Abstract:
Visiting architectural spaces has long
been an architect’s best classroom
and experiencing the atmosphere
within these spaces their best teacher.
Architecture seems as accessible
as ever in 2021 due to the ability to
view reproduced images and even
tour buildings using technology such
as VR. This accessibility, however,
seems to favour, and in some cases,
completely rely on using the visual
sense to experience the architecture and
spaces represented. With this reliance
and importance placed on the visual
sense, a “hegemony of the eye” as
Juhani Pallasmaa writes is beginning
to take hold within the architectural
community.
If one is only experiencing architecture
through these visual reproductions,
they are not able to understand and
fully experience the multisensory
atmosphere of the space. This problem
is identified through the research
undertaken within this thesis and seeks
to find an alternative way in which
these sensory spaces can be recorded,
interpreted, and re-presented.
2020 saw the world, in effect,
lockdown. Travel out of New Zealand,
let alone out of our homes, became
out of the question. It was due to
these nationwide and worldwide
lockdowns that travelling to and
physically experiencing architecture
has become infinitely more inaccessible
and a reliance on 2D architectural
reproductions has become increasingly more prominent. This poses the
questions of, Is a 2D reproduced
image enough? and if not, What is the
solution?
Rooted within architectural education
this thesis is focused on providing
accessibility to these multisensory
architectural spaces without having
to physically inhabit them. From
this starting point, research into
architectural theories and precedents
has informed various methodologies of
recording the physical and emotional
sensory experience. Following this,
these methodologies have been tested
and refined into a Guidebook for how
to record the sensory experience,
ultimately leading on to inform
the re-presentation of the collected
recordings. Implemented through a
hypothetical design brief for a travelling
multisensory exhibition, taking
influence from the historical precedents
that is - Wunderkammer.