UCLA

The presence of phenomenology in the discipline of architecture has been tenuous. Often, it is essentialized as a philosophical method that `brackets' out theory, history, and intellection, all for the sake of achieving `authentic' knowledge through conscious intention. Its traces are often vague and disconnected, based on a system of philosophy that claims to produce a universal epistemology for human existence and experience. As it concerns architecture, phenomenology has fluctuated as a theory and an epistemology. More often than not, it has failed to produce a concrete and lasting discourse in the field of architecture. It is the task of this thesis to produce a comprehensive historiography of architectural phenomenology, during the 20th century, from its prehistory to its contemporary presence.