AR30039 - History & Theory

8/3/2019 AR30039 - History & Theory

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Intimate Immensitydeveloping a reference point for architecture


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submitted for the assessment of module AR30039

History & Theory 4

by Alex Marlow, 22nd January 2010


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To see a world in a grain of sand,

And a heaven in a wild flower,

Hold infinity in the palm of your hand,

And eternity in an hour. william blake


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Contents

IntroductIon 1

Our traditional understanding of scale

Contradictions

Intimacy and Immensity

A flawed approach to architecture

Proposal

1-IntImateImmensIty 11

Poetic writing & Bachelards interpretation

hidden depths

2-archItecturalovervIew 16Critical view of the built environment

3-tadaoando 19

His work

Chapel on the WaterChildrens museum


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4-PhIlosoPhy 29

Man

Simplicity breeds complexity

Relative scale

conclusIon 37

Intimate immensity - parallels of

architecture and human nature

The danger of a transient raceEmbodiment of soul

A reflection of ourselves

notes 45

lIstofIllustratIons 49

references 51

Auguries of Innocence

William Blake

Leisure

W H Davies


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IntroductionourtradItIonal

understandIngofscale

The human race is obsessed withscale. Throughout history mansought to build the largest building to

honour his god. Scientific endeavours

pursue the smallest particles in order to

gain an understanding of the universe.

Ships, cars, aircraft - each generation

bigger, faster than the last. A never-

ending game of one-upmanship in a

world where numbers are King. In this

pursuit of record-book fame we have

sought to reduce the world to statistics,

where everything can be measured,

compared, and ultimately ranked

accordingly. In a basement underneath


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Paris, the references for these values

lie carefully protected by controlled

atmospheres and security clearances- an inauspicious lump of precious

metal and a rudimentary ruler1. History

marks each advance, and the human

race progresses.

contradIctIons

Yet there are phenomena that escapethe mundane restraints imposedby the modern world. Moreover there

are those that seem impossible to

measure, or that embody contradictoryvalues if we try. A quality referred to

by philosophers and poets as intimate

immensity. Consider the vista at


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the top of Mt. Everest. Quantitative

science would state that the altitude is

8952m, and that visual range extendsto approximately 300km before the

curvature of the Earth blocks the view.

Yet for those at the top, these values are

meaningless, irrelevant even, for they donothing to describe the experience. The

values would imply that the climbers

should feel exposed and helpless - no

shelter as far as the eye can see, and an

awfully long drop. But instead accounts

have been of exhilaration, wonder, and

tranquility2. Clearly there is more to the

world than can be measured and put in

a bar chart.


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IntImacyandImmensIty

To define immensity, then, is

as subjective as a definition of

intimacy. It relies upon surrounding

conditions, and a personal observation.

An authors studio tucked away at the

bottom of the garden may, to him,

be an immense space because of the

freedom it gives him to imagine. In

contrast, Westminster Abbey may be

considered a very intimate space to an

ageing acolyte, who has paced the aisles

for decades and experienced moments

of great emotion within its walls. Scale

is a more mysterious phenomenon thanour regular understanding of the word

would suggest.


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aflawedaPProachtoarchItecture

As a result of our attempts to

rationalise this concept of

scale, we live in a world which is

becoming increasingly disenchanted

with architecture. Thanks to the

proliferation of photography and

media coverage through the internet,

buildings are judged by the majority on

a few snapshots and a set of statistics.

Architects can pander to these, deliver

exciting visuals and futuristic forms

and the building will be judged a

success by all but those who visit it. To

compound matters, commercialisationmeans that the client who would prefer

a great building to a balanced ledger

is fast becoming a fictional character.


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Buildings are no longer things of value,

they are tools with which to do business,

and are tossed aside in the same mannerwhen the job is done.

ProPosal

Tadao Ando talks of the soullessnessof modern existence, whereconvenience is sought at the expense of

spiritual richness ... a trivialisation of

human existence.3

W

hen we build according to

quantitative rules, we only satisfy

the statisticians. Our current methods

are those of human proportions, yet

proportions tell nothing of our nature.


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Identical twins share the same visual

identity, their individuality lies in their

personality; emotions, sensibilities,intellect. To create successful

architecture requires more than creative

use of anthropometric data, it requires

a deeper understanding of humannature. After all, the architecture we

create is a reflection of ourselves. Key

to an understanding of human nature

is an appreciation of the contradictory

concept of intimate immensity, and its

embodiment in the natural phenomena

that surround us. We must understand

that the world can be experienced on

more than a simply objective level.


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1 - Intimate Immensity

PoetIcwrItIng&Bachelards

InterPretatIon

One might say that immensity is a

philosophical category of daydream.Daydream undoubtedly feeds on all kinds

of sights, but through a sort of natural

inclination, it contemplates grandeur.

And this contemplation produces an

attitude that is so special, an innerstate that is so unlike any other, that

the daydream transports the dreamer

outside the immediate world to a world

that bears the mark of infinity.4

Thus starts Gaston Bachelardschapter entitled intimateimmensity. Not being restricted by


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functional requirements, other art

forms such as poetry, sculpture and

music are free to develop in these areasof ambiguity and intrigue. Many poetic

works delve into such contradictory

realms and our culture is the richer

for it. They encourage contemplation,daydreaming, as Bachelard describes it.

Yet this is not the idle dreaming begat

of a stuffy classroom on a summers

afternoon. Bachelard is writing of an

imagination removed from its earthly

surroundings, occupying the space of

elsewhere5. By escaping such trappings,

this leads to a deeper level of thought

where the corporeal world ceases to

exist and in its place are memories,

perceptions and pure thoughts. An

immense world where scale has no


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meaning, no relative marker. Intimacy

promotes such imaginings, and, as in

the case of the author in his studio,releases the mind.

hIddendePths

Intimacy and immensity appear to beintrinsically linked - to experience onerequires an acceptance or expectation of

the other. Key to the understanding of

immensity, is that everyday phenomena

have hidden depths, beyond that of

objective impressions. We experience

this world on more than one level

Architectural space has to be experienced:

It is touched, heard, smelled, tasted

and seen. The wind brings comfort, the


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sound of footsteps provides grounding.

The scent of wood transports us to

memory places, the taste of a madeline

fills the deepest desires, the soft

concentrated light gives assuring presence.

Architecture exists in its tangibility.6

The hidden depths of poetic worksserve to transport the reader intothe imagination of the author. It could

be argued that this is not required

of architecture - the building standstestament to the dreamings of the

architect - but it is in the nuances of the

design that the soul of the building

lies. Buildings do not sit as abstractforms in a landscape of white. As the

quote above concludes, they interact

with the surroundings, as we interact

with the building.


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2 - Architectural overview

crItIcalvIewofthe

BuIltenvIronment

...A poor life this, if full of care,

We have no time to stand and stare.7

The greater proportion of our builtenvironment is gearing towardsa transient race. The opportunity tostop and relax seems to be a privilege

granted to few. And this is embodied

in the buildings we create. Transport

hubs, hot-desk office spaces, even theubiquitous coffee shop, whilst offering

an envied few a chance to sit, ultimately

all add to our to go culture.


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It is outside the scope of this essay tocriticise the work ethic of modernsociety. However, to pander to thisculture is to reduce architecture to

building, and to reduce buildings to little

more than tools with which to conduct

business. Like tools, architecture risksbeing tossed aside when a more efficient

method is found, or when the job is

complete.

Perhaps this stems from anincreasingly secular culture.Religious buildings have long been

the mainstay of subtlety and depth of

design. When the only higher order isthe hierarchy of company executives,

subtlety and depth have no worth.


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Yet there are still building typeswhich would support this levelof design. Notably cultural facilities- museums, libraries, concert halls

- buildings within which we are

expected to surrender our day-to-day

entanglements and open our mindsto the possibility of daydream. These

buildings, when successful, instil in us a

sense of hidden grandeur as the depth of

intellectual content they hold is married

with our own dreams and memories.


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3 - Tadao Ando

hIswork

The contemporary work whichseems to best follow this philosophyis that of Osaka born architect, TadaoAndo7. Unsurprisingly, for one whose

education stemmed from stolen hours

in a carpenters workshop, Andos

work displays an honesty to materialsand close attention to detail. Japanese

architecture bears a close link to nature,

and Andos is no exception. In contrast

to the western approach, where natureis, if not secondary to the architecture

it surrounds, then at least a distinct

element, Ando treats the landscape


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and building as a whole. Seasonal

changes affect the building as much

as the gardens in which it sits. Thisconnection, of building and landscape

as one, is tantamount to the success of

Andos projects.

Andos work aims to reconnect manwith man and man with nature, with

architecture as the intermediary.9

Through this connection, the earlier

themes of intimacy and immensity

become apparent in the building. The

connection the visitor feels with his

surroundings engenders relaxation and

depth of thought.


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chaPelonthewater

Andos Chapel on the Water,

Hokkaido (1988), is an incredibly

evocative piece of architecture,

seemingly formed of subtle changes

of light and intense reflections. The

concrete structure acts merely as a

muted backdrop against which the

drama of the surroundings unfolds.

...the landscape changes its appearancefrom moment to moment. Here, I

sought to create a place where man and

nature, through mutual sympathy, evolve

toward to the realm of the sacred.10

In this project, the building payshomage to its surroundings. It isintrinsically subservient, and therefore


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humbling to those occupying it. Here,

the mixture of awe and tranquillity

embodied in the idea of intimateimmensity is engendered by the

mutedness of the building and its, both

literal and metaphorical, reflection of

nature. There seems to be no distinctpoint where the building ends and

nature begins.

chIldrensmuseum

Of course, in the design of achapel it is easy to justify suchsimple, minimalist designs, as religiousbuildings are inherently spiritual and

warrant such ethereal treatment. Indeed,

one could argue that the building would


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have failed if it did not embody such

feelings.

Andos Childrens Museum, Himeji(1989), is an altogether differentbuilding type, and whilst it takes a

different approach in its form, many

of Andos philosophies perceived inthe Chapel are also evident here. The

building is not a slave to function, Ando

eschews that dictation of Modernism,

instead revelling in refined irrationality.However, irrationality does not in this

case imply random, nor superfluous.

His methods seek rather to challenge

our preconceptions of how man-madespace and the natural world interact.

W

ithin the central plaza of the

museum sits a grid of 9m high


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concrete posts. These posts serve no

structural function - they stand apart

from the main body of the building -yet they serve an architectural function

purely through being. They act as a

reference to the landscape, to recall

the quote from Tom Heneghan, witharchitecture as the intermediary.

The posts are read individually from

a human scale, each relating to its

immediate neighbours and the child

running between them. Yet on a greater

scale, the posts collect as one unit,

cuboid in form, as a challenge to the

landscape.

To the child, these posts areimmense, and can occupy spaceindividually. Yet to the wider landscape


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they are small, significant only in their

grouping. A simple example of how

elements can embody contradictoryparameters, depending on our point of

reference.

This notion of relative scale, asalluded to in an earlier chapter,is subject to intense philosophical

debate, and requires us to address the

fundamental reference point, ourselves.


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4 - Philosophy

man

Man is not a dualistic being in whom

spirit and flesh are essentially distinct,

but a living, corporeal being active inthe world ... The world that appears

to mans senses and the state of mans

body [are] interdependent ... The body

articulates the world. At the same time

the body is articulated by the world.11

Virtually every religion regards thehuman being as made up of threeseparate yet interwoven parts; body,mind and spirit. Andos philosophy is

there is no distinction between the three,

that it is through the combination that


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we perceive the world. To use only the

physical characteristics of the human

body in our understanding of the worldis an intrinsically flawed concept and

herein lies the reasoning. This tripartite

nature of our being lends itself to more

than a physical relationship with oursurroundings. Virays earlier quote

spoke of the five senses alone and how

each may promote an understanding of

our environment, and that is without

taking into consideration intellectual

impressions such as memory, or

imagination.


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sImPlIcItyBreedscomPlexIty

The danger with this methodology

is concluding that complexity is

required to generate depth. Andos

projects rescind this theory, it is their

very simplicity that allows one to free

ones mind and relax into contemplation.

Being bombarded by visual complexity

hinders the other senses. However, these

notions of simplicity and complexity

are as intrinsically linked as those of

intimacy and immensity. Scientific

endeavours are constantly in pursuit of

empirical formulae to define the most

complex phenomena. This has cometo a head in the field of chaos theory

and the study of fractals. A simple

looking equation developed as an


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understanding of the patterns of coastal

erosion produces a graphic of infinite

complexity. An eternally repeatingarray of curves at ever decreasing or

increasing magnitudes.

Likewise, a subtly detailed design

can lend itself to extrapolation,wherein the extents of the surface, be it

a wall, do not end at the physical limits,

but can imply a connection to other

phenomena in its plane.


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relatIvescale

I could be bound within a nutshell and

count myself King of infinite space.12

Clearly, to interpret scale we requirea point of reference or else theimage is meaningless. The drawings ofPiranesi stand testament to this:

T

he myriad arches, statues, and

fallen carvings create an impossibly

vivid scene. Elements that appear in the

foreground might recede when another

catches the viewers eye, supplanting it.

Visual tricks that confuse the eye and

inhibit perspective, an approximate

scale is guessed at, until a human figure

is identified in the background, and the

scene expands ten-fold.


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Likewise, the expanse of ocean seenfrom a ship on a clear calm dayis unintelligible until a distant tankercomes into view, silhouetted against

the horizon. Yet the view without the

tanker is somehow more meaningful.

Without a reference point, the oceancould stretch to infinity, or drop off

the edge of the world fifty metres away.

The expanse once more encourages that

special state of daydream.


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Conclusion

IntImateImmensIty-Parallelsof

archItectureandhumannature

Scale then, is subjective. Our

perception of the world aroundus relies on more than our objective

impressions of space. If human nature

is to be understood as multifaceted,

several parts all woven into one being,then the architecture that we create

must relate to each of these levels. As

long as architecture is created purely

for visual perception, we are clearlygoing to live in a world of soulless

buildings. If instead we can instil within

these places an essence of interwoven


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intimacy and grandeur, a hint of higher

orders, hidden depths, they can awaken

in us a will to reconnect. To ourselvesand to the world around us.

thedangerofatransIentrace

The danger of our current state isan obsession with time, whereconvenience is more highly prized

than spiritual richness13. The buildings

we produce naturally reflect this state,

superficial forms created to satisfy a

consumerist culture. By prioritising

as such, placing speed before quality,valuing time spent producing rather

than time spent developing, we devalue

our very nature. To readdress this


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balance we must open our minds to the

creation of buildings that satisfy our

inner longings for grandeur.

emBodImentofsoul

In certain almost supernatural inner

states, the depth of life is entirely

revealed in the spectacle, however

ordinary, that we have before our eyes,

and which becomes a symbol of it.14

The worst examples of architectureare typically described as soulless.Simply speaking, they are purely three-

dimensional, built on a whim of form.

Little more than sculpture, they exist

as a shell, ignorant of the life around


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them. But that is to do an injustice to

sculpture, which at its best captivates

us, and hurls us into the imaginationof its creator. Architecture should seek

to emulate this. As Baudelaire here

intimates, the richness of architecture is

in its ability to reflect and amplify lifearound it. Architecture that displays the

philosophies of its creator allows us to

perceive these deeper levels.

areflectIonofourselves

Atruer appreciation of immensity

is necessary to reveal the depthsof humanity. However, immensity does

not require great scale, in the same way

that intimacy must not imply smallness.


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Both are human appropriations

based upon a limited understanding

of human nature. When we begin tounderstand, as Bachelard writes, that

immensity is within ourselves15, we

begin to understand that the spaces we

create exist not only through objectiveobservations, but instead are perceived

through the many different states of

our being. With an appreciation of this,

we can start to create architecture that

encourages the reconnection of man

with man, man with nature.


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Immensity is within ourselves. It is

attached to a sort of expansion of

being that life curbs and cautionarrests, but which starts again when

we are alone. As soon as we become

motionless, we are eleswhere;

we are dreaming in a world that

is immense. Indeed, immensityis the movement of motionless

man. It is one of the dynamic

characteristics of daydreaming.gaston bachelard


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Notes

iii Blake, W., Auguries of Innocence

[excerpt] full text on p52.1. Nowadays only the lump remains - the

International Prototype Kilogram madeof platinum-iridium. The ruler was aplatinum-iridium bar with two notchesdenoting one metre length. The metre

was redefined in 1983 as a function of thespeed of light in free space.

2. Personal recollection of accounts fromschool alumnus who climbed Everest in2009.

3. Heneghan, T., Tadao Ando | The Coloursof Light, 1996. p16

4. Bachelard, G., The Poetics of Space, p183

5. Ibid,

6. Viray, E., 10x10_2, p415 [essay - TenThoughts on Architecture]

7. Davies, W. H., Leisure[excerpt] full texton p59.


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8. Osaka is Japans third largest city, longthe commercial capital of the country.

9. Heneghan, T., Op cit. p.13

10. Ando, T., The Yale Studio & CurrentWorks, p 88

11. Ando, T., Architecture and Body, Precis,(New York, 1988)

From an essay originally written by Ando in 1986

discussing shintai, a word denoting the sentient beingaround whom his architecture is formed - Heneghan, T.

12. Shakespeare, Hamlet

13. Heneghan, T., Tadao Ando | The Colours

of Light, 1996. p1614. Baudelaire, Fuses et journaux intimes,

p29Referenced by Bachelard in The Poetics of Space, p192

15. Bachelard, G., Poetics of Space, p184

p43 Ibid.


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List of Illustrations

p3 View from Everest(www.flickr.com/3289/ 2405242110_6b78e96c6b_o.jpg)

p6 Rouen Cathedral(www.flickr.com/photos/oliviamair/4199900900/)

p7 Bookshelves(www.flickr.com/3139/ 2593182303_2b404da2eb_o.jpg)

p22 Chapel on the waterPare, R. The Colours of Light, p133

p26-7 Museum

Pare, R. The Colours of Light, p112-3

p32 Mandelbrot model(img26.imageshack.us/img26/8478/outputxl4.jpg)

p35 Carcieri dInvenzione II

Piranesi, G. [Glancey, J.], Lost Buildings, p237


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References

The following, whilst not explicitly cited in the

essay, were useful in provoking thought andrefining ideas.

1. Bachelard, G., The Poetics of Reverie(1969)

Not as relevant to the topic as his first book, nonetheless,Poetics of Reveriedevelops a number of Bachelards ideasfurther, exploring the nature of memories and dreams.

2. Gribbin, J., Deep Simplicity(2004)An extremely easy-to-read introduction to the world ofchaos theory.

3. Merleau-Ponty, M., The World of

Perception (2004)A collection of seven lectures orignally broadcast onFrench national radio in 1948. A good introduction tophenomenology.

4. Frayn, M., The Human Touch (2006)A heavy read, but worth persevering for the insights into

human nature and its struggle finding place in the cosmos.


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augurIesofInnocence

wIllIamBlake

To see a world in a grain of sand,And heaven in a wild flowerHold infinty in the palm of your handAnd eternity in an hour

A robin redbreast in a cagePuts all heaven in a rage.

A dove-house filld with dove and pigeonsShudders hell thro all its regions.A dog starvd at his masters gate

Predicts the ruin of the state.

A horse misused upon the roadCalls to heaven for human blood.Each outcry of the hunted hareA fibre from the brain does tear.

A skylark wounded in the wing,A cherubim does cease to sing.The game-cock clipt and armd for fightDoes the rising sun affright.


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Every wolfs and lions howlRises from hell a human soul.

The wild deer, wandring here and there,Keeps the human sould from care.The lamb misusd breeds public strife,And yet forgives the butchers knife.

The bat that flits at close of eveHas left the brain that wont believe.The wol that calls upon the nightSpeaks the unbelievers fright.

He who shall hurt the little wrenShall never be belovd by men.He who the ox to wrath has movd

Shall never be by woman lovd

The wanton boy that kills the flyShall feel the spiders enmity.He who torments the chafers spriteWeaves a bower in endless night.

The caterpillar on the leafRepeats to thee thy mothers grief.Kill no the moth nor butterfly,For the last judgement draweth nigh.


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He who shall train the horse to warShall never pass the polar bar.The beggars dog and widows cat,Feed them and thou wilt grow fat.

The gnat that sings his summers songPoison gets from slanders tongue.The poison of the snake and newtIs the sweat of envys foot.

The poison of the honey beeIs the artists jealousy.

The princes robes and beggars ragsAre toadstools on the misers bags.A truth thats told with bad intent

Beats all the lies you can invent.

It is right it should be so;Man was made for joy and woe;And when this we rightly know,Thro the world we safely go.

Joy and woe are woven fine,A clothing for the soul divine.Under every grief and pineRuns a joy with silken twine.


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The babe is more than swaddling bands;Every farmer understands.Every tear from every eyeBecomes a babe in eternity;

This is caught by females bright,And returnd to its own delight.The bleat, the bark, bellow, and roar,Are waves that beat on heavens shore.

The babe that weeps the rod beneathWrites revenge in realms of death.The beggars rags, fluttering in air,Does to rags the heavens tear.

The soldier, armd with sword and gun,

Palsied strikes the summers sun.The poor mans farthing is worth moreThan all the gold on Africs shore.

One mite wrung from the labrers handsShall buy and sell the misers lands;

Or, if protected from on high,Does that whole nation sell and buy.

He who mocks the infants faithShall be mockd in age and death.He who shall teach the child to doubt

The rotting grave shall neer get out.


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He who respects the infants faithTriumphs over hell and death.The childs toys and the old mans reasonsAre the fruits of the two seasons.

The questioner, who sits so sly,Shall never know how to reply.He who replies to words of doubtDoth put the light of knowledge out.

The strongest poison ever knownCame from Caesars laurel crown.Nought can deform the human raceLike to the armours iron brace.

When gold and gems adorn the plow,

To peaceful arts shall envy bow.A riddle, or the crickets cry,Is to doubt a fit reply.

The emmets inch and eagles mileMake lame philosophy to smile.

He who doubts from what he seesWill neer believe, do what you please.

If the sun and moon should doubt,Theyd immediately go out.To be in a passion you good may do,

But no good if a passion is in you.


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The whore and gambler, by the stateLicensed, build that nations fate.The harlots cry from street to streetShall weave old Englands winding-sheet.

The winners shout, the losers curse,Dance before dead Englands hearse.

Every night and every mornSome to misery are born,Every morn and every nightSome are born to sweet delight.

Some are born to sweet delight,Some are born to endless night.

We are led to believe a lieWhen we see not thro the eye,Which was born in a night to perish in a night,When the soul slept in beams of light.

God appears, and God is light,

To those poor souls who dwell in night;But does a human form displayTo those who dwell in realms of day.


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leIsure

whdavIes

What is this life, if full of care,We have no time to stand and stare

No time to stand beneath the boughsAnd stare as long as sheep or cows.

No time to see, when woods we pass,Where squirrels hide their nuts in grass.

No time to see, in broad daylight,Streams full of stars, like skies at night.

No time to turn at Beautys glance,And watch her feet, how they can dance.

No time to wait till her mouth canEnrich that smile her eyes began.

A poor life this, if full of care,We have no time to stand and stare.


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Documents

AR30039 - History & Theory