scholarly journals Principles of Somatic Movement Education for Architectural Design

Dimensions ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 51-60
Author(s):  
Wiktor Skrzypczak

Abstract An architect trying to predict the spatial effect of their design on its inhabitants often faces a dilemma. Their professional experience and personal feeling allows them to intuit its effect. Such intuition, however, might lack legitimacy in the dominant design practice. For over a century, the question of the felt space in architecture has been a topic of theoretical discussion, which led to the insight that the answer might lay not so much in studying the architectural structures, but rather in studying the bodies that inhabit them. And still the dominant architectural practice follows the outdated dualistic (mis-)understanding of the felt space. Another historical development took place in dance. Here, since the 1960s,the traditionally formalistic and objectifying understanding of dance has been strongly influenced by techniques of bodily sensitization, stemming from the field of somatics. In themselves rather diverse, these techniques have been institutionally delineated through the principles of somatic movement education. One of their characteristics is that somatic techniques are constantly re-emerging - not from a priori knowledge but from the study of one’s own body and its interactions with the environment. This article envisages how such principles might be applied to architectural design practice and give rise to new embodied design practices - which might foster architects’ sensory expertise and thus legitimize the felt knowledge in professional contexts.

Author(s):  
Charles Spence

Abstract Traditionally, architectural practice has been dominated by the eye/sight. In recent decades, though, architects and designers have increasingly started to consider the other senses, namely sound, touch (including proprioception, kinesthesis, and the vestibular sense), smell, and on rare occasions, even taste in their work. As yet, there has been little recognition of the growing understanding of the multisensory nature of the human mind that has emerged from the field of cognitive neuroscience research. This review therefore provides a summary of the role of the human senses in architectural design practice, both when considered individually and, more importantly, when studied collectively. For it is only by recognizing the fundamentally multisensory nature of perception that one can really hope to explain a number of surprising crossmodal environmental or atmospheric interactions, such as between lighting colour and thermal comfort and between sound and the perceived safety of public space. At the same time, however, the contemporary focus on synaesthetic design needs to be reframed in terms of the crossmodal correspondences and multisensory integration, at least if the most is to be made of multisensory interactions and synergies that have been uncovered in recent years. Looking to the future, the hope is that architectural design practice will increasingly incorporate our growing understanding of the human senses, and how they influence one another. Such a multisensory approach will hopefully lead to the development of buildings and urban spaces that do a better job of promoting our social, cognitive, and emotional development, rather than hindering it, as has too often been the case previously.


Author(s):  
Christos Chantzaras

Talking about architecture means talking not only about buildings but also about processes or systems. In the latter context, architecture is a way of thinking and looking at people, spaces, interrelations and interactions. Proclaimed by IDEO’s Tim Brown as one of the best system design forms of education available, architecture has potential in fields beyond the physical. In keeping with the views of renowned systems thinker Russell Ackoff, who graduated in architecture before focusing on operations research, the question arises whether the skills of architects can be applied more broadly in system and innovation design. This paper describes how architects deal with context and complexity from the perspective of the practice-oriented architectural programming method. From its early days in the 1960s, it offered architects a viable basis for an applied architectural design thinking method, but did not receive widespread attention from practitioners and academics. The method is critically assessed and compared to the known forms of design thinking from the viewpoint of industrial design. By describing a real-life project and students’ work from a newly created seminar in a department of architecture, the paper investigates the current and future relevance of an advanced version of architectural programming for architectural practice and education. It stresses the desirability of reinforcing the core skills of architects by developing a design thinking method rooted in architecture, which needs to be taught, developed and disseminated. In the long term, it is argued, architecture should be considered and integrated as a ‘systems and innovation design discipline’ in the fields of systems thinking and innovation research.


2011 ◽  
Vol 243-249 ◽  
pp. 6534-6538
Author(s):  
Rui Zhang ◽  
Ying Li ◽  
Tie Ming Wang

Through the analysis of problems in the practice of contemporary Chinese architectural design from global perspective, the author pointed out that the core problem of design practice lay in the contradiction between change in demand under high-speed informationalization and traditional modes of design procedure, as well as the inadaptability of procedure and methods. Based on this, the concept of constructing an adaptive system of architectural design is put forward, hoping the related methodologies can improve the condition of purposelessness and hysteretic nature in architectural practice.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 2138
Author(s):  
Semra Arslan Selçuk ◽  
Güneş Mutlu Avinç

The bio-informed concept, which means “designing by learning from nature’s best ideas” as an approach, method, tool, discipline or strategy, is one of the most important research areas of today. It does not only shape designs, but also is based on collaborative/interactive/creative methods in education and can be integrated with contemporary educational approaches. This paper questions how to translate the bio-knowledge, which can be an effective and useful method for developing designers’ skills such as system-thinking, innovative thinking and problem-based learning, to design education in an easy and understandable way. In this context, the method of determining and applying biological phenomena/systems into architectural design process through the “natural language approach” is investigated. With this research, it is aimed to open the way to reach more innovative and sustainable solutions by establishing a bridge between architectural and biological terminology while creating architectural structures. It has been shown how to increase the biodiversity utilized for bio-informed solutions in the architectural field by proposing a systematic approach to search for biological systems. From this point of view, this study emphasizes the importance of promoting the bio-informed design approach, increasing interdisciplinary relationships and orienting individuals to nature for creativity and sustainability.


Author(s):  
Juliano Aparecido Pereira

ENGLISHThe article presents and discusses an experience in Brazil on an architectural design method of teaching created by the School of Architecture and Urban Design of the University of Sao Paulo (FAU USP). We refer to a Pedagogical Reform proposed in 1962 and its consequences on the formation of Brazilian architects. Known as the 1962 Reform and having as its leader, in association with other professors, architect and professor João Batista Vilanova Artigas (1913-1985), the proposed new model for a method of project education ended up by being adopted, in some aspects, but not all, by the majority of Brazilian schools of architecture and urban design. The reform led by Vilanova Artigas proposed an overcoming of project teaching methods based either on the traditional model of architectural composition, by way of the School of Fine Arts, or on those for the formation of architect-engineers, by way of the Polytechnics. This new teaching method would be based on parameters for the comprehension of architectural practice, pointing to a generalist formation of the architect, thus instrumentalizing him to act within the various scales of architectural production: objects, buildings, cities and visual communication. In this context is manifested the intention for the creation of a University of Design, founded on the practice of investigation and studio research, thus overcoming the boundaries of a project scale in a school of architecture, limited between the realization of a building scale and, at most, of a city. To understand this generalist and plural outlook becomes a contribution to the discussion on the formation of contemporary architects and their awareness and instrumentalization for action before the complex professional demands of present day societies. PORTUGUÊSO artigo apresenta e discute uma experiência no Brasil de método e ensino de projeto de arquitetura, elaborado pela Faculdade de Arquitetura e Urbanismo da Universidade de São Paulo, a FAU USP. Referimo-nos a uma Reforma Pedagógica proposta no ano de 1962 e as suas consequências à formação dos arquitetos brasileiros. Conhecida como a Reforma de 1962 e tendo como seu líder, associado a outros professores, o arquiteto e professor João Batista Vilanova Artigas (1913-1985), o novo modelo proposto de método de ensino de projeto passou a ser adotado, sob alguns aspectos, mas não todos, pela maior parte das Faculdades de Arquitetura e Urbanismo brasileiras. A reforma liderada por Vilanova Artigas propunha uma superação dos métodos de ensino de projeto baseados ou no modelo tradicional de composição de arquitetura, via Escolas de Belas Artes, ou então naqueles de formação de arquitetos-engenheiros, via Escolas Politécnicas. O método de ensino proposto iria se basear em novos parâmetros de compreensão da prática da arquitetura, apostando em uma formação generalista do arquiteto, instrumentalizando-o a atuar nas várias escalas de produção arquitetônica: objetos, edifícios, cidades e comunicação visual. Nesse contexto manifesta-se a intenção de criação de uma Universidade do Projeto, fundada na prática de investigação e na pesquisa do ateliê, superando assim o limite da escala de projeto de uma Faculdade de Arquitetura, limitada entre a realização da escala do edifício e, quando muito, da cidade. Compreender essa formação generalista e plural coloca-se como contribuição à discussão da formação do arquiteto contemporâneo e a sua sensibilização e instrumentalização para ação frente às complexas demandas profissionais das sociedades atuais.


The Computer Models Of Buildings That Contain All The Information About Future Facilities, Which Is Called BIM (Building Information Modeling) Technologies, Took An Important Place In Architectural Offices And Architectural Design. By Means Of BIM Technologies, The Main Groups Of Specialists Had A Chance To Collaborate From The Very Beginning Of The Creation Of The Building Model And Its Use Up To The End Of The Design Of The Building. Since The 1960s, Computer Programs Were Mainly For Drawing, But With BIM Technologies, It Is Possible To Present A Virtual Reality Of A Building Process. Since It Is Extremely Important To Select Suitable Software To Perform The Analysis And Design In Building Tasks, With The Existence Of Much-Specialized Software In These Domains, In This Paper, Based On The Investigations Performed Especially For The Last Decade Developments And Added Capabilities, A Guideline For Architects And Engineers Is Presented. In This Regard Many Software Were Evaluated And The Most Useful Used Ones Such As Graphisoft Archicad, Autodesk Revit Architecture, Gehry Tech., Nemetschek Allplan Architecture, TAD, Nemetschek Vectorworks Architect, Digital Project Designer, Microstation, Dynamo Studio, Freecad Architecture, Sketchup Software Are Recommended To Be Employed In Analysis And Design Of Buildings. Employing The Recommended Software, Not Only Facilitate The Teamwork In Design But Also Increase The Performance Of The Design


Architects ◽  
2019 ◽  
pp. 239-240
Author(s):  
Thomas Yarrow

I have attempted to describe what happens in an architectural practice as faithfully as possible. Focusing on the transformations that take place from an idea, to a design, to a set of plans, and then to a building, my aim has been to show the complexity, difficulty, and interest of this endeavor. I hope these descriptions suggest parallels and differences: with other people, other places, other processes. I do not offer any ultimate answer to the question of how designs, ideas, inspiration, buildings, or for that matter architects are produced. There is no proposal for how architecture might be done better or differently. I want instead to highlight that even as these architects’ themselves acknowledge the problems inherent in the professional contexts they face, there are also possibilities. Focusing on these everyday practical entanglements makes this evident in ways that are less obvious in generalized accounts of the profession and discipline....


Author(s):  
Neilton Clarke

Kishō Kurokawa [黒川紀章] was born in 1934 in Kanie, Aichi prefecture, Japan, and studied architecture at Kyoto University, obtaining his bachelor’s degree in architecture in 1957. Further studies at the University of Tokyo under Kenzō Tange, graduating with a master’s degree from its Graduate School of Architecture in 1959, were followed by doctoral studies at the same institution until 1964. Kurokawa was a key proponent of Metabolism, the Japanese architectural movement that utilized biology as a metaphoric vehicle to reconfigure both the cityscape and architectural practice itself, and which came to attention at the World Design Conference 1960 in Tokyo. Founding his own practice, namely Kishō Kurokawa Architect & Associates (KKAA) in Tokyo in 1962, Kurokawa’s projects during the 1960s and 1970s were mainly located in Japan. They included the Resort Center Yamagata Hawaii Dreamland (1967) and the Nakagin Capsule Tower in Tokyo (1972), the latter being a key example of Metabolism. The late 1970s saw Kurokawa pursuing engagements overseas, and from the 1980s onwards he consolidated his activity abroad, including projects such as the Japanese-German Center of Berlin (1988), Melbourne Central (1991), the new exhibition wing at the Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam (1998), and Astana International Airport, Kazakhstan (2005). Kurokawa received numerous awards, including the Académie d’Architecture Gold Medal, France (1986), Richard Neutra Award, USA (1988), AIA Pacific Rim Award, USA (1997), Dedalo-Minosse International Prize, Malaysia (2003–2004), Walpole Medal of Excellence, UK (2005), and an International Architecture Award, USA (2006). Honorary doctorates were bestowed on Kurokawa by Sofia University, Bulgaria (1988), Newport Asia Pacific University (now Anaheim University), USA (1990), Albert Einstein International Academy Foundation, USA (1990), and the Universiti Putri Malaysia (2002). Kurokawa died of heart failure in 2007.


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