Christian Norberg-Schulz

Christian Norberg-Schulz (1926–2000) was a Norwegian architect, architectural historian and theorist.

He was born in Oslo. He is the father of singer Elizabeth Norberg-Schulz.

Though Norberg-Schulz had practiced as an architect in his home country, he is well-known internationally both for his books on architectural history (in particular Italian classical architecture, especially the Baroque) and for his writings on theory. His concerns for theory can be characterised by a subtle shift from the analytical and psychological concerns of his earlier writings to the issue of phenomenology of place, being one of the first architectural theorists to bring the thinking of Martin Heidegger to the field.

During 1974 he taught an architecture class at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Architecture Department.

In 1996 he received the Fritt Ord Honorary Award.^[1]

Books in English by Norberg-Schulz

• Intentions in Architecture MIT Press, Cambridge, Mass., 1965.
• Existence, Space and Architecture Praeger Publishers, London, 1971
• Meaning in Western Architecture Rizzoli, New York, 1974.
• Baroque Architecture Rizzoli, Milan, 1979.
• Late Baroque and Rococo Architecture Rizzoli, Milan, 1980.
• Genius Loci, Towards a Phenomenology of Architecture Rizzoli, New York. 1980.
• Modern Norwegian Architecture Scandinavian University Press, Oslo, 1987.
• New World Architecture Princeton Architectural Press, New York, 1988.
• Concept of Dwelling Rizzoli, New York. 1993.
• Nightlands. Nordic Building, MIT Press, Cambridge, Mass., 1997.
• Principles of Modern Architecture Andreas Papadakis Publishers, London, 2000.
• Architecture: Presence, Language, Place Skira, Milan, 2000.

In popular culture

• Mark Z. Danielewski quotes Norberg-Schulz on page 74 of his novel House of Leaves, and then again on pages 170-1 (in the second edition).

References