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Architecture
Vilém Flusser transforms the hope of finding a
stable foundation on which to base a philosophy
by generating a philosophical paradigm from migration:
The nomad’s tent has no fixed foundation,
only struts and walls that are erected temporarily
in different places. Its walls are made of
light and flexible materials. They keep out prying
eyes and weather, but they allow sounds to pass
through. Accordingly, Flusser privileges acoustic
phenomena, as does the Jewish tradition
described by the historian of religion Gershom
Scholem. Its concept of truth is acoustic. From
Immanuel Kant Flusser adopts the critique of the
absolute and a formal concept of freedom.
In Flusser’s philosophy, architecture does not require
a stable, absolute concept; it refers “essayistically”
to the environment and uses opportunities.
For example, Flusser uses the planning of
“intelligent houses” as an opportunity to reflect
on population growth in the journal ARCH+. Or
he accepts invitations, for example, the architect
Fritz Haller’s, to philosophize in front of an audience
of architects at the University of Karlsruhe.
In the process, a structural relationship between
Haller’s research and Flusser’s mode of production
becomes evident.
In his research project “Probleme des Fügens” [Problems of Joining], Fritz Haller studied modular integration using cubes, with the goal of connecting living and working units in compact ways within limited space. To do so, Haller varied the cubes. His cubes are analogous to the text modules that Flusser formulated for specific occasions. Flusser then made these elements available to publishers who offered proposals of how they could be arranged, or they published the text elements posthumously. The text modules can be combined in various directions. For example, the text “Nomaden” [Nomads] can be published together with texts on the theory of dwelling, the theory of the subject, and texts on the architectonics of thinking. This is a theory of a philosophy which has developed modules in order to respond flexibly to the changing world.
Original article by Nils Röller