Genius Loci

Curator : Alberto Ríos de la Rosa
Production : Sofía Gómez de Parada Barragán

In classical Roman ideology, a genius loci (plural genii loci) was the protective spirit of a place. In contemporary usage, it usually refers to a location’s distinctive atmosphere, or a “spirit of place”, rather than necessarily a guardian spirit.

Alexander Pope made the Genius Loci an important principle in garden and landscape design with the following lines from Epistle IV, to Richard Boyle, Earl of Burlington:

Consult the genius of the place in all;
That tells the waters or to rise, or fall;
Or helps th’ ambitious hill the heav’ns to scale,
Or scoops in circling theatres the vale;
Calls in the country, catches opening glades,
Joins willing woods, and varies shades from shades,
Now breaks, or now directs, th’ intending lines;
Paints as you plant, and, as you work, designs.

This is the principle that landscape designs should always be adapted to the context in which they are located.

In the context of modern architectural theory, genius loci has profound implications for place-making, falling within the philosophical branch of “phenomenology”. Different settings give different explanations for the existence of genius loci. In most cases, however, the intelligent, magical entity simply develops from the similarly named “spirit of place” over a great deal of time. In other settings, genius loci are formed by powerful magical events, and in others they are the results of ley lines, mana pools, or an equivalent.