CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 INTRODUCTION
2.4 GROUNDING HERMENEUTICS IN ARCHITECTURE
2.4.4 Establishing the Physical Roots of Atmosphere
Norberg-Schulz analyses a place’s structure and character through Vesaas’s concepts of jord, himmel and synsrand (Earth, Heaven and Horizon). By which he means that what ‘we’ walk on, see around and above us, affects how an individual will experience a place. Unlike the hermeneutics discussed previously Norberg-Schulz does not refer to the visible spectrum as the horizon but rather the optic array, possibly due to its more direct association vision (van Nes, 2008: 118).
He demonstrates this fact by referring to the landscape paintings of Salomon and Jacob van Ruisdael, Jan van Gooyen, Meyndert Hobbema and Rembrandt van Rijn while providing an essential tool for unearthing the existential properties of place through art (van Nes, 2008: 116).
Jacob van Ruisdael’s painting the ‘View of Alkmaar’ (plate 2) reveals these qualities through the endless horizontal line of the flat Dutch landscape and the dominant, cloudy sky above. In this depiction, van Ruisdael is able to evoke a sense of the unstable weather experienced in the Netherlands within the observer. The settlement depicted is placed on the landscape’s highest and driest parts, sheltered or protected by a tree and vegetation breaking up the flat land- scape and evoking the uneasy mood of the weather further (van Nes, 2008: 116).
Plate 2: Jacob van Ruisdael’s ‘View of Alkmaar’
This same technique can be used on James Lloyd’s painting of Durban’s bay to unearth the existential properties of the place at the time it was painted. Here the landscape is shown as rolling and wild, accentuated by the dominant depiction of the trees and bush. In James Lloyd’s painting the sky falls away in contrast to Jacob van Ruisdael’s ‘View of Alkmaar’ acting rather as a canvas to the rest of the scene. This subdued role insinuates that weather did not play a primary role in this particular painter’s sense of ‘Place’ which further insinuates stable weather.
A man made road provides safe path through the trees and bushes to a settlement below. Protected from the sea by a large point of land and situated next to a flat reflective bay the settlement evokes a feeling of civilization surrounded by wilderness. The flattened vlei around the settlement, its close proximity to the bay, the road and the lighthouse all imply this place to be one of exploration and in the author’s opinion adventure. It must be noted at this point however that another observer may see a foreboding in this scene as man is set to conquer and go to war. Hermeneutics however will allow for a more universally applicable conclusion to be established in the case study.
Plate 3: James Lloyd’s ‘Durban Bay from Maritzburg Road 1856’
When comparing the cloudy Dutch sky with the clear blue sky depicted in the painting of Durban it becomes apparent that ‘heaven’ varies from one place to the next according to the specific light and weather conditions of the area.
According to Norberg-Schulz the earth reaches out and rises towards heaven provoking a qualitative difference between ‘up’ and ‘down’. The optic array is in a simple sense the outer limitations of a certain place experienced by the observer. This is not considered to be a static reference to the visual boundaries of sight but rather the dynamic intake of all the physical aspects that contribute to a particular location’s ‘genius loci.’ The description of a place’s
‘atmosphere’ and ‘character’ is therefore dependent on its earth, its heaven and its optic array (van Nes, 2008: 118).
Norberg-Schulz demonstrates this further, through his qualitative analysis of the Norwegian forest (Norberg-Schulz, 1971: 30), In order to demonstrate that these principles can be applied to all places and locations this dissertation will analyse an experience that is specific to the author.
The Atlas Mountains of Morocco experience immense variations in topography upon which the ground varies, with rocks, stones, grass, bushes and sand. The heaven is radiantly bright and seemingly inescapable, altered only by the changes in day and the shadows cast by the surrounding mountains. The optic array consists mostly of mountains, rocks, trees, shrubs and hills. Similar to the Norwegian Forest (Norberg-Schulz, 1971: 30) there is a large amount of variation in regards to the optic array including valleys, caves, sheer cliffs, forested rivers, mossy springs and massive waterfalls, which change and adapt to the local light and its topography.
Plate 4: Waterfall in the Atlas Mountains of Morocco Plate 5: River Valley in the Atlas Mountains of Morocco
By determining the atmosphere of a place through these three concepts Norberg-Schulz classifies ‘place’ into three types, classical, romantic and cosmological. According to Norberg-Schulz the Norwegian forest is romantic, while a Dutch landscape discussed above is cosmological. In almost all cases a ‘place’ will have aspects of all three types, where one is more dominant than the others. (Norberg-Schulz, 1971: 44)
If the above is considered to be true it may be assumed that the Atlas Mountains contain almost equal aspects of the romantic and cosmological with a negligible if not entirely absent classical association.