Architecture and Dwelling

Abstract

Heidegger’s analyses of technology and dwelling in the earth are brought to bear on the architectural works of John Lautner and Paolo Soleri. Lautner’s works are represented as an aesthetic response to the problem of disenchantment and alienation from nature. Soleri’s Arcosanti is discussed as a way to use modern technology to create an ecologically self-sustaining habitat. Glenn Murcutt’s works are interpreted in light of Heidegger’s later work, in which he discusses the relationship of the fourfold of earth, sky, mortals, and gods. Murcutt’s use of modern technology to “touch the earth lightly” is upheld as an example of architectural practice that consciously maintains itself within the fourfold.