AWE An Architectural Manifesto
By Sonny Do November 2014
PART 1
05
PART 2
11
PART 3
17
PART 4
23
References
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I / 05
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Awe is “an experience of such perceptual vastness you literally have to reconfigure your mental models of the world to assimilate it” pursue their principles unto death.” (Silva 2013)
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Soulless and mundane buildings,
not need to be engaged by it. We have
skyscrapers and mega structures must
ears that cannot hear, eyes that cannot
cease to be. Instead of endless bickering
see and hearts that cannot understand
over cost limits we must simply stop
nor feel.
building banality. To avoid this, let us induce the collective We must instead build awe inspiring
harmonic awe experience of beautiful
collective architecture. There is much we
cathedrals to all buildings– with Steven
can learn from traditional non-secular
Johnson’s (2010) idea that our thoughts
buildings sensitive to the human spirit.
shape our architecture and technology.
We must apply this to our cities with
These architecture and technology will
our many mundane secular buildings.
return the favour. Those spaces we build,
We must seize this opportunity to be
‘the architecture of happiness’, As Alain
engaged in in a feedback loop with our
de Botton (2012) called it. These spaces
Architecture
we create in turn shapes our individual experience.
To provoke wonders and awe by scrambling the self briefly so that
We script intention into our designs
everything can leak in. So that the infinite
and those designs, in turn, script our
comprehending awe that we all want can
subjective experience that reconfigures
leak in.
our architectural landscape completely.
For us human being, one of our main
Allow our building to retreat from the
problems is creating mental habits. Once
banality and allow proceed to wonder and
in a comfort zone, our mind rarely ever
awe across the cities, in awe of the clarity
leaves that zone. But the result of this
of the spiritual.
problem is a phenomenon called hedonic adaptation. The overstimulation to the
The architecture of mundane dulls the
same things over and over will make
mind. It perverts the manifestation of our
those stimuli indistinguishable. The mind
full potential. It must be stopped.
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II / 11
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Erik Davis (2004) said “We are beset with a thirst for meaning and connection that centuries of skeptical philosophy, hard headed materialism cannot eliminate... today we turn to “the cosmic awe conjured by science fiction, or the outer-space snapshots of the Hubble telescope as it calls forth our ever-deeper, ever-brighter possible selves.”
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Architects need to understand that our
of emergence that’s happening. It’s like
technologies are used to extend the
these things are coming together, and
boundaries of what we are capable of.
they’re creating transcendent effects. It’s
Our technologies are our second skin,
when you have higher-level order from
our exoskeleton. They are frameworks
lower-level organisation
lengthening our thought, reach, and vision. The idea that we have been in
So how can we do this? How can we use
a feedback loop with our Architecture
architecture to jumble our perception so
(technology) since the origin of stone
that we can the sort of expressive and
tools and language. This is in fact, all on a
aesthetic experience from life that we
continuum
judge most momentous?
We need use our current technology to
Peter Zumthor’s Bruder Klaus is a good
create more spaces and technology that
example of this. The chapel takes what
inspire us to create even more.
appears to be a simple concrete tower
We need to transcend membranes.
erecting 12 meters with a blacken cavity
We need to extend ourselves.
and charred walls. The smooth rectilinear
To be inspired, the Greek word literally
outward appearance masks mystical
translate to breath in.
interior with a narrow passage opening up to a cravenness room. The floor of
When we are engaged in the feedback
frozen molten lead balances the unique
loops with those tools to further extend
wall surfaces, the gaze is pulled up to the
our creative possibilities. There’s a
point where the roof is open up to the sky.
process of sort of a self-organization / 13
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Starlight, moonlight, sunlight and rain all pierce the
chapel is minimalistic with no running water, plumbing
openings forming a unique experience specific to the
or electricity. It is very small and designed to merely
season, the hour and the weather. On a bright day the
contain two people. The interior content only contains
opening resemble a flare of a star that can be attribute
a statue of brother Klaus, a few candles and a single
to a references of brother Klaus’s dream in the womb. He
bench. The Bruder Klaus explores the sensory and tactile
had many dreams including one where he experiences
quality of material and spaces and whilst still preserving
within his mother womb where he saw a star that
the minimalistic impression. The chapel’s ability to
illuminate up the world. The idea here is witnessing
evoke meditative and reflective feelings marks it one of
one own birth is an important spiritual metaphor that is
the most remarkable pieces of spiritual architecture ever
represented in the safety and comfort of the sanctuary
built.
and the discovery of spiritual enlightenment. The
“In order to design a building with sensuous connection to life, one must think in a way that goes fat beyond form and construction” (Zumthor 2010)
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The economists tell us the
Beautiful cathedrals and
to induce it. These religious enter and sometime if the
only way to build is with the
churches fascinate me,
spaces understand this
circumstances are right
lowest cost.
as it did Alain de Botton
well. However secular
I fall in love or fall in awe
(2012), a Swiss-British
spaces such as Museums
with my surrounding. It is
Bare minimum requirement
writer and philosopher. His
need to do a better job at
like staring into the sun
has become fashionable.
article basically says that
creating spaces that trigger and finding that instead of
we human beings long for
encounters with the sacred
blinding me, it illuminates
The construction companies
the encounters with the
conjuring up the awe
me. And all of a sudden, I
are reluctant to sway far
epic and to rub up against
that only brilliant science
went from being blind to
from the design of their
the numinous. We want
fiction can conjure up. We
being able to see.
display homes.
our lives to have meanings
unfortunately don’t have
and purpose. So we go to
that many of these kind of
The people assure each other church on Sunday. We look
spaces.
that quantity over quality is
at beautiful cathedrals
after all, a success.
and experience some kind
I concur. I often find myself
of awe, whether or not
looking up to watch the
we are believers. Theses
amount of sky and light
spaces themselves seem
that each space allows to
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It’s the moment of feeling like I am complete for the first time. As Roland Barthes (1977) said, “all of my desires, abolished by the plenitude of their satisfaction.”
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It’s the moment of feeling like I am complete for the first time. As Roland Barthes (1977) said, “all of my desires, abolished by the plenitude of their satisfaction.” Awe is to overflow. Awe is fulfillment. Awe is aesthetic arrest. Awe is getting caught up in something larger than yourself. Awe is the italization of experience. Awe is radiance beyond all previous limits. It’s consummation. It’s consecration. That’s Awe. I can sense my heart beating and I feel human, a complementing being. It is from this point that I present my manifesto.
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Architecture has previously always confronted the immaterial plane even before the developed technology implied that it could. Their tools and technology were where humans found always they have turned to – and technology was where they developed. Where a space would inspire awe this spill over the creations of our minds into the tools. Then we engage in feedback loops with those tools to further extend our creative possibilities. Such is the condition of the Hagia Sofia in heart of Istanbul, Turkey. The circular dome connected to the square base by the new technology at the time called pendentives, these were developed and evolved from the inspiring Roman’s arches. Engaged in this feedback loop, as a result the Hagia Sofia was something new that transcends all previous creation. Even today the flood of morning lights through the openings below the dome renders the columns invisible, creating a floating dome with the transcendental space with a sense of awe. Today, architecture wants to be cheap and efficient. China’s 30-story hotel in assembled in just 15 days has supported in China that an artifice is sufficient to trick the urban cities that quick efficient construction is enough to be call a success even if it is simply an elongated box. Man’s biggest problem is that he celebrates quantity productivity over quality. Construction Company like Simonds Homes Melbourne gloried their generic display houses as Australia’s most awarded new home, dominates the suburban of Melbourne. We flock to these banal building as the discount would allow us as if a generic box would be enough to call a home or a building we can be proud of. Cities have kept up with the endless bickering over cost limits and creating the cheapest mundane building design. We cheer with enduring faith, our arms rose heavenward; we cheer on the Macdonald’s of building company of the world, architects who build generic to build even more generic. By cutting the cost budget we are limiting of what we can do to progress as a civilsation.
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First both architects and client must
The awe-inspiring feedback loop is
surrender their concern for cost to
infinite; a blank canvas that extends
secondary, for there cost cannot be
beyond for us to beautify. The awe
the primary concern in architecture
creates the transcendental effect
of awe. They need to be cure of
by means of juxtaposition. It is a
the mindset of always thinking of
delightful experience to know that
the cost first, as they have been
we can actually shape this thing.
preconditioned to do. Mundane and
There is so much to inspire us, it
generic cannot inspire anything
remind us of how small we are yet
whereas with awe, the possibilities are we are bound by no limits in order to limitless.
drink that inspiration, it’s there for the taking, we just need to flex those
As it is absolutely possible to inspire
creative muscles and make it happen.
awe from a secular institution. The
Kevin Kelly (2010) has translated
movie theatre, the IMAX screen
this possibility rather poetically;
occasionally playing a film like
“Technology is stitching together
Inception and conjuring up the
all the minds of the living, wrapping
cosmic awe that only brilliant sci-fi
the planet in a vibrating cloak of
can conjure. Even something seems
electronic nerves. How can this not
so unessential can rub up against
stir that organ in us that is sensitive to
the sacred. We don’t have that many
something larger than ourselves?”
spaces for this kind of stuff. That’s is why we need to create more.
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Bibliography
1.
Silva, J 2013, Awe, Youtube, viewed 03 October 2014, <https://www.youtube.com/
watch?v=8QyVZrV3d3o >. 2.
Barthes ,R & Howard, R 1979, A Lover’s Discourse: Fragments, Hill and Wang, New
York 3.
De Botton, A 2012, Religion for Atheists: A Non-believer’s Guide to the Uses of
Religion, The Random House Publishing Group, New York 4.
Johnson, S 2010,Where good ideas come from : a natural history of innovation,
Penguin Books, London. 5.
Davis, E 2004, Techgnosis : myth, magic + mysticism in the age of information,
Five-Star Paperback from Serpent’s Tail, Place of London. 6.
Kelly, K 2010,What Technology wants, The Penguin Group, New York.
7.
Zumthor, P 2010, Thinking Architecture, Birkhäuser Architecture
8.
De Botton, A 2008, Architecture of Happiness, Vintage; Reprint edition , New York
Images references sorted by page P6, 8, 13, 18, 19, 20, 21 and 27, The Imaginary foundation 2014 P 14 and 15 Architectural Non-fiction 2012 http://afourarchitecture.blogspot.com.au/2012/10/inspiration-peter-zumthor.html P25, ICFA. Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection, Washington, DC.
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AWE
ABPL90117_2014_SM2: Twenty-first Century Architecture Name: Sonny Do Student No: 685084 Tutor: Claire Miller