Thinking in the city

Architects have ideas about the influence of a building on its inhabitants. For example, postmodern architecture is supposed to make the inhabitants struggle with their working or living environment in order to stimulate thoughts about the constructive element of life. Modernist buildings tend to order and clear up the thoughts of its inhabitants. Classical architecture is designed to seduce or impress people and to make them think of a higher order. So in architecture the relationship between thinking and artifacts is important. There is much speculation on this, but there is no fixed method or clear idea on grounding these ideas in experience. We developed a city walk as a form of philosophical practice in order to address this problem.

Philosophical practice is an emerging paradigm. It originated in the late 1970-s from critic on academic philosophy or psychotherapy. With a social utility in mind, philosophers started counseling aimed at individuals, groups and organizations. Its main purpose is to make people think in order that being becomes manifest. In this way philosophical practice is reflecting Descartes’ famous “I think, therefore I am”. Now, Edmund Husserl criticized Descartes in a fundamental way when he noticed that “thinking” as such is not possible. We always think of a house, of a wife, of a lover, etc. We always think of something. In this way, Husserl revealed the intentional structure of consciousness. Thinking about something, also involves thinking about architectural objects. Being in a modern city fills our mind with men made objects which influence our thoughts and thinking. The nature of this relationship between thinking and architecture is to be explored. A city walk is an adoptation of philosophical practice to this critique of Husserl on Descartes, e.g. to the intentional structure of consciousness and the social nature of thinking.

During a city walk through Rotterdam, a city well known for its modern architecture, we will show how places visited, serve as a tool to make people think by entering into a dialogue between themselves and architectural objects. We focus, problematize and conceptualize thoughts during group discussion. Participants end the tour with a philosophical articulation of their experience. Therefore, we think city walks as a form of philosophical practice are suitable for grounding ideas about the relationship between thinking and architecture in experience.

As a tribute to a great pratical philosopher, Erasmus, who was born in Rotterdam, I invite you to a philosophical walk through town. We will visit four places and connect them with thought: first, the Pilgrim father church of Delfshaven, where the Pilgrim fathers left for America, a place to contemplate the relationship between individual concience and the state; second the age old statute of Erasmus in the centre or Rotterdam, a hallmark to contemplation of the humen being as such, third an example of mordern architecture, the HAL (Holland America Line) where many people left for the USA via the harbour of Rotterdam in the 19-20th century, to contemplate the relationship between human being and structure/order; and fourth we visit an example of post modern architecture to contemplate the self in the confusing modern times. We will visit the places and focus on the relationship between thought and place. The city of Rotterdam is very suitable for this. Because Rotterdam has been bombed in WO II it doesn't contain many old buildings anymore, and therefore thoughts prevail. Rotterdam is a modern city with a fascinating  architecture. Men has been rebuilding its past in the future. We will read text fragments of philosophers at the places mentioned, try to make you think, to be conscious, and make you leave with an unforgetable experience of Rotterdam.