In the 1960s, architects loved the idea of the "Open Plan"—the limitless, grid-based, universal space (think Mies van der Rohe). Norberg-Schulz called this an "anthropological failure."
Norberg-Schulz diagnoses the 1960s malaise: buildings are functional but meaningless. He attacks the "scientistic" approach that reduces architecture to behaviorism or structural engineering. intentions in architecture norberg-schulz pdf
His defenders claim that this "essentialism" is precisely the PDF’s value. It gives the architect a toolkit for analyzing any building, anywhere, regardless of era. In the 1960s, architects loved the idea of
The search volume for remains high for three distinct reasons: In the 1960s
Norberg-Schulz famously broke down architectural intention into a hierarchy:
to explain how humans perceive and organize their environment. He posits that architecture fulfills a fundamental human need: providing an "existential foothold".