The Carpenter's Apprentice

Abstract

This essay explores an understanding of architectural space that neither rejects out of hand nor is fully premised in prevailing assumptions about it as constitutionally independent of time, movement, experience, and the world. In so doing, various sources are examined that provide some insight on possible ways of expanding our notions of space and its involvement with vision, tactility, the body, and the body's capacities for action. Of special interest in this regard is Walter Benjamin's proposition of a “distractive art.” Under this rubric, connections between film and architecture, their inherent characteristics, and their means of appropriation are pursued. As a corollary, a few important qualitative characteristics of experience at Le Corbusier's Carpenter Center are discussed.