Chapter 6 Corners

In chapter, Bachelard speaks about how corners are a consciousness of peace a refuge and allow a sense of safety. It is a haven for children and the dreamer in each of us. Although we are left questioning when discussing corners, “why is it worse for us to say that an angle is cold and a curve warm? That the angle is masculine and the curve feminine? [A] curved corner inhabits geometry. p. 146” We find comfort in corners as hid away from the outside world. The corner in this way becomes as soft and cozy as any curve could offer to us. We are able to daydream in this niche and lose ourselves with “little sensation of time, great void of eternity! All infinity can be contained in this stone corner… p. 142” The world around us seems to become intently larger and minute in the same moment. “The dreamer would appear to enjoy the repose that divides being and non-being p.145” Where they can feel safe snuggled in their corner but allowed to explore the great abyss of space and images of existence.

Composted: Sara Gray

Jackie Mascarella's Reflections on Poetics of Space: Chapter Five

Taken as a whole, with both its hard covering and its sentient organism, the shell, for the Ancients, was the symbol of the human being in its entirety, body and soul.  (Bachelard, page 116)  To paraphrase, the shell is symbolic of the human body, which is a protective envelope for the soul (the mollusk).  A shell grows from within.  Some shells form chambers as they grow and produce walls that conceal through the imitation of surfaces. (Bachelard, page 130)  The shell, which comes in so many shapes and sizes, can be a house, a cave, a fortress city, and a place of withdrawal or concealment.  Therefore, the imagination can produce all sorts of fantastical imagery about these mysterious forms because we are curious about what the interior looks like and what creature lives inside.

Bachelard says, on page 120, nests and shells are refuges in which life is concentrated, prepared, and transformed.  Like shells, homes can take a variety of forms and purposes.  In an ideal first home, a child is nurtured, loved, educated and protected with the purpose of forming a well-rounded individual.  Therefore, a shell, for a person with an ideal childhood, will evoke warm and happy memories – a place they want to go back to.  On the contrary, someone who did not have an ideal childhood will not wish to evoke those memories.

A shell is formed from within.  To me, this means that we define our own interior spaces based on our personal history and experiences, our personalities, needs and idea of comfort and safety.  Over the stages of our lives, these can be different things.  For example, a child might mold the living room into an imaginary fortress by tying sheets between two chairs and enjoy dramatic play beneath it for days.  They are shaping home to their scale.  On the other hand, a teenager or young couple will form their interior spaces in completely different ways than an “empty nester.”Home means different things to different people depending on their early experiences.  Were they loved and nurtured?  Was their home comfortable, safe and warm?  What does home need to be to them?

 

Chapter Four "Nests"

"...Men can do everything except build a bird's nest." Bachelard is referencing the proverb Ambroise Pare's work: "The enterprise and skill with which animals make their nest is so efficient that it is not possible to do better, so entirely do they surpass all masons, carpenters, and builders; for their is not a man who would be able to make a house better suited to himself and to his children than these little animals build for themselves." In this chapter Bachelard talks about the sophistication of the way birds create and make their nests. Men, with all their wisdom, tools, and power are incapable of building a nest. ("According to Michelet, a bird is a worker without tools." p. 100) Bachelard mentions Thoreau's theory of the tree becoming a nest for daydreamers to hide away and be able to dream and make memories. ("A tree becomes a nest the moment a great dreamer hides in it." p.97) Confidence is introduced as a means to build a shelter. Bachelard poses the question," Would a bird build its nest if it did not have its instinct for confidence in the world", p.103. The act of daydreaming builds confidence because in a daydream you can be whoever you want to be. In dreams we are able to be fearless, as the birds are. People who have low self confidence might live out a life of confidence through their dreams. ("A rhythm that reaches back across the years and, through the dream, combats all absence", p.99) He is talking about the function of inhabitant a space through dreams. ("For not only do we come back to it, but we dream of coming back to it," p.99). We always bring old experiences with us, which form our present state of mind.

"Mankind's nest, like his world, is never finished. And imagination helps us to continue," p.104).

Composted by: Jovana Nikolic, Sara Gray, Emily Davis
Imafe courtesy of: www.iappraise.com/

Poetics of Space Chapter 5 "Shells"

Shells:

 "Snails build a little house which they carry about with them,"so" they are always at home in whatever country they travel." (pg 121) This quote helps describe the thoughts of Bachelard in dealing with natural dwellings, shelters and the charm that they take on as individual units. The mystery of these homes is in their creation not the actual form of the structure.

 Bachelard speaks of J.B Robinets opinion that states that the creation of life is the creation of form, life brings about living form. He also believes that much like fossils, shells become the natural endeavor to create human form. The shell is a important representation of the human body which in turn protects the soul. Without a creature the shell is empty and void of life, the same goes for human life, when the soul leaves the body it becomes an empty vessel. 

"I have simply wanted to show that whenever life seeks to shelter, protect, cover or hide itself, the imagination sympathizes with the being that inhabits the protected space." (pg 132) To conclude Bachelard speaks of the fact that a shell has a direct correlation between the user and the actual space in which they dwell. Every detail of a shell is related to its overall design and this follows suite with human characteristics and the spaces that they inhabit. 

the tentative schedule for the beta project.

What I Have Learned So Far This Semester . . .

So far this semester I have already learned so much. I have researched and learned many different styles of learning, and in studying them I have tried to understand what style of learning I use. I try to apply these lessons into my everyday style of work. I've tried to step back and think more, and be more creative in my design approach. Something else I have learned is that because there are so many different styles of learning that everyone learns in a different way. Working with so many people in studio you get to expereience all these different styles, and see who you work best with. I want to try and apply different ideas and styles towards my work in studio. I feel like I need to shake things up and try new things. Sometimes in school we all get into a routine, and things can become dull or static, I feel the best way to succeed is to stay dynamic and keep things interesting. I want to try more sketching and conceptual work this semester, and hopefully this change will affect my work in a positive way.

Jessica Shupe

This Semester

This semester, thus far, I have learned quite a bit. Starting with the ways of learning, I knew what they were and how they work. But to actually putting them into action is something different. This semester is also different from the others because we are reading the Poetics of Space, which is a hard book to read but has a great meaning and quite a few lessons in the book for us, dealing with design and the different ways of looking at the world as a whole. When we had the chance to critique the 1st years, we were supposed to be helping them but it also helped me as well. It made me realize how much I have learned so far and forced me to realize the different ways of designing and learning the skills from others by their teaching.