Experiências & Inventiva. Da noção do Corpo no Espaço

Abstract

This dissertation reflects on the experience of the body in space. In a primarily theoretical approach, neuroscience will be used to bring us closer to an understanding of the body, the senses and the brain, composing a notion of the physical experience of both the architect and the 'user' of spaces. However, when confronted with the perspectives of architecture, it becomes clear that the practice of architecture is not restricted to the domain of technique, it works in a balance between the domains of physical experience and mental dexterity to think and imagine. We then focus on a notion of mental experience through which the functioning of the human mind is investigated, more specifically memory, imagination and creativity. It stands out in the way in which the architect's mind is particularly trained to not only become aware of the experience of his own body in space, but also to imagine the experience of the 'users' of his works. In an interdisciplinary debate, which confronts architecture with neuroscience, philosophy, sculpture, cinema and dance, the limits of architecture are challenged and reflected on different ways of seeing, thinking and conditioning the body's experience in space. A set of three experiences recorded in two short films was developed, through which the questions raised throughout the investigation were put into practice. The aim, therefore, is to explore, represent and communicate the experience of the body in the specific context of the Carlos Ramos Pavilion of the Faculty of Architecture of the University of Porto, but this time without the use of words. Although interdisciplinary perspectives are used, the focus is always on architecture and on the way in which interdisciplinary knowledge contributes to deepening reflective horizons regarding the notion of the body in space.