To find a counterweight to the intellectually refined system of the tectonic in architecture requires digging down into the heavy foundations on which it rests. The mound, which sets the stage for architecture, is the product of human labour but still belongs to the earth. The real or imagined subterranean interior of the mound is not defined by clear geometrical boundaries but by an atmosphere - a notion largely disregarded by theorists of architecture. The growing importance of such auratic spaces requires the restoration of an aesthetic theory that treats the perception of nature as part of the sensual experience of architecture. In this lecture Akos Moravnzsky leads these excavations. Professor Moravnzsky teaches theory of architecture at ETH in Zurich.