Architectural concept design process impacted by body and movement

Abstract

This article explores the wide-ranging impact of inviting architecture students to increase conscious somatic awareness of their body and function, and the effects on their design process. This paper analyses the results of a Movement Awareness Intervention conducted prior to students undertaking their usual architectural design studio at the Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Australia. The impact of a global trend in extensive use of digital design tools has resulted in impacts on components in the architecture design process that appear to be slipping under the radar in architecture education and practice. This article addresses issues raised by Juhani Pallasmaa and Paolo Belardi, bolstered by neuroscience research by Harry Mallgrave and colleagues, to explore the impact of heightened conscious bodily awareness upon the cognitive design thinking processes required in the architecture. The case study research using mixed data collection methods on 39 participants draws upon surveys, hand notations, and audio interviews to track participant perceptions of the impact on their design process in action. Analysis of the data produced in this study addresses the concerns raised by theses seminal writers. This paper argues for new approaches to reconfiguring and recalibrating of emotional, cognitive, and physical stimulants that were once invisibly physically embedded in the traditional architectural design process to work with digital design technology.