Olha. Vê. Repara - Da fachada ao corpo: perceção em movimento

Abstract

The recognition of 'faces' in façades acts as a trigger for reflecting on the perceptual construction of the 'body' in architecture. Rather than identifying 'faces', this dissertation seeks to understand how certain formal relations can activate bodily readings in the observer. The 'face' is understood as a first moment of recognition, immediate and frontal, often associated with pareidolia. The hypothesis developed argues that the 'body' is not inscribed in architecture as an objective representation but emerges in perception through the relation between parts. The research is structured through the sequence look, see and observe. Looking corresponds to the initial recognition of the 'face' in the façade. Seeing follows the passage from this recognition to a broader bodily reading. Observing verifies the conditions under which form can be perceived as body. The method combines the construction of an image atlas, a questionnaire, and the analysis of three case studies through architecture's own representational tools. The dissertation analyses the Rudin House (1997), by Herzog & de Meuron, in Leymen, France; the Vieira de Castro House (1984 - 1991), by Álvaro Siza, in Vila Nova de Famalicão, Portugal; and the Tegel House (1987 - 1988), by John Hejduk, in Berlin, Germany. The three cases are read as a gradient of corporality. The Rudin House remains an object body, due to the stability and frontality of its form. The Vieira de Castro House constructs an ambiguous body, dependent on the articulation between fragments and on the observer's position. The Tegel House approaches an explicit body, where the volume becomes directly recognisable. In summary, corporality does not result from the isolated presence of formal elements, but from the articulation between parts, the variation of viewpoints, and the movement that allows the observer to construct relations. The dissertation proposes to understand the 'body' as an effect of reading and presence, capable of contributing to the humanisation of architecture.