BODY X BUILDING
Today, we are discussing the topic : Body & Building which building in architecture is being said as having the revolutions from the human body ( either movement or the dimensions of body parts.) Thus, we are requested to express our own opinion on their relationship , and give some examples in contemporary architecture to support my view.
The contextualization between the human body and architecture is perhaps best articulated from the critique of hylomorphism .Architects and biologists find themselves in a similar and curious position in this regard :the differentiation between form and matter.the human body is measured according to a fixed unit or the calculation.
“Proportion is a corespondence among the measures of members of an entire work,”
Marcus Vitruvius
He stated that human body is designed by nature,so every part of it should consist of its meaning.In architecture, as such, to design is to establish the anthropometric distance between the human body and tactile objects, to orientate the proxemic interactions between one body and another, and to articulate something of the Divine Proportion of the human body.
The relationship between architecture(building) and the human body today obviously is bonded strongly with each other. The questions that arise when exploring this relationship are more than simply about finding the proper dimensions and placements within architectural space to “accommodate” a person and their behaviors within it. The relationship between architecture and the human body delves deep into why those behaviors manifest in the first place, as it calls upon the experiential characteristics and qualities that spark when the two unite — impacting not only occupant behavior through the body, but also impacting occupants intellectually, emotionally, physiologically and even spiritually through the body as well.
The human body is subjectified in which the aesthetic experience of architecture is articulated in accordance with the phenomenological bodily contact with the ‘gesture’ of everyday buildings as human body is created by God ,which is so called the perfect proportional in the world .This kind of beauty is influencing the formation of the building and as a reference for architect to express their thinking throughout building ( MODULOR ).
^Photo shows how human figure measurement unit applies into architectural elements
Modulor system which create by Le Corbusier ,showing the units of dimension of MALE human.
Besides that , the human body and architecture are engaged in a “dance” relationship where each adapts to the other — where you as the architect need to find the right balance between the two. As you delve into this balance, the building can be said has the nice considerations for many aspects .Since building is a kind of machine , and we( user ) has different personality , outlook , physical and mental properties ..
thus human body ‘s movements (anthropometrics) helps to avoid those inconvenient that happens when building is not designed wisely. .The main issue is that nowadays building has the basic requirement which serve the users to have comfortable movements while the studies of the body movements are the basic consideration to be based on , whenever you wanna design a building.
To my mind , I think that buildings are metaphor of the body .In 21 st century ,many kinds of buildings do have the design intention which adopted or related to the structure of human body .Planning of the architectural elements or spaces also can be related to the human body . For an example , the entrance of the Roman Museum Art , is a arch form entrance , the massive and huge feeling of it , to me , is metaphor to the human body - Head . As the head is where the brain located, and 4 senses come from there too , thus its important and must impress people in the first sight, like image of somebody , usually comes from the outlook .
Miho Museum
I M Pei
Miho Museum can be classified into the building that IM Pei designed according to the proportion of human being , as the entrance of the museum ( round circle ) like the eye of human , accepting the every human that goes into it. For the construction part, the steel framing is metaphor to the rib cage of human , like the covers for the body ( museum itself) . From the plan view of whole site ,it is very balance , for the museum itself its symmetry , which absolutely obey the Modulor system .(Like a body ,every part is placed nicely )
Buildings are the stage to the human body too. As I pointed out before, human body undergoes movements , activities in building which it must fullfil human being’s requirements in many conditions.For example , the design of hospital (stage) has to concerned about the user’s type (patients’s movement , patient’s feeling which will be influenced by the size or the shape of the building).On the other way, theatre is usually big , high ceiling ,good in reflectance , so that human body can be staying inside a suitable condition ,every anthropometric will not be blocked too.
Taichung Opera House
Toyo Ito
By well planning on the human's dimensions on every movements , Toyo Ito create one special building which acts like a stage , a perfect stage , for opera to happens. The buildings is enough is height , width , length and also the environment quality is well considered also.
The building is also consist of metaphor to human body , which its shape is alike with the human brain , where brain is the place where accepts sounds , images and the factory where it is processing . So, This opera house is designed as a main factory of vision and sound processor for every users ( can besaid so , the common stage for users)
In a nutshell, the final objective of designing a Buildings is to create a UTOPIA for human being.Since human bodies is extremely important in architecture,thus I supported the quote which was written by Le Corbusier , ‘’architecture must be a thing of the body, a thing of substance as well as of the spirit and of the brain.’’Building must has one general rules to follow while the human body is a golden ratio and the ergonomics studies are the natural law that cannot be break it up.Architect should unite this studies with architecture as a whole , with the Modular system as the basic reference but not the only reference!
Since every human process of different physical properties and have different needs towards a building ( stage ) . The goal here becomes to find those just-right moments within your design to take your occupants to a new “sense of place” that arouses curiosity, creativity and/or comfort at the right time