But Heidegger, of course, remains waiting, listening, hoping for the call. The essence of dwelling lies in “remaining,” in “staying on”—not in any place, but in a place that provides peace. Dwelling is being-in-peace; it is not a passive protection, but rather a causing of the fourfold to appear where mortals dwell. Here, not in refuges, not in hidden places, but here, in the unconcealedness itself, lies being-at-home.
“Shepherds,” says Heidegger, “dwell in this unconcealedness outside of the desert of the desolated earth.’’10 They guard “the hidden law of the earth” against the violence of the technical will that drags it toward exhaustion by forcing it beyond its possibilities. But these shepherds are invisible, and the law that they guard, in which the earth stays within the safety of its limits of possibility, is also invisible. Nostalgia vanishes in the very same moment in which it is first glimpsed. No subject remains in the home, in an essential relation with the earth. The subject is manifest solely in its relation with the will to power over the earth. In defining dwelling, Heidegger describes the possible conditions of a mode of living that today is impossible. To be-at-home is to be invisible guardians of invisible laws.11
“Shepherds,” says Heidegger, “dwell in this unconcealedness outside of the desert of the desolated earth.’’10 They guard “the hidden law of the earth” against the violence of the technical will that drags it toward exhaustion by forcing it beyond its possibilities. But these shepherds are invisible, and the law that they guard, in which the earth stays within the safety of its limits of possibility, is also invisible. Nostalgia vanishes in the very same moment in which it is first glimpsed. No subject remains in the home, in an essential relation with the earth. The subject is manifest solely in its relation with the will to power over the earth. In defining dwelling, Heidegger describes the possible conditions of a mode of living that today is impossible. To be-at-home is to be invisible guardians of invisible laws.11
Nietzsche’s thought in the face of the “great city”12 is of course harsher, more sobering (nu¨chternes), since he is no longer even listening. His thought begins where the very silence of the wait breaks off and the analysis of homelessness (Heimatlosigkeit) begins.
- Massimo Cacciari, Eupalinos or Architecture, 1980
- Massimo Cacciari, Eupalinos or Architecture, 1980
