AN ARCHITECTURAL INBODIMENT
O N I N T R O S P E C T I V E P R E S E N C I N G
Malia Marantan
Contemporary Japan and its relationship to the built environment has reinforced a culture deeply shaped by consumerism. One that defines individuals by their roles as hyper-commercialized consumers. In this context, Architecture then becomes systemized - succumbed to controlled routines, un-autonomous productivity, and modes of performance that leave little room for self-introspection or genuine self-expression. However, from these existing conditions, this thesis challenges an alternative.
Contemporary Japan and its relationship to the built environment has reinforced a culture deeply shaped by consumerism. One that defines individuals by their roles as hyper-commercialized consumers. In this context, Architecture then becomes systemized - succumbed to controlled routines, un-autonomous productivity, and modes of performance that leave little room for self-introspection or genuine self-expression. However, from these existing conditions, this thesis challenges an alternative.
THE PRESENT IS MOVING INFINITY, THE LEGITIMATE SPHERE OF THE RELATIVE. RELATIVITY SEEKS ADJUSTMENT; ADJUSTMENT IS ART. THE ART OF LIFE LIES IN A CONSTANT READJUSTMENT TO OUR SURROUNDINGS.
- OKAKURA
THESIS STATEMENT
In contemporary neoliberal discourse, ‘the self’ has been co-opted by systems of forced consumption and production, reducing the subjective self to what Gilles Deleuze refers to as the “dividual.” Denoted as a data-based abstraction reconstructed through its relationship to external objects, this methodology, in turn, has resulted in the colonization of aesthetics and commodification of ideas, as economic forces exert their influence over individual identities.
The notion of self-reliance in relation to these individual identities delineates two contrasting concepts of ‘the self,’ masking their profound implications. On the one hand, neoliberalism enforces a reductive, utilitarian construct of individuality - a framework Giorgio Agamben conceptualizes as “bare life.”
However, on the other hand, a multidimensional view of ‘the self’ affirms the full spectrum of human subjectivity and agency, and transcends the narrow impositions of neoliberalism. In celebrating the capacity for self-actualization and performative assertion, a more equitable-societal paradigm can thus resist conformity to mechanistic systems of the individual. In recognizing that individuals are consistently constructing themselves, David Hume’s philosophy recalls the narrative nature of ‘the self’ - one that constantly recombines all of a person’s experiences into a cohesive whole. Seemingly continuous as they develop, change, and accumulate different experiences, ‘the self’ as a form of self-expression initiates an assertion of their subjective selves. While theorists such as Byung-Chul Han critique this ‘self’ as fostering a “culture of narcissism” and simultaneously eroding the idea of community, this objectified version is reduced to being self-defined in relation to external objects. In the neoliberal paradigm, however, this community-based self construction argued by Han is undermined. Transformed into consumerist data and burdened with the obligation for self-reliance, neoliberal individuals are broken down into consumeristic metrics of “dividuals.” Thus, setting the terms of narrative reconstruction through external capitalistic logics. Addressing the intellectual and corporeal dimensions of ‘the self,’ the reduction of individuals’ subjective selves to the subjected self imposed by capitalism has therefore been reinforced by the suppression of individuals’ bodily subjectivity. This, in turn, has become regulated by external and social ideas imposed by architecture, making these social ideas seem outrospective and externally-motivated through specific regulations of space and time. In Henri Lefebvre’s concept of Rhythmanalysis, this can be seen through the capitalistic distortion of individual rhythms being reduced to an economic source. Despite this, through an architecture reformulated in order to incentivize and validate self-directed performances, connections, and movements, concepts such as the “walking rhetorics” described by Michel de Certeau demonstrate the possibilities of individual action and utilization of introspective perspectives. As a necessary subjective shift, this counteraction to the logics of neoliberalism and capitalism enables an intertwined duality of ‘the self’ to one’s own mind and body, constituting this introspective nature to adhere to discourses, such as Arata Isozaki’s concept of Ma and Henri Lefebvre’s Spatial Triad on the representational-lived space. By incentivizing bodily performances through these ‘lived’ spaces, the processes of [in]bodiment through an architecture premised on individual agency - both spatial and temporal - thus serves as a form of resistance against these contemporary confines.
Through a re- claiming and re- defining of introspective spaces for ‘the self,’ this thesis demonstrates a new vernacular of self-motivated and self-expressive being through a series of multiple moments in areas where self-identification is hindered by consumerism. In leveraging architecture as a catalyst of dynamic interplay between external environments and internal awareness, the design of these genuine instances invokes . . .
a de-regulation of rigidly defined architectural boundaries, resulting in spaces that encourage new forms of re-connection for the subjective self.
why INTROSPECTION ?
in the face of the given social field, standardization prompts how one self constructs, leading to . . .
impulsions of
defined by
creating
CONSUMERISM
SUBJECTED IDENTIFICATION
DEPENDENCY
OR
opportunities for
to create a
allowing
to be reclaimed
INTROSPECTION
SUBJECTIVE SELF-IDENTITY
SPATIAL INDIVIDUALIZATION
PEOPLE REJECT EXPOSING THE SUBJECTIVITY WHEN ONE PIECE OF STUFF IS PREFERRED TO ANTOHER.
- ROQUET
As the heart of Harajuku’s dynamic fashion scene, Takeshita Street originated in the 1970s as a quiet residential area, home to traditional Japanese houses. From its transformation into a commercial and cultural landmark during the 1980s - reaching its peak in the 1990s - the street became an emergence for youth subcultures and fashion. Thriving in its unique environment, popular trends such as kawaii and gyaru became associated with the area, using the street as a platform for self-expression and social commentary. Through its hyperactive energy and dense concentration of experimental boutiques, themed cafés, and street vendors, Takeshita Street became a sociocultural microcosm.
In the interplay between consumerism and identity construction, its influence extended beyond mere fashion, and instead prompted the shaping of global perceptions of Japanese youth culture and globalization of niche aesthetics.
In the aftermath of World War II, the historical area of Harajuku evolved from its modest residential presence into an established epicenter for economic advancements, seeing many of its streets become highly dependent on consumer-driven uses. Towards the southern end of Takeshita Street, Harajuku Street emerged as a narrower, more intimate thoroughfare, embodying a quieter yet equally dynamic facet of the district. Encapsulating the creative evolution of commercialism in a more localized and artisanal form, Harajuku Street with its array of independently owned boutiques, shops, and specialty eateries began to thrive in the happening upon its localized area.
In preparation for the 1964 Summer Olympics, Tokyo underwent a series of ambitious urban developments, including the trenching of the Shibuya River. Enabling the city to expand its infrastructure vertically and horizontally, this effort of redesigning the river as an underground waterway became emblematic of Japan’s post-war modernizational drive. With this evolving landscape, Cat Street emerged as a seemingly slower counterpoint to the frenetic energy of neighboring districts. Although previously considered an insignificant back alley of Shibuya, its promenade invites a diverse array of individuals, offering an unusually introspective urban experience.
As a thriving commercial and cultural nexus, Cat Street’s evolution reflects the fluid nature of Tokyo’s consumer culture, with its ever-shifting array of independent boutiques, niche retailers, and flagship brand stores.
Focusing on transitional and residual spaces within the city’s urban fabric, the potential for moments of self-reclamation provides this thesis to introduce a series of spatial interventions informed by subjective agency. In creating opportunities that resist the fast-paced nature of the consumerist lifestyle, an affordance of new environments that offer privacy and solitude through mediums of ambiguous-temporary forms can promote and encourage individuals to define their own purposes. A new way of self-reflection.
Amidst these potential spaces, they also begin to deter away from the expectation of a constant-singular movement and vulnerability in visibility. Where consumerism often amplifies a curated version of the self. However, by providing opportunities for the mind and body to reconnect through a different mode of being, spaces allocate towards a subjective nature. In viewing architecture as a way of constructing meaning through presencing and spatial redirection, this thesis thus deviates from the aesthetic conformity of self identity and places an emphasis of the unique self at the forefront.
As a method of intervention, the employment of modest-scale structures offer an adaptable and temporary nature - emerging in tension with its surrounding consumer context. In rejecting the optimised way of commercial architecture through a sense of autonomy and performance, the lightweight materials of crafted timber and semi-transparent scrims create a simplicity unforeseen to the rigid landscape. Demonstrated through a modular wooden grid, the adaptable and tactile engagement offers a free-range boundary condition to occur - seeing platforms become stairs and nodes become resting spaces. Left open to interpretation, the open grid system also promotes an ambiguity of program, allowing each individual to reframe their own narrative.
Although some anomalies of the open grid lie in the curved outer facade and internal extensions to create a variety of seating options, the unique nature of the typical grid transformed into a porous structure invokes and encourages a new type of curious awareness. In noticing the custom-built joinery of the beam to column connections, the compression and expansion of the varying heights, and the shadow patterns that overlap throughout the day - the structure itself becomes an introspective object of redefinition.
In addition to this way of thinking, idiosyncratic objects also occupy the interior as supplementary ways of provoking introspection. Composed of similar cubic shapes to adhere to a commonality in shape and size, the light fixtures and potted plants act impermanently - free to be moved around the space at the individual’s desire. Where each and every part, from the structure to the object, becomes a way of unlimited autonomy.
From these design strategies that enable a physical sensation of subjectivity, a communication of this thesis through representational technique then requires an insight into the perspectival experience. Where possessing an individual level of introspection is to view it from a personal lens.
Through vignettes the semi-transparentness of the scrims give a presence of others without full visibility. Through sections the multiple paths of circulation create obscurity of what direction to follow. Through construction drawings the composition of form becomes an understandable system inherent to its structure. By relying on a layered method of visual conception, the design thus, leverages the perspectival narratives to then become a congruent reality.
In proposing architecture to extend beyond the realm of singular efficiency, this thesis demonstrates spaces for complexity, reflection, and self-awareness to become prominent as a means of cultivating deeper human experiences. Through the reclamation and shaping of introspective environments, external definitions imposed by consumer culture are instead replaced with a nurturing of the subjective self. By allowing for architecture to become an instrument of personal agency, it repositions the built environment as a creative medium in which explorations of the self can be reconsidered.
