An Exploration into the Body and Movement at an Architectural Scale

The Human Body has been expressed in the field of spatial design as an insight into a consideration of space through understanding the occupant as a key driver for architectural space making. Past practice in this field have been heavily focussed on the production of art installations, exhibitions and interior focussed outcomes, much less so at an architectural scale. The intuition of the human body through reaction and response to interaction, along with a sensual understanding of space creates the possibilities to design for the user. Understanding the body and its impact on space as a form of testing parameters and limitations is an intimacy too often neglected in the architectural scale. Primarily this thesis explores the ways in which the human body and its movement in space can challenge the way we think about the built form at an architectural scale. It will produce a strategy formed by an interpretation of the body and movement and its relationship to architecture as a primary focus. With this new way of generating a design outcome, this thesis explores strengths and weaknesses of this strategy through an application into the field of theatre and performance design. The theatre as an application will set out an interpretation as to how the strategy can be applied to a specific region within architecture. Outlining the importance of methodology in conveying the Architect’s mind through representation, this thesis explores the art of hand drawing as a means of direct embodied response from the architect to the occupants for space. To determine the validity of this strategy this thesis defines how this way of designing can be interpreted to other fields within architecture, to move forward in offering a body centred design strategy