Ruskin’s Ontology of Architecture

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DC Field	Value
dc.identifier	ECF_chapter_5285
dc.contributor.author	Marques de Abreu Pedro
dc.title	Ruskin’s Ontology of Architecture
dc.type	Chapter
dc.language.iso	en
dc.description.abstract	Ruskin’s critique to architecture is usually understood from the subject of style, as the defence of Gothic against Classicism. If that had been the case, his writings about architecture would have lost all of their pertinacity. But that is not the case. This paper inspects the topicality of Ruskin’s thinking about architecture. His observations on the subject are phenomenological observations avant la lettre: the result of his own experience, highly sensitive, and of his personal reflection upon it, deeply human. Almost a century before Heidegger, Ruskin describes the anthropological responsibility of architecture in a very similar manner to the one the German philosopher. My understanding is that Ruskin is revealing the ‘dwelling’ ability that pertains to architecture, and that gives it its proper identity. Without architecture’s stamp on the landscape, it would not be possible for men to ‘dwell’ on Earth, and hence, it would not be possible for men to be rightly humans, i.e. to re-member (in Ruskin’s terminology) – to accomplish that specific human trait of existence that is necessary for an authentic living, which is to be self-aware.
dc.relation.ispartof	Sources, Literatures, Arts & Landscapes of Europe
dc.publisher	Edizioni Ca’ Foscari - Digital Publishing, Fondazione Università Ca’ Foscari
dc.issued	2020-12-15
dc.identifier.uri	http://edizionicafoscari.it/en/edizioni4/libri/978-88-6969-488-2/ruskins-ontology-of-architecture/
dc.identifier.doi	10.30687/978-88-6969-487-5/008
dc.identifier.issn	2724-6620
dc.identifier.eissn	2784-8507
dc.identifier.isbn	978-88-6969-488-2
dc.identifier.eisbn	978-88-6969-487-5
dc.rights	Creative Commons 4.0 Attribution + Noncommercial + NoDerivatives
dc.rights.uri	http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
item.fulltext	with fulltext
item.grantfulltext	open
dc.peer-review	no
dc.subject	Architecture
dc.subject	Architecture
dc.subject	Design
dc.subject	Design
dc.subject	Drawing
dc.subject	Drawing
dc.subject	Dwelling in
dc.subject	Dwelling in
dc.subject	Humanity
dc.subject	Humanity
dc.subject	Intentionality
dc.subject	Intentionality
dc.subject	Memory
dc.subject	Memory
dc.subject	Novelty
dc.subject	Novelty
dc.subject	Phenomenology
dc.subject	Phenomenology
dc.subject	Ruskin
dc.subject	Ruskin
dc.subject	Shelter
dc.subject	Shelter

Chapter
open access

Ruskin’s Ontology of Architecture

Pedro Marques de Abreu CIAUD, Faculdade de Arquitectura – Universidade de Lisboa, Portugal

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abstract

Ruskin’s critique to architecture is usually understood from the subject of style, as the defence of Gothic against Classicism. If that had been the case, his writings about architecture would have lost all of their pertinacity. But that is not the case. This paper inspects the topicality of Ruskin’s thinking about architecture. His observations on the subject are phenomenological observations avant la lettre: the result of his own experience, highly sensitive, and of his personal reflection upon it, deeply human. Almost a century before Heidegger, Ruskin describes the anthropological responsibility of architecture in a very similar manner to the one the German philosopher. My understanding is that Ruskin is revealing the ‘dwelling’ ability that pertains to architecture, and that gives it its proper identity. Without architecture’s stamp on the landscape, it would not be possible for men to ‘dwell’ on Earth, and hence, it would not be possible for men to be rightly humans, i.e. to re-member (in Ruskin’s terminology) – to accomplish that specific human trait of existence that is necessary for an authentic living, which is to be self-aware.

Published

Dec. 15, 2020

Language

ISBN (PRINT)

978-88-6969-488-2

ISBN (EBOOK)

978-88-6969-487-5

Keywords: Memory • Architecture • Ruskin • Novelty • Drawing • Humanity • Dwelling in • Shelter • Phenomenology • Design • Intentionality

permalink: http://doi.org/10.30687/978-88-6969-487-5/008

Copyright: © 2020 Pedro Marques de Abreu. This is an open-access work distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY-NC-ND). The use, distribution or reproduction is permitted in unadapted form only and provided that the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. You may not use the material for commercial purposes. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

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