SOMASPACE: THE KINESTHETIC VOID IN CONTEMPORARY ARCHITECTURE
MFA INTERIOR + LIGHTING DESIGN GRADUATE THESIS PROJECT
ADVISOR: PETER WHEELWRIGHT
note: images shown are the summary of a 3.5 month thesis preparation semester. the project will be presented in May 2016.
ABSTRACT
This thesis suggests that, in much of modern design, the once intelligent and dynamic occupant body has become automated, compressed and disconnected from its physical environment. Architecture, as a significant locus for the body’s actions, plays a fundamental role in the choreography of the body in space over time. As a result, it can be argued that the conventions and institutions that underwrite Architecture produce not only buildings, but also bodies. The inextricable connection between the physical body and architectural space reveals rich potential to restore the connection between physical movement and the built environment through the intersection of somatic practice with spatial design. By engaging the disciplines of human kinetics, theories of perception and contemporary dance, this thesis aspires to generate a dynamic, sensorial narrative that encourages navigation by movement around, across, through, over and under.