The Logic of Imagination in Architecture
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Date
2011-01-19T20:48:21Z
Authors
Reed, Amanda
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Publisher
University of Waterloo
Abstract
Spaces are determined not only by their physical qualities, but also by the narratives created during their occupation. These persistent yet ephemeral stories infuse our experience of space with meaning and can be the vehicle through which we consciously express our world view and explore our evolving identity. In architecture, the immaterial is explained as a ‘genius loci’, a spirit tied to a physical space that gives it a specific character and allows for deep connection and identification to occur. Through an exploration of metaphors that have traditionally conveyed the presence of immaterial forces, this thesis reveals how the relationship between psyche and space is embedded in a logic of the imagination; interpreting the experience of space in a language of light and shadow.
Additionally this thesis examines how spaces are transformed through the psychological process of mental projection and explores how associations that are deeply rooted in the collective unconscious affect the inner world of the individual. Architecture is therefore seen not as a practice that is psychologically neutral but one that is filled with rich emotional content. To build, constitutes a way to bring order, to set boundaries, to transform the apparent chaos of the world into a comprehendible form. This thesis investigates how the experience of inhabiting can be a catalyst for the imagination to project layers of memory, myth and symbolism onto a location, thereby facilitating the translation of space into place. For Architects the conscious incorporation and evocation of the immaterial is seen as a vital and necessary process that can uniquely contribute to the ensouling of architecture, and the creation of meaningful places.
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Keywords
imagination, childhood spaces, Bachelard, psyche, poetics, haunted