A Manifesto for AWE

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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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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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.

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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