Planning for sunlight: An exploration of field theory

Abstract

It is my thesis that the study of the mind has influenced architectural practice. This work serves to demonstrate a parallel development between our understanding of ourselves, as cognizant beings, and the evolving discipline of architecture. By addressing issues with regard to perception, as both a collective and physiological process, I hope to contribute to the potency of field theory in contemporary architectural discourse. Field theory contends that form emerges from “loosely bounded aggregates.” To demonstrate field phenomena as form givers this thesis takes sunlight to be a primary driver of form in the modernist tradition. But unlike the relational objects of modernism I propose an indeterminate form engendered by field theory. This thesis is strongly influenced by the work of Stan Allen (“perhaps the contemporary architect most associated with field theory.”) He “proposes the intensification of field-field combinations” in order to distill potential forms from the “endlessness of the moiré.” My design as the virtual outcome of this thesis exhibits the potential of my findings. I propose a multi-use complex with an emphasis on habitable space in sync with the modern tradition, in that dwelling is a “worthy object of the architect's thought.” By making a collective form of quasi-buildings, I have tried to create a complex whereby action and events interpenetrate through channels, arcades and transition spaces. The key elements in my approach are; Porosity of urban space through physical and temporal apperception and; Design through active actors in order to demonstrate field configurations. In conclusion, I assert that in this world of "abruptness, interference, indeterminancy, and above all stillness," architecture might benefit from the determinations of field theory. 'Field' architecture is inclusive, capable of expressing the human condition and aids the formulation of identity in the face of "ever escalating fragmentation".