spatial experience narrative and architecture - Architecture Insights

SPATIAL EXPERIENCE, NARRATIVE & ARCHITECTURE - BYERA HADLEY REPORT 255.0 REFLECTIONS/ CONCLUSIONS5.0REFLECTIONS/CONCLUSIONS5.0 REFLECTIONS/CONCLUSIONSFilmic space can propose a different relationshipbetween architecture and people based on a broaderrange of sensory, social and temporal qualities. Aninvestigation into the construction of space, bothintellectually and physically reveals the variety ofmeanings and implications that attend the term‘space’.The 12th International Architecture Exhibition,Venice 2010 teaches us how those who engagewith temporary events in the city, such as festivalsand exhibitions understand that spatial experiencecan come into being and change through thesetemporary events. The select exhibits discussed inthis paper examined a plurality of approaches to,and ways to experience architectural space. Theaim of this was to explore practical techniques thatmay subvert conventional ways we perceive anarchitectural or urban condition.A parallel can be drawn between the temporaryconstruction techniques used for exhibition/ film setconstruction and those used for the constructionof the architectural redevelopment project ‘TheChurch’ in Sydney. The ambition for this projectas a ‘reversible’ construction borrowed more fromthe traditions of film and exhibition design andconstruction than that of architecture. The spatialflexibility for both functional and social programis also similarly increased. This approach to anarchitectural project is now more important than everas we are living in a time where building life cyclesare speeding up. The life expectancy of a building isgetting shorter, and architects need to start engagingwith adaptive re-use projects for a more relevantcontemporary use.A research project of this nature challenges theprofession of architecture to critically revise currentnotions of spatial thinking and spatial intelligence,and re-establish the trade within more extensivenetworks. Those practitioners who merge thedisciplines of architecture, art and film as theirpractice explore new ways to negotiate architecturaldesign problems in the present. In film, spaceis experienced through sounds, motions ande-motions. Film as a medium also allows the viewerto switch between parallel time and story streams,depending on one’s own knowledge, associationsand imagination. A filmic approach to space impliesdifferent models for contemporary living andsuggests an expanded field of architectural activitiesfor the contemporary practitioner. It is therefore agood material of study to expand our understandingof architecture and change the way we go aboutmaking it.