Edmund Husserl

By Rhonda Daugherty


Husserl approach to phenomenology refers the human condition of consciousness. When building our knowledge on the phenomena of the human spatial configurations, the person must start with his or her own conscious awareness (Kockelmans, 1994). In essences, one must be alert to the experiences of objects in space. Husserl says "Natural objects, for example, must be experienced before any theorizing about them can occur" (Merleau-Ponty, 1964). For example, when thinking and speaking about a wall, One must have already experience and touch the wall In order to know what a wall is. The senses play a huge role in how one accumulates a database of knowledge containing objects (Merleau-Ponty, 1964). The design thesis is going to examine the human perception and how one builds knowledge of space and then challenge what one perceives.

Perception falls in line with the idea of how one perceives objects in space. Husserl refers to intentionality, the example is, “if you perceive” he believes you have to “perceive something or someone” (Anton, 2009). The notions that objects only exist through consciousness and phenomena is the essences of Husserl’s term phenomenology (Anton, 2009). He then goes on to talk about objects in space to say and how they described and interpreted, “It is impossible to describe the essential aspects of a perception or a memory without [referencing] to what is perceived or remember, without describing the concrete [object] of these determinate activities” (Kockelmans, 1994)120).

The essences of an object that exhibit existing in a space that is perceived to be the embodiment of phenomena that cannot be describes or interpreted wrong simply because it exist through physically through memory and actuality. Husserl notes once again “that all experiences are experiences of something” ( (Kockelmans, 1994)120). The design thesis will question the rationality of the unseen and uninterrupted through challenging how one perceives what is familiar and known (Kockelmans, 1994). One might have previously interacted with the object visually but thats about the touch or smell, now one must become familiar with all aspects of the exhibition spaces.