The article brings together various theoretical approaches and research strategies of cultural studies based on architectural research and provides a compact overview of the field. Three basic forms of access are distinguished: The symptomatic, the praxeological and the ethnographic, though each can merge into the other. Based on an example from my own research, that of the Votive Church (Votivkirche) in the ninth district of Vienna, I argue that a cultural analysis of architecture should combine the forms of access mentioned above to achieve a comprehensive understanding of built space and its importance for everyday practices.

Keywords
architecture, dwelling, theory of space, praxeology, material culture