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Poetic architectural intentions: A brief assessment of the role of eco-phenomenology in urban design

This viewpoint provides a brief, critical reflection on the legacy of phenomenology, as a conceptual framework adopted by contemporary eco-phenomenologists calling for ‘originative’ re-conceptualization of urban design and practice. Eco-phenomenologists have argued that that the diminished balance between the physical and the metaphysical (specifically ontological) in environmental planning and policies is responsible for the uncertain future of sustainable development. Eco-phenomenology is concerned with interpretive assessments of human experience vis-à-vis the environment, a position inspired largely by Heidegger’s essay ‘Bauen Wohnen Denken (Building Dwelling Thinking), published in English in1971 in a book titled Poetry, Language, and Thought (Heidegger, 1971). Phenomenology’s focus on consciousness, experience and intentionality has inspired a number of influential architects, urban designers and planners concerned with ‘intentions in architecture’ and ‘intentional communities’. Notwithstanding phenomenology’s significant contribution to the growth in interest in mindfulness and ontological issues, this short article argues that building sustainable communities through urban design requires complex environmental, economic and social imperatives, which mere ‘transcendental intersubjectivity’ and mindfulness among community members and planners cannot bring alone about. There is no single definition of phenomenology, and the concept has evolved to encompass a relatively wide range of opinions and interpretations. The concern with ‘phenomena’ is a common feature of all phenomenological schools of thought, in which the conscious experience of the ‘first person’ is considered the only genuine vehicle for