Heidegger's Hut
Relationships between the philosopher's involvement with his mountain retreat and his writings about 'dwelling' and 'place'

Investigator: Mr Adam Sharr
Supervisor: Dr Simon Unwin

Project summary
In 1923, a building was made in the Black Forest mountains of southern Germany for philosopher Martin Heidegger (1889-1976). This study explores the relationship between Heidegger's involvement with his 'hut' and his philosophy, especially his writings about 'dwelling' and 'place'.

Structure of the study
This study is structured in three parts. The first part gives a detailed account of the hut and its location. It is illustrated with drawings, photographs and images of a model, showing the internal arrangements of the building as used by Heidegger. The second part provides an outline of the philosopher's work, particularly his writings about the relationship of human life with its places of occupation. His three most important papers in this regard are taken to be those translated as 'The Thing', 'Building Dwelling Thinking', and '…poetically, Man dwells…', all written in 1950-51. The philosopher most probably worked on these at the hut. The third part discusses relationships between Heidegger's writings about 'dwelling' and 'place' and the location, configuration and occupation of the hut.

Conclusions
Material collected suggests a number of important relationships between Heidegger, his hut and his writings about 'dwelling' and 'place'. In the intellectual alignments that the building displays, it appears to record physically many of the priorities that Heidegger wrote about. Relationships between Heidegger, his hut and his writings raise an important issue for architectural practice and scholarship. The intellectual structuring required of a human mind in its involvement with physical situation appears to have a complexity equal to other dimensions of human thought. This appears to suggest that places can have a philosophical authority of their own through traces of human engagement that they report.

Publications to date
A version of part of this study has already been published in Architectural Research Quarterly, vol. 5, no. 1, Spring 2001. Further publications are also in preparation.