Over the
past few days I've been contemplating a lot whether adaptive re-use
was where my interest lies or whether it represented a means to achieving what
I was interested in... meaning. What I've realized is that from the beginning -
where I started was with public spaces, and what makes for a successful one?
one that make people want to return to - that's a sense of
belonging and a feeling of place which creates meaning and identity. Adaptive
re-use and heritage related projects are approaches to achieving
this, therefore I've revisited my argument:
“one of
the basic needs of man is to experience his life situations as meaningful”
-
Christian Norberg Schultz
Today, many of the spaces created fail or are content in achieving mediocre meaningful experiences for their users. However in order to design for meaning, a set of complex physical and metaphysical qualities involving identity, sense of place, memory and belonging must be examined.
What are
metaphysical qualities? Beyond the physical nature - thoughts, feelings, memories, dreams and ideas
What gives people a sense of place?
First and foremost – belonging – although that could relate to many aspects not only architectural. This could be cultural, economic, political etc.
On top of this – architecture and buildings – virtually the backdrops of peoples lives also create this sense of place.
These buildings involve practicality, an aesthetic delight and the spirit of a place relating to
Genius loci – every place has a unique and distinctive atmosphere, a unique spirit of place, beyond the built environment but affected by it, genetic footprint of a place
Cultures
are sustained by what was there before, by memory - it bounds them together and
creates a sense of belonging to a particular place
I believe
that many developments lack the proper sensitivity in achieving the
metaphysical aspects so crucial in creating a sense of place and meaning for
humans.
Strategies
1) In creating meaning architects should be concerned with both aesthetic delight but also in engaging with metaphysical aspects of a building
2) Architects
should design with a sensitivity and awareness to the layers unique to every
project and carefully grafting a narrative
3) Architects
should utilize growth and technology as the natural progress interweaved with
the past, and creating new meanings
It is not clear how "belonging" equates to "sense of place" nor does it seem apparent as to how architecture can be instrumental in developing a sense of "belonging" through your various economic, political, and cultural lenses - especially if it is the "backdrop" to things.
ReplyDeleteThe first strategy is not very specific and still opens the door to questions however it will likely require a design to explain it (as with all your strategies). The second strategy works but it is not clear as to what you mean by "grafting" a narrative as that implies something that is foreign and installed as opposed to "crafting" which has a host of meanings.
The third strategy is odd as it potentially could work but the phrasing is strange given the historic and technological components of the discussion do not explicitly tie to metaphysics. You should really look into that a bit more to gain a bit more support in your thesis statement.
As with everyone else - START DESIGNING. Words fail many of your classmates so it is best to jump into designing something with at least a strong position and strategy or two.