However, there are also more literal forms. A partly rebuilt armory that was once on the site demonstrates the power of traditional forms from architectural history. Because it is fragmented and shifted from its original location, the partial armory questions the possibility of preserving the past. Nevertheless, digging into the past was a major concern of Eisenman at this stage in his career. At the Wexner Center , the massing concept is that of an archaeological earthwork.
Landscaping is treated as excavating, revealing the history and geography of the site.
In his recent commissions, such as the College of Design, Architecture, Art and Planning at the University of Cincinnati, Eisenman replaced the narrational emphasis with an intent to realize architecture as a spatial creation. These buildings treat space as their ultimate meaning, to be grasped intuitively, not intellectually. Eisenman has begun to link architectural design to fiction and poetics, aiming to create buildings which are self-referential and not merely an end to a predetermined theoretical cause. Hans Morgenthaler received his Ph.D. from Stanford in 1988. He is currently an Associate Professor of Architecture in the College of Architecture and Planning, University of Colorado at Denver.