Skrzypczak / Bodily Movement in Architectural Theory and Its Implications for Spatial Composition

Bodily Movement in Architectural Theory and Its Implications for Spatial Composition

Author: Wiktor Skrzypczak, HCU Hamburg

Supervisor: Matthias Ballestrem, Prof. Dr., HCU Hamburg

Research stage: Final doctoral stage

Category: Paper

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. Through sampling these traditional positions, the paper proposes a taxonomy 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 taxonomy for creative bottom-up design practices.

Keywords: architecture theory, movement analysis, architectural composition