This article draws from reception theory in its examination of the reception over time by architectural theorists and historians of Christian Norberg-Schulz's work, and specifically his treatment of Heidegger and place as developed in Genius Loci (1980) and other publications. Norberg-Schulz's writings, and this book in particular, have attracted consistently high levels of critical attention over more than three decades. Having detailed this reception-which at times borders on hostile-my focus shifts to exploring which it is that this work has attracted such a consistent level of persistent yet critical interest? Why is it that critics keep returning to Norberg-Schulz's work, and what might be revealed through this concern for and criticism of his work?