The Potential of Using Plassmaas Concept of Unconscious Vision To Achieve the Ideal Dwelling in Riyadh City - Research Paper Example

The Potential of Using Plassmaa’s Concept of “Unconscious Vision” To Achieve the Ideal Dwelling in Riyadh Research Question How can Pallassma’s concept of “Unconscious Vision” be used to achieve the ideal aesthetical dwelling in Riyadh City? The objective of using the concept of duality of vision will seek to explore the extent to which expressions of both conscious and conscious vision can be harnessed in helping to restore, as well as reduce tension, in Riyadh’s urban areas. Attempts to restore the city’s well-being and aesthetics will be researched by experiencing how two contrasting atmospheres, contemplative and convivial, can be integrated. The design will be informed by the psychological and physical needs of the Riyadh urban environment, while the ideas explored in the research will have a positive response to the mind both subjectively and objectively. By combining ideas of urban planning with Pallassma’s concept of duality of vision, the research will seek to investigate the potential of using new phenomenological strategies to allow for a more engaging city. Key Terms Unconscious vision: Also defined as a metaphor, it involves the use of non-sight senses in visualizing spatial experience like feel, touch, smell, and taste. Duality of vision: This involves the combination of non-visual and visual spatial experiences Introduction The aim of this research is to examine how facilities and spaces in Riyadh can be inserted into the city’s urban areas to achieve an ideal dwelling for its population, as well as restore its well-being for the users. My decision to undertake this research was informed by personal experience regarding the urban realm, especially in relation to the problem of housing density. The significant growth of Riyadh, as a result, of the country’s oil wealth has resulted in increasing overcrowding, particularly, as a result, of poor strategies of urban planning. Because of increasing urban population, there is a threat of issues that persist with high density of urban areas1. Riyadh’s emergence as an urban center can trace its roots to 1824 as the capital of the second Saudi state. Prior to this, it consisted of small villages scattered throughout the Wadi Hanifa area. After the first period of urbanization, a second period started in 1902 led by King Ibn Sa’ud. Therefore, Riyadh is a city of the 20th century, growing from a population of fourteen thousand inhabitants living on one km2 in 1902 to 4.3 million people living on an area of 1,500 km2 in 20002. Contemporary Riyadh architects and designers have been guilty of often neglecting the city’s buildings at the level of our senses and on a human scale. Bloomer in discussing cities for people justifies the fact that deficient cities across the world have disregarded human dimensions with technology driving high-rise building fabrications that rarely prioritize on human experience and perception, thus failing to achieve a duality of vision and focusing only on the conscious vision3. The challenge, therefore, is for the creation of cities that have aesthetic appeal to the human senses. For example, the lack of open spaces in Riyadh, while maintaining a cozy feeling for its residents, may also result in a feeling of claustrophobia that induces stress, instead of inspiring a perception of relaxation. Well-constructed spaces in urban areas are well connected and allow good openings; however, compared with big open spaces, which give an immediate overall perception of an area’s whole space. Bloomer proposes the separation of different city activities because bends and curves give the viewer an intriguing option, such as a new experience around the corner, thus achieving unconscious vision and subjectivity4. The aim of this research study will be to investigate how Pallassma’s unconscious vision concept can be used in improving the design of Riyadh’s dwellings. Pallassma’s discussion concerning phenomenology considers the integration of conscious vision and unconscious vision of the viewer’s spatial experience, which will inform the research study’s investigation as to whether existing or new ideas can be used to allow for the designing of Riyadh to achieve a perception of nostalgia and satisfaction. The hypothesis for the research is that through the insertion of urban spaces in the urban-scape of Riyadh that already exists, it will be possible to enhance the well-being and living experience for Riyadh’s residents. The entire design for this study is driven by this hypothesis and the previously stated research question. Objectives To establish whether the current dwellings in Riyadh currently incorporate the unconscious vision concept for its residents To consider how any subsequent lack or limitation of the unconscious vision concept can be addressed to achieve a dwelling place that has duality of vision, thus an ideal dwelling place Literature Review With regards to the objectives and the research question, the design of the literature notes will seek to identify theories and principles that will shape the proposal for restoring unconscious vision concepts in Riyadh. The categories to be reviewed consist of important components in comprehending the ideas underlying perception through acknowledgement of psychological requirements, as well as how this can be applied to current theory and practice in architecture. In order to confine the literature review’s focus, content only covered information relevant to tension atmosphere and urban context. To address issues regarding density of urban areas with regards to human perception and well-being, one are of importance is the psychological repercussions resulting from urban design. How specific spaces are laid out and the atmospheres they contribute trigger unconscious psychological perceptions. Thus, to understand the perceptions of humans, it is essential to appreciate human senses, as well as how these interact with the environment. Human Senses The senses are the most basic and direct inherited biological element for human beings. Not only does architecture deal with the physical built form, it also affects how humans feel when occupying these spaces, as well as how the human senses react to their surroundings. In essence, architecture offers spirit and life to a wide array of qualities that impact on the human soul and human senses5. The human body and the surrounding environment have always had a close relationship and, therefore, it is from one’s body as the central subject that humans orient themselves with the external environment6. When constructing cities to be inhabited by humans, the natural point at which architects start is human senses and human mobility, especially since they provide man’s biological foundation for communications, behavior, and activities within city spaces. Pallassma identifies the fact that architecture’s lack of regard for humanity has been as a result of disparity in human senses, particularly where vision has been over-expressed and over-ranked. Perception, however, fails to create a holistic human experience, rather appearing as a still image that does not have plasticity and deceives the human eye7. Thus, the inhuman nature architecture in most cities and their architectural layout can be approached from the perspective of an imbalance in the human system of sense. Architecture that is able to express all the human senses can exert an experience, which is multi-sensory. There are a number of theories contending that most of the information in the surroundings is conceived by sight. At about one hundred meters, humans can visualize motion and sense the atmosphere, although it is not possible to identify the details8. When humans are within 25 meters, they have the ability to observe human expressions. Thus, human sense of vision allows for the comfortable perception of surroundings at approximately 70-800 below and 50-550 above eye level because vision has, over time, developed its most ideal gesture as horizontal motion9. The creation of private and public spaces is enabled by human ability to perceive distances and angles. Human interaction occurs over four forms of distance; public distance at 370cm+, social distance at 120-370cm, personal distance at 45-120cm, and intimate distance at 0-45cm10. This affects the placement of facilities for public use, as well as determining how comfortable people feel in a specific space. Because human eyes prefer to view beauty as it gives a sense of pleasure and happiness, potential of variations in materials, scale, and volume must be incorporated for the environment to be stimulating and aesthetic. Thus, paths must be divided into sections, while views must be interesting and facades vertical to stimulate interest when walking in the city11. With regards to the sense of sound, it is usually of unconscious nature within the natural environment, enhancing human comfort and affecting mental processes and mood12. Modern materials may inhibit the true architectural sense and dimension of sound. At twenty-five meters, it is possible to exchange short messages, albeit with slight difficulty, and it is only when within seven meters that it is possible to hold conversations. While various urban sounds like music are pleasant and can evoke fond memories, some of the sounds in cities like vehicles and machinery can also be annoying13. Social hubs can be defined as either being for communal or individual use in relation to the sound and visual measures. Whereas some individuals feel more relaxed and happy when they are able to interact with others in society, others may need a contemplative sense to feel the same. Thus, maintaining a perception of personal space in cities is important in helping to give a perception of calm and shielding against stress and negativity14. Odors also have the ability to enhance the perception of an urban area, as well as attract people, through an arousal of their biological needs. For example, the smell of flowers reminds people of how intimately related to nature they are, while the smell of food may remind an individual of their energy source15. Touch is also important in enhancing human perception, especially for its ability to perceive the environment in three dimensions16. Pallassma believes that vision, taste, and smell are an extension of the sense of touch. Accordingly, texture possesses the ability to influence and carry experience into all types of architectural spaces17. The sense of touch is enhanced, alongside distinctive texture, by contrast of dark and light. In addition, different properties of color are perceived quickly and easily, influencing the viewer unconsciously. For the viewer, light content, surface texture, scale, quality of sound, colors, and furnishing will all play a critical role in how the space is characterized in their mind, i.e. their perception will be influenced by these factors18. For example, the use of color preferences is justified by Leyton for various age groups. People who show a dislocation from their surroundings tend to favor cool colors, while those who successfully adapt to the world around them prefer warm colors and color in general19. Cool and passive colors tend to be calming, and its qualities are possessed by such colors, as green, violet, and blue, while warm colors are active, exciting, and its qualities possessed by red and colors of similar hue. Thus, light colors induce a feeling of calm, while deep colors transmit passiveness. These properties affect the viewer unconsciously and are quickly perceived. The research paper will seek to incorporate these properties in achieving the ideal aesthetic dwelling in Riyadh. Methodology The research inquiry will be guided by a positivist and realist philosophy. This approach will enable an investigation of the research questions, as it will allow for exploration of how people perceive their surroundings. Positivism as a science philosophy contends that all authoritative knowledge can only be achieved through sensory experience, as well as that it this derived knowledge is the only valid knowledge20. This approach will be especially useful for accomplishing the research objectives because it holds that, just as with the physical world, society operates under the direction of general laws that, in this case, guide the unconscious perceptions of humans. Realism, on the other hand, represents an attempt to truthfully represent the subject matter by shunning artistic conventions, supernatural elements, exotic elements, and avoid artificiality21. Realism, for most parts, is an issue of training and technique, which avoids the use of stylizations. This approach is also a fit for answering the research question, specifically due to its insistence on accurate depictions of light and color detail and perspective with an aim of stimulating human perception. In order to accurately fulfill the research objectives and answer the research question, this research study will adopt a qualitative design, in which data will be collected using three methods; case studies, text-based research, and semi-structured interviews. The case study method involves studying a specific research problem in-depth, instead of conducting a sweeping survey of the research problem22. This will be important to this research study since the area of phenomenological architecture is wide and multi-disciplinary, which will require the field of research to be narrowed down to a few research examples that are easier to investigate. In addition, because the research objectives also seek to assess the applicability of incorporating unconscious vision concepts in Riyadh, case study research design will aid in testing the applicability of the phenomenological model and theory in the city. It is especially useful when the researcher does not much about the specific phenomenon or the context of the phenomenon23. The case study design, for example, will bring understanding to the complexities of duality of vision in Riyadh by detailing what is a limited number of conditions and events, as well their relationships. In addition, it will also enable the examination of contemporary and real life situations, while also giving a basis for how phenomenological concepts and theories can be applied and extended to Riyadh City. The research study will also make use of text-based research, especially to investigate properties of unconscious vision that are applicable to Riyadh City in achieving an ideal dwelling place. This research method is specifically designed to evaluate, as well as summarize, results from various studies systematically with the aim of increasing the sample size and allowing the researcher study the effects that are of interest to the research question24. This will be useful in the research study as the number of case studies available for how the unconscious vision concept has been applied to modern cities. Thus, this research method will complement the earlier case study method. The research method’s main objective involves analysis of research studies and noting the differences, as well as increasing the estimated effects’ precision. In this case, the text chosen for research will have to adhere to strict criteria by only searching for studies that fit the clearly defined objectives and their description. Only studies that include specific references to unconscious vision and urban design variables and outcomes will be included25. The identification and selection of these studies will also be well-documented using well-reasoned arguments. Text-based research will be effective for determining literature gaps that should be researched further, while it will also help overcome the small size of sample available from individual case studies. Finally, after the research gaps in literature have been identified, the research study will construct a semi-structured interview to collect more information. In the semi-structured interview, the participants in the study and the researcher, in this case the interviewer, will engage in a formal interview, while an interview guide with a list of topics and questions that require covering over the interview26. Although the questions will be placed using a specific order, they will follow topical trajectories, which means that the conversation will also be guided by new information given by the participants that may require additional research. The semi-structured interview will fit this study because it is not certain that the participants will not be interviewed more than once. The guide for the semi-structured interview allows the researcher to use a clear set of instructions, providing comparable and reliable qualitative data27. By including the open-ended questions provided by a semi-structured interview, it will be possible to follow the relevant topics set out from the text-based research, while also following up leads provided by the participants to enable the identification new ways to understand and apply phenomenological design in making Riyadh dwelling places more ideal. In conducting the semi-structured interview, the interviewer will have an interview guide written on paper that will be followed and, because they contain open-ended discussions and questions, it will also be important to tape-record the interview. This is because the discussion may stray from the guide and there may be need for transcripts for later analysis. Voice recording will also be important because, although it will be possible to capture the answers by jotting notes, it is difficult to jot notes and conduct an interview simultaneously28. The endnotes may also be poor and the development of rapport between the researcher and the participants may be harmed. This is important because, in semi-structured interviews, it is crucial to develop dialogues and rapport. In addition, the researcher will also make provisions for a note-taker to be present if the participant does not feel comfortable with tape recording. Finally, the use of semi-structured interviews will be preferred because it is possible to prepare the questions ahead of time, thus allowing the questions to be guided by the results of the case study and text-based research29. On top of providing the participants with the freedom to give their views, it will also provide comparable, reliable qualitative information. Ethical Considerations For this research study, the ethical considerations will mostly arise from the semi-structured interview and case study section of the research design. For this reason, it will be important to get permission and a signed consent form from the participants, as well as the establishments that may be used to conduct the interviews. The participants of the study must be aware of what the research’s intentions are. In addition, it will be crucial for the researcher to ensure that the participants agree for their voices and answers to be recorded, while also allowing for the use of information gathered from them for the purpose stated. Moreover, there may be ethical issues surrounding confidentiality and privacy, especially when interviewing participants in the architectural sector. This is because some of the information they offer about future plans may need to be discussed anonymously, especially if they impact on their parent architectural firms. With regards to the nature of the research study, several ethical considerations should be taken. These include ethically analyzing the data, information, and results of the case study must be ethically handled, while, for the text-based research, the counter-arguments will be represented fairly. Finally, the results of the semi-structured interviews will be presented in a manner that evidences trust and integrity. Audience and Dissemination Since the aim of this research study is to ascertain the lack of unconscious vision in the current Riyadh dwelling layout and to develop a plan for integrating these concepts to create an ideal dwelling place, the study’s primary audience will be architecture and design staff, homeowners and interested homeowners, and interior designers. Dissemination of the results for this research study will be effectively carried out journal publications, symposia, and presenting the results to academic and scholarly institutions. As this is an architectural design based research study, it is expected that the journals that will be interested in carrying the results will be architecture and design journals. These journals will have published related or similar topical based issues, and they will be approached after the research is finished and evaluated. The journal publications to be approached will include interior design journals, psychological journals, and design academic journals. Some of these journals will include the Architectural Research Quarterly, the Journal of Architecture, and the Theory, Culture, and Society Journal. Timetable Month September October November December January February Hand in Proposal Literature Review Text Based-research Case Study Data Collection Interviews Data Collection Data Analysis Writing the report Submission of final draft Bibliography Bloomer, K, Body, Memory and Architecture, 2nd edn, London, Harper & Row, 1977 Day, C, Places of the Soul, 3rd edn, London, The Aquarian Press, 1990 Holl, S, J Pallasmaa & GA Pérez, Questions of Perception: Phenomenology of Architecture, 2nd edn, William Stout, San Francisco, 2008 Lydon, D, Chamber for a Memory Palace, 2nd edn, United States of America: Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data, 1994 Leyton, M, Shape as memory: A Geometric Theory of Architecture, 4th edn United States of America: Deutsche Bibliothek Cataloging-in-Publication Data, 2006 Bloomer, K, Body, Memory and Architecture, 2nd edn, London, Harper & Row, 1997 Day, C, Places of the Soul, 3rd edn, London, The Aquarian Press, 1990 Dovey, K, The Dwelling Experience: Towards a Phenomenology of Architecture, 3rd edn, Faculty of Architecture, Building and Town & Regional Planning, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, 1979. Holl, S, J Pallasmaa & GA Pérez, Questions of Perception: Phenomenology of Architecture, 2nd edn, William Stout, San Francisco, 2008 Jha, NK, Research Methodology, 3rd edn, Chandigarh: Abhishek Publications, 2013 Lydon, D, Chamber for a Memory Palace, 2nd edn, Washington, D.C., Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data, 1994 Leyton, M, Shape as memory: A Geometric Theory of Architecture, 4th edn, Washington, D.C., Deutsche Bibliothek Cataloging-in-Publication Data, 2006 Newman, I; Benz, CR, Qualitative-quantitative Research Methodology: Exploring the Interactive Continuum, 4th edn, Carbondale, Ill, Southern Illinois University Press, 2011 Rajendra, KC, Research Methodology, 5th edn, New Delhi, APH Pub Corp, 2013 Scruggs, TE; Mastropieri, MA, Applications of Research Methodology, 2nd edn, Amsterdam, Elsevier JAI, 2012 Read More