M.Arch Thesis

The Symbolic Dimension Meaning and Metaphor in the Archetypal Language of Architecture by Jody Patterson Finch A thesis presented to the University of Waterloo in fulfillment of the thesis requirement for the degree of Master of Architecture Waterloo, Ontario, Canada, 2009 © Jody Patterson Finch 2009 Library and Archives Bibliothèque et 1*1 Canada Archives Canada Published Heritage Direction du Branch Patrimoine de l’édition 395 Wellington Street 395, rue Wellington Ottawa ON K1A 0N4 Ottawa ON K1A 0N4 Canada Canada Your file Votre référence ISBN: 978-0-494-56202-4 Our file Notre référence ISBN: 978-0-494-56202-4 NOTICE: AVIS: The author has granted a non L’auteur a accordé une licence non exclusive exclusive license allowing Library and permettant à la Bibliothèque et Archives Archives Canada to reproduce, Canada de reproduire, publier, archiver, publish, archive, preserve, conserve, sauvegarder, conserver, transmettre au public communicate to the public by par télécommunication ou par l’Internet, prêter, telecommunication or on the Internet, distribuer et vendre des thèses partout dans le loan, distribute and sell theses monde, à des fins commerciales ou autres, sur worldwide, for commercial or non support microforme, papier, électronique et/ou commercial purposes, in microform, autres formats. paper, electronic and/or any other formats. The author retains copyright L’auteur conserve la propriété du droit d’auteur ownership and moral rights in this et des droits moraux qui protège cette thèse. Ni thesis. Neither the thesis nor la thèse ni des extraits substantiels de celle-ci substantial extracts from it may be ne doivent être imprimés ou autrement printed or otherwise reproduced reproduits sans son autorisation. without the author’s permission. In compliance with the Canadian Conformément à la loi canadienne sur la Privacy Act some supporting forms protection de la vie privée, quelques may have been removed from this formulaires secondaires ont été enlevés de thesis. cette thèse. While these forms may be included Bien que ces formulaires aient inclus dans in the document page count, their la pagination, il n’y aura aucun contenu removal does not represent any loss manquant. of content from the thesis. 1*1 Canada ABSTRACT The timeless task of architecture is to create embodied, existential metaphors that structure and sustain our experience of the world. This vital role has been obscured in recent centuries, but maintains critical importance - even ethical imperative - in our increasingly urbanized habitat, where built objects are the predominant frame of human existence. Fixing verticals and horizontals, architecture is always a symbolic act: it describes the conditions of relationship between man and environment, whether integrated or isolated. The premise of this thesis is a search for the dimension of deeper meaning - missing in most contemporary buildings - that can help to reconnect us with a higher order and assert our place within it. Returning to first principles, it examines cultural constructions across a broad historical period to recall the archetypal language of architecture and its didactic function: concretizing elemental dichotomies and eternal human truths. The essential conditions of body and space, earth and sky have intuitive meaning and enduring implications - this a priori tectonic vocabulary is the basis for orientation and identification (enabling dwelling), and the focus of the thesis work. Its interest is the resonance between inner experience and external environment that engages us in powerful architectonic expressions, relating body, building and world. The work presented narrates these explorations on three levels, within the scope of Western architecture and its primary influences. Part 1 establishes a philosophical foundation for this generalizing approach, rooted in universal structures, and substantiates a synoptic viewpoint. Two ubiquitous models of natural hierarchy - the upright human figure and the stratified cosmos - are manifest in built form from time immemorial; Part 2 presents a body of historical research into these parallel realms of metaphor in traditional belief structures. Surveying the paradigm shifts (both physical and conceptual) that shape our present built environments, Part 3 culminates in a speculative discussion of contemporary power structures and conflicting spatial concepts today, where architecture supplies alternative realities and artificial worlds instead of reinforcing meaningful existential connections. Approaching present and future uncertainties through archetypal absolute values, the objective of this discourse is to regain some common ground - underlying the fragmented contemporary condition - where reconciliation between man and environment may yet occur. iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The thesis process is a route to discovery, and mine has been a long and sometimes difficult one. I owe many thanks, and dedicate these efforts to all who have helped me along the way: my parents, for encouraging me across the miles; my sister, for refusing to believe there is anything I cant do; my friends and colleagues at the School of Architecture, for stimulating or sympathetic conversations at any hour and so many sources of inspiration. I thank my committee: Dr. Jeff Lederer and Rick Haldenby, for both patience and persistence in guiding me through; Dr. Anne Bordeleau, for adding her insights; and external reader David Lieberman for his final review. I must also thank Gary Michael Dault, for his creative involvement and interest, as well as Dr. Tracey Winton and Andrew Levitt for sharing their expertise. As for the final product, I can only dedicate this to my husband, editor, photographer, and best friend, who has been waiting for me at the end of this road for a very long time - thank you. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF FIGURES viii PREFACE xiii An Inquiry in Progress xiii Encountering Architecture xiv 1. PHILOSOPHY: UNIVERSAL STRUCTURES I. INTRODUCTION: A PHILOSOPHY OF ARCHITECTURE COMPOSING AN APPROACH 2 Terms of Engagement 3 Ordering Framework 4 Objectives and Omissions 6 FIRST PRINCIPLES: THE VITAL ROLE OF BUILDING 7 FOCUS: ARCHITECTURE AS MEDIATOR 10 CONTEXT: BROKEN CONNECTIONS 11 THE CONDITION OF DWELLING 13 CONCRETE METAPHORS 15 The Upright Figure: Body, Building, World 16 In Search of a Symbol: The Vertical Cosmos 18 The Symbolic Dimension 21 II. GROUNDWORK: UNIVERSAL STRUCTURES 23 A COMMON LANGUAGE 24 The Dialogue of Form and Space 25 The Secret Language of Archetypes 27 Deep Structures 28 THE SYMBOLIC WORLD 29 CONVERGENCE: THE SYMBOLIC MIDWORLD OF LANGUAGE 30 BACKGROUND: BUILDING CONNECTIONS 32 Aspirations in Stone 33 A CHANGING ROLE 34 Surfaces and Depths 36 SUMMARY: A FORGOTTEN DIMENSION 37 III. FOUNDATIONS: THE WORLD OF LIFE 39 PERCEPTION AND PROJECTION 40 Orientation 41 Mapping the Body onto the World 42 IMITATION AND ABSTRACTION: THE MIMESIS PRINCIPLE 44 Identification and Expression 46 SUMMARY: SPACES OF RELATIONSHIP 47 SYNOPSIS: THE WORLD WE KNOW 49 v TABLE OF CONTENTS 2. HISTORY: BELIEF STRUCTURES 51 IV. MACROCOSM: THE COSMIC METAPHOR 51 FROM CHAOS TO COSMOS 52 Revisiting the Concept of Cosmos 54 A WORLD OF ARCHETYPES 55 ENTERING THE EARTH 58 Earth and the Sacred 59 Primitive Earthworks 60 ENCOUNTERING THE SKY 62 Spiritual Heights 63 World Mountain 64 MAKING MOUNTAINS 65 TheZigguratofUr 65 The Great Pyramid 66 SUMMARY: THE SYMBOLIC LANDSCAPE 69 V. MESOCOSM: BUILDING BETWEEN 71 FROM EARTH TO SKY 72 COSMOS: MYTH AND MODEL 73 THE CENTRE OF THE WORLD 74 At the Urban Scale: City and Cosmos 74 THE EMBODIED AXIS 77 MOTION AND METAPHOR 78 Grounding and Uplifting 79 Concave, Convex: Two Cases 81 The Symbolic Stair 84 VAULT OF THE HEAVENS, ROOF OF THE SKY 86 The Temple of the World 90 SUMMARY: SYMBOLS OF THE VERTICAL 92 VI. MICROCOSM: THE BODY METAPHOR 95 THE BODY IN ARCHITECTURE 98 CLASSICAL EMBODIMENT 99 The Human Order 100 Renaissance and Revival: Humanism Reborn 103 A Living Language 106 ROMANTIC EMOTION, ENLIGHTENMENT REASON 107 MODERN MORALITY AND ABSTRACTION 108 The New Order 110 Modern Humanism 112 DECONSTRUCTION AND DISTORTION 116 SUMMARY: THE DIFFICULT WHOLE 118 SYNOPSIS: BODY, BUILDING, WORLD 120 vi TABLE OF CONTENTS 3. DISCUSSION: POWER STRUCTURES 123 VII. REVOLUTIONS: SPACE, PLACE AND DWELLING 123 TRANSITIONS 124 Power and Belief 126 Becoming Modern 127 CASE STUDY: THE PROBLEM OF THE HOUSE 129 THE MACHINE FOR LIVING 130 Earth House, Sky House 133 The Archetypal House 134 The Mass-Production House 136 THE PRICE OF FREEDOM 138 PROMISES & FAILURES 141 The New Classicism 142 Complexity & Contradictions 143 SUMMARY: FORM AND LANGUAGE 145 Presence and Absence 147 Anti-Gravity 148 Anti-Architecture 149 SYNOPSIS 150 VIII. PERCEPTIONS IN CONTEMPORARY ARCHITECTURE 153 POWER AND IMAGINATION 154 The Problem of the Tower Block 158 THE VIRTUAL HORIZONTAL 159 UNREAL CITIES 161 Alternate Realities 165 Foreign Bodies 166 SUMMARY: ORIENTATION AND IDENTIFICATION 168 IX. CONCLUSION: ARCHITECTURE AND AUTHENTICITY 169 A SYMBOLIC LANGUAGE 170 READING THE CITY 172 Chaos to Cosmos 173 The Problem of Neutrality 178 LOSING THE BODY 179 LOSING THE WORLD 180 SUMMARY: LOSING HOPE? 182 LESSONS LEARNED 184 THE IMPORTANCE OF SYMBOLISM 186 The Value of Metaphor 187 The Role of the Body 188 The Primacy of the Vertical 190 SUMMARY: REASON AND RECONCILIATION 192 THE TASK OF ARCHITECTURE 194 The Application of Archetypes 197 PRESENT POTENTIAL 198 FUTURE VISION 199 ENDNOTES 202 BIBLIOGRAPHY 221 vii LIST OF FIGURES Please see bibliography for works cited. All figures not otherwise noted

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