This thesis is dedicated to my father, Heydar Ghiaï, who passed away in 1985.

Charles Baudelaire Les Fleurs du Mal poème sur l’élévation1

1

Table of Content

1- Preface---------------------------------------------------------------------- 4

2- Introduction---------------------------------------------------------------- 7

3- New Materialism, Phenomenology and “M”-------------------------- 12

4- The “M” Element---------------------------------------------------------- 21

5- Experimenting with “M”------------------------------------------------- 49

6- The Poetics of “M”---------------------------------------------------------59

7- Conclusion------------------------------------------------------------------ 62

8- Annotated Bibliography--------------------------------------------------- 65

9- Bibliography---------------------------------------------------------------- 69

10- Notes------------------------------------------------------------------------- 71

2

Preface

“At the beginning there was joy2”

-Louis I. Kahn-

Joy is the source of the élan vita, the feu sacré. But this joyous engagement which prompts

one to write a thesis is often triggered by events preceding it. Therefore, I deem it necessary

to delineate first, and very briefly, what led me to embark on this endeavor. I ask my reader

for leniency and understanding, as I certainly do not wish for this introduction to appear

autobiographical. But I feel that notable and pertinent events in my life will further clarify

the state of mind that inspired my interest in a thesis that is entirely directed toward the

search for incorporeal and intangible elements in architecture.

I was born in Belgium and came from a Jewish family on my mother’s side and a Persian

family on my father’s side. My Jewish grand mother descended from a lineage of musicians

and Talmudic philosophers who spent endless evenings spent analyzing and discussing the

Talmudic interpretations of Maimonides. As I was the only child among those elderly

thinkers, listening to sentences I did not understand, prompted me to wander in a sea of

ideas which I interpreted the best I could. It was perhaps those dreamy years which lead me

to talk to clouds amidst the immensity of the Belgian seashore where grey skies and ocean

confounded themselves into a gigantic unity of greyness and transported my mind in an

abstracted dimension. When, at the age of six, I had to part from my grandparents to join

my parents in Iran, a great and permanent sorrow and feeling of melancholy took root

3

within me thus creating a void which I have always been trying to fill. In Iran, my father

had become a well-known architect, and we lived in a building adjacent to my father’s

architectural firm where I spent countless hours looking at architectural magazines and

talking to architects working for my father. It was not until the age of twelve that I truly

could exchange ideas with my father and was able to surround myself with friends who

were older than myself and very well versed in philosophy that I was to get my first glance

at the field of mysticism. My friends were mostly adepts of Friedrich Nietzsche’s

philosophy, which had a great influence on my thinking, while my father tended to embrace

Persian mysticism. This duality of thoughts led to numerous discussions between my father

and I in which we would each take one side and defend our position. During that same

period, I started studying Persian poetry which is a mix of poetry, philosophy and

mysticism. In addition, I started studying the art of Persian calligraphy which, similar to

Chinese ink painting required a great deal of meditation. It was in such an atmosphere that I

truly gained awareness in the mystico-poetic aspects of life.

As the years went by and I went on to study and practice architecture, I have always

strived to incorporate the many influences bestowed upon me during my youth. The will to

incorporate the metaphysical into my objects of creation as well as the desire to utilize the

knowledge I have gained while studying Persian poetry, mysticism and philosophy

accelerated after the passing of my father as I felt that the only way to maintain a spiritual

bond with him was to continue his legacy. Although I have designed and built several

structures in the last twenty five years and have instilled, at least in my thought, a sense of

the mystico-poetic in my buildings, I did so intuitively and could never fully articulate how

4

or why such buildings exhumed a sense of other worldliness within some who experienced

those space. Thus was created the need to fully elaborate and delineate the many aspects of

metaphysical elements in architecture in the form of a thesis.

5

Introduction

Architecture, its conception, representational techniques and realizations has traversed

several stages with respect to its perceptive and phenomenological evolution. We can trace

a long and arduous search for meaning in both the representation and realization of space.

From the spiritual intent of pyramid builders to contemporary anthro-cosmological and

oneiric integrations into the design of spaces, the work of philosophers in the field of

metaphysical idealism to that of phenomenologist’s in the field of perception, there has been

a constant inter-relation and parallelism between theory and architectural realizations.

The main focus for this thesis shall be to detect, define and identify poetico-mystical,

transcendental and metaphysical elements in architecture. More specifically, this thesis will

engage with the detection and perception of spaces charged with those elements. Moreover,

since the combination of such elements has not been given a name, it shall be referred to

throughout this investigation as the “M” element. “M” has been selected as an arbitrary

term that will stand as a symbol for research purposes and can encompass terms such as

metaphysical, meta-poetic, meta-transpositional, mystical, meta-meaning, magic and

mystery. In addition, The “M” element may refer to any such quality that tends to transport

a subject onto a secondary elevated state of consciousness and being as termed in French

l’au dela and l’état second. The main questions that might arise in the applications of

intangible elements in architecture could be those with respect to subjectivity. Indeed, I may

feel a certain sense of exaltation while experiencing certain spaces but if others do not feel

the same way, how can it be stated that such space contains “M”? Also, there are questions

6

regarding quantification. Can “M” be measured, quantified, represented, diagramed or

mapped? And if so, how can it be done? Finally, there is the question of its function and

application. If “M” does exist, how can it be articulated within a theory of architecture so as

to permit architects to detect and posit “M” in their designs? These questions are the

primary focus of this investigation.

Spiritual and metaphysical aspects have been applied throughout the history of world

architecture3, but they have mostly been so through the use of symbolism. Symbols of

spirituality through the representation of religious figures such as angels were used as

ornaments and spatial configurations such as cross-shaped plans of cathedrals symbolized

the duality of the cross being horizontality and verticality, earth and heavens. It is not until

the early twentieth century that some architects such as Louis I. Kahn and others have

strived at creating metaphysical sensations within spaces rather than using mystical symbols

applied to spaces. One example of the use of symbols to instill the cosmic connection of life

vis à vis the universe in architecture is found in religious architecture, most specifically in

the design of religious mosques in the near east where domes portray the cosmos. Medieval

initiatic symbolism abound in such cathedrals as Saints Pierre et Guidon in Brussels4 which

include a series of three, five and seven steps of initiations as well as a multitude of other

Masonic symbols. More interesting with regard to this thesis are architects such as Daniel

Libeskind who attributed mystical and magical power to numbers5, a belief which he

derived from his Jewish background and the study of the Kabbalah. As the 15th Century

alchemist Paracelsus said “Magic has power to experience and fathom things which are

inaccessible to human reason. For magic is a great secret wisdom, just as reason is a great

7

public folly.”6 With respect to architecture and space, magic should not be treated as an idea

but as an act of positing one’s imagination onto space, the word –“secret”- should not be

interpreted as hidden but esoteric and reason could be likened to the dialectic logic by

which function and utility takes precedent over the expression of emotions. In Kabbalah,

numbers, signs and pictographs are not only teaching symbols aiming at the process of

being ‘in-formed’7 but also are thought to have an occult power within them. Thus symbols

can be seen as both abstracted semiotics and possessing inner powers but in either case, they

rely on an intellectual interpretation or a spiritual atonement and cannot be sensed directly

and emotionally within architectural spaces. In order to direct this search within the realm

of sense and emotions, it is necessary to choose a field of study that lends itself to such an

approach, one that deals with perception and phenomena - the field of phenomenology.

Phenomenology is described as “the studies of the structure of various types of

experience ranging from perception, thought, memory, imagination, emotion, desire, and

volition to bodily awareness…”8 It represents a contemporary trend of thought dealing with

spirit and intangible aspects of life and perception of objects including but not limited to

architectural space. Since this study is rooted in the field of the phenomenology of

perception, I have chosen a method of inquiry that will include visual observations of

existing work and its analysis as well as textual analysis on existing theory. The visual

observations will consist in the study of photographs as well as the purely visual aspects of

text in an effort to extract any possible “M” phenomena but also with the aim of showing

that the metaphysical exists within the work of those authors and thinkers who did not mean

it to exist, in fact who at times reject its existence as do the new materialists. Since the

8

observations will hopefully reveal more than one quality of “M” through visual

observations and meditations, I have chosen to support such observations and analysis with

investigations based on existing theories of new materialism and phenomenology as they

relate to “M”. New materialists, like phenomenologist are another contemporary group

dealing with incorporeal issues of the mind and spirit although in different ways. New

materialism, for the most part, asserts that matter contains within itself the manifestation of

spirit, whereas phenomenology deals with the perception of phenomenon, including

intangible and spiritual ones, asserting that the perception of matter contains within itself

such spiritual aspects.9 In other words, new-materialism considers that matter contains spirit

and phenomenology considers that the contemplation of matter uncovers the spirit of such

matter. My thesis will assert that matter is a vehicle to spirit provided that both matter and

contemplation are imbued with the “M” element.

The second chapter on “New materialism, Phenomenology and ‘M’” examines how

current trends of thought that are not particularly tending towards the belief in the meta-

cosmic and metaphysical aspects in space may nevertheless facilitate such aspects despite

their author’s original aim. This chapter explores how some new materialist approaches

might also provide the necessary tools to build upon its theory and to facilitate its

extrapolation into the realm of the intangible. After establishing both the visual qualities of

“M” through pictorial observations and its theoretical qualities through textual analysis, the

“ ‘M’ Element” chapter presents numerous assertions and meditations on “M”, it will not be

a review or an analysis of existing thought, but rather it will surmise all the aspects of “M”

and its possible applications in architecture. This chapter will be followed by the

9

“Experimenting with ‘M’” chapter which aims at critically retracing the various phases of

investigation, most specifically a series of “M” experiments conducted through an apparatus

of mirrors and glass in an effort to create “M”. This chapter will be followed by “The Poetry

of ‘M’,” which will endeavor to uncover certain aspects of “M” in existing poems. The

various chapters of this thesis do not follow a linear dialectic order since aspects of “M” can

be found anywhere from the introduction to the conclusion.

10

New Materialism, Phenomenology and “M”

An important question under investigation within this thesis is the articulation of

immanence versus essence. Immanence, espoused by both new materialism and

phenomenology is a philosophical concept based on the real empirical without the

introduction of the transcendental. In other words, it is based on the empirical observations

of objects or events as they emanate from matter without consideration that there might

metaphysical phenomena outside of matter. Translated into architectural terms, one could

interpret immanence as matter containing phenomenon within itself. This differs from the

concept of essence which appears transcendental and which asserts that there are absolute,

pure essences that are intangible and outside of matter. It is possible to reconcile this

difference in perspectives and to claim that matter could work as a vehicle to reach essence.

This is the pivotal aim of the establishment of “M.”

The debate between materialism and spirituality is not a recent one by any means as

those two approaches seemed to always have irreconcilable differences. The materialist

view, which seems to have originated around the time of social upheavals at the start of the

twentieth century with the culmination of Marxism, stresses that the mind is part of life

itself as opposed to the German idealist position that the mind is an absolute essence. In

other words, consciousness has immanence within life as opposed to essence outside of life.

A very similar stance can be detected in the sublimation of life in Friedrich Nietzsche’s On

the Uses and Abuses of History for Life10 where the author ranks life above knowledge.

11

Materialism dismisses the existence of intangible metaphysical phenomena as it dismisses

the concept of Divine intervention and being. New materialism, on the other hand, does not

discriminate against the spiritual nor does it dismiss metaphysical phenomena, but rather

treats matter and manifestations of the spiritual as one, hence expanding our field of thought

by eliminating a false dichotomy that one negates the other. The purpose of this chapter is

to position “M” with respect to new materialism and phenomenology, not so much a

critique of those trends of thought but as a way to further the post-materialist and

phenomenological discourse in favor of this investigation with regard “M”. This chapter

considers the work of two theorists of new materialism. Manuel De Landa’s A thousand

Years of Nonlinear History and Sanford Kwinter’s Architecture of Time, as well as two

texts by phenomenologist architects Peter Zumthor’s Thinking Architecture and Juhani

Pallasmaa’s The Eyes of the Skin.

Sanford Kwinter’s position with regard to new materialism can best be illustrated with

his comparative study of Albert Einstein’s physics aiming at “an attempt to think the pure

element independent of material medium” as opposed to the more current differential

electro-magnetic fields of space. With respect to artistic expression and architecture, Albert

Einstein’s vision of the universe, as interpreted by Kwinter, would translate into

simultaneity, successions and continuity leading to an “anti-temporal spatiality” in which

the behavior of events, although taking place in space-time, said universe, was guided by

“pure” elements meaning elements of a divine nature. This idea of pure elements has

already been discussed by Immanuel Kant who talked about pure categories with no

materiality. Kwinter continues his historical study by quoting Roger Shattuck’s belief that

12

art or architecture for that matter, is “dominated by a type of asymmetrical assemblage from

which it is specifically the connective transitions that are missing”. However, Kwinter

remarks that such chaotic non-transitive events ultimately resolve themselves in “a new

unity, an intimacy of the organic world of the unconscious… in another dimension.”

Kwinter’s argument can be further understood in light of Henri Bergson and Gilles Deleuze.

Bergson believed that all things have within themselves the propensity to self create and self

evolve. Kwinter’s writing appears Bergsonian, for the author believes that creations “draw

inspiration from a mechanical world” but that they are taking place in a “fluid organ in the

process of becoming”. Gilles Deleuze & Félix Guattari’s rhizome theory also seemed to

have heavily influenced Kwinter when he says:” Architecture…. is a system of rhythm and

forces of the body, not by how it appears but by practices, by relations that saturate the

object…clusters of action, regimes of power and effect that impose configuration.” This

statement could be considered analogous to Deleuze & Guattari’s rhizome theory which too

is guided by relations. Deleuze & Guattari talk about relationships as becoming, synthesis,

mutation, metamorphosis, moving directions and transformations. With regard to “the body

without organ,” they talk about dynamic tendencies within a spatium, matter that occupies

space in degrees11 with varied intensities.

Rhizome is a philosophical concept created by Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari in their

book Mille Plateaux which considers evolution and time. Using the philosophers’ own

metaphor, a rhizomatic evolution versus a linear evolution is not unlike growth of certain

plants and vegetables such as grass and potatoes versus the linear growth of a tree. A tree

has roots (the past) a trunk which gathers all its essences from the roots (the present) and

13

branches producing fruit or flower (the future.) Hence a tree, from root to blossom follows a

linear growth where elements of its roots can be found all the way to its branches. A tree

draws from the past in its roots, it processes that past in present with its trunk, and projects

its present to the branches with potential blossom in the future. Such linear thinking has

been the basis of western though until the turn of the 19th Century. Grass (rhizome) on the

other hand, grows laterally in various accidental and unpredictable manners, its roots may

start at a point and end at another without result, they may or may not cross other roots and

produce patches of grass (flights) which in turn may or may not produce new roots. Some

roots may have potential growth; some may just start without cause and end without one.

Each time roots intersect to produce patches of grass or a potato, it is called a “flight” so

named for it leaves its horizontality to become vertical and reach another “plateau.” At this

juncture, the rhizome acquires a three dimensional aspect and the same system is then

translated with plateaus. What powers the rhizome is not the will of single entities tied by

causality but by relations, the same relations exposed by Sanford Kwinter.

Sanford Kwinter’s argument leaves certain avenues open to resolve the metaphysical

when he mentions that “architectural substance is not limited to materials” and when he

quotes Michel Foucault “the domain of architectures forms the principle hinge or

conductive relay permitting abstract incorporeal formations of power” and “architecture is

the instrumental application of mastery not only to an external non human nature…”

Kwinter also talks about “will to form” and “will to order” which could lead one to believe

that if there can be will to order and form, there could also be the mystical will to cosmic

projection as explained by Gaston Bachelard. Kwinter’s recognition that there might even

14

exist a metaphysical incorporeal realm of a non human nature combined with his espousing

of Gilles Deleuze & Félix Guattari’s rhizome approach in which flight to different plateaus

could be interpreted as flight to intangible incorporeal plateaus; leaves open the furthering

of new-materialism into an “M” type of new material idealism which is the aim of this

chapter with regard “M.”

In A thousand Years of Nonlinear History, Manuel De Landa’s approach is more one of

a historian. He embraces post materialism from a historical perspective as typified by his

quote:” plants are not embodiments of essences but historical construction.” He too strongly

embraces Henri Bergson’s idea that all things are self creating and continuously evolving

and changing “all forms of matter & energy have potential for self organization” and “new

materialist theory deals with matter’s inherent creativity” are assertions that clearly hint at

Bergson’s theory of evolution. Moreover, De Landa too seems to espouse Deleuze &

Guattari’s rhizomatic approach as he says “novel structures are created through non-linear

combinators…attractors and bifurcators are features of non linear & desiquilibrated

systems…” and “human society is a material, changing & reaching critical mass in terms of

density of settlements and energy consumed.” Desequilibrated systems, attractors, non

linear bifurcators are a variations of the rhizome which has no directionality and is guide by

relations. Moreover, De Landa dedicates a whole chapter on his interpretation of Deleuze &

Guattari’s body without organ (BwO.) Deleuze & Guattari postulated the theory of BwO to

emphasize the primacy of relations as the prime factor of creation as opposed to causality

generated by entities which they called organs. With all his emphasis on matter however,

De Landa too opens avenues that can lead us to push new materialism beyond itself so as to

15

embrace the intangible and the concept of pure essence. Similar to the rhizome, which is a

very open system, and which can lead to “M” flights, the BwO too can do the same. Indeed

if BwO is plasma of yet unformed elements, there would be a need for a will to form or will

to create before even the energetic and relational systems of formation could take effect. De

Landa resolves this issue by crediting history, which through its infiltration into physics and

biology, forms the will to creation and this is where the author opens a door through to the

study of “M”.

Peter Zumthor and Juhani Pallasmaa are two architects and theorists of phenomenology

who, although not categorized as new materialists, could not be positioned as essentialists

as they both consider matter to be the originator of both physical and metaphysical events in

architecture. New materialism does not refute the metaphysical it simply asserts that matter

is the source of any Meta event not the other way around. It suggests that the inherent

quality of a self-evolving, self creating matter which emanates all sensorial moments

including the “M” moments. Both Zumthor and Pallasmaa explore the concept of

embodiment. Zumthor said: “Sense emerges when I succeed in bringing out the specific

meaning of certain materials” and “…architecture has a special physical relationship with

life.” It appears that the author sublimates materiality to the sensorial and poetic realm, but

Peter Zumthor also speaks about certain intangible elements of architecture “The world is

full of signs… which stand for things…Yet the real thing remains hidden.” And “The

drawing itself must take on a quality of the sought-for object.” Here again he opens avenues

to push new materialism onto a plateau beyond itself. When Zumthor talks about the

hidden, he acknowledges the limitations of matter as he asserts that beauty is born of

16

absence. The hidden absence is not matter and, based on his assertion on drawing being a

quality of a thought-for object, seems to be an abstract void where potentiality arises,

potentiality that posits its aura onto matter. Although his book focuses primarily on a

phenomenological voyage aimed at sensing matter, Zumthor seems to agree that there is an

element, a force born out of absence which precedes matter. In that sense, he facilitates the

possibility of contextualizing the argument within new materialism while extrapolating onto

a new materialist idealism plateau.

Perhaps the most significant author and most helpful one with regard to this investigation

is Juhani Pallasmaa and his book The Eyes of the Skin, is Architecture and the Senses.

Pallasmaa’s argument centers on a critique of occularcentrism. He demonstrates that our

culture has up until now been essentially visual, that the purely visual has been given

primacy over all other senses. He goes on to show that, in fact, when we perceive space and

matter, we use all our senses including as touch and smell. With regard to vision, he

introduces the concept of peripheral vision which is not what is seen at first sight, but

involves an act of movement and de-focusing from the perceiver’s point of view. Thus it

introduces intentionality and sensations not directly derived from the pure act of vision.12

He asserts that “The growing hegemony of the eye…separates us from the world whereas

the other senses unite us with it.” He advocates the idea that one should be in the world

rather than abstracting ourselves from it, an idea supported from his study of Maurice

Merleau-Ponty’s Phenomenology of Perception, clearly place him within the movement of

new materialism. However, there are within his book, hints that the relationship of sense

matter, is not the end of the story so to speak. Pallasmaa says that “architecture is deeply

17

engaged in the metaphysical questions of the self and the world…life and death” and that

“significant architecture makes us experience ourselves as complete spiritual beings.” More

importantly he mentions that it is the sense of self that is strengthened by architecture while

engaging us into “mental dimensions of dream.” If the sense of self is strengthened by

architecture, one might deduct that there first should be a sense of self within the intangible

dimension of dreams and imagination which in turn can be enhanced by architecture, not

architecture or matter which emanates the sense of self. Here it is clear that Pallasmaa as

with all thinkers studied during this investigation seems to open the door for the

development and transformation of new materialism into a movement which can accept the

concept of a pure metaphysical realm not created by or through matter but using matter as a

gateway to the spirit.

Throughout this investigation, one may notice that new materialism, as a reaction to

Marxist materialism has ventured to incorporate what was missing in materialism namely

the perceptual, sensorial and metaphysical aspects of life. It also attempts to resolve the

paradox of matter versus the incorporeal by treating matter as an organic self creating

rhizomatic element capable of penetrating the realm of metaphysics. But also noticeable is

the fact that the very thinkers of new materialism, perhaps themselves, consciously or

unconsciously aware that there remains unresolved the question of pure spiritual categories,

have opened avenues to further the new materialist discourse. These new avenues open the

possibility of a new rhizomatic flight, the creation of a new-new materialism so to speak, an

“M” theory. Arthur Schopenhauer, in The World as Will and Representation points out to an

interesting quote by Sir William Jones’ observations with regard the Vedanta philosophy of

18

India13 whereby there could be compatibility between empirical reality and transcendental

ideality. Schopenhauer’s assertion was made with regard to mental perception versus the

existence of matter, an intangible element seen as essence versus a tangible one seen as

immanence.

This concept, brought forth by Schopenhauer, is essential to the search for the “M”

element as it asserts the reversibility of the essences of matter and spirit within the realm of

mental perception thereby not denying that matter is a living spiritual organism nor denying

that spirit exists outside of matter as an essence. Arthur Schopenhauer thus seems to resolve

the paradox of the merging of immanence with essence thereby allowing this investigation

to proceed freely onto the search for “M.” Hence, if matter and essence are reversible, it

could be interpreted that essence exists both within and outside of matter and that matter

could be considered as a vehicle to attain “M”.

19

The “M” Element

As this thesis dwells in the realm of phenomenology, it is fair to assume that questions

about the validity of its assumptions will arise. In order to put that problem to rest, I need to

postulate certain parametric approaches at the very outset of this study. I shall therefore

assume, in a most Kantian manner, that if a phenomenon is sensed by the subject (myself in

this case) and that such causality has similarly been established by at least one recognized

and reputable scholar, be it an architect, philosopher, psychoanalyst or phenomenologist,

then I shall assume that such causality has a truth and a reality. In Critique of Judgment,

Immanuel Kant’s aesthetic judgment (Kant uses the word “aesthetic” to mean sense

perception) is described as a subjective rather than theoretical, he writes: A judgment on an

object of taste can be quite disinterested [ free of bias or self interest] and yet very

interesting. Aesthetics according to Kant is a style of perception by means of which one

reaches the “hidden I” therefore to perceive is to re-form the intentionality of the object so

that to internalize is to intuit how the object is behaving in all its immediacy. In other

words, objects may have pre-intentionalized attributes, qualities meant by its creator, but an

observer can very well modify those intentions, and in doing so, he intuits it differently.

That modification allows the viewer to make that object his, to internalize it his way. That

object then becomes his creation and in doing so he may reach his hidden self.

Immanuel Kant’s theory of transcendental idealism is of particular interest to with

respect to this thesis as it introduces the concept of a-priori knowledge of an object and that

such knowledge is based on sensible form of our intuitions and that causality is a concept

20

imposed by the subject to the object as a synthesis of a-priori concepts. Immanuel Kant

resolves the issue of subjectivity by establishing categories of a-priori knowledge through

transcendental imagination and claims that such knowledge is real and universal insofar as

we intuit it.

To further illustrate the point with regards to imagined and direct concrete experience, I

shall use the following example. I walk through a space filled with “M” qualities. I sense

the mystical and poetic aspects of transparency and mystery. I then wish to relate my

feelings of sublimation and exaltation to a scientist friend in such a way that he can sense

similar feelings. Needless to say, that any diagram, photo, film or drawing would not be

satisfactory due to the reductive nature of their representation. My friend suggests

measuring, through scientific instruments, the intensity of my retinal movements as they

relate to my brain activities and comes up with a very colorful scanner image showing

various colors intensifying in any given time yet he still cannot know my feelings. Hence,

the only possible way the scientist can feel what I feel is to experience directly or

imaginatively through walking in that given space. But that is still not enough as he will

have to, as Immanuel Kant would deduct, intuit the concept of “M” so that he can then posit

such concept to that space.

Moreover, the introduction of such terms as a-priory intuition14 and intuitive imagination

forms a vital foundation to substantiate the validity of the search for the “M”element.

Lastly, with regards to Immanuel Kant, is the concept of the being-in there that is to

transcend ones positionality by becoming one with the object which is another quality of the

21

“M” element. Similar to Kant with regard subjectivity, Arthur Schopenhauer stresses the

subjective aspect of perception while asserting” The world is my representation.”15 In his

book The Eyes of the Skin, Juhani Pallasmaa provides examples of transpositionalities

which I would define as translations of sensorial perceptions. By stating that all sensory

experiences are modes of touching16 , Pallasmaa articulates his book around what Gaston

Bachelard calls the polyphony of senses, a concept that stresses the need to approach spatial

perception with all human senses, not limited to the optical alone. This concept has

important ramifications with regard to “M” as it can be extrapolated into senses beyond the

known six physical senses, senses which could be categorized as intangible, incorporeal and

spiritual. Moreover, Pallasmaa stresses the need on “life enhancing” architecture which is a

quality of the “M” element as he writes “Architecture articulates the experiences of being-

in-the-world and strengthen our sense of reality…the sense of self …allows us to engage

fully in the mental dimension of dream…” and “The ultimate meaning of any building is

beyond architecture.” Numerous direct or quoted references to ideas of cosmic relations,

metaphysical questions, instinctual and unconscious aspects and emotional participation

further substantiate not only the validity of the existence of the “M” element in space but

more importantly the possibility to detect such element and further, the necessity to

incorporate such element if the instillation of substance within architectural spaces is to be

achieved.

Alberto Perez-Gomez’s Architectural Representation and the Perspective Hinge and

Peter Zumthor’s Thinking Architecture significance are vital to this thesis, Zumthor

mentions interplay of feelings, secret passions, and also quotes Italo Calvino “The poet of

22

the vague can only be the poet of precision.”17 Zumthor’s book ends with a section on

observations which are essentially a Deleuzean and Guattarrian assemblage of meditative

rêveries describing various architectural spaces experienced by the author in a non-linear

way analogous to the rhizome. This represents a technique which may have been inspired

by Friedrich Nietzsche’s aphorisms.

Why then are we searching for the ‘M’ Element? The answer could not be better

summarized than by the following statements from Alberto Perez-Gomez when he says:

“Many philosophers and cultural historians have described the crisis of modern science and

emphasized the necessity of transcending reductionist thinking in all disciplines of human

endeavors.” “They have accepted the ultimate need for a mytho-poetic dimension of

discourse.” Perez-Gomez talks about an alchemical transmutation between conception and

the object being conceived and the importance of intuitive positing as a more meaningful

way to perceive as he quotes Maurice Merleau-Ponty: “Parallel lines do not converge in

Euclidean space” when it comes to tactile consideration. Both alchemical transmutations in

a spiritual way and tactile experiences through visual means are qualities of the ‘M’

Element.

Perhaps the most compelling and relevant source pertaining to the study of the “M”

element is Gaston Bachelard’s The Poetics of Space where the author articulates essential

qualities related to what I am calling “M”. As Bachelard elaborates on the oneiric

experiences, he presents a rich vocabulary of meditative terms: atmospheric drowsiness,

cosmic negation, diaphanous but most important is his categorization of sensorial elements

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which for the total poetic experience with relation to space and positionality. He considers

phenomenon such as silence, vertical descent (Cellar) horizontal projections (House and

Universe) qualities of intimacy, mystery and the hidden (Drawers, Chests) sense of

protection and repose (Corners). The two most fascinating ideas and most relevant to the

state of mind needed to place ourselves into in order to better detect the “M” element are

Bachelard’s quote of Leonardo da Vinci’s “crack in the wall” where the master advised his

student to focus on a crack in a wall should they need inspiration, and his study on the

contemplation of grandeur in his chapter on “Intimate Immensity.” In his own words, those

elements “transport the dreamer outside the immediate world to a world that bears the mark

of infinity.

Both Juhanni Pallasmaa and Gaston Bachelard have created possibilities to encircle and

tend towards defining what I shall call, for the lack of a better word the “M” element. The

richness of their visual narratives has enabled us to begin to categorize certain feelings,

sensations and attributes pertaining to the “M” element. They have also demonstrated the

need for the incorporation of such element in architecture if significance and substance are

to be found in architectural spaces.

What is needed now, is a way to detect those sensorial elements related to “M” in hopes

that such method would eventually lead to a generative technique of positing such dreams to

an object. I chose to employ the word –“detect”- rather than –“quantify”- for two reasons.

Firstly because it is both impossible and undesirable to quantify ephemeral qualities as they

are and should remain unquantifiable by nature and that quantification is irrelevant when

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detection is all that would be needed. Secondly because the very act of quantifying is

reductive by nature and immediately negates the intimate and dynamic phenomenological

relationship between subject and object. However, there is a need to communicate “M” if

one is to detect it.

While Immanuel Kant helps to resolve the paradox of perceiving “M” by ascertaining its

subjectivity, it is nevertheless necessary to communicate “M” in some ways if such element

is to be utilized in the design of architectural spaces. Granted that the perception and the

positing of “M” derive from the intuiting of a-priori categories within a subject, but there

has to be a way to communicate such categories within other subjects.

As Alberto Perez-Gomez noted in his book Architectural Representation and the

Perspective Hinge, “a transition occurred during the 16th Century which moved from

perspectivus naturalis to perspectivus artificialis.” This rationalization of the image

coincided with new movements of thought led by René Descartes that resulted in a

disassociation between the viewer and the object being viewed. Hence, as explained by

Perez-Gomez, representational methods created by both Albrecht Durer and Philibert de

l’Orme pioneered a reductionist approach to representation. Such scientific reductionism

still prevails to our days and, might I say, has been reinforced by the advent of computer

graphics. Durer and de l’Orme reduced representation by abstracting perception while

introducing a non-intuitive, even counter-intuitive plane of abstraction to perception.

Similarly, Juhani Pallasmaa’s chapter on “Critics of Ocularcentrism” in The Eyes of the

Skin suggests that the intellect through the eye pushed our senses to isolation and

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detachment. Computer graphics added a second level of abstraction by further removing the

experience of drawing to automated vectoring. While one can understand this historical

evolution, it seems that there is a more fundamental issue that needs to be resolved for even

earlier in history of representation there was always a subject drawing and an object being

represented. The very idea of representing and or diagramming seems to negate engagement

of self. Hence it may appear redundant to further study existing methods of diagramming.

Instead, this study asserts without reservation that “M” cannot be diagrammed nor can it be

represented but that is not to say that it cannot be communicated effectively. Diagramming,

being an intellectual and visual endeavor, therefore accentuates by nature the phenomenon

of detachment. Hence an unfortunate impasse presents itself. If representation is reductive,

which it is, it follows that diagramming within the context of phenomenology is an

impossibility, more so, an aberration. But does it have to be? Not so if the parametric

framework of this discourse is modified to allow diagram to become experience. In doing

so, all that remains is to find a way to communicate “M” via a form of representation that is

itself an experience. What are the essential conditions of making diagramming become an

experience? In his chapter on “Intimate Immensity” in The Poetics of Space, Gaston

Bachelard makes an interesting remark when he distinguishes between an experience in

imagination and a concrete experience. Bachelard did not diminish the power and validity

of imagined experience but he still felt the need, for the sake of intellectual integrity, to site

direct concrete experience.

Any representation with regard to “M” should be an experience and the subject should

have intuited certain concepts as a pre-condition to positing those concepts onto the object

26

through that particular representation. Such a forms of representation as experience are

illustrated in Alberto Perez-Gomez’s book Architectural Representation and the

Perspective Hinge on his chapter on “From Natural Perspective to Artificial Construction”

as the author studies Brunelleschi’s baptistery construction and in his chapter on From

Perspectivism to Pure Objectivity as he studies stage magical tricks performed through

reflection in glass from Erik Barlow’s book The Magician and the Cinema. Both of those

case studies involve a form of representation that engages the viewer of an image in an

experiential way, a type of representation which can be called super-representation in which

the image of an experience provided the possibility for that image to be viewed with a sense

of remove. And since such image is not to become a reductive diagram, it need not be

directly related to a space, yet it should express the “M” sensations of that space.

The following paragraphs aim at studying images contained in three books; The Eyes of

the Skin (Juhanni Pallasmaa) Architectures of Time (Sanford Kwinter) and Mille Plateaux

(Gilles Deleuze & Félix Guattari). People have often use images to communicate various

sensations and events. Moreover, image observation allows the viewer to be engaged with

an object without the constraints of time imposed by film for instance, or the preconceptions

of concepts dictated by theory. Thus image observation can be conducted, within a state of

reveries, leaving the intensity of subjective engagement to the viewer. Let us see how such

observations operate within the context of this thesis.

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Unlike most image reviews which analyze and critique content and ideas, the purpose of

this review is to observe content and idea with a sense of remove. A sense of remove means

to experience an image in a multidimensional way and from various perspectives. The

following paragraphs will be dealing with reviews of architectural and philosophical books

and their conscious or unconscious allusions to the metaphysical aspects of space within the

field of phenomenology and new materialism. The ultimate goal is to demonstrate how the

“M” elements can indeed be detected within fields of thought oriented toward immanence

as opposed to transcendence. This method will help provide the core ideas for uncovering

the essences of “M” and will also contextualize the metaphysical within the current new

materialist trend of thought. Furthermore, it will help in composing the chapter following

this review that will deal with the theoretical study of “M” vis-à-vis new materialism and

phenomenology. The following books and their respective authors will make up the core of

this study: The Eyes of the Skin (Juhanni Pallasmaa) Architectures of Time (Sanford

Kwinter) and Mille Plateaux (Gilles Deleuze & Félix Guattari).

How does one analyze text and image with a sense of remove? In fact, what is the sense

of remove with regard to this review? When translated into French, the closest expression to

sense of remove is état de receuil or receuillement. Receuil contains the verb ceuillir which

means to collect or to pick as in pick grapes or flowers, so re-ceuillir means to re-collect

oneself or remove oneself from the ground again. But receuillement has multiple meanings,

one of which is to remove oneself into a state of solitude. The expression “sense of remove”

contains within it two aspects, sense and remove. Sense is the active state of sensation

which demands a meditative observation in the part of the viewer and remove is the action

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of transcending the results of meditative observations onto a different plateau. Here it is

important to make a distinction between transcendence as transposition and abstraction as

transposition. Transcendence contains within it qualities of objects being transcended

whereas abstraction removes the subject from the object and places that subject onto a

different state altogether. Deleuze & Guattari explain transcendence as transposition as a

continuum of all attributes of intensities within the same substance18. Thus, analyzing an

image with a sense of remove necessitates intuiting the a-priori categories of those attributes

of intensities. But attributes of intensities such as movement, mystery, time or negation of it,

need to have been already acknowledged by the viewer before being posited onto an image.

For instance, we can analyze the following image in numerous ways.

Figure 1: Iran Senate House, Heydar Ghiaï

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The abstracted approach would be to turn the image into diagram describing opaqueness

on the left portion and transparency on the right, obliqueness on the left versus verticality on

the right. This type of removal through abstraction disengages the subject from the object; it

is absolute removal rupturing the continuum. On the other hand, if one is to meditate in

depth upon the image with a sense of remove, certain intensities can be observed. The sky

and the ground have the same color out of which a negation of directionality could be

derived, defiance of gravity is expressed through the negative space of the darkened shadow

which seem to elevate the structure, that same shadow projects the viewer towards a horizon

hinting at a out of body experience and a dreamlike disequilibrium formed by a shadowed

gateway to the ground juxtaposed by the glass door leading to the sky express the multi

directionality of a wandering mind.

This type of observation engages the subject in the very depth of the object. Hence it is

fair to state that in order to perceive “M” one would be well advised to use a sense of

remove. The following parts of this chapter will be divided into five sections, each

pertaining to a particular book and the observation of images contained within each of those

books. The choice of books has been carefully considered for as some are clearly

architectural books dealing with the mystico-poetic element of space, others are theoretical

books whose authors reject the ideas of transcendental metaphysics. It is interesting to

notice, however, that despite this rejection, one may still observe and derive the “M”

element within their images.

Mille Plateaux (Gilles Deleuze & Félix Guattari, 1980)

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In Mille Plateaux, the authors expose two concepts that will help in the observation of the

“M” element: the concept of the rhizome and the concept of the body without organs. Those

concepts have been explained in my chapter on “New Materialism, Phenomenology and

‘M’.” The following three images under investigation that are contained in this book will

further illustrate the potential for detecting and creating “M” through the discovery of “lines

of flights” of the rhizome and points of intensities of the “body without organs.”

Figure 2 Music score by Sylvano Bussiti, p.9 Figure 3 L’oeuf dogon et la répartition

d’ intensités, p.185

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Figure 4 Champ de traces ou ligne de loup, p.38

The search for “M” in architecture may appear outside of current architectural or cultural

discourse as the world of academia is traversing through a new-materialist trend which

considers matter as being the originator of physical, psychic and spiritual phenomena. In

other words, both new materialists and phenomenologists tend to believe in the immanence

of matter rather than absolute essences. Thus matter is considered as containing within it the

Meta elements versus matter being a vehicle to perception and sensing phenomena. While

examining new materialism through such authors as Sanford Kwinter and Manuel Delanda,

it is clear that such movement had been heavily influenced by Gilles Deleuze & Félix

Guattari’s rhizomatic approach. As detailed in the chapter of this thesis on new materialism,

the strategy is to emphasize the new aspect of new materialism in such a way as to use the

rhizomatic approach and its accidental disordered flights to prove that metaphysical

elements outside of matter, but using matter as a vehicle, have the potential to occur. In

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other words, using the logic of the rhizome to show that “M” can occur through matter as a

vehicle not just within matter and while new materialism considers all elements of life

emanating from matter; it provides the opportunity to further its argument in showing the

potential for the reverse. Deleuze & Guattari’s rhizome theory did not just arise out of

nowhere as witnessed in Walter Benjamin’s On the Concept of History where the

philosopher writes about exploding monads of the past to influence the present or such

concepts as the zero hour where time itself is negated thereby creating potentials of events.

Benjamin himself must have likely been influence by the philosopher Henri Bergson’s book

Creative Evolution. Bergson describes best his intuitive approach to experiential perception

when he states: “the intellect has only to follow its natural movement, after the lightest

possible contact with experience, in order to go from discovery to discovery; sure that

experience is following behind it and will justify it in variably.” He also mentions an

interesting thought with regard experience which we should like to incorporate in our book;

“I pass from state to state. I look at what is around me and think of something else… there

is no feeling, no idea, no volition which is not undergoing change every moment.” Also:

“The more we study the nature of time, the more we shall comprehend that duration means

invention…” The question remains; how to fuse Deleuze & Guattari’s rhizome, Henri

Bergson’s creative evolution and Juhanni Pallasmaa’s phenomenology in studying figures

2, 3 and 4 within a sense of remove?

One answer to this question may be found in Mille Plateaux with regard the body

without organs BwO. It is interesting to note that BwO is the English translation of CsO

which stands for corps sans organes in French, and that CsO has a visual similarity to CO2

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the formula for carbon dioxide which is a gas. The graphics of the entire book have a

mathematical air with numbers and formula springing out the justified text. Moreover CsO

has not been used solely for abbreviation of what it stands for because if it were so, there

would not be continuous reiteration of corps sans organes, which inspired me to find

another meaning to CsO, centre sans origine (center without origin) for instance. Would the

creators of BwO blame me for having found a new flight, a new ligne de fuite out of their

rhizome? Perhaps yes, but it is in the name of the sense of remove, the very sense which can

create parallels between the music of Pierre Boulez in figure 2 to the smooth espace lisse

and stridden espace strié universes of Deleuze & Guattari. Figure 2 has a grooved and

orderly universe- the partition lines, but when the music originates, it seems to slide within

a smooth universe. The music lines of Boulez seem to escape order and to cross universe to

reach other dimensions. Moreover, the dichotomy of old musical notation and the abstracted

lines of the composer make it as if the linearity of time has collapsed, this “M” would do if

it were music.

CsO has, according to its creators several possible spaces and whereas the espace lisse

and espace strié could be detected in figure 4, it is the espace troué or space with holes

which is clearly portrayed in figure 4. Even though the author meant for this image to

illustrate his concept of the rhizome, the importance of this type of space with regard “M” is

it’s potential to establish what I shall call the mystic projection. This image is one of a snow

covered curvilinear landscape perforated by traces of wolves or other animal footprint. The

first level of observation deals with the abstraction of landscape, white, snow covered

landscapes lack relief and definition; they tend to make directionality vanish but more

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importantly they hide history and memories under their blanket. Earth, roads, sidewalk,

plants, lakes and toys in the garden are all hidden by the blanket of erasure. However, the

observer knows that the snow is hiding so he tends to project his creative imagination onto

what could be hidden; he penetrates a deeper level by observing an abstracted surface. The

second level of observation pertains to the pattern of the footprint holes on the snow. There

is a more intense concentration of holes about the concave area of the landscape, moreover,

two lines of footprint originating in the foreground, seem to tend to the populated concave

area. The concave area appears like a vortex attracting all the holes. The vortex creates a

place of intensity focusing the viewer’s attention in a state of quasi-meditation, an “M” state

of contemplation. The last level of observation with regard to figure 4 has to do with a

single hole, any hole in the image would work for this level, but the ones in the foreground

would work best for they are defined by a greater boundary. Such intensely small and dark

holes set against the large and bright blanked of snow, certainly produce a powerful focus.

A sense of depth and penetrability for there seems that each hole is a gateway to

nothingness, a spatial void. As if one could fall into one of them into deep outer space. This

is different from the sense of mystery created by the blanket; this is an invitation to fall into

an eternal void as “M” is also love of the unknown.

The egg diagram shown in figure 3 was one of many such drawings that Gilles Deleuze

& Félix Guattari would produce to illustrate his concepts; this particular one was to explain

the egg being a body without organ. The egg is composed, at least visually of three parts,

the shell, the white and the yolk which feeds a potential developing embryo, but it has no

organs, no hierarchy of parts. The egg is an intensity of being in a state of continuous

35

becoming; therefore it is analogous to the new-materialist and phenomenologist concept of

immanence. In this perspective, matter, like the egg, contains intensities and potentialities,

even metaphysical and intangible ones, within itself. However, figure3 uncovers more than

a diagram of BwO. All lines of the drawing are connected to each other which make sense

within the context of a body without organ placed in a continuum of becoming, but three

elements are isolated; the middle spiral and two straight lines on either side of it. Deleuze &

Guattari would often draw spirals during their lectures to illustrate a certain environment of

events, atmosphères as they would call it and they would draw straight lines to indicate

lines of subjectivities in their words, lignes de subjectivation which are lines of flight

generated out of the atmosphere of events and made of emotions and intentions. But as one

contemplates figure 3, there is no visual or sensorial indication that the spiral of rhizomatic

events is generating the lines of flight. Those lines are parallel and symmetrical about the

spiral which hardly is expressive of spontaneous emotion filled flight. In fact, out of all

images and theories which have been examined for the purpose of searching for “M”, this

drawing is the most significant example of the problem of immanence versus essence, even

hinting at a visual resolution of that problem, but how so? The egg shell is a continuum,

this continuum is immanence, and it is being in continuous becoming, matter as being and

originator of all things visible and invisible. The shell however, shows a gateway in the

shape of a circle and as one gaze through this circle, there appears a spiral leading to infinity

and in an effort to further isolate the spiral from the egg, two straight and parallel lines

disrupt the otherwise curvilinear geometry. There seem to be a clear intention to isolate

infinity from the egg of becoming, in other words immanence from essence, while still

maintaining a relationship between the two. For without the shell and its gateway, the spiral

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of infinity could not be experienced. It follows that matter may or may not contain “M” but

it certainly can be a vehicle to reach “M”.

The Eyes of the Skin (Juhanni Pallasmaa, 2005)

In The Eyes of the Skin, Juhanni Pallasmaa asserts that vision is not simply the act of seeing

but that it is a fusion of all human senses and that it is through that juxtaposition of senses

that perception acquires substance. The observation of the following image will stress the

“M” concept of negation, sense of remove and disequilibrium.

Figure 5: Eye reflecting the interior of the Theatre of Besançon, p.18

Engraving after Claude-Nicholas Ledoux, 1775

Figure 6: Luis Buñuel and Salvador Dali, Un Chien Andalou, p.18

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The use of boundary and scale with regard to figure 5 create both disequilibrium and

negation of linear space. In essence the fact that (the one) being an image, is defined by (the

other) being blank space or narrative. Such effect is seen throughout the book as small size

images occupy a larger page. The effect of focusing the viewer’s attention in a quasi-

hypnotic fashion towards the image allows that viewer to penetrate the image and turn that

interaction into experience. Moreover, images of two different nature such as architecture

and surrealist painting, are paired together to create a tension similar to Gaston Bachelard’s

concept of miniature. The concept of miniature in the Poetics of Space has several aspects.

One such aspect is the idea that the mind finds refuge in miniaturized space, similar to the

same author’s concept of nest and corners. Another aspect of Bachelard’s miniature is one

inspired by Voltaire’s Micromegas which deals with the playful manipulation of scale.

Miniaturization with regard this study pertains to change of scale, disorientation and the

“M” sensation of extrapolating one’s being into another dimension. Figure 5 provides such

extrapolation as the eye; the theatre and the clouds are all placed out of scale with relation

to each other. Another characteristic of that image is its capacity to negate linear space. In

other words, by rearranging the order of expected spatial positions, such as an eye being

larger than a theatre and eyebrows smaller than clouds, expected hierarchies of space have

been violated thereby creating a sense of wander. The same disorienting phenomenon with

regard both figures 5&6 occurs with rearrangement of meanings of objects. The straight

razor does not belong to the vicinity of the eye and neither do clouds; they are objects out of

place, rather out of expected place. Negation of time appears in the case of the juxtaposition

of the film still from Chien Andalou and Ledoux’s theatre, the author’s choice to pair

images of two time periods in history. This tends to emphasize not only the negation of time

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and history with regard the “M” experience but the universality of metaphysical experiences

regardless of objects.

Also of interest is that all images included in this book are black and white, as is the case

with many books dealing with the intangible elements in architecture. One could argue that

black and white images tend to abstract the actual object in favor of the interplay of Clair-

obscure. Even in books using color images with regard metaphysical and or poetic aspects

of architecture, we notice that often taken at dusk when contrast is faded in favor of mood.

Black and white however has the added advantage of emphasizing light as an active being

in space. On page 57 (Self Portrait by Rembrandt paired with the Pertinotsa House,) we

observe that both the face of a man and the interior living room space are being touched by

light. This juxtaposition of an immaterial element which cannot be touched (light) and

material objects (face-floor-ceiling,) could not have been singled out so purely with colors

which would distract us from the singularity of those two elements. Moreover, such

juxtapositions could be seen as making the invisible visible, the intangible, tangible which

is really what “M” would wish to achieve. But something else happens through the pairing

of a human face and an architectural space; the images tell us that there is no differentiation

between the two, that there is a higher abstracted reality, an essence that is assigned to all

objects, a metaphysical entity outside of the sensorial realm – an “M” element.

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Between Silence and Light (John Lobell, 1979)

This book exposes John Lobell’s poetic interpretation of Louis I. Kahn’s spiritual approach

to architectural design. Of particular interest with regard to “M” are the concepts of creating

atmospheres of potentiality and the sense of erasure as a condition for detecting “M.”

Figure 7: Between Silence and Light, John Lobell p.7 & p.8

Figure 8: Between Silence and Light, John Lobell. p.21 & p.11

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Figure 9: Between Silence and Light, John Lobell. p.23

In his book Between Silence and Light, John Lobell decided to include some of Louis

Kahn’s expressive line sketches. Unlike photos of objects or nature, such sketches add the

dimension of will and intension more directly as they are the unedited direct expression of

the architect’s emotions. Similar to Juhanni Pallasmaa pairing of images to induce

potentiality, the pair of sketches as shown above show a sketch of desire which is mostly

blank with some extrapolating lines next to a sketch filled with lines showing the object

itself-the one- with the potential of creation, the other. Not surprising that such deeply

spiritual architect as Kahn would consider the idea of emptiness with potentialities as the

originator of things. Interestingly, nothingness had to contain some lines, lines filled with

desire or else we would posit our own images onto a totally blank white page and the

concept of will to desire would have been negated. Using a blank page with a few lines

reminds us of the Japanese Sumi masters who were capable of charging one ink stroke with

so much emotion that such emotion would transpire to the viewer. This might not be a

realistic goal for those of us who have not mastered this art but the technique of filling a

blank page with very few elements paired with a development of such a sketch into a more

elaborate image is effective in relaying the idea of intended potentiality. Intended

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potentiality differs from potentialities which are posited by the viewer or reader. Intended

potentialities are those led and guided by the artist to lead the viewer in an intended

direction. Another phenomenon in support of the idea of solitude being originator of

potentialities is the fact that all images of Lobell’s book are devoid of people. In figure 8,

both the cupola and the atrium seem to converse with themselves as if they were living

beings. In fact the skylight is even having a conversation with the statue. Both images on

figure 8 show a form of gateway to light, but the light is tamed, it does not act as a source, it

seems to manifest its presence through erasure. For instance, we know that the cupola on

the left has an open circle allowing light to fill the hall below. We also can see that an

intense circle of light is thereby projected onto the coffered surface of the dome and we

know its source, but as we contemplate the source, it is tamed, discreet and erased, effacé.

With regard this thesis, one could derive that an “M” sensation is created by erasure of

things which otherwise assert a strong manifestation.

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Architectures of Time (Sanford Kwinter, 2003)

As a new materialist, Sanford Kwinter espouses the idea that matter contains within itself

the spirit. For Kwinter, matter and the manifestation of the spiritual are one. He accepts the

existence of metaphysical aspects of objects but refutes the existence of a pure metaphysical

essence outside of matter. The observations of the following images will aim at uncovering

the sense of repose and its ensuing cosmic projection through the state of reveries which is

an essential condition for the creation of “M.”

Figure 10 Surfer, 1960. Figure 11 Photo: Simon Carter, p.30

Photo: Dr. Don James, p.1

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Figure 12 Free crystal growth, p.27 Figure 13 study for a building, Sant’Elia, p.81

A form of transcendental movement can be detected in figure13; the rhythmic play of the

tectonic elements is set against the shadow and fluidity of the cloud formation. Although

such visual tension is common among many artistic creations, in the case of this particular

image, the tension created establishes presence as well as union with the sky. This union

however is different from the one noticed in the marriage of object and nature in Peter

Zumthor’s book or John Lobell’s book. This union has movement towards the sky.

Likewise, the movement becomes vertical as in Gaston Bachelard’s cosmic projection, a

projection towards a vanishing point. In both images, the start of the building has been

cropped thereby seemingly tending to infinity and starting from infinity. Bachelard

dedicated a whole chapter in his Poetics of Space to corners. In one of his chapters, he

points to two aspects of corners; the moment of repose which he defines as the

remembrance of silence - a moment of immobility, and a dream that leads “from home to

universe in a quest of being.” With regard figure10, this could translate in a moment of rest

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allowing the dreamer, the reader in our case, to “remember all the objects identified with

solitude” as well as a potential for cosmic projection where “one feels oneself carried away

into a sort of antecedent of being, as though into a beyond of dreams.” Not only is this

image placed alone on the page and next to a blank page that engages the reader in

meditations but the image itself portrays a continuum of repose through a giant wave which

seems to melt with the sky. Interestingly, figure 10 is accompanied by a poem from Henri

Bergson: Reality…is a perpetual becoming. It makes or remakes itself, but it is never

something made. In the case of figure10, one could deduct that time is a flow of repose. In

other words, since the wave covers the entire image and has the same qualities as the sky,

its movement seems to have no direction and traction and yet it is not frozen. Repose is

thereby expressed through the sensation of Deleuze & Guattari’s milieu. . Representing

objects, which have no beginning and no end, transposes the viewer into a cosmic realm,

but also shows that objects are is constant state of becoming as extensively elaborated by

Henri Bergson’s Creative Evolution.

Many surrealist paintings depict a person, alone, usually viewed from the back in a vast

landscape tending to the horizon. In figure11, the mountain climber seems to desire

elevation but due to lack of reference points in space, one is unsure if he is laying flat on a

giant bedrock or if he is climbing on top. Moreover, the rock does not seem to have an end

or a beginning, it appears infinite and unlimited and the climber resembles a crock in the

rock formation. This too expresses a sense of repose, repose from gravity and repose from

punctuation. If the climber would be more defined and the mountain shown within its

context, there would be punctuation of man, mountain and gravity. A single person, or for

45

that matter a single architectural element such as a column, expresses the immense

difference in scale when placed into a large landscape, more so if such landscape has no

beginning or end in sight. With regard “M”, I refer back to Gaston Bachelard’s chapter on

“Intimate Immensity” describing such experiences as transporting “the dreamer outside the

immediate world to a world that bears the mark of infinity.” But more interestingly, that

lonely voyager in immensity has his back facing the viewer which makes me think of

Walter Benjamin’s interpretation of Paul Klee’s “Angelus Novus.” Benjamin’s angel of

history was a metaphor for the irresistible and unavoidability of the past piling its “rubble-

heap,” “a storm is blowing from paradise; it has caught itself up in his wings and is so

strong that the angel can no longer close them. The storm drives him irresistibly into the

future, to which his back is turned…” What can be drawn from this metaphor with regard

“M” is a sense of infinite time where we, the reader/viewer, become the infinite future while

observing the angle from behind. If the person’s face or body was turned toward us, we

would become its past. Perhaps the “M” moment is created as we become the zero-hour

mentioned by both Walter Benjamin and Charles Baudelaire, while we experience both past

and future, hence outside of time.

Having observed the preceding images, it appears that several conclusions with regard to

the act of image observation can be drawn. Firstly, that the detection of “M” could be a

process that evolves through observation and meditation of images. Secondly, that in order

to perceive “M,” perception should be made with a sense of remove, an act of negation and

erasure. Thirdly, that “M” is created by disruption of normality and a sense of

disequilibrium. Moreover the result of these observations yields to the following

46

deductions. The following deductions are by no means complete, but they provide core

concepts that are critical to this thesis.

1- Black and white images obscure the definition of reality as they tend to remove what

is normally observed by our vision. This obscurity tends to intensify the potential for

creating “M” sensations.

2- Boundaries created by single images placed on a larger white page, tend to create a

sense of isolation by leading the viewer to focus on a single point thereby negating

surrounding space. This negation in turn, places the viewer in a state that is different

from the day to day state of spatial awareness. In other words, the viewer is placed

outside of spatial context.

3- Undefined light sources within images void of people, that is sources of light that

stay hidden within an image purely composed of objects, tend to instill a sense of

being to otherwise inanimate objects, thereby accentuating the metaphysical

immanence of matter.

4- Images that are made of continuous and connected elements such as connected lines

but are interrupted by a singular disconnection, tend to create a sense of

disequilibrium, a break from normality.

5- The sense of mystery, with regard to “M”, is manifested by the tension created

between what is expected in what is hidden.

Having concluded the preceding observation of images, the next phase of inquiry will focus

on a series of personal experiments as explained in the following chapter on

“Experimenting with ‘M’.”

47

Experimenting with “M”

Numerous experiments were conducted throughout my search for “M.” Here I should like to

enumerated some of those experiments and further clarify what worked, what did not work,

trials and tribulations, and the various sensations felt throughout this search for “M” as there

are as many things to be learned from the evolution of ideas as there are from the ideas

themselves. My quest for “M” has been multidirectional and rhizomatic. There were as

many times of revelations, flights and ruptures as times of continuous daydreaming. Each

turn of events will be pointed out as turn without mention to direction. Thus, this last

chapter of the search for “M” shall be reflective of my thoughts as they developed in their

non-linearity, a “house seen from everywhere.”19 Although the past tense shall be used, it

will not mean that such past is not continuously present. This journey is the continuation of

a lifelong desire to instill the “M” element in architecture and as such, a need for

representing “M” prompted the first turn which was the turn of experimentation within the

realm of representation. In order to allow for representation to become experience, a choice

was made to develop a form of representation based on experiments inspired by Filippo

Brunelleschi’s mirror experiment20 as well as Eric Barnouw’s stage magical tricks

performed with reflections in glass.21

It is important to note that Alberto Perez-Gomez gave such importance to Brunelleschi’s

mirror experiment and Eric Barlow’s reflective glass experiment with regard representing

intangible Meta elements in architecture. Both glass and mirror possess certain qualities

that, dare we say, are magical and poetic. Two Persian poems strike me to be very relevant

48

to our search. “The walls and ceilings of a dwelling always reflect their architect’s thought”

(Mowlavi) and “The water and the mirror do not have the same limpidity” (Saadi).

Although it is beyond the scope of this thesis to thoroughly analyze the poems of those

philosopher-poets deeply imbued by their sense of mysticism, it is important to note certain

words such as mirror, reflection and limpidity. Furthermore, in addition to poetic and

metaphoric dimensions, glass and mirrors possess concrete and immediately perceivable

qualities. Glass has a variety of opaqueness, color, levels of reflectivity, indirect effects, so

do mirrors, and it seemed fit to utilize as material for experimentation. Thus the apparatus

consisted of a variety of glass and mirror panels as well as water filled containers

surrounding the subject and placed in various vertical and horizontal directions with

different light intensities placed upon them within given spaces and surrounding the subject.

The idea was to de-operationalize glass and create an “M” atmosphere. This atmosphere is

one of contemplation, meditation and ritual, a space filled with experiential qualities rather

than utilitarian ones. Somewhat similar experiments have been conducted by New-York

Artist Dan Graham by creating large scale enclosures in which apparitions of viewers has

created various perceptual effects. But Graham’s experiments, however interesting as a

technical precedent, did not deal with the “M” element.

49

The following image illustrates the setup of the experiment’s apparatus. It consisted of a

series of 12”x12” as well as 30”x 60” glass and mirror panes of various opacity and

reflectivity. A Plexiglas cube, acting as a neutral object was positioned within surrounding

glass and mirror panels to study various reflections under various lighting conditions and I

placed myself as the observer and perceiving subject in and around the microcosm created

by the panels. I conducted the experiments both as a moving subject about the microcosm

and as a fixed subject within the microcosm. I also moved the various panels around me to

observe potential occurrences and events ensuing from those displacements and took photos

of those events. What I was essentially looking for, were “M” sensations as the events

unfolded. I was trying to experience the difference between the object as matter and its

reflection as matter displaced and how matter became dematerialized through various

reflections. I was also looking for the phenomenon of reverberation of images and how an

object is reflected to infinity thereby giving me a sense of the cosmic projection. The

following chapters will attempt to explain some of those events.

Figure 14 Experiment setup, Yves Ghiaï

50

The experiment aimed at studying several aspects of “M” perceptions and aimed at

observing various phenomena with respect to perception of intangible elements in an effort

to arrive at a form of representation with regard “M”. I have placed the subject into an

atmospheric condition which helped the detection of the “M” element of the object. By

placing both myself and various objects together within the boundary of plates of glass and

mirror and introducing movement to the equation, it becomes possible to project both

subject (myself) and object through motion onto a neutral receiver thereby creating a third

dimension which is the result of a subject-object in time, thereby creating a newly formed

perception of “M”. The introduction of a new spatio-temporal condition is thereby creating

a microcosm, spiritual ether that is independent of its placement and can be experienced

anywhere. Moreover, since “M” space contains movement in time, it follows that it must

contain the concept of memory. For as the perceiver moves within the “M” atmosphere, he

experiences events within moments of time and each preceding moment becomes a memory

beheld in the present. The subject of memories has widely been analyzed by Maurice

Merleau-Ponty in his chapter on temporality in his book on the Phenomenology of

Perception. Contrary to Gaston Bachelard’s approach of distant memories affecting our

experiential perception, Merleau-Ponty, points to phenomenon of immediate memories

being constructed in the very moment of perception. Likewise, my experiments lent

themselves to present memories being formed as one moves one’s field of focus while

visioning apparitions. This method of representation was to be a super-representation

engaging the viewer into motion much like cinematography guiding the subject’s creative

imagination through various spaces containing at times and not containing at others the “M”

element so as to accentuate the difference.

51

The retinal movement of human eyes which is capable of consecutively focusing and

blurring depth of field is a core component validating the direct involvement of the subject

as it perceives an object. Alberto Perez-Gomez talked about the necessity of a dynamic

action on the part of the beholder upon the world, and one of those actions is the movements

of vision. The examples of Michelangelo’s staircase sketch and Marcel Duchamp’s Tu’m

painting demonstrate the effectiveness of such movement. As one focuses on a reflected

image upon a glass plate generated by mirrors, one continuously alter fields of vision

between that reflected image, our own image and a multiplicity of other reflection resulting

in a newly constructed image in the mind. In his chapter on “The Image without an

Observer,”22 Perez-Gomez introduces another aspect of movement with respect to the

positionality of the observer. He writes, “The movement of the observer is indispensable for

the meaning of the image to appear…the truth of the image is no longer revealed to the

beholder from a fixed position.”

Figure 15: Experiment 01 on Transparency, Yves Ghiaï

52

Transparency is the layering of images in various degrees of opaqueness thereby

creating a dream like atmosphere. Transparency and its oneiric qualities have been

mentioned by Peter Zumthor’s Thinking Architecture and are best summarized in the

author’s statements: “beauty in its vagueness, openness and interdependency” and “object

of art that move us are multifaceted; they have numerous and perhaps endless layers of

meaning that overlap and interweave, and that change as we change our angle of

observation.”

Figure 16: Experiment 02 on Projection, Yves Ghiaï

Projection is what I would venture to define as the mystical projection or phenomenon of

isolation as so richly described in Gaston Bachelard’s chapter on “House and Universe.”23

According to Bachelard, immensity is the act of projection, is a philosophical category of

daydream and is most probably the most potent phenomenon with regard to my thesis.

Projection involves meditative contemplation resulting from a sense of isolation “the warm

house in the middle of a vast field covered in snow.” This experiment aimed at studying the

effects of isolating single element through the ad infinitum reverberation of mirrored

53

images. Projection in the realm of dreams has been defined as out of body experiences but

more interesting for us is the thoughts of our precedents such as Alberto Perez-Gomez’s

interpretation of Marcel Duchamp’s reversibility projection through shadows.

Figure 17: Experiment 03on Desiquilibrium, Yves Ghiaï

Since some of the elements of anamorphism involve the positionality of the viewer, I

was able to observe how modifications of such positionalities create disruptions, imbalances

and disequilibrium. Disruption is hereby defined within the “M” context as the apparition of

out of context images thus disrupting a current state of normality. Disequilibrium is further

defined as an aberration of the state of normality thereby disorienting expectations on the

part of the subject. Such disorientations take the form of changes in scale and horizontal

planes through obliqueness. Disequilibrium is a disruption of a stable state of being, in

54

dreams; it has been experienced through falling. Salvador Dali explains that the reason we

feel the fall is that our sleep is supported by crutches, numerous paintings by Dali depict

various characters being supported by crutches and that the experience of falling occurs

when one of those clutches breaks hence disrupting a normal state of being. In Dali’s case,

crutches are used as metaphor and symbolize any kind of support. In the case of this

experiment, the sense of disorientation of object and scale has the effect of disruption. The

merging of images implies superposition of layers and the systemization of those layers into

a newly formed image which cannot be comprehended through reasoning, has the effect of

moving the viewer away from normality. Dreams are often able to create such synthesis by

eliminating our preconceived logic of causality.

Having completed these series of experiments, I had arrived at the unfortunate

conclusion that neither the existence nor the communicability of “M” could be proved or

asserted. And although, I could sense “M”, I could not communicate it. Perhaps I had

myself fallen in the trap of the reductive nature of representation not realizing that

communicating the “M” element was only possible through the active engagement of a

subject. Another approach was needed, an engaged observational approach combined with a

theoretical one that would support my observations. The resolution to this problem occurred

as I engaged in image observations. Image observations afforded the possibility to actively

meditate and delve into images with a sense of remove. This strategy not only enabled me

to discover attributes of “M” but also by analyzing images of existing spaces, I was then

able to communicate the same to another. That is not to mention that another has to agree

with my analysis, but at the very least, a point of view was exposed with the support of an

55

image. Moreover, such observation would be supported by a theoretical study, helping in

alleviating the subjective character of assertions.

A puzzling event occurred as I tried to review images of architecture within purely

architectural context such as Peter Zumthor’s Thinking Architecture. Those images,

however poetic, sensual and haptic, were pictures of architectural objects without intention

to negate architecture or discover the incorporeal aspects of objects, the somewhat

materialist approach of the author in fact accentuated the primacy of matter. The result was

so uninspiring that I decided to remove that book altogether from the reviews. In the end,

Zumthor’s theoretical work proved to be much more useful to my investigation than his

architecture and images. Strange that I needed images of non-architecture to create a new

architecture!

As I further searched for ways to communicate “M” within the timeline of this study, the

idea of appending a film to this thesis came to mind. My film titled Reflection is Matter

Displaced,24 explores both visual reflections as well as sound reflection. It is the story of a

building’s interior spaces reflecting themselves into outside spaces such as the street, the

sky and the horizon from morning to night. It explores the visual transposition of matter

through movement as well as the transposition of sounds from one space to another.

56

Figure 18- Photo from the film: Reflection, by Yves Ghiaï

Film has both advantages and disadvantages versus still images with regard the

communication of “M”. On the one hand viewing of film has the risk of disengaging the

viewer as he surrenders control of sequences to the filmmaker whereas the length of time

devoted to contemplation of still images is left to the viewer. On the other hand, through the

manipulation of time, a filmmaker is able to increase the drama of a phenomenon. In the

case of Stanley Kubrick’s 2001-A Space Odyssey, “shots are purposely lengthened in order

to reach a climax leading to a dreamlike space.”25 In making a film, I found that certain

accidental effects facilitated “M” manifestations; the headlights of a passing car flooding

the window with unexpected shadows, a glass door opening while transporting its

reflections onto another space and the accidental out of focus effects negating a landscape,

all contributed to hidden and unexpected events. I soon realized however, that although this

57

media may have been very strong in engaging the subject, it did not however compensate

for the richness of textual analysis. Film was just another experiment tending at finding

“M”. I say tending for I think that “M” is never to be found as a thing in itself, but can only

be sensed through the process of its search.

Thus, after having experimented with live experiences, image observations, textual

analysis and film, I realized that all served their purpose and none should be excluded. But

the richest and the most rewarding way to create “M” was certainly the combination of

image observation fused with theoretical analysis. For textual analysis enriched my a-priori

knowledge of “M” categories, thereby affording me the possibility of analyzing images.

And once strengthened by theoretical knowledge, I could then proceed in creative image

observations. There was however, a last avenue to explore, the field of poetry. For poetry

tends to confuse all senses and transpose the soul into elevated states of consciousness. The

following chapter on “The Poetry of ‘M’” aims at analyzing poetry and its various aspects

with regard to “M”.

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The Poetics of “M”

For this chapter, I have chosen three poems by Charles Baudelaire which I found

particularly effective in communicating “M”. The following poems are taken from the

author’s book: Les Fleurs du Mal. Baudelaire’s poems are imbued with a sense of

mysticism while still retaining a philosophical structure. His visual approach could be

interpreted as tectonic in so far as it analyzes space and its emotional content within a

phenomenological context. The following lines deal with darkness, silence, fear, mystery

and vertigo.

“Pascal avait son gouffre, avec lui se mouvant.

Hélas ! tout est abîme, action, désir, rêve,

Parole ! et sur mon poil qui tout droit se relève

Maintes fois de la peur je sens passer le vent.

En haut, en bas, partout la profondeur, la grève,

Le silence, l’espace affreux et captivant…

Et mon esprit, toujours du vertige hanté,

Jalouse du néant l’insensibilité…”26

The poem that follows illustrates transposition of senses. This can also be interpreted as

the reflective aspect of “M” where reflection represents matter displaced. In other words,

matter that, while retaining all its visual definition, looses its materiality into an intangible

realm, an “M” realm.

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“Ô métaphore mystique

De tous mes sens fondues en un!

Son haleine fait de la musique,

Comme sa voix fait le parfum.”27

This last poem under investigation, points to three essential “M” categories, vagueness

or the negation of precision as the main attribute of the attraction to mystery, the vital force

of desire and the creative evolution of shapes within movement.

“ Les plus riches cités, les plus grands paysages,

Jamais ne contenaient l’attrait mystérieux

De ceux que le hasard fait avec les nuages.

Et toujours le désir nous rendait soucieux. ”28

Baudelaire’s approach with regard to “M” could be summarized in three parts. Firstly,

that a sense of vagueness is a necessary condition to create attraction to mystery. Secondly,

that total negation of things, nothingness and non-sensations created through fear of the

unknown and vertigo lead to the other-worldliness which defines “M” and thirdly that

uncontrolled events such as movements and shapes created by clouds tend to affect our

sensibility and lead us to a certain cosmic projection. Baudelaire’s poems further reinforce

that “M” is a state of consciousness, that it exists within matter and events, but also that it

exists outside of matter and outside our perception as well. For if nothingness as expressed

by the poet is a void to be filled with our dreams and desires, and that it is up to the dreamer

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to create events within that void while being urged to do so by desires, it follows that

nothingness is not a thing, it is not matter. Consequently, an element could exist that is not

defined by physical attributes, being at the source of such desires, an “M” element.

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Conclusion

Now that the subjectivity of the perception of “M” and it method of communication begin

to be established, the following paragraphs will aim at extracting and summarizing the

attributes and essences of “M”, as I found it necessary and useful to reiterate the basic

aspects of “M” in the form of definitions29. The following summary is by no means

complete as “M” is a complex element but it is one derived from all aspects observed and

analyzed in the preceding chapter. The reiteration of these attributes, within the scope of

this thesis, can be reduced to three general categories: the state of rêveries, the sense of

disequilibrium and the mystic projection. But before elaborating on these categories, I

should like to surmise the following aspects of “M” which make up for the core argument

with regard to this thesis.

“M” stands for the metaphysical and meta-cosmic aspects of architectural spaces. It is

not a substantive element of matter but rather a verb, an action of the subject using matter as

a vehicle to create a metaphysical sensation.

“M” can exist by virtue of a subject intuiting a-priori “M” categories which are posited

onto the object. I assert that if I can imagine it, therefore it exists.

“M” cannot be measured, diagrammed or quantified, for doing so, abstracts the subject

from the object, therefore “M” can only be felt through super-representations engaging a

subject into the act of creating it.

The search for “M” which is a quest for sensations which involves both image

observation with a sense of remove and theoretical research in fields of studies dealing with

62

spirit and matter, with the intention of finding lines of flight (lignes de fuites) leading to

new plateaus of consciousness.

“M” is created through movement, both cinematic movement and the dynamic spiritual

movement of the mind.

“M” exist a-priori, both within contemplation and within matter and that matter is a

vehicle for creating “M”.

“M” is a dynamic continuously evolving engagement of the subject vis-à-vis space.

The fundamental act to master in an attempt to perceive and posit “M” onto a space is

the ability to daydream, the state of rêveries, for without the ability to daydream and alter

one’s state of consciousness to a meditative level there is very little probability that success

can be achieved. This state of mind is the pre-requisite to achieving a sense of remove. It is

a state of being engaged in disengagement, in other words an act of negation. This sense of

negation seems to intensify as fields of vision are obscured.

The sense of disequilibrium is one of rupture from normality, the act of de-

operationalizing utility. “M” is rupture from normality in so far as it becomes a vehicle to

reach other dimensions. Disequilibrium with regard to “M” can be achieved, for instance,

through the interplay of scale or through the phenomenon of disorientation as in the

example of a multidimensional space. Within the sense of disequilibrium, there is also the

phenomenon of metamorphosis whereby the expectation of the existence of an object is

disoriented by the metamorphosis of that object into another. This is best exemplified

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through poetry when senses are confused. A sound becomes a fragrance, a reflection

becomes matter, and an object such as the moon becomes personified.

The meta-cosmic projection is the act of transcendence, it starts with an engaged subject

who, after a certain moment, alters his attitude of engagement in favor of a point of flight

which negates his previous engagement.30 For such transposition of spirit to occur from

space A to space B, it is necessary that space be undefined, unknown and mysterious. Thus

“M” belongs metaphorically to obscurity rather than clarity.31 Moreover, the meta-cosmic

projection seems to occur when the presence of a human being is negated as in a room

where objects seem to converse with one another. Such projection also seems to manifest

itself in the mystery of what is hidden.

While I now arrive at a point which appears to be the end of this paper but certainly not of

my quest, I sense myself navigating a calm windless ocean of thoughts at midnight. This is

a time when the ocean surface and the heavens seem to be one within an undefined horizon,

a closed horizon within a self created atmosphere32. There is no sense of direction or time

on deep seas at midnight, space and time both collapse. It is the milieu33 and the espace

lisse34 described by Gilles Deleuze & Félix Guattari where perception is made of symptoms

and evaluations rather than measure. I am asking myself whether the manifestation of “M”

has been fully realized through my search, and while trying to resolve this question, only

one answer comes to my mind; “M” is created through its continuous search within a

dynamic spiritual space.

64

Annotated Bibliography

Lobell, John. Between Silence and Light .Boulder Colorado: Shambhala publications, 1979.

John Lobell embarks in a Mystico-Poetic voyage through the work and thoughts of Architect Louis Kahn. The

book is divided into phenomenological themes such as Light, Joy, Touch, Sight and stresses the concept of

Silence. Although very inspiring, the author leaves one perplexed as to the mechanism used by Kahn to

achieve such mastery of the communion of Mysticism and Architecture.

Merleau-Ponty, Maurice. Phenomenology of Perception. Translated from the French by Routledge&

Kegan Paul Publishers. New York: 1978.

Maurice Merleau-Ponty’s extensive work on Phenomenology explores the inner functions of sensations as

they relate to Intuition. He also stresses the vital importance of “Essences” “Phenomenology is a Philosophy

which puts Essences back into Existence”.

Pallasmaa, Juhani. The Eyes of the Skin: Architecture and Senses. Academy Press; 2 edition 2005

Juhani Pallasmaa’s novel approach to sensory perception delineates the importance of all human senses being

essential in perceiving space at large. In his book “The Eyes of the skin”, he studies the significance of the

tactile senses as opposed to the traditional visual sense which has been given priority in the past. He even goes

as far as stating that “All senses, including vision, are extensions of the tactile senses”. Pallasma also stresses

the influence of Architecture on our consciousness and our sense of being as opposed to a purely visual

pleasure.

Zumthor, Peter. Thinking Architecture. Birkhäuser Basel; 2nd, expanded ed. edition 2006.

Peter Zumthor accentuates the value of building materials and their poetic effect on our senses. In a somewhat

similar approach to Louis Kahn, Zumthor stresses the importance of the essence of architecture as opposed to

its symbolic meaning. He was of course greatly influenced by Kant who did get inspiration in Persian mystics

and poets Indeed he greatly developed the realm of intuition with regards to perception. Certain parts of his

65

theory though leave to be disagreed upon when he states that “pure sensation is instantaneous” or that

“homogeneous areas cannot be perceived”. If pure sensation is only instantaneous, the role of memory is

therefore void and if homogeneous areas cannot be perceived then the meditative realm is neglected. Zumthor

delineates an interesting interpretation of empirical case studies purely based on his personal family

experiences. Sensations he felt while entering a hotel and the somewhat existential and Proustian listing of

various impressions.

Bergson, Henri. Creative Evolution. Dover Publications, 1998.

According to Henri Bergson, the artistic creation is unsystematic, accidental and illogical. His Darwinian

approach claiming that artistic perception is evolutionary as opposed to static and that the way we perceive

things and their individuality is relative to our own practical needs. The example cited by the author himself is

that of how a wolf perceives a sheep and a baby without distinction as they are both eatable substances to the

beast. Man on the other hand would not perceive a sheep as he perceives a baby as he would not perceive the

difference between one sheep and another. Bergson elaborates on his theory of evolutionary perception by

claiming the idea of transformism as each stage of evolution in perception contains elements of a previous

stage thereby creating continuity. The two most relevant aspects of Bergson’s analysis to this thesis are the

role of intuition in our perception and the role of instinct to positing our thoughts onto space. Similar to Kant,

Bergson believes that we create our own perception (“Life is more than anything else a tendency to act on

matter”) but he goes further in stating that we each have a “geometry of the intellect” and that the artist breaks

the barrier that space puts between him and his model through intuition which is also define as self conscious

instinct. “Intuition, if it could be prolonged beyond a few instants, would not only make the philosopher agree

with his own thoughts but also all philosophers with each other”. Bergson further elaborates his idea of an

“indivisible intuition” and its projection onto the object being perceived. Bergson’s focus on instinct and

intuition is rather admirable and revolutionary but contradictions abound and some flaws in his theory of

perception cannot be ignored. One such flaw is his disregard for the intellect. “Intellect deals only with

immobilities” Perhaps so but he fails to distinguish from dry intellect and sensorial intellect. And if he claims

66

as he did that “each action is a realization of an intension” then what if such intention is stimulated the

intellect?

Kant, Immanuel. Critique of Judgment. Cosmic Classics, 2007.

Immanuel Kant’s search for a pattern in the universe led him to believe that it can only be found in the human

mind and that the work of art is a reflection of human imagination. Therefore aesthetic judgment flows from

from our minds positing its creation onto the object. This major reversal of classical thinking, Kant has placed

our minds in the center of the universe. According to Kant, all experience is subjective as we are each

confined to our own perceptions. However, and in a seemingly contradictory fashion, he also claims that

individual perceptions are intimation of another world of absolute Beauty. “Experience is subjective in its

operations but objective in its implications”

Kant analysis aesthetic judgment into four parts:

1- The aesthetic judgment is indifferent to existence and therefore disinterested.

2- Aesthetic judgment is universal because it is independent of a beholder’s private condition.

3- Aesthetic judgment is its own finality unrelated to any purpose save its own.

4- Aesthetic judgment is typical to all rational beings in that it excites the senses to bring the imagination and

the understanding into a free play of feelings. “The Beautiful and the Sublime agree in this, that they both

please in themselves”.

As for the role of the creators (i.e. the Artists) Kant says that “genius is a talent for producing that for which

no definite rule can be given...but it has a rule of its own”. What the work of art does is induce a rhythm of

feeling in us that answers to our experience. Hence the Artist is furnishing us with primary material and

essences out of which we create life and forms. Kant provides a major departure from the old thinking of a

“Grand Design” and the “Artist-God” approach by shifting the act of creation to the viewer. The main

contradiction in Kant’s theory of perception is one between his refusal of a “Grand Design” and yet his claim

to “Absolute Beauty” as any absolute presupposes the concept of finality which is seemingly contrary to the

67

existential approach of subjective perception. That aside, the value of Kant’s thinking is central to our thesis as

it partially resolves the question of the subject’s role in creating space especially in his assertion of the

existence of an “ultra-intellectual intuition”. Questions still remain as to how to resolve the fusion of the

universality of judgment versus individual creation as we perceive space which for the purpose of our study

may be resolved through the fusion of Kant and Bergson not to mention others. A central theme developed by

Kant is the role of consciousness with regards to perception. “Nature is beautiful because it looks like art, and

art can only be called beautiful if we are conscious of it as art...” This agrees with one of our hypothesis that

the development and forming of our consciousness is vital to proper appreciation of mysticism in Architecture.

Perez Gomez, Alberto. Architectural Representation and the Perspective Hinge The MIT Press; 1st

edition, 2008.

The most significant contribution of this essay is the methodology used to detect the transcendental element in

Architecture. Following a historical sequencing of the use of Perspective as a representational tool, Perez

Gomez then ventures to modify the use of Perspective in order to shift us in a state of confusion thereby

leading us to the invisible qualities of spatial perception. The methodology, although innovative still leaves us

with the question: Is Representation positing its effect upon the Subject or is it purely a Lens through which

we may perceive the invisible?

Bachelard, Gaston. The Poetics of Space, Beacon Press, April 1st, 1994

The Phenomenological approach of Bachelard categorizes various aspects of poetic element in space while

walking the reader through related elements of a virtual house. Elements such as “Nest”, “Corner”, “Drawer”,

“Protection” and many more. Such categorization is vital to our thesis as they essentialize aspects of our ‘M’

Element. However, Bachelard’s book is mostly in the form of a series of meditations and tends to reinforce the

subjectivity of the perception of poetic elements in space.

68

Bibliography

Abell, Walter. The Collective Dream in Art. New York Schocken Books, 1966.

Bachelard, Gaston. The Poetics of Space. Translated by the Orion Press from the French, Boston: Beacon

Press, 1969.

Baudelaire, Charles. Les Fleurs du Mal. Paris : Editions La Pléiade 1975

Bernard, J.H. 2nd Edition. Kant’s Critique of Judgment. London, 1914.

Bakhtiar, Laleh, The Sense of Unity. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1979.

Bunker, Dusty, Numerology, Astrology and Dreams, West Chester, PA, Whitford Press, 1987.

De Landa, Manuel. A Thousand Years of Nonlinear History. New York : Zone Books, 1997.

Deleuze, Gilles & Guattari, Félix. Mille Plateaux. Paris : Les Éditions de Minuit, 1980

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Ghiai Mariette. Heydar Ghiai Senate House Iran. Paris: Editions Draeger & Fils, 1976

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Press, February, 1999)

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New York: Paul Publishers, 1978.

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69

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Schopenhauer, Arthur. The World as Will and Representation Vol.1. New York: Dover Publications, 1969.

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70

71

Notes

1 Baudelaire, Charles. Les Fleurs du Mal. Paris : Editions La Pléiade 1975. p.10

Elevation (Translation)

Above the valleys and the lakes: beyond

The woods, seas, clouds and mountain-ranges: far

Above the sun, the ethers silver-swanned

With nebulae, and the remotest star,

My spirit! with agility you move

Like a strong swimmer with the seas to fight,

Through the blue vastness furrowing your groove

With an ineffable and male delight.

Far from these foetid marshes, be made pure

In the pure air of the superior sky,

And drink, like some most exquisite liqueur,

The fire that fills the lucid realms on high.

Beyond where cares or boredom hold dominion,

Which charge our fogged existence with their spleen,

Happy is he who with a stalwart pinion

Can seek those fields so shining and serene:

Whose thoughts, like larks, rise on the freshening breeze

Who fans the morning with his tameless wings,

Skims over life, and understands with ease

The speech of flowers and other voiceless things.

— Roy Campbell, Poems of Baudelaire (New York: Pantheon Books, 1952)

72

2 According to architect Louis I. Kahn, as mentioned in John Lobell’s book Between Silence and Light,

Boulder Colorado: Shambhala publications, 1979 p 6. ”When the world was an ooze without any shape or

direction, there must have been this force of joy that prevailed everywhere and that was reaching out to

express.”

3Bakhtiar, Laleh, The Sense of Unity. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1979. p7

“Triditional architecture, especially that of the temple in general and the mosque in particular, is also an image

of the cosmos or of man taken in his cosmic dimension.” In mosques, “geometric forms and numbers are not

just what they appear to be quantitatively.”

4 De Saint-Hilaire, Paul. Bruxelles Mille Ans de Mystères. Bruxelles : Editions Rossel, 1976.p.14

5 Architecture Australia Review. Jan.Feb.2010. Interview with Dr. Karen Burns.

“In fact it is a return to a very old tradition in architecture, one that is mystical and magical and relies on the

speculative power of numbers.”

6Knight, Gareth. A Practical Guide to Qabalistic Symbolism. Maine: Samuel Weiser, Inc. 1965.p.1

7 Knight, Gareth. A Practical Guide to Qabalistic Symbolism. Maine: Samuel Weiser, Inc. 1965. p.48

“It (Kabbalah) is a process of being ‘in-formed’ so that one’s psyche acts as a vehicle for, or is permeated by,

the powers concerned”

8 Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy.

9 Minkowski, Engène. Vers une cosmologie. Paris: Editions Payot, 1999. p.43

“…lorsque dans la contemplation, nous pénétrons à travers l’aspet matériel des objets jusqu’au souffle

spirituel qui les anime…”

10Nietzsche Friedrich, Untimely Meditations, On the Uses and Abuses of History for Life, 1873

“Is life to rule over knowledge now, over science, or is knowledge to rule over life? Which of the two forces is

the higher and decisive one? No one will have any doubt: life is.”

11Deleuze, Gilles & Guattari, Félix. Mille Plateaux. Paris : Les Éditions de Minuit, 1980. p189-191

73

12Pallasmaa, Juhani. The Eyes of the Skin:Architecture and Senses. Academy Press; 2 edition 2005, p25

“vision separates us from the world whereas senses unite us with it.”

13Schopenhauer, Arthur. The World as Will and Representation. Vol.1. New York: Dover Publications,

1969.p4

“The fundamental tenet of the Vedanta school consisted not in denying the existence of matter, that is, of

solidity, impenetrability, and extended figure, but in correcting the popular notion of it, and in contending that

it has no essence independent of mental perception; that existence and perceptibility are convertible terms.”

14 Kant, Immanuel. Critique of Pure Reason, Translated by Paul Guyer and Allen Wood (Cambridge

University Press, February, 1999) pp 24-70

15 Schopenhauer, Arthur The world as Will and Representation, Vol I Translated from German by E.F.J.

Paynes. Dover Publications, New York 1969. p3 “The world is my representation: this is a truth valid with

reference to every living and knowing being”

16 Pallasmaa, Juhani. The Eyes of the Skin:Architecture and Senses. Academy Press; 2 edition 2005, p 11

17 Zumthor, Peter. Thinking Architecture. Birkhäuser Basel; 2nd, expanded ed. edition 2006, p30.

18 Deleuze, Gilles & Guattari, Félix. Mille Plateaux. Paris : Les Éditions de Minuit, 1980.p191

“Le CsO est un continuum de tous les attributs ou genres d’intensités sous une même substance .”

19 Merleau-Ponty, Maurice. Phenomenology of Perception. Translated from the French by Routledge& Kegan.

New York: Paul Publishers, 1978.p79

20 Pérez-Gómez, Alberto and Louise Pelletier. Architectural Representation and the Perspective Hinge.

Cambridge: MIT Press, 2000.pp 21, 26, 27

21 Pérez-Gómez, Alberto and Louise Pelletier. Architectural Representation and the Perspective Hinge.

Cambridge: MIT Press, 2000.p290

22Pérez-Gómez, Alberto and Louise Pelletier. Architectural Representation and the Perspective Hinge.

Cambridge: MIT Press, 2000 p.291

23 Bachelard, Gaston. The Poetics of Space. Translated by the Orion Press from the French, Boston: Beacon

Press, 1969. p53

74

24See Reflection, By: Yves Ghiaï. http://www.youtube.com/user/yghiai#p/a/u/1/ixtczt6MWKo

25 MacDougall, David. Transcultural Cinema . Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 1998. p214

26 Baudelaire, Charles. Les Fleurs du Mal. Paris : Editions La Pléiade 1975. p.142

“Pascal had his abyss that moved along with him.

— Alas! all is abysmal, — action, desire, dream,

Word! and over my hair which stands on end

I feel the wind of Fear pass frequently.

Above, below, on every side, the depth, the strand,

The silence, space, hideous and fascinating...

I'm afraid of sleep as one is of a great hole

Full of obscure horrors, leading one knows not where;

I see only infinite through every window,

And my spirit, haunted by vertigo, is jealous

Of the insensibility of nothingness….”

—Translated by: William Aggeler, The Flowers of Evil (Fresno, CA: Academy Library Guild, 1954)

27 Baudelaire, Charles. Les Fleurs du Mal. Paris : Editions La Pléiade 1975. p.43

“O mystic metamorphosis

Of all my senses joined in one!

Her breath makes music,

And her voice makes perfume!"

— Translated by: William Aggeler, The Flowers of Evil (Fresno, CA: Academy Library Guild, 1954)

28 Baudelaire, Charles. Les Fleurs du Mal. Paris : Editions La Pléiade 1975. p.131

“The richest cities, the finest landscapes,

Never contained the mysterious attraction

75

Of the ones that chance fashions from the clouds

And desire was always making us more avid!”

- Translated by: Geoffrey Wagner, Selected Poems of Charles Baudelaire (NY: Grove Press, 1974)

29 Deleuze, Gilles & Guattari, Félix. Mille Plateaux. Paris : Les Éditions de Minuit, 1980. p627-641

The conclusion to the book is essentially a reiteration in the form of definitions of all the concepts elaborated

through the book. Such technique of using pure definitions without reference notes and elaboration helps the

reader to review the main concepts with clarity and conciseness.

30Minkowski, Eugène. Vers une cosmologie. Paris: Editions Payot, 1999.p69-73

Minkowski explains the example of a train leaving the station. In the train is a loved one leaving his

companion in the station. The companion visually follows the movement of the train’s departure as his

thoughts follow the train. Thus the spirit of the companion is transported somewhere else être ailleurs. The

author further explains that it is within a spiritual space that thoughts can be transported and that such space is

being created simultaneously as the movement evolves.

31 Minkowski, Eugène. Vers une cosmologie. Paris: Editions Payot, 1999.p154-157

“…dans l’obscurité de la nuit…les objets prennent des formes bizarres, pleines d’attrait et de poésie, ils

s’animent d’une forme nouvelle…de la vie de la nuit.”

According to Minkowski, all sense of time and space collapses within the darkness of the night. Such darkness

brings to life intangible specters. Obscurity reveals the depth of mystery.

32 Nietzsche Friedrich, Untimely Meditations, On the Uses and Abuses of History for Life, 1873

“The unhistorical is like an enveloping atmosphere in which life generates itself, only to disappear again with

the destruction of this atmosphere.”

33 Deleuze, Gilles & Guattari, Félix. Mille Plateaux. Paris : Les Éditions de Minuit, 1980.pp.31, 36

“Il (le Rhizome) n’a pas de commencement ni de fin, mais toujours un milieu.” The author introduces the idea

of seeing and creating events within a middle place without beginning or ending point for it is in that middle

76

(milieu) that potentialities of intensities occur, a vertical transcendence leading to a line of flight (ligne de

fuite).

34 Deleuze, Gilles & Guattari, Félix. Mille Plateaux. Paris : Les Éditions de Minuit, 1980.pp597,598,632

“ La perception y es faite de symptômes et d’évaluations, plutôt que de mesures…”