   Holl’s   architecture   illustrates,   indeed,   how   a   return   to  
phenomenology  may  enlarge  the  horizon  for  architectural  discourse  and  practice.  Merleau-­‐
Ponty’s   main   thesis   that   phenomenology   has   potential   to   put   the   “essences   back   into  

3
Invitation  to  ArchiPhen;  Some  Approaches  and  Interpretations  of  Phenomenology  in  Architecture,  
Iris  Aravot  and  Eran  Neuman  (eds.).  The  Technion  –  Israel  Institute  of  Technology,  Faculty  of  
Architecture  and  Town  Planning,  I.I.T.  Haifa,  Israel,  2007,  pp.  25-­‐27.  

existence”  by  “re-­‐achieving  a  direct  and  primitive  contact  with  the  world”  through  the  realm  
of   perceptual   experiences,   drives   Holl   to   search   for   vitalizing   these   essences   through   the  
experiences  of  architectural  forms,  spaces,  materials,  light,  and  color.10  

End Notes:
1
Maurice Merleau-Ponty, Phenomenology of Perception, trans. by Colin Smith, (London: Routledge and Kegan,
1962 (first published in 1945).
2
Ibid. p. xvi.
3
Steven Holl, Parallax (New York: Princeton Architectural Press, 2000), pp. 345-346.
4
Alejandro Zaera Polo, “A Conversation with Steven Holl,” El croquis, revised and extended edition (Mexico:
Arquitectos Publishing, 2003, first published in issue 78 January/February 1996), pp. 21-22.
5
Steven Holl, Anchoring (New York: Princeton Architectural Press, 1989), p. 10.
6
Maurice Merleau-Ponty, The Visible and the Invisible, Claude Lefort and Alphonso Lingis eds., Hazel E.
Barnes trans., (USA: Northwestern University Press, 1968), p. 138.
7
Steven Holl, Intertwining (New York: Princeton Architectural Press, 1998), p.16.
8
Steven Holl, Parallax (New York: Princeton Architectural Press, 2000), p. 13.
9
Ibid. p. 26.
10
Maurice Merleau-Ponty, Phenomenology of Perception, trans. by Colin Smith, (London: Routledge and
Kegan, 1962 (first published in 1945), p. vii.