Bodily Movement in Architectural Theory and Its Implications for Spatial Composition

Abstract

Traditional positions in architectural theory use movement to address the experience of space, while traditional positions in movement theory use space to address the movement. By sampling these traditional positions, the paper proposes a catalogue of primal movements in architectural theory. It identifies the primal movements such as entropic movements, flowing/floating, condensing/expanding, grounding, balancing, toning, articulating, closing, opening, timing, facing/reaching, wandering/tracing, positioning/occupying and focusing/attending. The paper discusses the implications of these movements for the spatial composition and the relevance of the proposed top-down analysis for creative bottom-up design practices.

Keywords: architecture theory, movement analysis, architectural composition