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University of Cincinnati UNIVERSITY OF CINCINNATI _____________ , 20 _____ I,______________________________________________, hereby submit this as part of the requirements for the degree of: ________________________________________________ in: ________________________________________________ It is entitled: ________________________________________________ ________________________________________________ ________________________________________________ ________________________________________________ Approved by: ________________________ ________________________ ________________________ ________________________ ________________________ AAA NNN AAA RRR CCC HHH III TTT EEE CCC TTT UUU RRR EEE OOO FFF LLL III MMM III NNN AAA LLL III TTT YYY AN ARCHITECTURE OF LIMINALITY A Thesis Submitted to University of Cincinnati in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Masters Degree in Architecture (M.Arch) in the School of Architecture and Interior Design of the College of Design, Architecture, Art, and Planning 2003 by Sara Spring Repenning B.S.Arch, University of Cincinnati, 2001 Committee Chair: G. Thomas Bible ABSTRACT The space between spaces and the time between times exhibits a distinct energy. This quality is captured in the study of Liminality, the critical state of transition, which is wholly separate in character from the experiences preceding and following it. Characterizing this energy of transition is essential to creating powerful and compelling spaces whose integral focus is transition. Many desire rejuvenation of their physical and mental health, leading them to, “Take spa,” springing from the public bath traditions of many cultures, which intrinsically possess qualities that substantiate transformation and renewal. Liminality offers a definition of these qualities. The concept of Liminality is revealed through a series of four models which offer insight into its elusive qualities. Within the first model, traditional ritual ceremonies, Liminality is the critical period of transformation. Prominent anthropologists, Victor and Edith Turner, refer to it as a type of “limbo” that is “betwixt and between” the order of everyday life. During this time, ritual participants gain new personal and cultural awareness, partake in extraordinary activities, and share in new friendship. In the second model, Liminality refers to the threshold of perception, marking the first awareness of a new sensation or experience. It is contemplated by physiologists, psychologists, theorists, and even artists. The third model studies historical and cultural public bath rituals, such as the Roman bath, the Turkish hammam, the Finnish sauna, and the Japanese bath, where experiences in liminality are characterized by the transformations made manifest by extraordinary events, occurring in the forms of sacra, ludus, and communitas, during the Period of Liminality, which is preceded by a Pre-Liminal phase and concluded with a Post-Liminal phase. The final model analyzes the threshold, the architectural element of transition, through the writings of Bernard Tschumi, Alexander Fernandez Bales, and Nur Altinyildiz and Gulsum Baydar Nalbantoglu. The architectural implications of Liminality are revealed as An Architecture of Liminality, a language appropriate for all spaces emphasizing transition, such as Churches, Theaters, Museums, and Transportation Facilities. In this thesis, the language is explored in the design for a hydrotherapy spa, a celebration of transition, transformation, and renewal. AAA NNN AAA RRR CCC HHH III TTT EEE CCC TTT UUU RRR EEE OOO FFF LLL III MMM III NNN AAA LLL III TTT YYY TABLE OF CONTENTS i. Illustration Credits 2 I. Introduction: Talking about An Architecture of Liminality 8 II. Ritual as a Model for An Architecture of Liminality 18 III. Perceptual Awareness as a Model for An Architecture of Liminality 24 IV. The Public Bath as a Model for An Architecture of Liminality 29 V. The Architectural Threshold as a Model for An Architecture of Liminality 46 VI. Methods for Making An Architecture of Liminality 55 VII. An Architecture of Liminality Exemplified: The Design of a Spa 70 VIII. Bibliography 80 IX. Appendices 84 111 AAA NNN AAA RRR CCC HHH III TTT EEE CCC TTT UUU RRR EEE OOO FFF LLL III MMM III NNN AAA LLL III TTT YYY i. ILLUSTRATION CREDITS Cover. Photograph. Shimmering Water. ClipArt Image J0227616 Fig. 1. Diagram. Liminality signifies an exceptional transition from one state to another. Sara S. Repenning Fig. 2. Photograph. A girl’s coming-out dance at her coming-of-age ceremony in the Ndembu tribe of Zambia. Victor Turner, photographer. From: Turner, Victor. Celebration: Studies in Festivity and Ritual. Ed. Victor Turner. (Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1982) 111. Fig. 3. Diagram. Liminality is set apart from customary social life. Sara S. Repenning Fig. 4. Diagram. Van Gennep viewed transition as a binary set, while Huntington and Metcalf viewed it as a progression. Sara S. Repenning Fig. 5. Diagram. Liminality is a period separate from usual social structures. Sara S. Repenning Fig. 6. Diagram. Features of liminality during ritual. Sara S. Repenning Fig. 7. Diagram. The borders of liminality are “charged with power and mystery.” Sara S. Repenning Fig. 8. Diagram. The limen is the borderline delimiting the first perception of a new sensation. Sara S. Repenning Fig. 9. Photograph. HAND HEARD installation. Marc Domage, photographer. From: Quasha, George and Charles Stein. Gary Hill: HAND HEARD / liminal objects. (Paris: Galerie des Archives, 1996) Overleaf. Fig. 10. Photograph. The “Green Room”. ClipArt Image J0227652 Fig. 11. Photograph. The Still Point is body-mind oneness. 222 AAA NNN AAA RRR CCC HHH III TTT EEE CCC TTT UUU RRR EEE OOO FFF LLL III MMM III NNN AAA LLL III TTT YYY Canyon Ranch Health Resort advertisement, entitled, “Renew Your Spirit”. From: Spa Finder (Spring 2002) 129. Fig. 12. Photograph. Old Faithful geyser sprays water vapor into the sky at Yellow Stone National Park. ClipArt Image J0182020 Fig. 13. Illustration. The Baths of Caracalla in its days of splendor. Reichold, Klaus and Bernhard Graf. Buildings that Changed the World. Munich: Prestel Verlag, 1999. Fig. 14. Diagram. Sequence of the Roman Bath. Sara S. Repenning Fig. 15. Diagram. Liminality in the Roman Bath. Sara S. Repenning Fig. 16. Photograph. The harara of the Cagalogu Hammam, constructed in the 1500's. Website. www.cyberbohemia.com/Pages/Islahammam. Fig. 17. Diagram. Sequence of the Turkish Hammam. Sara S. Repenning Fig. 18. Diagram. Liminality in the Turkish Hammam. Sara S. Repenning Fig. 19. Photograph. A traditional savusauna lodge. Website: The Finnish Sauna Society. http://www.sauna.fi/pages/develpt.htm. Fig. 20. Diagram. Sequence of the Finnish Sauna. Sara S. Repenning Fig. 21. Diagram. Liminality in the Finnish Sauna. Sara S. Repenning Fig. 22. Photograph. A Japanese family at the onsen. Website. http://www.nudebooks.com/furo.html. Fig. 23. Diagram. Sequence of the Japanese Bath. Sara S. Repenning Fig. 24. Diagram. Liminality in the Japanese Bath. Sara S. Repenning Fig. 25. Diagram. The route as a whole is more important than any one of the events along it. Sara S. Repenning Fig. 26. Diagram. Not all architecture is linear Sara S. Repenning Fig. 27. Diagram. Contracted sequences place one spatial event right after the other. Sara S. Repenning Fig. 28. Diagram. Monastery walls separate the sacred from the profane. Sara S. Repenning Fig. 29. Diagram. Walls as Boundary/Spatial Definers. Sara S. Repenning Fig. 30. Diagram. Walls as Representational Devices. Sara S. Repenning 333 AAA NNN AAA RRR CCC HHH III TTT EEE CCC TTT UUU RRR EEE OOO FFF LLL III MMM III NNN AAA LLL III TTT YYY Fig. 31. Diagram. Walls as Points of Exchange. Sara S. Repenning Fig. 32. Diagram. Walls as Definers of Hierarchies Sara S. Repenning Fig. 33. Diagram. Traditionally, the threshold is viewed simply as a passage. Sara S. Repenning Fig. 34. Diagram. Threshold as a void. Sara S. Repenning Fig. 35. Diagram. Threshold in the surround. Sara S. Repenning Fig. 36. Diagram. The passage through thresholds. Sara S. Repenning Fig. 37. Diagram. Threshold approached as a multi-layered path. Sara S. Repenning Fig. 38. Diagram. Threshold approached as a multi-layered surface. Sara S. Repenning Fig. 39. Diagram. Tripartite Sequence of Ritual. Sara S. Repenning Fig. 40. Diagram. Differentiation between Inside and Outside Worlds. Sara S. Repenning Fig. 41. Photograph. Tripartite Sequence of Ritual. Moore House, Ojai, California, 1952, by Richard Neutra. From: Sack, Manfred. Richard Neutra. (Zurich: Verlag fur Architekur, 1992) 61. Fig. 42. Photograph. Differentiation between Inside and Outside Worlds. Martinspark Hotel, Dornborn, Austria, 1995-96, by Baumschlager, Eberle. From: Reiwoldt, Otto. Hotel Design. (London: Gingko Press, Ltd., 1998) 112. Fig. 43. Diagram. Sequestered Liminality vs. Public Liminality. Sara S. Repenning Fig. 44. Diagram. Transformation as a Progression. Sara S. Repenning Fig. 45. Photograph. Sequestered Liminality. Residence, Soho, New York, 1999, by Architecture Research Office. From: Ojeda, Oscar Riera and Mark Pasnik. Materials: Architecture in Detail. (Gloucester: Rockport Publishers, 2003) 77. Fig. 46. Photograph. Public Liminality. Hyatt Regency, Fukuoka, Japan, 1993, by Michael Graves. From: Reiwoldt, Otto. Hotel Design. (London: Gingko Press, Ltd., 1998) 91. Fig. 47. Photograph. Transformation as a Progression. Mariners Medical Arts Center, Newport Beach, California, 1963, by Richard Neutra. From: Sack, Manfred. Richard Neutra. (Zurich:
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