Phronēsis and Dao: Cultivating Ethics and Wisdom in the Process of Making Architecture

Abstract

Contemporary China, the largest construction site in the world, is the centre of production of architectural ‘vessels’ that are compacted with technical and scientific knowledge. Nevertheless, traditional wisdom and personal cultivation is often neglected in this process of creating architecture. This paper makes a connection between the Chinese ideogram of 道 (dao = way), with the Greek term of φρόνησις (phronesis = practical wisdom), in the context of architecture. We argue that both terms bring forth the importance of ethics and practical wisdom in the making of architecture, as a process of cultivation. This argument is discussed through two case studies: a historical Chinese garden (Sima Guang’s ‘Garden of Solitary Enjoyment’), as a manifestation of Dao, and an educational situation from a contemporary architectural design studio in a school of architecture, as a manifestation of phronēsis. Both these diverse examples offer a possibility to see architecture as the creation of ‘vessels for life’ where ‘vessel’ and ‘life’ are inseparable.