‘Sensation of Space and Modern Architecture’: a psychology of architecture by Franz Löwitsch
2012; Taylor & Francis; Volume: 17; Issue: 2 Linguagem: Inglês
10.1080/13602365.2012.678645
ISSN1466-4410
Autores Tópico(s)Art, Aesthetics, and Perception
ResumoAbstract In 1928 the Austrian architect and engineer Franz Löwitsch (1894–1946) published the article 'Sensation of Space and Modern Architecture' in Imago , the psychoanalytical journal edited by Sigmund Freud. Based on Richard Semon's theories of Mneme, which Löwitsch connected to psychoanalytical theories, the prevalence of dissimilar sensations of space throughout the stages of the development of western architectural history is presupposed, and Löwitsch offered an explanation of how their symbolic meanings reflected psychological conditions of a particular time and culture. By connecting Semon's theory with psychoanalytical deliberations that equip the inherited memory of spatial sensations with pleasurable or unpleasurable emotions, Löwitsch furthermore argued that spatial sensations produce spatial concepts, and that the dominating shapes and forms of the architecture of a time therefore reflect the dominance of a particular inherited sensation of space. The unifying psychological make-up of a populace thus leads to spatial concepts that form an architecture which reflects these concepts and contain symbols that possess 'satisfying powers' valued by the majority of people of that particular time and place. But Löwitsch's theory speaks of more than a mere justification for the usefulness of psychoanalytic theory as a methodology for the humanities. Löwitsch contrasted his findings meticulously with Oswald Spengler's controversially critiqued book The Decline of the West , Karl Scheffler's The Spirit of the Gothic and Eckhart von Sydow's Primitive Art and Psychoanalysis . The discussion of these contemporaneous writings that essentially sought to find the driving forces for the development of styles helps in formulating Löwitsch's final hypothesis. Here, he proposes the emergence of an 'energetic space' in architecture, which is the prevalent sensation of space that he predicts to emerge in the near future. His ultimate aim was not to enter academic discourse but rather to provide a scientifically based explanation, with which the impact of space on the inhabitant can be measured, explained and utilised in architectural practice. Acknowledgements I would like to thank for their generous support, and enthusiasm for this topic, Christoph Albers (Staatsbibilothek zu Berlin), Regine Beckmann (Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin), Gerlinde Löwitsch (Vienna) Juliane Mikoletzky (Technische Universität, Vienna), Günter Pietzonka (StuB, Frankfurt/Main), Erich Wagner (DAM, Frankfurt/Main) and Steffi Wolf (Deutsche Nationalbibliothek, Leipzig). For help with research and for conversations on this topic I wish to thank Don Bassett (University of Auckland), Maureen Gordon (Adelaide Central School Of Art) and Stuart King (University of Tasmania) who was also kind enough to read an abbreviated version of this paper at the 2011 Interstice Conference on my behalf. Notes To date his writings have been largely overlooked. Die Idee Berlin, has been mentioned by David Frisby, 'The metropolis as text. Otto Wagner and Vienna's "Second Renaissance"', in The Hieroglyphics of space. Reading and experience the modern metropolis, ed., Neil Leach (London and New York, Routledge, 2002), p.19 and by Marcel Potter, 'Berlin in Posters—Posters in Berlin: Mass Advertisement and Urban Space in Berlin 1900–1933', in Topography and Literature, ed., Reinhard Zachau (Göttingen, V&R unipress, 2009). An analysis of Löwitsch's text Raumanalyse und moderne Baukunst and the basis for this article appears in Tanja Poppelreuter, Das Neue Bauen für den Neuen Menschen (Hildesheim, Olms, 2007). On the occasion of the Deutsche Bauausstellung in Berlin in 1931, Löwitsch proposed together with Walter Neuzil and Rudolf Kisch a plan to resolve the congested traffic situation there. See: Franz Löwitsch, 'Die Idee Berlin', Wasmuths Monatshefte für Baukunst und Städtebau, 5 (1931), pp. 423–428; Franz Löwitsch, 'Berlin im Überlandverkehr', Wasmuths Monatshefte für Baukunst und Städtebau, 6 (1932), pp. 505–506; Franz Löwitsch, 'Großstädtischer Verkehr. Erläutert am Beispiel der Stadt Berlin', Zentralblatt der Bauverwaltung, 52 (1932), p. 512; Franz Löwitsch, 'Autobahn—ein Element des Staatenbaues', Die Autobahn, no. 19 (1934), pp. 906–909. Another result of the joint venture of Löwitsch, Neuzil and Kisch was the competition entry for the Reichskanzlerplatz in Berlin in 1930: Franz Löwitsch, 'Der Reichskanzlerplatz', Wasmuths Monatshefte für Baukunst, 4 (1930), pp. 436–439. In 1946, moreover, Löwitsch published articles that discussed ways in which to reconstruct destroyed suburbs in Vienna: Franz Löwitsch, 'Die wissenschaftlichen Grundlagen des Städtebaus', Aufbau (October, 1946), pp. 147–149; Franz Löwitsch, 'Kritik an Wien?', Aufbau (September, 1946), pp. 99–100; Franz Löwitsch, 'Das städtebauliche Formproblem', Aufbau (November, 1946), pp. 185–187. In 1924/25 he had, together with Walter Neuzil and Rudolf Scherer, published an article on stage design: Walter Neuzil, Franz Löwitsch, Rudolf Scherer, 'Plastische Bühne', Österreichische Bau- und Werkkunst (1925/26), pp. 83ff. At the Deutsche Tanzfestspiele in 1934 Löwitsch created costumes for the dance Nebel und Sonne. The programme of this festival can be found in: Festivalizing! Theatrical Events, Politics and Culture, ed., Temple Hauptfleisch (Amsterdam, New York, Rodopi, 2007), p. 161. Among Löwitsch's teachers were Max Fabiani, Max Ferstel, Franz Krauss und Leopold Simony, but the stringent curriculum only allowed students to choose their tutors to a limited degree. In an article, however, Löwitsch highlighted Rudolf Saliger, a specialist in the use of ferro-concrete, as having been the teacher who taught students 'to regard and practice the draft of a construction as artistic task' [den Entwurf einer Konstruktion als künstlerische Tätigkeit zu werten und zu üben]: Franz Löwitsch, 'Bauwissenschaft?—Bauwissenschaft!', Die Baugilde, 11 (1929), p. 383. For information on the Technische Hochschule in Vienna during the 1920s I wish to thank Juliane Mikoletzky at the archive of the Technische Universität, Vienna. Petra Schumann, 'Rudolf Scherer', Architektenlexikon Wien. 1880–1945: http://www.architektenlexikon.at/de/537.htm (accessed 04.10.2010). W. Neuzil, et. al., 'Plastische Bühne', op. cit. Ibid. See also: P. Schumann, 'Rudolf Scherer', op. cit. Klaus Löwitsch, Asche auf meine Seele (Berlin, Eulenspiegel-Verlag, 1997), pp. 83–84. Personal file of Franz Löwitsch at the archive of the Reichskammer der bildenden Künste, Landesleitung Berlin: Archive No: BDC Nr. 2400020506, Microfiche 99, image no. 2320, date illegible (before 1936). Franz Löwitsch, 'Raumempfinden und moderne Baukunst', Imago. Zeitschrift für Anwendung der Psychoanalyse auf die Natur- und Geisteswissenschaften, 14, nos. 2/3 (1928), pp. 294–321. Franz Löwitsch, 'Raum-Empfinden und Baukunst', Innendekoration. Die gesamte Wohnungskunst in Bild und Wort, 40 (1929), pp. 70–73; Franz Löwitsch, 'Raum-Psychologie', Innendekoration. Die gesamte Wohnungskunst in Bild und Wort, 42 (1931), pp. 456–458; Franz Löwitsch, 'Raum-Analyse. Gestaltbildende Elemente', Innendekoration. Die gesamte Wohnungskunst in Bild und Wort, 42 (1931), pp. 349–350. Franz Löwitsch, 'Bauwissenschaft?', Die Baugilde, 10 (1928), pp. 1669–1670; Franz Löwitsch, 'Bauwissenschaft?—Bauwissenschaft!', op. cit., pp. 381–384; Franz Löwitsch, 'Erst Bauen, dann Entwerfen?', Die Baugilde, 11 (1929), pp. 1300–1301; Franz Löwitsch, 'Grundriss der Raumwissenschaft', Die Baugilde, 11 (1929), pp. 1759–1760; Franz Löwitsch, 'Probleme des Eisenbetons', Die Baugilde, 11 (1929), pp. 1849–50; Franz Löwitsch, 'Wer ist die Baupolizei?', Die Baugilde, 12 (1930), pp. 526–530. The concept and poster they developed on the occasion of the exhibition was published as: Franz Löwitsch, 'Die Idee Berlin', op. cit. Franz Löwitsch, 'Der Reichskanzlerplatz', op. cit. Personal file of Franz Löwitsch, op. cit. Franz Löwitsch, 'Großstädtischer Verkehr. Erläutert am Beispiel der Stadt Berlin', Zentralblatt der Bauverwaltung, 52 (1932), p. 512; Franz Löwitsch, 'Autobahn—ein Element des Staatenbaues', op. cit. Franz Löwitsch, 'Die Besonnung im neuen Berliner Bauordnungsentwurf', Die Baugilde, 14 (1932), pp. 1117–1118; Franz Löwitsch, 'Baupolizei und Besonnung von Wohnräumen', Die Baugilde, part one: 12 (1930), pp. 2121–2124; part two: 15 (1931), pp. 104, 1923–125. Franz Löwitsch, 'Die wissenschaftlichen Grundlagen des Städtebaus', Aufbau (October, 1946), pp. 147–149; Franz Löwitsch, 'Kritik an Wien?', Aufbau (September, 1946), pp. 99–100; Franz Löwitsch, 'Das städtebauliche Formproblem', Aufbau (November, 1946), pp. 185–187. Franz Löwitsch, 'Raumempfinden', op. cit., p. 294. Ibid. Ibid. Richard Semon, The Mneme (London, George Allen & Unwin, 1921). Semon's scientific approach was based upon Lamarckian biology and influenced by Ernst Haeckel and the Monistic League. Daniel Schacter asserts in his comprehensive volume on Semon how The Mneme was a theoretical application of Monistic ideas: Daniel L. Schacter, Forgotten Ideas, Neglected Pioneers. Richard Semon and the Story of Memory (Ann Arbor, Sheridan Books, 2001), pp. 120–121. Ibid., p. 121. Franz Löwitsch, 'Raumempfinden', op. cit., p. 294. R. Semon, The Mneme, op. cit. D. Schacter, Forgotten Ideas, op. cit., pp. 121–123. Ibid,. p.124; R. Semon, The Mneme, p. 260. Franz Löwitsch, 'Raumempfinden', op. cit., p. 294. Ibid. Ibid., p. 295: 'In den Sensationen der Oberfläche [des menschlichen Fötus] … ist schon alles Wissen von der Umwelt enthalten'. Matthias Kreck, 'Was ist ein Raum?': http://www.uni-heidelberg.de/presse/ruca/ruca2_2001/kreck.html (accessed 25.08.2011). Ibid., p. 295. Ibid. Ibid., pp. 295–296. Ibid., p. 296. Ibid. Ibid., p. 298 (italics by Löwitsch): 'Jedes räumliche Erlebnis—und jedes Erleben hat eine räumliche Seite—erregt die Gedächtnisspuren aller vorhergehenden, sie klingen mit, und zwar in dem Maße, das ihnen von der Homophonie der originalen und mnemischen Erregungen gestattet wird. […] Weiter erhalten sie ihre Intensität aus den Affekten, mit denen sie besetzt sind. Wenn solche mnemische Elemente mit Unlust besetzt sind, so werden sie imstande sein, die Aufmerksamkeit von den sie ekphorierenden Wahrnehmungselementen abzuziehen, beziehungsweise später die Erinnerung an sie undeutlich zu machen oder sie gar ins Ubw [sic = 'Unbewußte'] zu ziehen, zu verdrängen […]. Umgekehrt werden gewisse Wahrnehmungselemente deutlicher werden, wenn sie zahlreiche lustbetonte ähnliche Vorstellungen assoziieren.' Ibid., p. 299: 'Denn es ist abhängig von den räumlichen Erlebnissen, deren Engramme phylogenetisch ererbt, in pränataler und infantiler Zeit wiedererworben wurden, von den Schicksalen, die diese in der Entwicklung des Individuums, der Rasse, erlitten haben, und von den neuen Erfahrungen, die während dieser Zeit hinzugetreten sind.' Ibid., pp. 299–300: 'Fährt man in dieser Spekulation fort, so wird man versucht anzunehmen, dass die Raumvorstellung eines Menschen, eines Volkes je nach seiner sich so ergebenden psychischen Konstitution, je nach dem onto- und phylogenetischen Entwicklungsstadium, auf das sie fixiert sind, zellenhaft, cunnisch, phallisch oder energetisch sein werden und daß weiter durch diese Kennzeichen die Stile, Kulturen sich charakterisieren lassen müssen.' Ibid., p. 306: 'Die reine Zweckform erhebt sich zur höchsten Symbolik und wird durchflutet von der Harmonie eines Geistes, der Schmerz und Lust im Dasein, den Rhythmus im Leben bewusst bejaht. Der Raum ist nicht Höhle, aber auch nicht Körper; er ist durchflutet von Kraftströmen, Licht, Schwere, Festigkeit; aus ihrem Wellen und Brechen entsteht die Struktur, der energetische Raum. Man nennt das "vergeistigen" und "Entmaterialisieren." ' Ibid., p. 307. Oswald Spengler, Der Untergang des Abendlandes. Umrisse einer Morphologie der Weltgeschichte (Munich, Beck, vol. 1, 1918; vol. 2, 1922). In these two volumes Spengler vouched for the existence of a Kulturseele ['spirit of a culture'] that is created due to an unconscious interaction of all members of a culture. It is expressed in the art, creativity and way of thinking of an age. This Kulturseele is furthermore described as similar to an organism that can grow, bloom and wither in order to allow a new Kulturseele to develop. In his analysis of western culture Spengler assesses the age of technology as being the last stage of its development. Karl Scheffler, Der Geist der Gotik (Leipzig, Insel Verlag, 1922). Karl Scheffler was an art critic and historian who specialised in modern art. In 1897 he began publishing in the magazines Atelier, Dekorative Kunst and Die Zukunft. From 1906 onward Scheffler edited the magazine Kunst und Künstler. His 1917 book Der Geist der Gotik displayed similarities to Wilhelm Worringer's Das Fromprobleme der Gotik (1911). Scheffler gained particular notoriety during the so-called Berliner Museumskrieg in which he criticised the director of the National Gallery, Ludwig Justi's conception of presentations of modern art. See: http://www.dictionaryofarthistorians.org/schefflerk.htm (accessed 10.2010) and Dieter Scholz, 'Max Liebermann und Karl Scheffler', Jahrbuch der Berliner Museen 39 (1997), pp. 157–167 and Ulrich Pfisterer, Anja Zimmermann, Animationen, Transgressionen: Das Kunstwerk als Lebewesen (Berlin, Akademie Verlag, 2005), p. 233. Eckhart von Sydow, Primitive Kunst und Psychoanalyse (Leipzig, Vienna, Zürich, Internationaler Psychoanalytischer Verlag, 1927). Oswald Spengler, The Decline of the West, Vol. One, Form and Actuality (New York, Alfred A. Knopf, 1966), pp. 181–216. Franz Löwitsch, 'Raumempfinden', op. cit., p. 300. Ibid., p. 307: 'Aus der ständigen Alteration beider Tendenzen entsteht ein Rhythmus, der uns im Wechsel von Lust und Unlust, von Nacht und Tag, von Leben und Tod wiegt, das Schicksal des Individuums und der Familien erfasst und die Geschichte der Völker und Menschheit in Wellen formt.' Ibid., pp. 302–303. In order to support his understanding of the Greek temple as a phallic symbol, Löwitsch once again relies on Von Sydow's book. While Von Sydow had interpreted the 'originating symbol' [Ursymbol] of architecture as being the maternal womb and the Ursymbol of plastic the phallus, Löwitsch sees both as being models for architectonic creations: ibid., p. 304. Ibid., pp. 311–312. Ibid., pp. 316–321. Ibid., p. 318: 'Die veränderte moderne Psyche determiniert eine neue Zweckmäßigkeit; die neuen Bedürfnisse geben dem Raum neuen Sinn und neue Gestalt. Das Haus ist nicht mehr Stütze und Hülle, sondern Maschine, Transformator zwischen Kosmos und Mensch.' As early as 1922 an article was published in the magazine Gesundheits-Ingenieur that asked for an analysis of architectural elements such as the psychological effects of sunlight. The author bemoaned that the psychological necessity of sunlight for the individual had not been subjected to research. The author, K. A. Hoepfner, wished for a scientifically based indication that would give insight to the impact of light, warmth, etc., on the psyche. K. A. Hoepfner, 'Die Lagerung städtischen Wohnblocks zur Himmelsrichtung mit Rücksicht auf die Besonnungsverhältnisse', Gesundheits-Ingenieur, 45:14 (1922), p. 184. Franz Löwitsch, 'Grundriss der Raumwissenschaft', op. cit., p. 1759: 'Es geht nicht an, die Wirkungen des Raumes als Imponderabilien zu vernachlässigen oder sie bloß gefühlsmäßig abzuschätzen.' Ibid., p. 309: 'Drang des Tatenmenschen nach kraftgespannter Bewegung'. T. Poppelreuter, Das Neue Bauen, op. cit., pp. 75ff. Löwitsch's 'energetic' architecture and perception of the ways in which modern materials would change the perception of space are reminiscent, furthermore, of Der Raum als Membran, published by the former Bauhaus student Siegfried Ebeling. He anticipated that future architecture would consist of materials utilising natural waves and rays for the inhabitant. Siegfried Ebeling, Der Raum als Membran (Dessau, Dünnhaupt Verlag, 1926). Ibid., pp. 317–318. Le Corbusier, Adolf Loos and Theo van Doesburg are usually considered as having pioneered three-dimensional planning where spaces inside the house are not defined by their surrounding walls; instead, they open towards each other, towards the outside and bridge the previously distinct levels within the house. Visual links are being created that are not necessarily walkable. Loos' Raumplan and Le Corbusier's plan libre challenged the traditional concept of the interior as comprised of solitary rooms that do not correspond with each other. The term Raumplan, however, at the time when Löwitsch wrote the article, had not been published by Loos himself and had only been coined by his associate Heinrich Kulka in his 1931 book on Loos. Cynthia Jara, 'Adolf Loos's "Raumplan" Theory', Journal of Architectural Education, 48:3 (February, 1995), pp. 185–201. See also: Max Risselada, ed., Raumplan versus Plan Libre. Adolf Loos and Le Corbusier. 1919–1930 (New York, Rizzoli, 1988) and Carel Blotkamp, el al., eds, De vervolgjaren van De Stijl 1922–1932 (Amsterdam, Veen, 1996). In Theo van Doesburg's theoretical framework the fourth dimension was a synonym for time and the experience of space that the individual gains by moving through architecture. Van Doesburg's and Cornelis van Eesteren's Maison Particulière in particular exemplifies this. The model was exhibited in Paris in 1923 and consisted of horizontal and vertical planes that defied the traditional shape of the house and demonstrated the opening between inside and outside not as an abrupt break but as a gradual one. See also, Robert P. Welsh, 'De Stijl: A Reintroduction', in De Stijl: Visions of Utopia, ed., Mildred Friedman (New York, Abbeville Press, 1986), p. 37; Carsten-Peter Warncke, De Stijl: 1917–1931 (Cologne, Taschen Verlag, 1990), pp. 36ff; Joost Baljeu, Theo van Doesburg (London,Studio Vista, 1974); Allan Doig, Theo van Doesburg. Painting into architecture, theory into practice (Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1986), p. 130. Reyner Banham, Theory and Design in the First Machine Age (London, The Architectural Press, 1960), p. 258. 'Wir haben die Aufgabe, uns unserer Zeit anzupassen. Wie wir Kleider von heute tragen, so müssen wir auch in der Umwelt uns Dinge schaffen, die zu unserer Zeit gehören.': Walter Gropius, 'Grundlagen für Neues Bauen', Bau- und Werkkunst, 2:1 (1925/26), pp. 134–147. Le Corbusier, 'Architecture d'époque Machiniste', Journal de Psychologie Normale et Pathologique, 23 (1926), pp. 325–350. See also: R. Banham, Theory and Design, op. cit., pp. 257–263 and Nina Rosenblatt, 'Empathy and Anaesthesia: On the Origins of a French Machine Aesthetic', Grey Room, 2 (Winter, 2001), pp. 78–97. Due to the increasing role that technology gained in construction, the expectations of which skills architects would need shifted as well. Even before Walter Gropius published the second programme of the Bauhaus Grundsätze der Bauhausproduktion ['Principles of Bauhaus Production'] in 1926, Bauhaus students in Weimar such as Werner Gräff had published manifestoes such as Es kommt der neue Ingenieur ['The new Engineer comes']. In 1928 Hans Schmidt and Mart Stam published ABC fordert die Diktatur der Maschine ['ABC demands the dictatorship of the machine']. All these relate to a new definition of the architectural profession and the education of architects and designers. See: Werner Gräff, 'Es kommt der neue Ingenieur', [1923] in Programme und Manifeste zur Architektur des 20. Jahrhunderts, ed., Ulrich Conrads (Braunschweig, Wiesbaden, Vieweg, 1981), p. 67; Walter Gropius, 'Grundsätze der Bauhausproduktion', Vivos Voco. Werkland. Zeitschrift für neues Deutschtum, 6:8/9 (1926), pp. 265–267; Hans Schmidt, Mart Stam, 'ABC fordert die Diktatur der Maschine', 1927/[1928] in Programme und Manifeste zur Architektur des 20. Jahrhunderts, op. cit., pp. 108–110. Löwitsch mentions Rank's 1926 book Das Trauma der Geburt in connection with explanations of cavernous space: F. Löwitsch, 'Raumempfinden, op. cit., p. 305. The Austrian psychologist and psychoanalyst Otto Rank was one of the editors of Imago and a close associate of Sigmund Freud. Rank's book The Trauma of Birth is his mayor theoretical text. Ellen Handler Spitz, 'Conflict and Creativity: Reflections on Otto Rank's Psychology of Art', Journal of Aesthetic Education, 23:2 (Autumn, 1989), pp. 97–109. E. Von Sydow, Primitive Kunst, op. cit., p. 158. Ibid., p. 162: '… der am Leben leidende, dennoch von Produktionslust geschwellte Mensch.' Löwitsch might have been more interested in Rank's The Trauma of Birth in that Rank there gives a definition of the room in relation to female genitalia: 'the space, which for the Unconscious regularly symbolizes the female genitals. And, indeed, ultimately it symbolizes the womb as relating to the only female genital known to the Unconscious, and the places in which before the birth trauma one is protected and warmed'; Otto Rank, The Trauma of Birth (New York, Robert Brunner, 1952), p. 88. On the wider academic discourse on the notion of a psychology of space see: Mark Jarzombeck, The Psychologizing of Modernity. Art, Architecture, and History (Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 2000). August Schmarsow, 'The Essence of Architectual Creation', in Empathy, Form and Space: Problems in German Aesthetics, 1873–1893, eds, Harry Francis Mallgrave, Eleftherios Ikonomou (Santa Monica, Getty Center for the History of Art and the Humanities, 1994), pp. 281–297. August Schmarsow, 'Über den Werth der Dimensionen im menschlichen Raumgebilde'" Berichte über die Verhandlungen der königlich Sächsichen Gesellschaft der Wissenschaften zu Leipzig, Philologische-historische Klasse, 48 (1896), p. 44. Schmarsow developed his theory of spatial design (Raumgestaltung) mainly in the above-mentioned texts but also in August Schmarsow. Grundbegriffe der Kunstwissenschaft am Übergang vom Altertum zum Mittelalter, kritisch erörtert und in systematischem Zusammenhange dargestellt (Leipzig/Berlin, B. G. Teubner, 1905). For an account of Schmarsow's legacy and intellectual background, see: Mitchell W. Schwarzer, "The Emergence of Architectural Space: August Schmarsow's Theory of "Raumgestaltung" ', Assemblage, 15 (August, 1991), pp. 48–61. See also: Roy Malcolm Porter, Jr, The essence of architecture: August Schmarsow's theory of space (Ph.D. dissertation, University of Pennsylvania, United States- Pennsylvania); retrieved March 6th, 2010, from Dissertations & Theses: Full Text (Publication No. AAT 3179790). '[…] annerkannte Grundlage der Architekturästhetik', Oskar Wulff, "August Schmarsow zum 80. Geburtstag', Zeitschrift für Kunstgeschichte, 2/3 (1933), p. 208. See also: M. W. Schwarzer, 'The Emergence of Architectural Space', op. cit., p. 56. 'Kunst körperlicher Massen', Schmarsow, 'Über den Werth', p. 44. Ibid. Ibid. See also Anthony Vidler, Warped Space: Art, Architecture, and Anxiety in Modern Culture (Cambridge, Mass., The MIT Press, 2000), p. 4. Ibid., pp. 4–5. Christopher Long, 'The House as Path and Place: Spatial Planning in Josef Frank's Villa Beer, 1928–1930', Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians, Vol. 59, No. 4 (December, 2000), pp. 478–501. Ibid., p. 485. Ibid., p. 486. Adolf Hildebrand, Problem der Form in der bildenden Kunst (Strassburg, J. H. E. Heitz, 1893); August Schmarsow, 'The Essence of Architectual Creation' in Empathy, Form and Space: Problems in German Aesthetics, 1873–1893, op.cit. and Schmarsow 'Über den Werth' op. cit., p. 44. C. Long, 'The House as Path and Place', op. cit., p. 486. The art historian Sigfried Giedion, for example, asserted in 1929 that 'the opened house represents a reflectance of the psychological condition', a notion he further developed in 1941 in Time, Space, Architecture. The emergence of a new type of interior space was for Giedion one of the most important characteristics of modern architecture. '… das geöffnete Haus auch eine Widerspiegelung des heutigen seelischen Zustandes bedeutet', Sigfried Giedion, Befreites Wohnen (Zürich, Leipzig, Orell Füssli Verlag, 1929), pp. 10–11. See also: A. Vidler, Warped Space, op. cit., p. 5. 'Psychologisch ist die Einstellung so, daß die Wohnräume nach außen sich öffnen, daß man nach außen sich öffnet, daß man nach außen wohnt, also nicht mehr wie gewöhnlich in seiner Höhle sich verkriecht.', Adolf Rading, 'Das Haus von Adolf Rading', Die Form. Zeitschrift für gestaltende Arbeit, 2:9 (1926/27), p. 288. 'Dies bedeutet andererseits, dass die Formen der Zweckerfüllung auch auf eine naturhafte Weise und sozusagen auf anonymen Wege entstehen, während die Formen, die um eines Ausdrucks willen geschaffen wurden, einer psychischen Konstitution entstammen und deshalb im höchsten Maße subjektiv und unbestimmbar sind.', Hugo Häring, 'Wege zur Form', Die Form. Zeitschrift für gestaltende Arbeit (1/1925). After the Second World War, the Vienna-born architect Richard Neutra drew heavily on psychoanalytical theories. During the 1950s, Neutra created spaces, in close relation with the client that made him analyst and architect at the same time, and based on his understanding of psychoanalysis, that were to affect the unconscious mind of the inhabitant. Otto Rank had in The Trauma of Birth, developed the theory that in the trauma of birth the sources for anxieties might be found. The separation from the mother's womb was in Rank's view the cause of neurosis and he thus focused in his therapy on mastering this trauma. Rank thus assigned a set date for the end of analysis in order to recreate the act of separation. Rank furthermore asserted—based on theories of empathy—that 'viewers projected their birth trauma into an object. … The house, for Rank, does not express the desire to return to the womb but is the material realization of the effort to overcome the fear of detachment.': Sylvia Lavin, Form Follows Libido. Architecture and Richard Neutra in a Psychoanalytic Culture (Cambridge, Mass., London, The MIT Press, 2005), pp. 54–55. Neutra then likened architecture to the womb and the architect to the mother. He reminds us, furthermore, of the responsibility of the architect to create spaces of the postnatal environment that protect us 'from regressing into indeterminacy', ibid., p. 56. Neutra thus understood architecture as 'a primary factor in psychological development': ibid., p. 56. Willy Hellpach was a psychologist and had a position at the Technische Hochschule in Karlsruhe. Between 1924 and 1926 he was state president in Baden. His book Die geopsychische Erscheinungen ['The geophysical phenomenon'] was first published in 1911. Hellpach explains here the psychological and physical reactions to the environment such as weather, landscape and climate. His main premise is the belief that the human organism is part of Earth's electrostatic field. The chapter Die tellurischen Elemente ['The telluric elements'] is dedicated to describing the impact of electromagnetic rays on the body. According to this chapter the body needs natural rays such as ultraviolet light for its well being. Willy Hellpach, Die geopsychischen Erscheinungen. Wetter, Klima und Landschaft in ihrem Einfluss auf das Seelenleben (Leipzig, W. Engelmann, 1917 1911), p. 112. Ebeling bases his argument on Hellpach's findings in that he argues that buildings isolate the body from these natural rays and thus from its natural environment. It must therefore be part of the task of architects to study the interactions between natural environment and human physiology that can be aimed at finding material which would be permeable for natural rays. This way the build environment, the natural environment and the human physiology would be able to correlate. S. Ebeling, Der Raum, op. cit., pp. 11–12. John Sweetman, with A. R. Gardner, 'Moorish [Hindoo, Indo-Saracenic] style', Oxford Art Online (accessed, 01.10.2011) http://www.oxfordartonline.com Löwitsch's architectural output was limited. In his personal file at the Landesarchiv Berlin the following buildings are listed as having been built by Löwitsch independently: Kleinbühne & div. Inscenierungen [sic] in Schäßburg, Wochenendhaus Dr. Lohmann in Hermsdorf, Wohnhaus Ing. K. Schlecker in Bln. Grunewald, Wohnhaus Ing. H. Schlecker in Bln. Karslhorst; Landesarchiv Berlin, File: A 243-04 No. 6283, date not decipherable, ca. 1937. Further research led to a water tower in Stockelsdorf-Eckhorst, Germany, that was build during the 1930s: Jens U. Schmidt, Messetürme in Schlesqig-Holstein (Cottbus, Regia-Verlag, 2008). Additionally, in an article in 1941 Löwitsch published a number of floor plans. Whether or not these relate to houses that had been built by Löwitsch cannot be clearly discerned: Franz Löwitsch, 'Baupreis und Wohnkultur', Das schöne Heim, 12:10 (1940/41), pp. 232–237.' See: [no author], 'Bericht über die Veranstaltungen 1931–32', Zeitschrift für Ästhetik, 26:4 (1932), pp. 388–389. Michael Friedman, 'Ernst Cassirer', The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Spring, 2011, edition), Edward N. Zalta, ed., URL = (accessed 12.09.2011). See, for example: John Shannon Hendrix, Architecture and psychoanalysis: Peter Eisenman and Jacques Lacan (Peter Lang, New York, 2006); A. Vidler, Warped Space, op. cit.; S. Lavin, Form Follows Libido, op. cit.; M. Jarzombek, Psychologizing of Modernity, op. cit. In 2000, the School of Architecture of the Architectural Association, London organised the Conference 'Psychoanalysis and Space', chaired by Mark Cousins, and in 2003, Peggy Deamer mounted a symposium on architecture and psychoanalysis at the Yale School of Architecture. See: C. P. Snow, The Two Cultures, (Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1993) and Anonymous, 'Are we Beyond the Two Cultures?', Seed (May 7th, 2009), accessed 01.10.2011: http://seedmagazine.com/content/article/are_we_beyond_the_two_cultures/
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