Papers by robert hermanson
Max Picard once observed that ‘Nothing has changed the nature of man so much as the loss of silen... more Max Picard once observed that ‘Nothing has changed the nature of man so much as the loss of silence... Man who has lost silence has not merely lost one human quality, but his whole structure has been changed thereby.’ With Picard's profound reflections in mind, is silence lost ? Au contraire, I would like to argue that there are multiple silences, many of which are capable of being retrieved in spite of the cacophonous world we live in.
Picard begins his book by observing that ‘Silence is nothing merely negative; it is not the mere absence of speech. It is a positive, a complete world in itself.” Furthermore, “there is no beginning to silence and no end: it seems to have its origins in the time when everything was still pure Being. It is like uncreated everlasting Being.’
This raises many questions, among them what is silence itself as a part of pure Being? Furthermore, what do such terms mean within the context of our time? What George Prochnik has called ‘Listening for Meaning in a World of Noise’ I wish to address through a series of themes that might enunciate the subject of silence itself.
Is there silence through the act of speech itself, and if so what might that be? Can silence be a part of the world of sound, but only through its emphatic presences as experienced, for example, in John Cage’s 4’33”? Furthermore, how does silence appear visually yet at the same time still reinforce itself in the profound explorations of architects such as Louis Kahn? Does Nature have silences and if so, what are they? Finally, what are we ourselves all about in confronting our own interior silences? This paper wishes to address these conditions and proposes a merging and potential resolution regarding these multiple questions about Silence in a cacophonous age.
Papers (English) by robert hermanson
Proceedings of the 1998 ACSA International Conference, 1998
Media-supported worldwide interdependence and transient cultural waves are essential forces activ... more Media-supported worldwide interdependence and transient cultural waves are essential forces activating the globalization phenomenon sweeping the planet. These newly emerging conditions have consequences not only within architectural practice, but the academy as well. Schools that have always engaged themselves in international dialogue, are now increasingly immersed in the rapidly developing media arena and global information networks.
This paper proposes a theoretical and pedagogical framework that engages this situation using the metaphor of migration. Migration is about purposely moving from one world into another and thus a suitable model for learning and moving into the new global commu- nity. Such pedagogy of migration was applied in two courses taught in the context of an ongoing international program between Ameri- can and Argentinean schools of architecture. Both classes, offered in Argentina and the US, used media and the cultural condition of liminality as the framework to study ( I ) the migration from analog to digital civilizations and (2) the relationship between film and architecture. Internationally accepted film and architectural design methods, principles and tools in addition to the increasingly shared global culture were used as the communication and ideological plateau to encourage cultural diversity and at the same time to critically establish commonality.
Proceedings of ACSA International Conference: “Constructions of Tectonics for the Postindustrial World, 1996
Since its origin, architecture has been the art of organizing physical reality, the act of establ... more Since its origin, architecture has been the art of organizing physical reality, the act of establishing the material order of a cultural order. However, as our civilization moves deeper into the information age, cultural expressions become increasingly dematerialized, mediatized, virtualized. This makes us ponder: can we honestly maintain a traditional tectonic understanding of architecture at a time when appearance is more important than actuality? This paper re-examines the human body to find clues towards answering this question. After all, it is from the body that human productions, concrete and virtual, emerge. And it is also the body, in its concealed hybridity (of materiality, intellect, and spirit), that gives us models for bridging differences. Contemporary architectural work addressing tectonics will be reviewed on this light. It will be concluded that an appropriate approach to the challenges of virtuality is not found in fleeing from but rather re-turning to the body.
Artículos (Español) by robert hermanson
Morphia, 2000
La arquitectura contemporánea esta oscilando entre un llamado a expresar nuestro tiempo y un llam... more La arquitectura contemporánea esta oscilando entre un llamado a expresar nuestro tiempo y un llamado a resistirlo creativamente. En vez de elegir una de estas dos posibilidades, sugerimos considerar estados híbridos y/o simbióticos como situaciones relativamente paradójicas que nos ofrecen una mayor capacidad de elección y evolución arquitectónica. Usamos al cuerpo humano como un modelo que por un lado refuta al dualismo y por el otro lado nos ayuda a ver al dilema entre lo virtual y lo material desde una óptica nueva. Este retorno al cuerpo no es un regreso nostalgico a situaciones conocidas y por lo tanto seguras sino que, por el contrario, es un regreso critico al cuerpo como fuente de inspiración y discernimiento. Después de todo, y como hemos visto, el cuerpo esta constante y naturalmente oscilando entre lo material y lo virtual. Este retorno significa mirar, escuchar, sentir y pensar acerca de nuestro cuerpo como una construcción que en si misma nos provee con enseñanzas de como vivir la vidas y mas directamente de como responder arquitectonicamente a los desafíos de hoy. De aquí que la solución al dilema que la virtualidad trae aparejada a nuestra civilización y la arquitectura no puede ser encontrada dejando la corporeidad de lado sino, por el contrario, retornando a ella con mayor consciencia que nunca.
Conference Proceedings (Editing) by robert hermanson
The Architecture, Culture, and Spirituality Forum, May 2012
This e-publication contains 10 peer-reviewed works (papers and workshops) presented at the Fourth... more This e-publication contains 10 peer-reviewed works (papers and workshops) presented at the Fourth Architecture. Culture and Spirituality Symposium. The meeting unfolded during a trip to Chichen Itza (Mexico) in April 1-5, 2012.
Drafts by robert hermanson
An exploration of the relationship between architecture and related disciplines such as music, fi... more An exploration of the relationship between architecture and related disciplines such as music, film and narrative that provides a commentary on the present zeitgeist.
Quo Vadis? Whither goest thou? In pursuit of pleasures, places, possessions or…. perhaps happines... more Quo Vadis? Whither goest thou? In pursuit of pleasures, places, possessions or…. perhaps happiness? Aristotle once observed that it was a quest for fullness by observing sublime beatitudo: " this category… encompasses a reach for fullness and perfection of happiness. The fullness, therefore, of goodness, beauty, truth and love. " This Western notion of happiness as a condition of fullness has permeated cultures for centuries, including those of the American scene. Jefferson's usage of the terms " life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness " tracing back to John Locke's commentaries, extends Aristotle's own observations. Consequently, and in a capitalistic society, it is also about the acquisition of things. In contrast, the notion of emptiness, an Eastern concept, provides a dialectic construct. Zhuangzi's notions of joy and particularly in the Dao, form a construct that engages in what he calls the " fasting " or " forgetting " … an emptying out of hearts and minds of so-called " toxic " elements of those ideals and goals that might be contaminated by the materialisms of the world. Hence, such pursuits of happiness (and joy) require the absence of things, not their acquisitions. Philosophically, and culturally, the distance between fullness and emptiness may seem very large. Perhaps it's all about who we are in terms of our own fullness, emptiness, or both, as human beings in the pursuit of happiness. However, I would argue that these often ironic conditions also have mutually shared attributes. In this paper I should like to address both conditions, their attributes, and how they may redefine the notion of happiness within the present zeitgeist.
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Papers by robert hermanson
Picard begins his book by observing that ‘Silence is nothing merely negative; it is not the mere absence of speech. It is a positive, a complete world in itself.” Furthermore, “there is no beginning to silence and no end: it seems to have its origins in the time when everything was still pure Being. It is like uncreated everlasting Being.’
This raises many questions, among them what is silence itself as a part of pure Being? Furthermore, what do such terms mean within the context of our time? What George Prochnik has called ‘Listening for Meaning in a World of Noise’ I wish to address through a series of themes that might enunciate the subject of silence itself.
Is there silence through the act of speech itself, and if so what might that be? Can silence be a part of the world of sound, but only through its emphatic presences as experienced, for example, in John Cage’s 4’33”? Furthermore, how does silence appear visually yet at the same time still reinforce itself in the profound explorations of architects such as Louis Kahn? Does Nature have silences and if so, what are they? Finally, what are we ourselves all about in confronting our own interior silences? This paper wishes to address these conditions and proposes a merging and potential resolution regarding these multiple questions about Silence in a cacophonous age.
Papers (English) by robert hermanson
This paper proposes a theoretical and pedagogical framework that engages this situation using the metaphor of migration. Migration is about purposely moving from one world into another and thus a suitable model for learning and moving into the new global commu- nity. Such pedagogy of migration was applied in two courses taught in the context of an ongoing international program between Ameri- can and Argentinean schools of architecture. Both classes, offered in Argentina and the US, used media and the cultural condition of liminality as the framework to study ( I ) the migration from analog to digital civilizations and (2) the relationship between film and architecture. Internationally accepted film and architectural design methods, principles and tools in addition to the increasingly shared global culture were used as the communication and ideological plateau to encourage cultural diversity and at the same time to critically establish commonality.
Artículos (Español) by robert hermanson
Conference Proceedings (Editing) by robert hermanson
Drafts by robert hermanson
Picard begins his book by observing that ‘Silence is nothing merely negative; it is not the mere absence of speech. It is a positive, a complete world in itself.” Furthermore, “there is no beginning to silence and no end: it seems to have its origins in the time when everything was still pure Being. It is like uncreated everlasting Being.’
This raises many questions, among them what is silence itself as a part of pure Being? Furthermore, what do such terms mean within the context of our time? What George Prochnik has called ‘Listening for Meaning in a World of Noise’ I wish to address through a series of themes that might enunciate the subject of silence itself.
Is there silence through the act of speech itself, and if so what might that be? Can silence be a part of the world of sound, but only through its emphatic presences as experienced, for example, in John Cage’s 4’33”? Furthermore, how does silence appear visually yet at the same time still reinforce itself in the profound explorations of architects such as Louis Kahn? Does Nature have silences and if so, what are they? Finally, what are we ourselves all about in confronting our own interior silences? This paper wishes to address these conditions and proposes a merging and potential resolution regarding these multiple questions about Silence in a cacophonous age.
This paper proposes a theoretical and pedagogical framework that engages this situation using the metaphor of migration. Migration is about purposely moving from one world into another and thus a suitable model for learning and moving into the new global commu- nity. Such pedagogy of migration was applied in two courses taught in the context of an ongoing international program between Ameri- can and Argentinean schools of architecture. Both classes, offered in Argentina and the US, used media and the cultural condition of liminality as the framework to study ( I ) the migration from analog to digital civilizations and (2) the relationship between film and architecture. Internationally accepted film and architectural design methods, principles and tools in addition to the increasingly shared global culture were used as the communication and ideological plateau to encourage cultural diversity and at the same time to critically establish commonality.