Phenomenology (architecture)

Architectural phenomenology is the discursive and realist attempt to understand and embody the philosophical insights of phenomenology within the discipline of architecture. The phenomenology of architecture is the philosophical study of architecture employing the methods of phenomenology.

Architectural phenomenology emphasizes human experience, background, intention and historical reflection, interpretation, and poetic and ethical considerations in contrast to the anti-historicism of postwar modernism and the pastiche of postmodernism. Much like phenomenology itself, architectural phenomenology is better understood as an orientation toward thinking and making rather than a specific aesthetic or movement. Interest in phenomenology within architectural circles began in the 1950s, reached a wide audience in the late 1970s and 1980s, and continues today.