Spatial Perceptual Transformation: a thesis in body_scale_form_movement

Abstract

This thesis is based on three stems of interest. First, the love and respect of making and the knowledge that comes through the process of making. Second, the interest in the thesis as a proposition and the process in which a thesis is developed, similar to that of a scientific experiment. The third interest is the profound intersection between the human body and space.

Building at full-scale allows one to ask questions important to the field of architecture that are not possible to explore through the conventional means of scale models, drawings and writing. The tangible qualities of a full-scale structure allow for inhabitation and direct modulation of space. This strategy enables an inquiry into the relationships between the body, embodied movement, perception, and space.

The thesis will address the effects of transformational space upon the individual psyche, while exploring ways to record and measure bodily movement and perception in a changing space. This is accomplished by testing whether the introduction of change at the boundaries of an enclosure might affect human experience. The following questions are raised by the work: Is it possible to create an environment whose form alters human perception? How can we record this transformation and successfully analyze, and interpret the results? Can a dynamic, ever-changing space participate in relation between body, mind, and form?

The first step of this thesis is the production and fabrication of a device in which the spatial configurations can be modulated and the reactions and movement of people can be recorded. Captured data will be analyzed to gain understanding into the relation of environment and the psychology and motion choices of the inhabitants. Knowledge gained from this experiment will be applied to design choices in which an existing movement-oriented site will be transformed. This second phase of the thesis will further speculate and reflect on the relationship between a designer's choice and the effects that choice has upon the inhabitant's movement.