Otto Friedrich Bollnow’s concept of human space. A Critical Discussion on the Fundamentals of the Concepts of Space

The concepts of space and place are well recognized and accepted in recent architectural theories and practices but definitions vary according to different interpretations. The concepts of "space and place" fall within the realms of philosophy the earliest of which can be traced to those of Aristotle whose notion of space was comprised of earthly as well as cosmic dimensions and was not an undefined Cartesian concept. Much Later, Christian Norberg Schulz has proposed the concept of ‘existential space' which was based on Jean Piaget's studies of a child's concept of space, (ontogenetical aspects of space conception 1963 -1973) ‘its socio/cultural aspects, (philogenetic problem of space conception) and philosophical phenomenological studies of his time. But his studies were inspired by many previous studies like well-known historian of religion Mircea Eliade, the art historian Dagobert Frey (1949) and the philosophical phenomenologist Otto Friedrich Bollnow.

The concept of "Human Space" by O.F. Bollnow can be taken into broader discussions than the Schulz' concept of ‘existential space', because, Norberg Schulz (1971) directly related concept of ‘existential space' into more concrete ‘architectural space' of which definitions were unclear. Therefore in the realm of Architectural research on concepts of "space and place', O. F. Bollnow's ideas of ‘Man and Space' provides a fundamental basis for further critical and inspirational thinking. The intention of this paper is to reveal the idea of concept of space in Bollnow's work for further architectural research.

DOI: 10.4038/besl.v7i2.1942

Built-Environment Sri Lanka Vol.7(2) 40-42