Robert Vischer and Heinrich Wölfflin: a piece of the germany thinking about the apprehension of the built space based on the memory.

Abstract

The observation of the built space can take place in a simple way or provoke a visual appropriation that reaches the interior of a person. In the 19th century, during a period of cultural and philosophical effervescence in Germany, intellectuals from several areas have used, at the same time, many fields of knowledge – including those still in development – to explain the relationship of man and his environment. This article talks about two theories: Robert Vischer and, subsequently, the young Heinrich Wölfflin, two theorists who dealt specifically with the relations between observer and architecture. They’ve used physics, physiology, psychology, sociology, art and architecture, all involved in the explanation of individual memories reactivated and still in constant construction.