From Body To Space : An Architectural Relation

Abstract

The project of this book originates in one of the focal points of our architectural pedagogy at HafenCity University in Hamburg. “From Body to Space” is both the title of the last contribution to this book and our first-semester course; in the latter, we introduce students to architectural design. At the same time, the title also expresses a fundamental understanding of architecture that conceives of the body as the first point of reference for our living space. The understanding that manifests is that architecture is first and foremost a sensual discipline, and that we as living beings gain access to the space that surrounds us through our bodies—through perception, experience, and use. This body-based concept of space originated in German aesthetics at the end of the nineteenth century through writers such as Robert Vischer, Heinrich Wölfflin, and August Schmarsow. Since then, it can be traced up to the present through phenomenology, embodiment theory and enactivism, and most recently neuroaesthetics. Drastic developments over recent years, including digitalization and the climate crisis, have lent new meaning to the sensual experience of space: it has become a locating force in the physical world, a transformative force that renders the basic living conditions and potentials of a place touchable and tangible. Although there is a rich literature of body-based architectural theory and psychology, however, a body-based understanding of space has never exerted a substantial impact on design practice. This book aims to advance body-based design in the current debate by updating the significance of the body as an access point to the world, as well as presenting and describing exemplary projects and designs—originating both from our research and teaching at HCU, as well as from invited guests.