Following Norberg-Schulz

This book examines the ''window'' in the life and work of the seminal architectural thinker Christian Norberg-Schulz (1926 – 2000). It draws new attention to his architectural designs and re-examines his acclaimed theoretical work on the phenomenology of architecture and place within the context of a biography of his life linking him with other historical figures such as Helen Keller and Rainer Maria Rilke and framing him within the modernist tradition of the latter.Taking a novel experimental approach the book also explores the potential of the essay-film as an innovative new approach to producing architectural history. Bridging archival research and artistic exploration its ten chapters written by an architectural historian who is also a film-maker are each accompanied by a short documentary film hosted online and linked from within the chapter which use the medium of film to creatively explore and delve deeper into little-known aspects of Norberg-Schulz''s theory of genius loci and the phenomenology of architecture. The book questions what it means to ''follow'' those who came before exploring the positionality of the architectural historian/filmmaker. Offering an insightful account of the life work and theory of a key thinker Following Norberg-Schulz is also essential reading for those interested in practice-led research methodologies particularly in the practice of film-making and the essay film providing a highly innovative example of scholarly research which bridges the text-film gap.