The Ethical Function of Architecture

The Ethical Function of Architecture by the American philosopher Karsten Harries (1937) is one of the most important writings in architectural theory to emerge around the turn of the millennium (1st ed. 1998). In it Harries looks for an answer to whether and how architecture can help us to determine our place in the world today. He argues that structures transform space into a place and thus contribute to shaping a shared ethos, and in this sense they have an ethical function. He understands ethos in its original philosophical sense as the given ethical and moral principles, objectives, and values shared by a human community and architecture helps to create that ethos. From the same standpoint, however, Harries blames modern architecture for contributing to the degradation of modern life and criticises the modernistic notion that architecture is the property of the culture of technology, which instead of man’s poetic dwelling dictates the creation of an artificial machine for this purpose, which results in the loss of hierarchical space and in rootlessness – freedom is bought at the expense of homelessness and disorientation. The author calls for incorporating the body and a human scale into architecture, which should express the character of a place or region and make man whole again.
The first Czech edition includes an introductory foreword by Prof. Jindřich Vybíral, along with a bibliography and an index of names.