Buber on (looking at) architecture

Abstract

Martin Buber (1878-1965), the eminent Jewish theologian and social philosopher, would probably prefer to be described as the founder of philosophical anthropology. He is perhaps best remembered today as author of the highly influential I and Thou (first published in 1923). This paper sets out to introduce his ideas on architecture. Buber's interest in architecture has hitherto been overlooked, probably because his only published utterance specifically on this subject dating from the final period of his life was hitherto available exclusively in Hebrew. Considerable insights into Buber's thinking about architecture can be obtained from studying this short, published text of 1957, his Foreword to Within the Space of Architecture [ BeHalalah shel Ardichalut ], the Hebrew edition of Bruno Zevi's Saper Vedere l'Architettura [ Architecture as Space: How to look at Architecture ], first published a decade earlier in Italian. For the Hebrew edition not only was the title modified but also Zevi added a special introduction as well as Buber's Foreword. Despite its brevity this Foreword enables one to deduce Buber's fundamental ideas about architecture and about our perception of it. Furthermore, their foreword also casts new light on Zevi's ideas, as enunciated in this book.