Transcending Space

Abstract

Throughout time – preceding constructed civilization – ritual has been a predominant part of life. Early Native American settlers danced around fires chanting rituals and expressing their emotional connection to the physical earth. Essentially, these are empowered spaces within which cultures have adapted along side both the earth and people – expressing faith in a driving force that is larger than any one man. These empowering spaces have provided a vital force in the advancement of cultures, and their social fabrics. Existential philosophy would suggest that even a fire – mentioned in the prior example – has the ability to transform a “space” into a “place”, but when does the fire transform beyond a simple flame? The fire has a humble power, in that it succumbs itself to a larger ideal. This thesis ventures to suggest that space has the ability to locate an individual – however – a place has the ability to influence and empower an entire culture. Ultimately lending itself to a focus on culture and identity – specifically “misplaced identity” – through the experience of spaces, that have adapted to a torn social, cultural, and urban fabric. The importance of these theories may be relevant, but what is equally if not more important is the theater. It is the difference between attraction and intimacy. The simple fire [noted above] has a humble power, where as the typical skyscraper serves as a monument to mans ego. The skyscraper may be a representation of a more sophisticated assembly – one that speaks to the current culture – yet as harmonious as its construction may be – it is merely a display of a displaced connection between body and earth. Space is typically thought of as an area of settlement – a locator of man. Where as place is the embodiment of space – in that it goes beyond the limits of space. Place is expressed through the interaction and adaptation of man, as well as built – natural – public – and private environments. In order for space to transcend beyond itself to form place it is imperative that there is a cultural presence to reveal within the context of the site. It is also necessary for a historical character to exist within both the contextual aspects of the space, as well as its inhabitants. For this thesis circumstance it is almost preferable that the social fabric within the space be torn. In that throughout time, the cultures identity has been “misplaced” [not necessarily lost].