Thesis Appetizer

SEBASTIAN GUTIERREZ University of South Florida School of Architecture + Community Design

SEBASTIAN GUTIERREZ University of South Florida School of Architecture + Community Design MAY 2018

A terminal Master’s Project submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Architecture

PRE INTRO T&E

At first, unconsciously, we exist in an ocean of pure, unadulterated stimulus. With no knowledge of existence, the budding consciousness requires a system of operations in order to mediate through the vast array of constant—seemingly SENSE-less —i n c oming stimulus. This constant INflux of INformation is a hard task for the new mind to upkeep with the incessant formation and dissipation of new experiences. In its attempts at conquering the blinding CACOPHONY OF EXPERIENCE, the budding mind begins to categorize data into sets of concurrent and related content—thoughts begin to form. With the help of these sets, one is able to begin to navigate through the currents that so rapidly ravish us. It is here, within this seemingly benign modus operandi that the mind

INTRODUCTION

creates its first cognitive LEAP. In categorizing similar and repeated stimuli, the mind is no longer required to truly experience the entirety of the incoming stimulus. As these enter the perceptive field of the cognizant being, the mind seeks to lift the burden of the incoming sensory artillery and dismisses [CATEGORIZED] stimuli in order to allow for perceptive ammunition to be allocated to [UN-CATEGORIZED] stimuli. However, the mind has only fooled itself. In so doing, consciousness begins its plight against the bombardment of sensiti-VITÉ. Finding here, the audacity to begin to demarcate its own regiment of pre-disposed rules upon the uncharted world. Constancy and stability begin to signify comfort for the growing brain as the sounds from the street slowly become INstruments

PRE INTRO T&E

of the orchestra of life, not by planned orchestration itself, but by the mere acquisition of KNOW-ledge. In the acquisition of said knowledge, however, as consciousness becomes increasingly aware of itself, it becomes increasingly unaware of the methods it is continuously crafting in order to be able to mitigate the burden of constant, novel experience.

The more the mind categorizes, the more consciousness is able to transcend into higher levels of cognitive development. Yet, this filtration of sensory information is only beneficial up to a certain point. Once the growing consciousness is aware of itself it has transcended so far past the initial conditions that brought it to be that it no longer can comprehend its very own formation. By taking the categories of stimuli as the identity

of stimulus itself, the mind has cast its first stone upon the placid lake of experience; revealing herein the first ripples of perception.

Before THIS all happens, the mind exists as a singular point, submerged in the currents of experience. As consciousness rises through the ranks of experiential knowledge, it tres-PASSES the surface of the boundless lake of experience and is lifted above to think past the incoming sets of stimulus— whether it is categorized, or not. However, the mind, still fixated upon its initial quest of understanding, can only now l00k upon the surface of the lake. The ripples that were generated by the casting of said stone only further blur the initial conditions that brought it to this point.

Here, looking candidly at the surface of the lake from which it came,

PRE INTRO T&E

in an attempt to understand, consciousness encounters only further alienation from the comprehension of the stimulus that once plagued its understanding. As it looks towards the surface of the lake it is only capable of seeing between the ripples of perception. The surface of the lake, now set in motion by these radiating waves, only further distorts the image that once was so clear and VIVID.

INTER2 EP&PR ACT!

INTER2 EP&PR ACT!