Dwelling
Author(s)
Kalantidou, Eleni
Griffith University Author(s)
Year published
2015
Metadata
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Dwelling’s meaning is defined according to its use. As a noun it describes a physical structure where a human resides and finds shelter, and as a verb, its meaning extends to designate human’s being-in-the-world (Dasein), a definition given by Martin Heidegger, who perceived Dwelling as to “be a human, to be on the earth as a mortal” (Heidegger, 1993, p. 349). Heidegger argued that language shaped the meaning of Dwelling by analyzing the multiple meanings of the Old English and High German word “Bauen” and the Gothic word “Wunian.” Intentionally, he chose to put emphasis on “Bauen” as the linguistic root of the German verb ...
View more >Dwelling’s meaning is defined according to its use. As a noun it describes a physical structure where a human resides and finds shelter, and as a verb, its meaning extends to designate human’s being-in-the-world (Dasein), a definition given by Martin Heidegger, who perceived Dwelling as to “be a human, to be on the earth as a mortal” (Heidegger, 1993, p. 349). Heidegger argued that language shaped the meaning of Dwelling by analyzing the multiple meanings of the Old English and High German word “Bauen” and the Gothic word “Wunian.” Intentionally, he chose to put emphasis on “Bauen” as the linguistic root of the German verb bin (be) and its connotation as “to cherish and protect, to preserve and care for, specifically to till the soil, to cultivate the vine” in order to connect it to “Wunian,” the remaining in place as an experiential process linked to inner peace. Heidegger’s notion of “Friede” (peace) was to “dwell” as to maintain a condition that caringly protects and sustains each element in its own context. Only when Dwelling is perceived as the enframing of human nature, is building possible. However, “Building in the sense of preserving and nurturing” as said by Heidegger is “not making anything” (Heidegger, 1993), that is, building is not the activity of construction. He presented the case of a farmhouse in the Black Forest, a peasant dwelling that manifested the “self-sufficiency of the power to let earth and heaven, divinities and mortals enter in simple oneness” which ordered the house and “in this way it designed for the generations under one roof the character of their journey through time” (Heidegger, 1993, p. 632).
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View more >Dwelling’s meaning is defined according to its use. As a noun it describes a physical structure where a human resides and finds shelter, and as a verb, its meaning extends to designate human’s being-in-the-world (Dasein), a definition given by Martin Heidegger, who perceived Dwelling as to “be a human, to be on the earth as a mortal” (Heidegger, 1993, p. 349). Heidegger argued that language shaped the meaning of Dwelling by analyzing the multiple meanings of the Old English and High German word “Bauen” and the Gothic word “Wunian.” Intentionally, he chose to put emphasis on “Bauen” as the linguistic root of the German verb bin (be) and its connotation as “to cherish and protect, to preserve and care for, specifically to till the soil, to cultivate the vine” in order to connect it to “Wunian,” the remaining in place as an experiential process linked to inner peace. Heidegger’s notion of “Friede” (peace) was to “dwell” as to maintain a condition that caringly protects and sustains each element in its own context. Only when Dwelling is perceived as the enframing of human nature, is building possible. However, “Building in the sense of preserving and nurturing” as said by Heidegger is “not making anything” (Heidegger, 1993), that is, building is not the activity of construction. He presented the case of a farmhouse in the Black Forest, a peasant dwelling that manifested the “self-sufficiency of the power to let earth and heaven, divinities and mortals enter in simple oneness” which ordered the house and “in this way it designed for the generations under one roof the character of their journey through time” (Heidegger, 1993, p. 632).
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Book Title
The Bloomsbury Encyclopedia of Design vol 1
Volume
1
Subject
Built Environment and Design not elsewhere classified