From Corporeality to Embodiment Rethinking the Role of Body in the Transformation of Architectural Theories in the West

Abstract

In the past three decades new cognitive sciences viewpoints have highlighted the influential role of the body in cognitive processes; a role long neglected by the dominance of mind-body dualism in cognitive and intellectual domains such as architectural thought, despite the seminal role of the body for discovery and cognition of the world. Such cognition is experienced through interactions between objective micro-worlds such as that of architecture, and the third-person and first-person (lived) bodies. Has this body and its cognitive role always been neglected in the history of architectural thought? To answer this question the present paper tries to investigate this role and its influence in the history of formation and evolution of architectural theories in the West. Using logical reasoning and a descriptive-analytical approach, parts of Western history of architecture are rethought, due to its close associations with the Western philosophy in the formation of this history.The results show that different ideas about the body can be identified in history, ranging from corporeality to embodiment. It is then anticipated that the embodiment, the cognitive role of the body and the above viewpoints will gradually influence architectural theories leading it towards notions of "close relationship between the first-person body and architecture".

Keywords

• phenomenology of architecture
• lived body
• corporeality
• embodiment
• history of architectural theory