[Film & Architecture] Paranormal Activity 3 | 12:10:40 - 12:11:33

PARANORMAL

12:10:40

ACTIVITY

3

12:11:33

Clarence Ku UG 0

ENVS 2021 History and Theory Dissertation Film and Architecture

Christophe Gerard

CONTENTS

04-05

08-15

22-23

INTRODUCTION

UNCANNY BY EMPTINESS

CONCLUSION

An introduction to the Paranormal Activity franchise, backstory of the film series.

Exploration of the uncanny sensation experienced in spatial phobias and non-ownership caused by emptiness of the scene.

24-25

BIBLIOGRAPHY 06-07

AN INCIDENT ON A DAY BETWEEN 12:10:40 AND 12:11:33 A screenshot sequence of the incident and film extract description.

16-19

UNCANNY BY CAMERA OBJECTIVITY An argument on camera objectivity and panning techniques in the film and how they induced uncanniness.

20-21

U N C A N N Y B Y T H E G R E AT CHAOS The chaos caused by the poltergeist in the end and its significance in creating a breathtaking feel of insecurity.

INTRODUCTION

Fig. 1 | Film poster, ‘Paranormal Activity 3’, 2011.

Through assessing in detail the videotapes in the film

in the United States.

Paranormal Activity 3, this writing will explore the sensation of the uncanny in the film and how architecture arouses such

The story of each episode, being substantially set inside

terrorising experience in reality.

suburban houses in California, progresses from accidental sightings of minor supernatural phenomena caught on

Paranormal Activity is a horror film series premiered in 2007

cameras, such as obscure noises, flickering lights, unpredicted

which at the moment consisting of 6 episodes. The first 4

movements of furniture, which later develop into threatening

films are based around a family whilst the 5th (The Marked

assertive contacts with the human and eventually brutal

Ones) and the upcoming 6th episode (The Ghost Dimension),

murders. Each Paranormal Activity film is presented as found

releasing in October 2015, focus on another. These instalments

footages recorded by security cameras, webcams and other

of films combine to unfold a contemporary witchcraft legend

recording devices.

4

The franchise is famously known for its unique representation of the plot and characters. Unlike most of other films in the genre, Paranormal Activity is often structured without a narrator nor is it explained through any form of conversations between people. Instead, the plot and characters, including the evil entity, are portrayed by weaving several cuts of home videos in a chronological order throughout the film. The lack of verbal descriptions and edits encourage audience to question the reality, and made to believe that the videos are factual depiction of supernatural events hence make their very own judgment on them.

Paranormal Activity 3 is the instalment that is set in the year 1988 in a house in Santa Rosa, California where Dennis, a filmmaker and his girlfriend Julie and 2 daughters live. The couple once attempt to record a sex tape but are interrupted by an earthquake. Dennis reviews the tape after the incident and discovers an invisible figure outlined by dust fallen from the ceiling. Since then, Dennis begins setting up several film cameras to record the uncanny events in the house.

Simultaneously, Dennis discovers that his daughters begin interacting with an imaginary friend, Toby, who later is revealed as the demon.

5

AN INCIDENT ON A DAY BETWEEN 12:10:40 AND 12:11:33 TIME

5 3

2

1.

12:10:45

2.

12:10:50

3.

12:11:03

4.

12:11:08

5.

12:11:13

1

4

Fig. 2 | Film set diagram.

Amongst his videos, there was a one-minute recording of

the camera pans from the living room towards the kitchen.

the kitchen and living areas of his house, where a major

She is speaking on the phone, leaning against the table. She

paranormal event is experienced by Dennis’ girlfriend, Julie.

suddenly hangs up the phone and walks quickly across the

The clip is shot with a camcorder, with clues given by the

rooms as she heard someone knocking at the front door.

date and time indicator on the camera display. The camera

The camera motion, though slowly, coherently follows Julie

is set to swing slowly across the living room and kitchen

whilst she walks towards the front door of the house. As the

panoramically along the horizon. According to the camera

camera catches Julie up again, it is discovered that no one

placement, the living room is on the left of the scene, and the

is at the front door and that she begins walking back to the

kitchen is on the right and is separated by a centre column

kitchen, only to find out everything has been removed from

which is tiled with stones. This motion repeats periodically.

her kitchen...

In the first pan, the camera captures the kitchen and living spaces on a normal day in a conventional American home. In the scene, the kitchen is fully furnished with tables, lights, plants and decorations. Julie enters the frame passively as

6

1. Julie on the phone, hears a knocking noise at door.

2. Julie hangs up the phone.

3. Julie walks quickly to open the door.

4. Camera motion slowly follows Julie.

5. Julie closes the front door, no one is there.

6. Slightly puzzled, Julie walks back.

7. Julie is frozen in shock as she stares at the kitchen.

8. Everything in the kitchen has been cleared away.

Fig. 3 | Film extract sequence, ‘Paranormal Activity 3’, 2011.

7

UNCANNY

BY EMPTINESS

In this incident, the kitchen of the house is being attacked,

E M P T I N E S S A N D S P AT I A L P H O B I A S

emptied and abandoned. It has experienced a paranormal transformation. At the beginning of the extract, the kitchen

“Jentsch attributed the feeling of uncanniness to a fundamental

is filled with a range of the household’s possessions such as

insecurity brought about by a “lack of orientation,” a sense of

books, food, kitchen utensils, sauces and seasonings, even

something new, foreign, and hostile invading an old, familiar,

tables and chairs. The uncanny violation of the alien spirit is

customary world...” 1

indicated by the extreme emptiness of the space.

The astonishment Julie is feeling is a spatial fear as she is “The contemporary sensibility that sees the uncanny erupt in

confronted by a brand new kitchen, created by an unknown

empty parking lots around abandoned or run-down shopping

entity. Such intense anxiety arises from the lost of orientation

malls, in the screened trompe l’oeil of simulated space, in,

in the uncanny atmosphere caused by the change in the kitchen

that is, the wasted sensibility has its roots and draws its

environment. The current appearance contrasts sharply from

commonplaces from a long but essentially modern tradition.”1

the homely kitchen she recognises in her daily memory. It is beyond comprehension how exactly the items are taken away

Vidler’s words confirms emptiness being one of the main

in a blink of an eye.

criteria for the growing sensation of uncanniness. Emptiness in the built environment suggests desertion and decay of space. The film utilises the vacant archetypal domestic space in the haunted house extensively to create contrasts between conditions of “a secure and homely interior and the fearful invasion of an alien presence; on a psychological level.” 1

Upon uncovering the kitchen in a state that is no longer

BEFORE

recognisable by Julie, she immediately suffers from a panic attack.

Fig. 4 | Before and after the haunting incident.

1. Anthony Vidler, ‘The Architectural Uncanny - essays in the modern uncanny’. Cambridge: MIT Press, 1992, 3

8

AFTER

In psychological terms, the sudden clearing of space induces

EMPTINESS AND NON-OWNERSHIP

agoraphobia on Julie. The term agoraphobia originates from the ancient Greek architecture agora, an open public space

“unhomeliness was more than a simple sense of not belonging;

in cities. Therefore the anxiety Julie has been imposed is

it was the fundamental propensity of the familiar to turn on

associated with uneasy sensations due to the openness or

its owners, suddenly to become defamiliarized, derealized, as

crowdedness of a space. By observing the visual change

if in a dream.” 3

of the kitchen in the film, the sudden removal of the items exposes the hidden surfaces of the kitchen, that used to be

The absence of these objects accidentally stages a clean

buried beneath objects that Julie and her family have needed

rendered image of the kitchen, revealing the place as it was

and familiarised. It has been experiemented by Carl Friedrich

first built, or in a virtual space in the mind of an architect when

Otto Westphal the impact of agoraphobia upon human

it was being visualised. Meanwhile, Julie is also confused as

interaction in empty spaces such as empty streets or squares.

she fails to relate the current empty kitchen to her familiarised kitchen which she and her family own. The clean, empty

In spatial context, agorahpobia, together with another spatial

kitchen instead, resembles the images of apartment rental

anxiety disorders, developed simultaneously with the modern

advertisements on the display windows of property agents.

development of urbanisation. Anthony Vidler states that,

The spotless photographic depiction reveals the space in its

“the contemporary sense of uncanny... might be adduced to

raw form, its beauty that is undisturbed by life.

interpret modernity and especially its conditions of spatiality, architectural and urban”. 2

Yet this image of a vacant domestic space is uncanny and unhomely. Firstly because of the nature of these images

Urbanisation in cities have introduced an alien living

expresses the non-ownership of the ‘home’ as they are

environment that involves high population density livinig

originated from the birth of the resident rental system. As

styles in rationally planned residential towers, public suqares

Julie seems to have lost ownership of the space, she is merely

and offices.

a tenant in the house who finds herself “in someone else’s house, in the house of a stranger who always watches (her) and throws (her) out if (she) does not pay (her) rent.” 4 The seizure of the kitchen by the demon ‘Toby’ is signalled by

2. Vidler, “The Architectural Uncanny - essays in the modern uncanny’, 12 3. Anthony Vidler, ‘The Architectural Uncanny - essays in the modern uncanny’, 7 4. Karl Marx, ‘Economic and Philosophic Manuscripts of 1844’. Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, Collected Works 3, 307

9

the decolonisation of the family’s possessions, implying

Julius

Shulman

(1910-2009)

was

an

architectural

the erasure of the family’s history in the space. This has

photographer famous for his photography works for the

effectively shaken Julie’s domestic comfort and ownership

Case Study Houses programme. This programme ran from

to the kitchen and the house, subsequently results in Julie’s

1945-1966 in the United States. Published as a part of the

immediate decision of moving out.

Arts & Architecture magazines, Case Study Houses aimed to showcase inexpensive and fashionable model homes during

Moreover, imageries of vacant, unoccupied domestic

post-war housing boom after World War II. Case Study House

design are not intended to represent home life within the

#22, also known as Stahl House, earned fame for Schulman.

architectural space as a factual account. Instead, it renders

His works for the Case Study Houses programme has given

the artistic illusion of the ideal, poetic dwelling at modern

a new definition to lush domestic lifestyle in the post-war

homes, which motivated the development of contemporary

United States.

rendering plugins used broadly in the architectural discipline today. Before the prevalent digital rendering software was

Shulman contributed the Case Study Houses campaign with

invented, the spatial quality in architecture was presented

photographs that are, in film production terms, mise en

through analogue imageries in the form of photographs. It has

scène. The expression literally means ‘place on stage’ and

always been considered that the bond between architecture

refers to objects arranged in a particular way for theatrical

and photography is symbiotic since the motionless buildings

purposes. It is apparent that domestic spaces portrayed by the

were perfect for first generations of cameras to capture with

photographer, as wished by the architect, are photogenic but

mandatory long exposures.

do not accommodate life. From interior pictures of Case Study House #21, human does not play a part in them despite the

A recent exhibition at the Barbican Centre displays the

theme of these photographs are living oriented spaces, such

complementary relationship between photography and

as living room and kitchen. Human is replaceable, therefore

architecture since 1930s. The collection of over 250 works

expelled from these photographs to prevent impurities to the

from 18 photographers establishes a spectrum of architectural

architecture.

imageries of different focuses, one of which includes Julius Shulman’s portrayal of American post-war living trend.

10

Fig. 5 | Julius Schulman display at exhibition ‘Constructing Worlds - Photography and Architecture in the Modern Age’, 2015.

11

Julius Shulman has composed a photograph of the kitchen of Case Study House #20 with a woman in it. The photograph illustrates the clean, empty kitchen space with a few signs of inhabitation, as the flowers and ornaments lie quietly in the FLOWERS

background. The woman dressed in a fashionable dress and a pair of high heels stands in the centre of the photograph.

ORANGES

Nonetheless, despite the inclusion of human, the combination of the architecture and the human still creates an uncanny

CORNS

incongruity in the image. The model, although demonstrating some functions of the kitchen, does not represent the factual dwelling in the space. It is most noticeably due to the outfit she wears, which are a formal dress and a pair of high heels that look completely out of place from a domestic space that would stain the fabric at anytime.

Moreover, the photograph has been staged to compose in an overall orange scheme where only objects of similar colours are included in the shot to harmonise the pastel orange tonality of the space. These objects include corns, oranges and yellow flowers. Through mapping the distribution of red, yellow and orange colours in the image, it is shown that the prioritised purpose of the photograph is to reveal the aesthetics of the space instead of the homely experience it ought to offer.

12

Fig. 6 | Colour map of red, yellow and orange.

Fig. 7 | Julius Schulman, ‘Case Study House #20’.

13

An evident of the strong mise en scène characteristics of

Art referred by Vidler. This is because the visual attribute of

Shulman’s works is displayed in an image of Julius Schulman

imageries offers a limited experience of a space and becomes

composing a photograph for Case Study House #22 which

deceiving to tenants when they discover the mismatch of the

reveals the key production of the photographs. Julius, the

desired expectations and the reality.

man who directs the scene, is determined to highlight the elegance of Koenig’s building at the best angle. He positions himself dangerously on the edge of a concrete fence, with one hand holding his film camera, risks the threat of falling off the slope if fails to maintain balance on the thin concrete bar. On his right hand side stands his colleague, who further idealise the illusion of modern dwelling by placing branches and leaves in the foreground. The resulting image displays the dramatic perspective from the roof structure. Architecture features as the main character in the production where as people is merely placed on the furthest side of the deck, occupying the smallest portion of the image.

In today’s society, this mainstream of the uncanny ideal of emptiness continues to circulate and to an extent, even more spoiled by the latest technologies such as new fish eye lenses in photography and graphics editor programmes. It has allowed an even more artistic portrayal of domesticity.

As Vidler comments, “Art is then uncanny because it veils reality, and also because it tricks. But it does not trick because of what is in itself; rather it possesses the power to deceive because of the projected desire of the observer.” 5 The images of domestic spaces in the real estate market nowadays are the 5. Vidler, ‘The Architectural Uncanny - essays in the modern uncanny’, 7

14

Fig. 8 | Julius Schulman composing a photographic view of Case Study House #22.

Fig. 9 | Julius Schulman, ‘Case Study House #22’.

15

UNCANNY

BY CAMERA OBJECTIVITY

The synesthetic experience of the uncanny in the film is

to rationalise users’ work in the space. Lihotzky was inspired

constructed via manipulating the video and audio experience.

by the trend of scientific management theories and the motion

The extract is completely silent without any audio

study conducted by Frank and Lilian Gilbreth. Gilbreths’

augmentation or sound effect. The only sound track is the

study categorised the motions of workers performing certain

sound from the scene. Without distraction from the audio,

tasks in industries. These actions range from repetitive

audience thus concentrates on following the gaze of the

manufacturing processes such as packaging; to routine office

slowly moving camera, observing the interior space carefully

assignments including dating documents.

to seek the uncanny.

The cameras in the film are objective due to their mechanical motions and non-beautification in filmic quality. This scene is filmed by a camera swinging horizontally between the kitchen and the living area. Concisely enough, the camera traces this particular path the woman navigates across the rooms. The steady movement shows no acceleration nor does it imply apparent purpose as to what the camera wants to capture. The film is only a visual tool to scrutinise evenly across the space for the victim family to familiarise with their home once again. However, it is evident that the production of this scene takes into account precisely the pace of the woman such that the range of the camera pan is configured at an appropriate speed according to the character’s walking motion.

85 years before the filming of the movie, similar studies were involved in architect Margarete Schutte-Lihotzky’s design process for the Frankfurt Kitchen, the first mass produced domestic kitchen of which the main objective was

16

Fig. 10 | Erno Goldfinger, ‘Bad Planning means Long Journeys’.

Recorded by a film camera, the Gilbreth couple observed workers’ posture whilst working with a time keeping clock in the background. These footages of working movements were subsequently analysed with calculations to formulate the Gilbreth’s own set of working methods at a higher efficiency.

This study had become a reference for entrepreneurs to train and improve efficiency at which employees had been working.

By contextualising Gilbreths’ analyses into kitchen designs, Lihotzky created the compact Frankfurt Kitchen with a set of specific apparatus installed in the kitchen to simplify the working motions in it rationally.

A study of the plan of the conventional kitchen and the Frankfurt Kitchen from 1920s effectively compared the complication in circulation within the kitchens during preparation and clearing of meals. In Frankfurt Kitchen, Lihotzky suggested a more simplified circulation flow in her design compared to the spatially inefficient conventional kitchen, which generated lengthy and overlapping paths.

Frankfurt Kitchen did not solely rationalise the cooking process, but also rationalised the storage spaces of the kitchen.

The hygienist design enabled cooking utensils and food to be hidden away in the integrated cupboards and drawers.

Fig. 11 | Frank & Lilian Gilbreth, ‘Time-Motion Study’.

17

However, both the film and the Frankfurt kitchen should be

designed the kitchen as an architect, not as a housewife.” 6

critically questioned whether the object is configured for the person or the person is configured to compromise with

As Lihotzky admitted her forceful approach in designing

the machine. The Taylorism movement, with Gilbreths’

the kitchen, the then newly introduced Frankfurt Kitchen

experiment as a fundamental initiative is an attempt to

demonstrates the disagreement in definitions of dwelling

maximise industrial output through mechanising human

according to modern architects and residents at the New

actions. The campaign believes that human flaws are

Frankfurt. The scientifically motivated Frankfurt Kitchen

unacceptable. The undisciplined mankind is not consistent

only works perfectly in theory. The design deliberately

in industrial environment and are impurities to perform the

disregards the historical precedents of kitchen dwelling by

mechanical processes which are calculated to perfection.

basing solely on scientific experiments and research. The

Therefore, the conclusion of the motion studies, by further

design mechanised human interaction with the kitchen; in

simplifying labour’s actions while working, conveys that the

fact, the kitchen was designed as an industrial instrument

only advancement for human is via mechanisation.

instead of a space. The invention of the Frankfurt Kitchen resulted in bringing to the public the uncanny experience

With similar concepts embedded to the design of the Frankfurt

in domestic space, as hinted in the experience of the film,

Kitchen, users of the kitchen found it difficult to use. The

where viewers is confronted by the coldness and emotionless

design was inflexible due to its fixed, standardised layout.

camera that is dull and would direct your gaze to gruesome

The aluminium food bins, despite their bespoke design for

discoveries.

particular cooking ingredients, were the most frustrating apparatus to use in the Lihotzky-designed kitchen since the front labels were embossed with the name of ingredients, making it restricting and confusing for storing other food.

On the architect’s 100th birthday, she confessed “You’ll be surprised that, before I conceived the Frankfurt Kitchen in 1926, I never cooked myself. At home in Vienna my mother cooked, in Frankfurt I went to the Wirthaus (a restaurant). I 6. Wikipedia. ‘Margarete Schütte-Lihotzky’. Last modified September 25, 2014. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Margarete_Sch%C3%BCtte-Lihotzky 7. Anthony Vidler, ‘The Architectural Uncanny - essays in the modern uncanny’, 17

18

CONVENTIONAL KITCHEN (1920s)

FRANKFURT KITCHEN (1926)

P R E P A R AT I O N R O U T E CLEANING ROUTE Fig. 12 | Circulation analysis of a Frankfurt kitchen and a conventional kitchen.

19

UNCANNY

BY THE GREAT CHAOS

“The house provided an especially favored site for uncanny disturbances: its apparent domesticity, its residue of family history and nostalgia, its role as the last and most intimate

1.

shelter of private comfort sharpened by contrast the terror of invasion by alien spirits.” 7

Where have the removed possessions gone?

By the time Julie could barely calm her nerves in front of the estranged vacant kitchen, a huge pile of possessions she is seeking collapses from the ceiling instantaneously before her.

2.

The mass of the household’s belongings is now rearranged chaotically by the demon. The pile of possessions signifies the accumulation of history and daily rituals in the space.

Furthermore, these objects are the source of homeliness or cosiness to the space as described by Ernst Bloch in his article A Philosophical View of the Detective Novel, “The setting in which detective stories are enjoyed the most is just too cozy. In a comfortable chair, under the nocturnal floor lamp with tea, rum, and tobacco, personally secure and peacefully immersed in dangerous things, which are shallow.” 8

3.

Fig. 13 | Film extract sequence, ‘Paranormal Activity 3’, 2011.

may perform functions. According to Jean Baudrillard, this is the architecture without architectural awareness while

At the beginning of their ownership of a space, long-term

“designing” the space. “People have designed and built their

occupiers would add to a domestic space their customisations

environments by spontaneous rules”.

to improve the living experience within it and placing items

infinitely in daily life and as a result, the ever-growing knick-

at desired places. These configurations to a space often

knacks slowly take over the architectural space, resulting in

follow the daily routine of the occupier where as some

clusters of mess spread over the space.

8. Ernst Bloch, ‘A Philosophical View of the Detective Novel’. Discourse 2 (1980), 32 9. Jean Baudrillard, ‘Truth or Radicality? the Future of Architecture’. Blueprint Jan (1999), 32

20

9

This process loops

This phenomenon is best understood by viewing the short film

“The home was comfortable, but it taxed the owner’s brain.

Tango by Zbig Rybcynski. The quantity of daily life objects

Therefore the architect supervised the inhabitants in the

in the paranormal activity is comparable to the trace of life

first weeks so that no mistake might creep in. The rich man

events that take place in the montage. Rybczynski utilised a

gave his best efforts. But it happened that he would lay a

stationary camera to demonstrate this process of repetitive life

book down and, deep in thought, push it into a compartment

event slowly taking over a built environment, by overlapping

made for newspapers. Or that he would flick the ashes of his

actions gradually, one after another. Eventually at the climax

cigar into the indentation in the table intended to hold the

of the film, all these looping actions from 36 characters pile

candlesticks. Once someone had picked up an object in his

up to create an intense scenery of life disrupting the tranquil

hand, there was no end to the guessing and searching for its

room, which is visually as impactful as the demon’s attempt

correct place, and several times the architect had to unroll

in Julie’s kitchen.

his working drawing in order to rediscover the place for a matchbox.” 11

On the other hand, the demon ‘Toby’, by ferociously tossing the family’s modifications to the kitchen, denies their

In the end, the architect could no longer tolerate the rich man’s

spontaneous rules when inhabiting the living space. The family

clumsiness in understanding and adaptation to his scheme.

potentially suffers from the architect hired by the Poor Little

The architect took complete command over his original

Rich Man Adolf Loos portrayed, who requested the architect,

design, controlling the rich man manner of dwelling. “The

“Bring Art to me, bring Art into my home...”

In the short

master of the house” no longer existed since all decisions

story, the architect discarded all the existing possessions at

had to be made by the architect; the rich man was merely a

the house and re-inhabits with Art, including new designs of

puppet, a component of the architect’s design.

10

costumes for each space. Humbly, the architect “disclaimed all honours”

10

initially but gradually asserted his authority

over the designed space as the rich man repeatedly violated the ideal aesthetics of his design. Meanwhile, the rich man was on one hand enjoying the transformation of his home, but on the other hand, struggled to settle in the space as he wished.

10. Adolf Loos, ‘The Poor Little Rich Man’. In Spoken into the Void: Collected Essays, 1897-1900, edited by Adolf Loos, 125-127, Cambridge: MIT Press, 1982, 125 11. Loos, ‘The Poor Little Rich Man’. 126

21

CONCLUSION

To conclude, the characteristics of an uncanny staging of

had experienced in the introduction of a revolutionary, but

the scene have been extracted from the film and analysed

unhomely modern kitchen. Finally, the demon ‘Toby’ makes

individually in the previous paragraphs. They are the

its appearance by violently throwing items in the kitchen to

emptiness of the kitchen, which induces spatial fear to Julie

manifest its power and control in the space. With its action

and challenges her ownership to the space; the objective

it is suspected the true identity of ‘Toby’, which is still

configurations of the camera and finally the result of the

being speculated in the franchise, could be in fact a devilish

household’s possessions being chaotically trashed which

architect. By contextualising the denial of spontaneous rules

caused the family to escape immediately.

with which Julie and her family customise the space in Adolf Loos’ short story, Poor Little Rich Man, ‘Toby’ in Paranormal

Spatial fear induced by the vacant kitchen is closely related

Activity could not tolerate the family’s intervention to the

to metropolitan illness which is caused by fast paced

architectural space. And in Loos’ story, the architect haunted

development of urbanisation and the unfamiliar residential

the rich man’s house by imposing new, stubborn lifestyle.

experience in rationally designed apartments. The empty imagery also recalls the propaganda of unrealistic, ideal

In summary of the above studies, the sensation of the uncanny

concepts of dwelling, exaggerated and manipulated by

is therefore an abstractive multiplex impression that could

image-makers and architects, as seen in several examples of

be perceived through the built environment, especially in

Julius Shulman’s work for the Case Study House programme

domestic spaces. As seen in the failure of Frankfurt Kitchen,

in the post-war United States. These images in appearances

the uncanny is not of the intention of the environment itself,

of photographs and renderings are currently exploited in the

but of the consequential collision of the space and the observer.

realty business, to advertise the uncanny modern dwelling. By

Whereas in the photographic depictions of modern dwelling

employing mechanical movements and unsaturated graphics

by Julius Shulman, one can deduce the uncanny experience

of the camera, Paranormal Activity 3 fosters the uncanny

comes from the mismatch of representation and the actual

atmosphere

features

experience in a space. Eventually, the Poor Little Rich Man

of a camcorder and the domesticity of kitchen. From the

suffered from the architect’s overpowering control in the

contrasting emptiness of Julie’s kitchen and the objectivity

home, reminding practicing architects and apprentices the

of the camera, which recalls the modern redefinition of

tragic outcome of inadequate control in designing, resulting

kitchen, the film denotes the uncomfortable past human

in the demonic uncanny in architecture.

22

through

exploiting

old-fashioned

Finally, the film series Paranormal Activity amplifies the fearful history in the uncanny dwelling imposed by architecture, which leaves us with a question in the contemporary production of architectural design: Are the photorealistic rendering tools intended for widespread of the virtual ideal of modern dwelling? Is it our tasks as architects, continue to advertise the unattainable lifestyles through manipulation of imageries?

23

BIBLIOGRAPHY

BOOKS Harry A. Anthony, Jacques Barzun, Peter Blake and Daniel Brenner, ‘Four Great Makers of Modern Architecture’. New York: Daa Capo Press, 1970

Timothy O. Benson, ‘Expressionist Utopias: Paradise, Metropolis, Architectural Fantasy’. Pasadena: , 1993.

Le Corbusier, ‘Towards a New Architecture’. United States: BN Publishing, 2008

Charles Jencks, ‘Le Corbusier and the tragic view of architecture’. Great Britain: Penguin, 1987.

Juliet Kinchin, ‘Counter Space: Design and Modern Kitchen’. New York: The Museum of Modern Art, 2011.

Karl Marx, ‘Economic and Philosophic Manuscripts of 1844’. In Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, Collected Works 3. New York: International Publishers, 1975.

Alona Pardo and Elias Redstone, ‘Constructing Worlds: Photography and Architecure in the Modern Age’. London: Barbican Art Gallery, 2014.

Dennis Sharp, ‘Modern Architecture and Expresionism’. Great Britain: Longmans, 1966.

Alison Smithson and Peter Smithson, ‘Without Rhetoric - An Architectural Aesthetic 1955-1972’. London: Latimer New Dimensions, 1973

Bernard Tschumi, ‘The Manhattan Transcripts’. The University of Virginia: Academy Ed, 1981.

Katherine Shonfield, ‘Walls Have Feelings: Architecture, Film and the City’. Routledge, 2003.

Anthony Vidler, ‘The Architectural Uncanny - essays in the modern uncanny’. Cambridge: MIT Press, 1992

Bill Viola and Robert Violette , ‘Reasons for Knocking at an Empty House’. Thames and Hudson, 1995.

24

ARTICLES Jean Baudrillard, ‘Truth or Radicality? the Future of Architecture’. Blueprint Jan (1999): 30-35

Paul Bishop, ‘Book Review: Susan R. Henderson: Building Culture: Ernst May and the New Frankfurt Initiative, 1926–1931’.

Journal of European Studies, 44(3) (2014): 303-305.

Ernst Bloch, ‘A Philosophical View of the Detective Novel’. Discourse 2 (1980): 33-52

Adolf Loos, ‘The Poor Little Rich Man’. In Spoken into the Void: Collected Essays, 1897-1900, edited by Adolf Loos, 125127, Cambridge: MIT Press, 1982.

Mary McLeod, ‘Architecture or Revolution: Taylorism, Technocracy and Social Change’. Art Journal 43 (1983): 132-147.

FILMS Zbig Rybczynski, ‘Tango’. Poland: 1980.

Zbig Rybczynski, ‘Imagine’. United States: 1986.

Michael Snow, ‘Wavelength’. Canada: 1967.

INTERNET Wikipedia, ‘Frankfurt kitchen’. Last modified September 25, 2014. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frankfurt_kitchen

Wikipedia. ‘Margarete Schütte-Lihotzky’. Last modified September 25, 2014. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Margarete_Sch%C3%BCtte-Lihotzky

25