Prophecy of a New Architecture Empathy

Per-Oscar Östrell DIAP PhD: Architettura e Costruzione-Spazio e Società Ciclo XXVI. Main advisors: Professor Benedetto Todaro and Professor Stefano Catucci. PROPHECY OF A NEW ARCHITECTURE Empathy Università Degli Studi Di Roma La Sapienza Dipartimento Di Architettura e Progetto. My unique idea, is to open the minds of the people who read the book make them open for the beauty in the world and for fellowman. Yes this is a topic that is popular at the moment but my approach is not for self- promotion or jump the bandwagon. The book is written for scholars and ordinary man. If you want a PDF of the thesis please contact, perostrell@gmail.com Synopsis. Life architecture is a screenplay for all of us who has an open heart imagination and see the world as a newborn every day with open eyes and open minds and not get stopped by how to behave norms that is standard norms decided by people afraid of living. I have made this journey into understanding architecture, it is a personal and a bumpy road my individual road. not hidden under pretense of something else. To make architecture with empathy, beauty, compassion not defined by the archi-stars of today a phenomenon just as superficial as all other mass media frenetic. I ground my proposal on my beliefs in architecture, it is a personal journey, exemplified as a marathon race with kilometer points and breaks for water and minerals, the point of departure is myself my body memories, my education and professional career as an artist sculptor and free performing artist and my job as an architect. I have mainly used my eyes-pictures, from my own walks in different parts of the world and some examples of my own art. My thesis is in some ways personal, as it is based on my experiences in a way this is normal, almost all thesis are motivated by personal experiences but hidden under layers of theory, as Shlomo Sand wrote in “The invention of the Jewish People”, they serve as a launch pad for an elusive conclusion, my approach is out in the open. I would like to already now underline that my case studies are not from the most recent years. I believe that the case studies are well chosen for my thesis, the reason for this I ground it on that the so much noticed flash-branding architecture of the recent decades has not landed yet, we don’t have the distance to it yet, the overwhelming media coverage, the press information from the architects, the out spoken architects themselves, the architects biographers make things hard if not impossible to break down and analyze in a more or less objective way. We have come to a stage that some of the well- repudiated architects more act like Lady Ga Ga. I have chosen the cases in an attend to look for architects who tries, tried to make an architecture based on sensitivity, a search for inner beauty- empathy- phenomenological, in some cases organic and personal approach to architecture and to make an architecture for the user. The icons I have chosen have stopped making noise and now speak in clear voices. I take the opportunity to here also proclaim that my approach to the subject of architecture is an eternal one I have mixed theory from some time ago with theory of today and the visions from my two distinguished professors and the contribution from myself. I have decided to use my tutor’s presentation of my book, to get a more clear idea of my method and point of departure. From the presentation by my tutor Dean Professor Benedetto Todaro, Università Degli Studi Di Roma La Sapienza Dipartimento Di Architettura e Progetto; I consider it a privilege to have had the opportunity to attend, as a tutor, work done by Per Östrell for his doctoral thesis. This is for two reasons, linked together, which concern both the author and the atypical nature of the research conducted by him, rather than the irregular practices and the prevailing methods in the doctoral courses; other reflections that follow on the nature of the doctorate, or rather doctorates, in terms of architectural design. I mean - without pretending to deepen now - the question of the role that is never dormant fair to attribute project experience in doctoral courses in design. The perception that the project cannot be bypassed or otherwise neglect even if the inescapable character purposeful "concluded" that brings with it conflicts with the open attitude of the research. It would seem - in this sense - having to draw a distinction between the specificity of the search, that is, the act and the ways of the search (which, although a final objective should aim) and those of retrieval (project) that maybe is not derived from a linear process of research, retaining the character of what other expression (also) other processes. For Ostrell, his method of analysis, its references and its modes of expression, gentle, non-disruptive, almost subdued, they could - for their very being - to shake some provisional evidence on which to linger more than a few doctoral programs in design. For the fact is that he is an artist. He experienced the figurative expression even before this ambiguity promiscuous and expressive practice that we call architecture. The structure of his thought - as I was given to understand - is intimately poetic rather than analytical. His work begins with a sort of ill- concealed impatience with aspects of contemporary architecture, which he considers insufficiently empathetic, which create an environment in which more typically human faculties have no place to exist and develop. In short, a sort of complaint lack of artistry surrogates from undue interference and frequent performing but ineffectively mask this deficiency. Part way for a path - he calls it "Marathon", and in fact the various marathons around the world is also dedicated as an athlete - in search of those affinities which identifies the work of authors with their studies: from Sitte to Jacobs, a Gehl, and Cullen Lynch - to name a few - and with their works: from Asplund and Tavora, from Ponti and Ridolfi, Scarpa - among others - show that he had sought in the direction that his initial diagnosis the guide. It is a path in which the multidimensional analysis makes use of short circuits activated by aphorisms, choice of evocative images, suggestions, fragments and flashes conceptual type of non-linear, however, but coherent, that require the reader considerable empathy - in fact - to be read and appreciated. A project. The result is now available for evaluation and, returning to the topic in the opening of this paper, is delivered as a project of thinking about architecture, with all the limitations and potential of the project, consisting of a proposal preserves inside placing considerable degree of subjectivity - in return - as a result of which it can be predicated anything usable. Benedetto Todaro Beauty. A theory must be based on beauty if it’s supposed to explain the searching for the truth in life. Empathy, this includes sustainability. The word empathy was coined in the early 20th century: from Greek empatheia (from em- ‘in’ + pathos ‘feeling’) translated in German as Einfühlung. The  theme was researched by Theodor Lipps in the 19th century.1. Empathy means, understanding and entering into another’s place and feelings, desires ideas, and actions this goes also for our empathy for animals and other living creatures, sentient someone that is able to feel perceive or be conscious or to have subjective feelings this includes animals. You have to have certain amount of empathy to feel compassion. It is also the capacity to recognize feelings that are being experienced by another sentient. The term is often used in reference to aesthetic experience.2 Emotional architecture. Phenomena, experience, perception and conception. Beauty is all around us it’s up to us to be open to the world to let it in. I believe there is beauty almost everywhere we have to stop look and dare to take it in. Phenomenology, perception- space. Perception and the awareness of things is a combination of the world of objects and the world of subjects User oriented architecture. Connect. Connection with our stories, fellow passengers and the world. My zero square in hopscotch. Empathy in contradistinction to Abstraction in architecture. Body-Mind, Empathy and the innate response to architectural forms and spatial arrangements: Matters of the body, of metaphor, ways of thinking, and the aesthetic experience of works of architecture. User oriented architecture in contradistinction to branding - archi–star architecture, Genius Loci. Man’s slow development in contradistinction to the rapidly changing society machine. There has been a lot of literature for many years now about the emptiness in architecture the loss of spiritual and emotional richness in architecture. If it was so much better in the good old days I don’t believe so, it’s just that the tempo nowadays is like a hurricane running down the road. My project tries to pick up the fallen pins and from my standpoint put them back in a new order. Issues that are contemplated are an architecture that unite body and mind, architecture for the senses and also for all that is hidden and goes around in our brains knowingly or un-knowingly. I have chosen the cases in an attend to look for architects who tries, tried to make an architecture based on sensitivity, a search for inner beauty- empathy- phenomenological, in some cases organic and personal approach to architecture and to make an architecture for the user. The examples are not from today but architecture is an universal language and the views and standpoints of the creators can be applied to the architecture in the 21th century it must be, or not? If we today do deconstructed fragmented architecture the inner message of the creation is still the same. Precedents and newer approaches in architecture are studied. It has many times been said that architecture is seen as mainly a visual field- this I think is just an opportunistic statement that goes well in a world of New Age dominated scholars, when the rest of the world is passing by, everything is filled with emotions the moment you put the first shovel in the ground and start digging you change the world of perception in all senses it’s just that today we more dissect the “body” into small fragments of understanding or not understanding. My Goal-Dream-Architecture. The ultimate goal for me is to create sacral-empathy-sensitive architecture, to make a “dreaming architecture”, a fragmented story with no ends or beginnings. Architecture as the night when we loose our directions and see no boundaries and objects clearly. When for example the world of clea.n and articulate objects is abolished as Maurice Merlau Ponty puts it, our perceptual being is cutoff from this world and evolves spatiality without things. This is what happens in the night, Night has no outlines; it is itself in contact with me. 2,5 K. The Beginning. © Per-Oscar Östrell My research started very early when I opened my green eyes. Empathy/intuition was my only tool to survive in a hostile world when I grew up in a very disturbed family. I always felt connected to living or not living objects. Life is a fairytale told by many voices. I was a very imaginative child and half lived in a fantasy world I felt much more connected to animals, books than humans. But now I’m here writing this Marathon PhD. Empathy and intuition for me goes hand in hand (intuition: instinctive knowing without the use of rational processes, acquiring beliefs in ways that bypass ordinary justification an immediate a priori knowledge or experienced belief). System 1. Here perhaps I go wrong or trust to much in System one as I recently been listening to Daniel Kahnmen’s book “Thinking, fast and Slow”. Random House Audio, New York. 2011. I have got a little bit new perspective to intuition, or as hopefully everyone understands that intuition can fool you, it takes the easy way out, the gut-feeling. Making a tree out of figs. A plausible answer comes fast and it’s hard you have to work with your brain to change it and by that you also find its easier to accept arguments that underline the argument even if they are false. You can try and discipline your intuition. Discipline intuition? How do you change your mind by using evidence? Intuitive impression of diagnostic information is often exaggerated. We tend to believe in the stories we spin for ourselves if we follow associative thinking. Example: Anchor your probability of an outcome of a plausible base rate. Question the diagnosis of your evidence.3. System one or two? Thoughts in the brain. In the book's first section, Kahneman describes the two different ways the brain forms thoughts: System 1: Fast, automatic, frequent, emotional, stereotypic, and subconscious. System 2: Slow, effortful, infrequent, logical, calculating, conscious. The problem here is also that system two is lazy a slow starter, but when it acts it has superiority over system one. I am not really sure how it deals with empathy if its logical perhaps it emphasizes yourself first, as I read that money-people those who set money before fellowman are those who are more individualistic more have a prospect of making success in society, if success is claiming the ladder. System one is also more disposed to take the easy answer or re-formulate the question to fit the easy answer, to make patterns out of nothing to not see the unique in every new problem making halo effects, for example if you like someone you give that person many good attributes without knowing any thing about it as for example this person is generous because you like her/him. Priming. Association of ideas and patterns of movements. Example an experiment, students who associated some words with old people were so influenced as when the researchers asked them to move to another room they walked slower than the group who hasn’t not associated the words with elderly this can also be shown if you feel aversion to elderly you walk faster and vice versa.4. Ingredients in a soup. Could this mean, I wonder, if we do monumental beautiful houses and that this is a image of “money”-success, we are unconsciously submitted to associate money beautifulness as something good that the people who owns this artifacts are good beautiful clever more worthy then us, like the church in the old days the people who are associated with that are good a link so we built a society of conformance. If we instead build distorted fragmented buildings pictures then perhaps the associations between the fractals can help people develop more their inner skills qualities. Do we then get individuals more self- thinking people perhaps more empathic people, because and this is true money oriented people are more keen to self-interest and not to help others individuals in a hard inhuman world