Dr. Martin Gledhill: Bollingen- A Biography of Jung’s Tower

Dr. Martin Gledhill

Bollingen - A Biography of Jung’s Tower

The premise of this talk is that the role of the “outer” environment in the evolution of Jung’s sense of Self has been overlooked. That Jung dedicated an entire chapter of his “autobiography” to The Tower, indicates its pivotal role in his life and work, and yet the analysis of its evolution and interpretation found in MDR is surprisingly short.  Whilst that narrative is beguiling, I contend that it is underexamined, incomplete, inaccurate, and consequently inadequate in aiding an understanding of a Jungian sense of place.  In resituating the Tower, both historically and symbolically, interweaving the topography of the unconscious with the typology of place, a meaningful sense of belonging can be constructed that transcends both inner and outer worlds.

Dr. Martin Gledhill B.Sc. B.Arch. MA, is a qualified architect, having been a senior teaching fellow at the Department of Architecture and Civil Engineering at the University of Bath. He also has an MA and Doctorate in Jungian and Post Jungian Studies from the University of Essex, having recently completed his thesis on exploring the symbolism and spiritual essence of Carl Jung’s Bollingen Tower, bridging the gap between the physical and the psychological.