Monument of Anxiety An Architectural Proposal based upon Phenomenology and the Filmic Process, seen as a Tool to Combine Mind and Body within Space and Time
Christel Nisbeth and Moa Liew
Monument of Anxiety Moa Liew and Christel Nisbeth Abstract Throughout history the perception of the self has altered. Thereby, perception of our space and surroundings have changed through time, due partly to changes in our own self-perception. When Freud suggested a new view of the ‘ego’ it was in many ways based upon Søren Kierkegaard’s concept of anxiety (Angst). [Angst being the origin of our self-awareness] Our architecturally based proposal questions how space affects our perception of the ‘self’; a proposal built upon Kierkegaard’s concept of anxiety. It documents a philosophical phenomenon of the language of architecture within an urban context. A phenomenon written 200 years ago, a phenomenon that is neglected in today’s quick-fix society but still, a phenomenon essential for our wellbeing. In order to discuss and translate the complex philosophical phenomenon that is Angst through the language of architecture, we need new tools. Tools that allow us to work directly with the emotional and perceptual impact that space has upon us. Tools which help us to work with space as a divergent, un-static whole with poetic value and not only as separated physical bits and pieces. This proposal introduces a new vocabulary; with help from film theory and phenomenological instruments. With references as Guiliana Bruno, Hugo Münsterberg, Gordon Cullen, Sergi Eisenstein, Brian McGrath and Jean Gardner (among others), the proposal introduces a workflow where spatial effects can be measured and designed in accordance with Dramaturgy, Storytelling, Storyboard, Sequences and Scenes, Props, Clipping, Rhythm and Camera Angles. Through work conducted at an existing site in Copenhagen, the tools have been tested and developed with focus on the perception of space through the movement of the body in time. Though the process has resulted in a design, the focus lies upon the methods and the question of how these methods can be further developed with understanding of the spatial effect made on our emotions within a rational society. Key Words: Architecture, emotion, time, perception, movement, film, body, anxiety, space.
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***** 1. Introduction The principles for this case study are based upon registrations and interpretations of the concept of the philosophical phenomenon ‘Anxiety’ [Angst], made by Søren Kierkegaard. This paper is a shortened version of the more detailed study “Monument of Anxiety”; a project where derived theories and the development of tools has resulted in an architectural design. 2. The concept of Anxiety and the perception of the self In 1844 Kierkegaard wrote ‘The Definition of Anxiety’. Kierkegaard divides the concept of anxiety into its being and its notorious counterpart where the latter involves panic disorder, phobias and other abnormal types of anxiety which need professional treatment.1 The concept is complex and focuses on the nature of anxiety as its being; the anxiety that is a part of us all, at all times. Kierkegaard´s definition of anxiety was based upon observations made on the citizens of Copenhagen, so the case study is a reflection and interpretation of the concept based upon the citizens in the urban setting of Copenhagen. Angst separates humans from animals, Kierkegaard writes, and analyses the differences between anxiety and fear, and how anxiety enable humans to become self-aware and take action. - René Rosfort2 Anxiety is the notion that helps us recognise ones ‘Self’ or, as defined later by Freud, our ‘Ego’.3 It helps us to seize the notion of what we ought to be, what we can achieve, and what we, most likely, have not yet achieved. But instead of facing our anxiety and understanding that its nature is bound in our love for the given - we run. We run as fast as we can; we run through the city, through the day, through our thoughts, and finally, we run through our lives. Instead of developing our society and cities through the insight our anxiety provides, we end up tightening the noose around our necks. How can we develop spatial systems that stimulate an awareness of our fundamental philosophical mindset? This is a petition and invitation to discuss which part our urban environment can and should play in this matter. It is also a suggestion for a new set of tools in the architectural process, which derive from theories of communication. These tools suggest a workflow which enables us to work with space as an un-static whole where every part can be measured holistically.
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__________________________________________________________________ 3. Architectural signals and the decoding system Architecture exists, like cinema, in the dimension of time and movement. One conceives and reads a building in terms of sequences. To erect a building is to predict and seek effects of contrast and linkage through which one passes… –Jean Nouvel 4 Architecture can be seen by the volume it occupies, the borders it creates and the function it serves. It can be seen as its bits and pieces, its structure and construction, but also as the matter it orders, the framing of time and the enlightening of rhythm. It can be seen as the stereoscope for revealing the secrets of human behaviour, the threshold between the imaginary and the physical space, and the framework of life. Through studies of communication theories -‐ from Pierce’s semiotic model to an architectural translation of Eames’ diagram “A communication primer” and Henri Bergson’s ”Matter and Memory” -‐ a concept of architectural communication has been formed due to the bodily movement in time and space.5 The architectural signs need a decoding system that can translate signals, not only from isolated objects but a system that can decode the unique atmosphere that is created in the interaction between all the architectural parameters. To combine this system with the knowledge of perception of space -‐ due to Henri Bergson’s automatic and pure memory, we can advance our knowledge of how we as humans create individual spatial decoding systems.6 Decoding systems that affect every decision and movement our bodies tend to make in a spatial sequence. Within these sequences the physical environment sends signals to our taught spatial memory (pure memory) at the same time as our direct bodily reaction to space (automatic memory). This results in the perception of the merging of the present with the past. (Diagram 1 and 2) Diagram 1
C.S Pierce, Theory of Signs, Semiotic
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Eames, A Communications Primer
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__________________________________________________________________ 4. Perception of space in relation to time To be able to work with architecture as a messenger of a philosophical phenomenon and not simply as shelter, this case study is based on the architectural type - the monument. The function of the monument is not only present in the structure alone, but also in the received symbolic message. The symbolic message of a monument is fragile in relation to time. Since its function is built upon the symbolic value of something that is not present in the construction alone, but present in the symbolic message it delivers to our pure memory. This means that the perception of the space is dramatically altered in relation to the historical knowledge of the receiver. As part of this study, a collected reference bank of historical monuments has been analysed which has enabled the work to be put into an architectural context early in the process.7 5. Method She who wanders through a building or a site acts precisely like a film spectator absorbing and connecting visual spaces. The changing position of a body in space creates architectural and cinematic grounds8 Architecture consists of spatial relationships, movement, rhythm and time, as well as the relation between materials, light, sound, acoustics and aesthetics, and furthermore the intellectual relation to history, cultural references and the individual or educational narrative. These architectural, cultural and intellectual bits and pieces create the narrative. We need a method that can help us to cope with, combine and develop all these fragments into a clear message sent through the architectural atmosphere. Narrative is one of the ways in which knowledge is organized. I have always thought it was the most important way to transmit and receive knowledge‌� -Toni Morrison 9 To work directly with this message we need a methodology that do not derive from the practical function of the structure, neither of its bits and pieces nor of the physical constrains. We need a method that helps us to work directly with the atmospheric message that architecture sends. A message that puts the visitor into an emotionally charged state that provides insight into the - in this case complexity of anxiety.
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__________________________________________________________________ 6. Film theory and architecture Depth and movement alike come to us in the moving picture world, not as hard facts but as a mixture. They are present and yet they are not in the things10 Through studies on film theory - in relation to architecture - this research has resulted in a set of tools which provide us with the possibility to send a message through the architectural language with extreme precision. It is not the first time film and architecture are compared and analysed with regard to their similarities, for instance in the concept of “cybernetics� here described by three items:11 1. A shift from considering parts to regarding the whole; cybernetics maintains that the whole is more than the sum of its parts 2. A shift from objects to relationships: cybernetics is thinking in terms of relationships, not isolated parts 3. A shift from measuring to mapping: parts are weighed and measured. Relationships are mapped. What these analyses have in common and what possibilities they provide are methods of working with the direct effect space has upon us. It helps us to create a workflow where the design decisions derive from this effect and not the other way around. 7. The narrative space and spatial emotions The concept of a narrative space is essential in this investigation since it enables us to work with precision in the spatial message we intend to transmit. A narrative space can work as a transit between the imaginary and the physical spaces, a transit between the spatial knowledge of the pure and the automatic memory. A narrative space is the framework from which the imagination continues to travel, detached from the time and space your body inhabits. A narrative space is therefore a tool to be used in challenging and evolving our spatial perception. In the city, as when travelling with film, one does not end where the body or the walls end12 To create an architectural design through methods of filmmaking leaves us hanging with the complex structures of emotions. In film, the narrative message communicates through the emotions of the viewer. A dynamic emotive journey captivates the interpreter and at the moment viewer stops being emotionally affected, they lose interest.13
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__________________________________________________________________ 8. The composition of a narrative architecture The plot is the engine of a film, from where the narrative derives. Whether the plot is simple or complex it should never interfere with the natural behaviour of the filmic elements. Even if the plot is as complex as the world, the elements used to tell the story must be clear and simplified. Like in film, this case study is built upon different fragments that, when combined, create a whole architectural sequence or narration. To be able to measure how every fragment provides a film with the right information - due to its nature - there are tools. In this experiment these tools are realised within an architectural context. The filmic elements that lead a story forward can be listed as: the dialogue, the action, the sound, the props, the interior and the characters. Together these parts contribute to the whole with their own set of rules. In architecture, as in filmmaking, it is important to distinguish when and where each element is leading the narrative. This architectural experiment focused on how to work in a filmic way with sound, props and movement (body and time) to send a message through space. These are the main elements that the filmic, as well as the architectural, palette have in common. To lead a story forward without characters and dialogue is challenging and demands us to work more precisely with the other elements we possess as architects. This includes light, proportion, scale and context. 9. Working tools How can we, in a beneficial way, work with the elements of film to create architecture? Through studies in “Monument Analyzes”14 we can identify how each filmic element can be translated and operated within an architectural process. This has resulted in a toolbox which helps us to work with filmic parameters and distinguish how these interact to contribute to the atmospheric message. Through implementing this toolbox into the process of creating space, we have set a framework in which we can elaborate freely within the architectural dimensions of time, movement and perception. Using these tools and methods we can investigate how to transmit an atmospheric message to the body through spatial sequences. Filmic parameters: -‐ Dramaturgy -‐ Storytelling -‐ Storyboard -‐ Sequences and Scenes -‐ Props -‐ Clipping and rhythm -‐ Camera angles
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__________________________________________________________________ 9A. Dramaturgy: a method to structure spatial relations and work with the atmospheric effect on emotions due to a sequence of spatial events. (Diagram 3) To be able to see architecture as a spatial and atmospheric source of information we need methods that do not focus on architecture as a construction, a silhouette, a facade or a sculptural object. We need methods where we can work with the surprise, the twist and the point where you suddenly understand the meaning of the architectural plot. The dramaturgy is the structure which helps us to tune the other elements in the spatial sequence in relation to the nature of every chapter of the movement. The classic dramaturgic curve is built upon the exposition, the plot (the rising action), conflict, climax, denouement and at the end - resolution. Through translating the filmic ‘narrative composition’ to the language of architectural, we can come closer to structuring spatial elements into a clear atmospheric message. (Diagram 4 and Appendix 1) The passage through light spaces is an important issue for both cinema and architecture – practices that engage seeing in relation to movement15 Diagram 4
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__________________________________________________________________ 9B. Storytelling: a way to present an informative ornament. Modern architecture is produced by theories and components that tell stories about society today. These can be seen as ornaments, telling us something about the present and, in the future, revealing secrets about the past. As stated by Paul Watzlanick’s ‘One cannot not communicate’ - everything sends signals. This means that every step of an architectural process is received as a message, perceived more or less implicitly. By constructing an architectural process where storytelling is directed by modern ornaments we can refine the atmospheric message. (See Appendix 1 and 2) 9C. Storyboard: a way of structuring information through graphic visualisation. To be able to work with precision within the message in spatial sequences, the storyboard works as a tool to structure visual and acoustic information. Through the storyboard a pre-visualisation of the spatial movement is supporting the process. In architecture the storyboard can also be used as a medium to represent the final design. The storyboard is visualising different events or sequences that are to be presented for the receiver. The challenge in illustrating architecture is the constraints to the two-dimensional view. The storyboard can therefore be advanced with information about the acoustic qualities and further supported with details about materials and light. In contradiction to the plan, section and elevation a storyboard can represent movement and the complexity of subsequent spaces. This can work as the first step to visualize and understand the bodily movement and action, over time, through space. (see Appendix 3, 4 and 5) 9D. Sequence and Scenes: a method to rearrange information in a dynamic way. To be able to structure the atmospheric message into a dynamic flow, the concept of sequences and scenes are used as a tool. A sequence can be, for example, an arrival. All parameters and elements within this sequence are tuned to communicate the message about the arrival. By dissecting the sequence into scenes we can create a more dynamic web of information within the arrival. Here each scene presents its own unique way of communicating the same message. In architecture we can translate a sequence into a spatial message, told through different architectural elements. Elements that are presented in different settings but which all give a tone of the same atmospheric message. By combining these settings in different ways we can recognize a dynamic flow through each sequence. 9E. Props: a way of telling a story through the use of objects. Through props, we can communicate with both our ‘pure and automatic memory’. A prop is as important as any other narrative parameter. The prop is used
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__________________________________________________________________ not only as an ornament added to the design, it is also an element which leads the atmospheric message forward. In this study, the concept of the prop is dissected into three categories.16 The Atmospheric Prop In film, props are used as small and tactile, yet important implementations which develop the narrative. The prop can work as an architectural element that alerts the person who inhabits the space and provides them with a specific mood or feeling. The Iconographic Prop The iconographic prop is a way of using one kind of prop in different settings to underline the message. In this way we can represent the whole world without showing the whole world. In architecture the iconographic prop works as a tool to make clear decisions through the whole design process. The Demanding Prop The demanding prop can work as a resistance that demands or intrigues a person into a specific action. The demanding prop is connected with movement and is leading the spatial story forward through action. In architecture, a staircase demands us to move vertically or an opening intrigues us to enter the subsequent spatiality. 9F. Clipping and rhythm: a method to deconstruct the spatial hierarchy through a cinemetric interpretation. In film, clipping is an essential tool to lead a story forward. The clipping does not have to be linear or logical. The possibility to twist, turn and change the point of view or site is what defines the rhythm of the dramaturgy. The rhythm of architecture can be understood as the pulse or the beat of life, within the space. It can also be used as a tool to adjust the interrelation between the different spaces and atmospheres. In ‘Manhattan Transcripts’ Bernard Tschumi defines architecture as an interrelation between the elements of which a system is made of; space, event and movement (activity)17 Monument of Anxiety investigates how architecture can evolve from the intensions of leading the spatial dramaturgy forward by using abrupt spatial cutting as simple as ‘short cuts’ or as complex as a ‘montage’.18 9G. Camera angles: the framing and the question of what is to be shown and what is to be hidden.
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__________________________________________________________________ Camera angles are essential when telling a story through film. Different angles, depth and distances in the pictures are used specifically to set the atmosphere within the different scenes.19 When dissecting the architectural atmosphere created by objects and their interrelation, the camera angles can be divided to represent architecture; plan, section, elevation and detail. In the process of creating space, the work with camera angles and perspective can be used as a supplement to distort, alter and effect the perception of space. 10. Conclusion This methodology has resulted in an architectural proposal where spatial sequences have taken form due to the movement of the body within an urban context. This is a dramaturgical-based walk where the concept of anxiety is translated to a couple of spatial events. Spatialities which introduce the concept of anxiety as a parallel walk in the city centre of Copenhagen. The purpose of the design is to tune the visitor into a state of mind where the space contributes to a feeling of travel, approaching the nature of your own anxiety. In this case, Anxiety can be seen as an important philosophical phenomenon to our knowledge of the self and a necessity for our wellbeing and not as a dreadful factor. In this case study the method has been used in its extreme, describing a complex philosophical phenomenon through space. But hopefully this can be an opening to a discussion where emotional and atmospheric motives work as the premises in the development of new architectural design processes.
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Notes 1
Joakim Garff, ‘Angstens væsen og Uvæsen’ [Angst: its being and its notorious counterpart.] Psykriatri-Information, no. 3, (2007): 2 2 René Rosfort, postdoc at Søren Kierkegaard Research Centre, Copenhagen. 3 Sigmund Freud, The Ego and the Id (Austria: 1923) 4 Pierluigi Nicolin, Jean Nouvel Director and Architect (Milan: Lotus 84, 1997) 5 The full theoretical description is made in the detailed program for our study: Monument of Anxiety see http://issuu.com/www.withinwalls.dk/docs/monument_of_anxiety_final_print 6 Alain De Botton, The Architecture of Happiness, trans. By Werner Svendsen (Copenhagen: Tiderne Skifter, 2009) 7 These studies can be found in our paper Monument Analyzes see http://issuu.com/www.withinwalls.dk/docs/print_monument_analyser 8 Guiliana Bruno, Site-seeing: Architecture and the moving image (Ohio: Ohio University School of Film, 1997): 4 9 David Bordwell and Kristin Thompson, Film Art – An Introduction, Sixth Edition (Wisconsin: McGraw-Hill, 2001) 10 Guiliana Bruno, Film, Aesthetics, and Science: Hugo Münsterberg’s Laboratory of Moving Images.’ In Atlas of Emotions – Journeys in Art, Architecture and Film. (London: Verso, 2002) 11 Brian McGrath and Jean Gerdener, Cinemetrics – Architectural Drawing Today (Wesr Sussex: Wiley-Academy, 2007): part of an index, 24 12 Bruno, Site-seeing: Architecture and the moving image, 8 13 Bruno, Film, Aesthetics, and Science 14 These studies can be found in our paper Monument Analyzes see http://issuu.com/www.withinwalls.dk/docs/print_monument_analyser 15 Bruno, Site-seeing: Architecture and the moving image, 4 16 Catagories made through studies at The National Film School of Denmark (Dramaturgy and The Filmic Narrative) 2012 and with inspiration from the work with Demanding Props in Casting Traces scenography made by Elin Eyborg, 2013 17 Bernard Tschumi, The Manhattan Transcript (London: Academy Editions, 1981) 18 Eisenstein, Sergei was a pioneer in the use of ‘montage’ a specific way of film editing through the creation of impossible spatial compositions. 19 McGrath and Gerdener, Cinemetrix, 55
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__________________________________________________________________ McGrath, Brian., and Jean Gardner. Cinemetrics – Architectural Drawing Today. West Sussex: Wiley-Academy, 2007 McLain, Clutter. ‘Imaginary Apparatus: Film Production and Urban Planning in New York City 1966-1975’ Grey Room, No.35 (2009): 58-89 Nicolin, Pierluigi. Jean Nouvel Director and Architect. Milan: Lotus 84, 1997. Norberg-Schulz, Christian. Genius Loci – Towards a Phenomenology of Architecture. Milan: Rizzoli, 1979. Pearson, Christopher E. M. Monuments of Genius. New York: Parstone Press International, 2009 Pierce, Charles S. Pierce on signs: Writings on Semiotics. Edited by James Hoopes. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1991 Ryan, Paul. ‘Program for the Hall of Risk.’ New York Times Magazine, September (2002) Schantz Lauridsen, Palle. Film Byer [Cinemetric Cities] Copenhagen: Statens Humanistiske Forskningsråd Forlaget, 1996 Schuldenfrei, Robin. Atomic Dwelling – Anxiety, domesticy, and post war architecture. Cornwall: TJ International Ltd, 2012 Tschumi, Bernard. The Manhattan Transcript. London: Academy Editions, 1981 Moa R. Liew (cand.arch.) Founder of Within Walls - a studio that develops architectural representation methods and investigates the potentials in reimplementing these methods into the creation of space. Christel S. Nisbeth Madsen (cand.arch.) Founder of Within Walls - a studio that develops architectural representation methods and investigates the potentials in reimplementing these methods into the creation of space.