haptic body

“The more we reflect on place, however, the more we recognize it to be something not merely characterizable but actually experienced in qualitative terms. These terms, for example, colour, texture and depth, are known to us only in and by the body that enters and occupies a given place. Site may be bodiless - it entails a disembodied overview, a survey - but there can be no being-in-place except by being in a densely qualified place in concrete embodiment. Indeed, how can one be in a a place except through one’s own body?”

Casey, Edward. S. (1998) The fate of place, a philosophical history,
Berkley, Los Angeles, London, University of California Press.


1: The Haptic material catalogue

Begin to observe the objects and spaces that surround you to gain an awareness of their haptic qualities. How does the handle of the car door feel on the skin of your hand first thing in the morning? When you bite into a piece of toast what does it sound like? What is the air like on the bus, in the gym, at the bank? What does it smell like in the places that you travel through each day? How does your favourite piece of clothing feel against your skin? What does it feel like when you lie down on the grass in the park or on the supermarket floor?

Your task is to locate and supply a material to form part of our Design 1 Haptic Material Catalogue. We are not talking here about conventional building materials but instead things that you are surrounded by that have interesting haptic properties. You might find something in a $2 shop, a second hand store, at the dentists or mechanics, or it might come from somewhere outside. The material may come in the form of an already made object, for example it might be part of a car, or a household item. It might be synthetic or naturally occurring, high or low tech. Think widely in your approach to locating a material with interesting haptic properties.

You need to bring a sample of this material into studio on Thursday 27 March when we will be analysing, recording and cataloging these materials.


(at the same time) -2: The Haptic journey: Fort Lane

“ . . . each of the five senses encourages one orientation or the other. Dependence on picture-vision tends to support exteriorism, whereas dependence on hearing kinesthesia, smell or radar-vision – seeing the arrayed proximity of things around us rather than their composed shapes relative to each other – supports interiorism. These sensory inclinations are so subtle, however, than the intellect can readily override them.”

Benedikt, M. (2002). Environmental stoicism and place machismo. Harvard Design Magazine Winter/Spring, n.16, p.21-27

An alleyway is a place in the city passed through, a shortcut, a secondary space usually neglected in terms of design, that often comes about by the chance relation of building edge and property boundary. Yet an alleyway can offer a rich sensory and psychic experience, (smelly rubbish bins and other olfactory elements, elements of enclosure and danger) that might act as a counterpoint to the more regular conditions of a journey around the city.

Design a spatial intervention for Fort Lane, Auckland CBD, where the sensory/haptic experience might allow those passing through or stopping to experience this space anew. You must consider and declare what your intention for the design will be: does the alleyway become a place of solitude, passion, peacefulness, ecstasy, terror, otherworldliness, mythical journey, constipation, peacefulness . . . etc. etc.
What experiences are you designing?

The phase of work for this project is to include:

maquette studies (light card, papers, plastics and other fast modeling materials / digital options)
light studies (exploring possible light qualities and effects in your design)
sectional drawings (freehand /instrumental)
material schedules

Location of site click on this link (or see below)
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=fort+lane+auckland&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=45.736609,91.845703&ie=UTF8&ll=-36.845998,174.767118&spn=0.002374,0.004308&t=h&z=18


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Reading requirement:
As part of this project you must read and analyse two out of the five following texts, all available through course materials on the library site (below) and cecil
http://voyager.auckland.ac.nz/cgi-bin/Pwebrecon.cgi?DB=local&PAGE=rbSearch


Benedikt, M. (2002). Environmental stoicism and place machismo. Harvard Design Magazine
Winter/Spring, n.16, p.21-27

Franck, K. A. (2000) “From the body”, in Architecture inside out, Chichester, Wiley. Pages 46-60, sections titled “From the body”, “Bodies: Open, inclusive” and “Bodies: Moving, making space”. Call Number: 72.012 F822 2007

Hara, K. (2007) ‘Events on the skin’, in Designing Design, Baden, Switzerland Lars Muller Publishers.
Pages 100 - 103

Pallasmaa, J. (2005) The Eyes of the Skin, architecture and the senses. Chichester, Wiley.
Pages 49-59 Call Number: 72.01 P164

Holl, S. (2000) Parallax, New York, Princeton Architectural Press.
Call Number: 72.036.6(73)H733p


The design that you make will need to respond to or be informed by your reading in some way. We will be discussing the texts with your work through out this project.

PIN UP:
The haptic body crit will take place at 9:00am, Friday 3 April,
level 3 exhibition space, although you may have small group pin ups before then.
You should show all of your phases of work at the crit and you must be pinned up and ready to go by 9:00am as we are having guest critics.