Questions of perception touching the world

QUESTIONS OF PERCEPTION: TOUCHING THE WORLD

BUILDING IS A FUNDAMENTAL ACTIVITY OF MAN.

Man builds by joining spatial figures, thus shaping space.

Building, he responds to the spirit of the age. Our age is the age of technology. The plight of our age is homelessness. (“Darmstadter Gesprach: Mensch und Raum”, Otto Bartning

(ed.), 1952)

University of Greenwich School of Architecture, Design and Construction Session 2014/15 ARCT1008: Contemporary Theories of Architecture Course coordinator: Dr Marko Jobst Student: Mihaela Sologon

primary tool with which we try to inhabit the world after dwelling a house, as Norberg-Schulz asserts, and ultimately “introduce a reflection of eternity into our momentary existence”[Nesbitt, 1996:447] . Very often we make the mistake of thinking and stressing firstly the recognized composition of a building and eventually afterwards we switch our attention to experiencing its symbol or the reality that lies behind that symbol. “Architecture has become to be a field of technology which still ventures to believe itself a form of free artistic expression”[Nesbitt, 1996:448]. In conclusion, our most fundamental source of human knowledge is the conscious experience that intuits the properties of the building and values it to be actually real [Sirowy].

The concept of Phenomenology is analyzing the eidos of architecture primarily throughout the design of buildings as physical objects and eventually only afterwards considering the “images and the feelings of the people who live in them”[Nesbitt, 1996: 450] . This essay will be focusing on the role of the multisensory experience that a spiritual human being will be having whilst dwelling the “ontological and epistemological”[Sirowy] dimension during the course of the symbol of the body, the skin and the form. It will be stressing the idea that the architects and artists/sculptors should firstly consider the individual’s role in a design process and ultimately influence his experience in a non-reductive way[Nesbitt, 1996].

Phenomenology of architecture refers to one’s consciousness expanding through notions of experience of architecture over the infused feeling in contrast to the physical proportions and properties of the building, in order to seek the inner language of building [Nesbitt, 1996:450]. “[The skin] is the oldest and the most sensitive of our organs, our first medium of communication, and our most efficient protector”[Pallasmaa, 2005:12]. Therefore the skin is our

In his book ‘The Eyes of the Skin: Architecture and the Senses’ Juhani Pallasmaa, one of Finland’s most distinguished architects and architectural thinkers, stresses and strengthens the idea that we should experience architecture by focusing on our being-in-the-world and only subsequently occupying the worlds of mere manufacture and surrealism.

Architecture has lost its communicative power and as a result of this a building has phenomenologically become a symbol of human existence, which is intended to bring about the basic conditions that one needs in order to impact the emotional feelings of our souls with the images that building creates. One should be fully aware of the bodily identification of the architecture, considering the fact that “we touch, scent, hear and feel the spaces that we inhabit, but also that we interpret them in terms of our own bodies [muscle and bones]” as Pallasmaa calls these images [Mallgrave and Goodman, 2011:211].

In addition to Juhani Pallasmaa’s theory of phenomenology which refers to the body as the primordial geometry of feeling, our attention will be switched to the consignation of the critique of hegemony of vision, which is referring to reevaluation of the very essence of sight itself and the collaboration of the various sensory realms (including the touching, as stated in the previous paragraph). There is medical evidence supporting the idea that the “peripheral vision has a much priority in our perceptual and mental system” [Mallgrave and Goodman, 2011] and that the “unconscious peripheral perception transforms retinal Gestalt into spatial and bodily experiences” [Mallgrave and Goodman, 2011]. The Gestalt is a way of revealing what is (“das Seiende”) as a standing reverse (“Bestand”) [Sirowy]. This is directly identified with our existence in the world as observers meant to experience the structure as a counterpart of our inhabitation and fulfill the symbol of human existence by being able to influence the emotional feelings linked with the images dawned primary from the structure’s designed as a physical object.

The observer becomes aware of the images, which are transmitted by the simplest and most archetypal forms, and the force they carry. Therefore ‘the artistic dimension of a work of art does not lie in the actual physical thing; it exists only in the consciousness of the person experiencing it” [Nesbitt, 1996:449].

Maintaining the idea that images are transferred by the forms and the emotional force that they transport; I would like to focus on Constantin Brâncuși, who is one of the most influential sculptors of the 20th century. The Gate of the Kissing (Poarta sărutului) in Romania is a 5,13m tall stone sculpture portaying the kissing symbol on each of its sides, simbolyzing the triumph of life over death. „The sculptor must strige continually to think of, and use, form in its full spatial completeness” [Pallasmaa, 2005:13].The centre of gravity of the sculpture becomes the creator’s inner personna, whilst its mass, its weight, its volume and the space that the shape dispeaces in the air and the sculpture itself will grow naturally into being part of the form and history of its place [Mallgrave and Goodman, 2011:213]. „This essentially implies respect towards user’s perspective” [Schulz, 1971] having a strong emotional impact by „seducing our imagination to wonder away from the world everyday realities” [Nesbitt, 1996:452] and become aware of our capability of awakening our imagination in order to create the impression of inhabiting a place for higher beings. I consider that this is strenghtening

our experience of the loneliness of a space , which is the basic feeling given by architecture, just like the experiences of light and silence [Nesbitt, 1996:452].

The Gate of the Kissing, Romania, Photo credits: Vlad Mihai Rotila, Source: Pinterest.com

Moreover, another stong example regarding „buildings that grow naturally into being part of the form and history of their place” [Mallgrave and Goodman, 2011:214] is Peter Zomthor’s Therme Vals in Switzerland. Throughout his book ‚Thinking Architecture’, he is discussing the „alchemy” of transforming real substances into human sensations and in order to intensify a brief experience of an architecture of formal restraint with rare sensuous richness resulting into a fascinating merge between the magic and the real and ultimately become at one with the world surrounding us. He is using just ‚Mountain, Rock, Water’ elements to create an intense and close connection between the juxtaposition of marble, low relief, and water [Nesbitt, 1996:453]. „How about the sound the space created by drops of water falling occasionally in a dark, damp vault”[Nesbitt, 1996:453] ?

Zumthor’s architecture is encouraging the user to exploit the new use of local materials in accordance to their sensory effects, and it is directly affecting how the user receives an architectural experience within a specific context [Mies van der Rohe, Mertins and Baird, 1994]. I consider that these sensation are carefully considered to be turining into moods that will end up lingering into one’s memory [Mallgrave and Goodman, 2011].

Therme Vals, Switzerland, Photo Credit: Unknown, Source: Pinterest.com

In conclusion, a building’s role is not just producing effective problem-solutions, but also it has to incorporate the hithero-existing meanings of lifeworld and also assuring that the future posibilities of a human inhabitation will be possible without any constraint. The elements of construction such as walls, windows, doors are in contrast with the elements of experience including light, sound and texture. We have learnt through the inspiring works of Constantin Brâncuși that architecture is a „direct expression of existance, of human presence in the world, in the sense that is largely based on a language of the body of which neither the creator of the work nor the person experiencing it is aware” [Nesbitt, 1996:451].

Bibliography Mallgrave, Harry Francis, and David Goodman. An Introduction To Architectural Theory, 2011.

Nesbitt, Kate. Theorizing A New Agenda For Architecture. New York: Princeton Architectural Press, 1996.

Pallasmaa, Juhani. The Eyes Of The Skin. Chichester: Wiley-Academy, 2005.

Sirowy, Beata. Phenomenological Concepts In Architecture. Oslo: Oslo School of Architecture and Design, 2010.

Zumthor, Peter, Maureen Oberli-Turner, and Catherine Schelbert. Thinking Architecture. Basel: Birkhäuser, 2006.

Mies van der Rohe, Ludwig, Detlef Mertins, and George Baird. The Presence Of Mies. New York: Princeton Architectural Press, 1994.

Christian-Norberg Schulz. Essence, Space, Architecture, 1971 YouTube,. ‘Constantin Brancusi (English Subtitles)’.

N.p., 2011. Web. 20 Apr. 2015.

Vladphotography.wblog.ro,. ‘The Image Does All The Talking | My Last Resort’. Web. 24 Apr. 2015.