Re-proposing architecture of place

Abstract

Often mistaken for a quantitative collection of objects in undifferentiated space, place is the result of a discursive environment, resulting from the superimposition of personal, social and environmental mapping systems. It is the result of a qualitative syntax one is able to acknowledge, interact with, and recognise as a meaningful component of life. The subject of more recent phenomenological discourse, architecture's possible contribution to such topophilic attachment has long been disclosed. Architecture's possibilities with regard to the promotion of place lie within all three poles, but as an essential component of the experienced environment, propose a heightened ability to attain a discursive environment within our day-to-day life. The cognitive systems, adopted in order to assimilate the stimuli of the lived reality into an interpretable perceived world, are thus, essential in the understanding of place and its promotion within the lived environment, alongside an appreciation of the architect's own dispositions. The totality proposed by the term 'place' is a result of its multi-faceted nature and results in the ability to impinge on various individuals, all ably extracting their own interpreted significance. The dissertation does not attempt a categorical, prescriptive approach: it aims at suggesting thought rather than concluding. It endeavours to discuss the totality implied by place, seeking the exposure of elements leading to the possibility of a conscious promotion of place within the lived environment.