ONTOLOGICAL DESIGN HOW OUR SPACES SHAPE US AND HOW WE ARE INSPIRED TO SHAPE OUR SPACES ‚Just as you grow into the world, the world grows into you. Not only do you occupy a certain place, but that place in turn occupies you. Its culture shapes the way you see the world, its language informs the way you think, its customs structure you as a social being.‛ -Costica Bradatan REFLECTIVE ESSAY BY KAMSIN MIRCHANDANI UNIVERSITY OF LINCOLN | 2015 Vividly recalling the twisty narrow roads from the Colombo International Airport to the lush green Kandalama Hotel, it dawns on me that one can journey long and far enough to experience what Geoffery Bawa calls ‚the art of the inhabited space‛. The very idea that spaces can be designed to evoke in us a sense of curiosity, intrigue and fascination is what got me there in the first place. Witnessing Bawa’s ambitious and sensitive designs only strengthened my faith in the path that I had chosen for myself. I knew that I inevitably needed to pursue what I am most moved by. Design. DEFINING DESIGN The term ‘design’ has had definitions that have evolved over the years, thus making them more of a dialogue than a fixed statement. The definition is a dialectical process, a back and forth discussion of: proposing definitions; interrogating these proposals through clarifying terms used and identifying contradictions; then, based on this interrogation, proposing a new definition, which would start the process again. As I was reading the book ‘How Designers Think’ I came upon the definition by Bryan Lawson which I believe sums up accurately what design is to me. ‚Many forms of design deal with both precise and vague ideas, call for systematic and chaotic thinking, need both imaginative thought and mechanical calculation. Design involves a sophisticated mental process capable of manipulating many kinds of information, blending them all into a coherent set of ideas and finally generating some realization of those ideas.‛ (Lawson, 2005) HOW MY PRACTICE DEFINES ME I am a design enthusiast! And like the proverbial moth to a flame I am drawn to all things wonderfully designed, from structures and spaces to products and graphics. Our practice doesn’t usually live in isolation from the rest of the design disciplines. It is the collaboration of the array of creative outlets around us that give us the most fulfilling outcomes. The book ‚The Ravenous Brain‛ talks about the idea that ‚consciousness is obsessed with pattern. Pattern is structure amidst the chaos; a signal in the noise. And when we find patterns and connect the dots, we experience cognitive ecstasy, this exhilarating neuro storm‛ And that’s exactly what indulging and engaging in my creative practice feels like. When what was conceived as an idea in the head translates onto the canvas of beautifully inked and drafted plans, elevations and sections, and when it starts to take shape as crisp and clear renders, you realize that reality is something we create, and have the power to determine. The freedom to shape and mold a space into whatever your imagination allows, is liberating. As rightly put by Ernest Becker: ‚Man cannot endure his own littleness unless he can translate it into meaningfulness on the largest possible level‛ KEY THEORIES Ontological design is essentially this notion that everything we design, in turn is designing us back. There is a feedback loop (hermeneutic circle) and the things we make determine both designer and user. Tony Fry makes the point that design is a meta -category comprised of three elements. They are: 1.the design object: the material or immaterial outcome of designing 2.the design process: the system, organisation, conduct and activity of designing. 3.the design agency: the designer, design instruction in any medium or mode of expression and the designed object itself as it acts on its world. Ontological design implies the operation of the hermeneutic circle, which provides the basis for thinking about how change happens within that which is always already situated. Therefore, it doesn’t matter where we look — at the design object, the design process, or design agency — there is never a beginning or end of design because situated worlded-ness is ever-present and is ever-animated by hermeneutic circling. (Anne-Marie Willis, 2006) Steven Johnson says ‚Our thoughts shape our spaces, we design the world, but those spaces return the favour‛ In a video by Jason Silva he states how ‚We mirror the environment that we create, which is why our responsibility when we build the cities of the 21st century, is to build better systems that provide better feedback loops, in order to upgrade how we function in the world, and raise the stage where we unfold.‛ As designers, we want to contribute to this hermeneutic circle of ontological design. We want to be a part of the change that comes about within the society and environment that we are designing for. But how might this framework motivate us to bring intention to what we design? Like Escher’s drawing of hands drawing each other in an eternal feedback loop. In a blog, designer Nic Hughes states that ‚Design is not a linear one-way birthing process, it does not occur in a vacuum. When one calls forth a world, be it a font or phone, that thing has already been shaped (predetermined) by a cacophony of voices, most of them non-human, most of them covert and unseen. The designer is one player in a sea of actors. Equally, that thing, once released into the wild, to a lesser or greater extent will begin a design process— it will act back and start to shape our own and other beings. It is through a process of interaction that we become inscribed by our things and gain understanding. Equally, the things we make start to accrue knowledge and design becomes the ‘embedding of intention’‛. If we pervade buildings, they also pervade us — entrances, corridors, stairs, lifts, large rooms, small rooms — all design our modes of spatial occupation and our movements through spaces, allowing some, not allowing others. (Anne-Marie Willis, 2006) Design then becomes the ‘changing of existing situations into preferred ones’, and consequently willingly allowing these new situations to change how we function in the world. INSPIRATION When I think of what inspires my practice, I think back to the places I have travelled to. Exploring new places leaves you in a state of serendipity. Those are the moments of unexpected relevance, where you find yourself looking for something and you find something else. And you realize that what you found is more conducive to your needs than what you thought you were looking for. Erik Davis says ‚Serendipity lives in the space of juxtaposition, in the space of diversity.‛ Jason Silva calls ‘Juxtaposition’ the basic formal operating space of serendipity, the space in which you are more likely to make unexpected connections between subjects, the spaces in which a rich diversity of stimulant ideas can intermingle and create spaces of innovation in your head from finding these unusual combinations among subject matter. Its these stark contrasts that flood you with novelty and awakens this lightning bolt of meaning in the perceiver’s mind. Looking back to those moments of absolute aesthetic immersion, caught up in environments that are so completely absorbing, is where you find yourself going into a trance state; a borderline between dreams and reality. Architecture has the capacity to conjure a sense of apotheosis, allowing us to experience a shut- down of a sense of self-awareness. Timothy Leary has said : ‚Gothic cathedrals (and IMAX theaters) provide instructive examples of the conscious use of artistic media - space, form, light, and sounds - to produce religious-mystical and psychedelic, experiences.‛ From the majestic expanse of the Hagia Sofia in Istanbul, to the serene enveloping catharsis of the Santorini horizon across the Mediterranean Sea, I’ve stopped in my tracks to relish my surroundings in revered gaze; leaving behind a part of me in those places and taking home everything I’ve felt from it. I relate to Zumthor here when he says: ‚Memories like these contain the deepest architectural experience that I know. They are the reservoirs of the architectural atmospheres and images that I explore in my work as an architect.‛ ‚The world is reflected in the body, and the body is projected onto the world. We remember through our bodies as much as through our nervous system and brain. The senses not only mediate information for judgment of the intellect; they are also a means of igniting the imagination and of articulating sensory thought‛ (Pallasmaa, 1996) WHAT DRIVES MY PRACTICE ? My creative practice is driven by the theory of the hermeneutic circle and is built in and around it. I begin by asking myself what I want to address, explore and express. In addressing the problem that needs a creative solution, a goal state must be defined, and parameters must be outlined. Clarifying the intent is the first step in the process. In the next stage, that of open-ended exploration, the unexpected is welcome and every intriguing thread is followed, without immediate concern for the outcome. The more the curiosity, the more the exploration and generation of new ideas that further develop the asking of more questions. In the last stage, expression is one that provides a tangible form of an idea or a solution. The key is to refine the idea, so that what is distinct about the point of view is clear. (Kira Campo, 2014). Human access to ‘what is’ can never be direct and unmediated, but is always interpretative. (Anne-Marie Willis, 2006). The design process during exploration then too is also always interpretative. And possibly so even in the other two stages where the problem is being identified and where a solution is being expressed. An ontological understanding of design brings to light the multiple, complex and ongoing being of design, where interpretation of ideas leads the way to providing further feedback and in turn creating new modalities of possibility. THE PROCESS OF MY PRACTICE The start of my projects have almost always been directed by a project brief provided by either academicians whilst at university or by clients in the workplace. When introduced to a brief and given an overview of what is expected of the outcome, the first thing that I address is the site itself in order to have a thorough understanding of the space to be worked within. The research expands into the typology of this kind of space and existing spaces that cater to similar needs and have the same kind of end-user. Case studies help to shed light on how designers have tackled comparable situations to the one at hand. It compels you to think in perspectives you may not have thought in previously, and coerces you to make these new findings an addition to what needs to be addressed. With most of the study in place, I now draw out a mind map of what they mean, and how they link together. This is a sketchy diagram of thoughts, findings and questions. With a clear visual framework of the brief, I begin to develop a concept for the space, an interpretation through what the space signifies and metaphorically stands for. ‚The design process is based on a constant interplay of feeling and reason. The feelings, preferences, longings, and desires that emerge and demand to be given a form must be controlled by critical powers of reasoning, but it is our feelings that tell us whether abstract considerations really ring true‛ (Zumthor, 1998) The concept design phase embodies the preliminary identification of three main facets of the design – concept, theme and style. Together these form the crux of the narrative that provides the direction forward. These facets are developed and layered, and branched out into various sub-facets that give definition and distinctive features to the space. This is presented in the form of a concept board and incorporates all bits of preliminary presentations needed to explain the scheme, such as moodboards and storyboards. In the next phase, I pull out my sketchbook and doodle my visions and ideas, which may not seem very profound to the next person, but as it turns out, these are in fact moments of understanding and intuition that breathe new light into thinking forward about the space. The sketchy ideas, now take shape into woolly plans and layouts, where a language of shape and form immerges and a recognizable pattern of lines surfaces. It is at this point, when my plans are taking shape that I begin to cogitate on aspects such as materials and colours, in order to ensure my understanding of the space’s vistas dictated by my choice of solids and transparents. This runs alongside the further development of the plans and sections. Peter Zumthor talks about spaces that expose the very essence of materials, in their raw elemental ancient forms, and how he prefers to use these in his work. He says: ‚I believe that they can assume a poetic quality in the context of an architectural object although only if the architect is able to generate a meaningful situation for them since materials in themselves are not poetic.‛ (Zumthor, 1998) This, I believe is true in the case of specifying materials; it is a vital decision making process that can either bring to life your vision, or cause it to dwindle into a half-baked veracity. Samples of these selected materials take their spot onto the material board which helps to depict the tactile and visual sense of the space, helping to sum up the space onto one palette. Once the space has a close-to-final structural and physical clarity, I translate it onto software to generate it as three-dimensional renders or illustrations. These are more or less paintings or visualizations expressed through the help of advanced sophisticated computer tools. This could be called the last step in the Concept Design Phase of a project. With everything collated and presented, feedback from critiques and clients is what drives it to further design development, an ongoing process until execution and implementation. THE RITUALS OF MY PRACTICE Every designer knows what he/she needs when seated in the studio ready to begin the day’s work. Apart from the obvious tools for the practice itself, there are various other ‘must-haves’ in order to get into a ‘flowstate’. What is the flow state? This is fundamentally the optimal state of consciousness, where you feel your best and perform your best. It’s an ongoing challenge- to reach the peak of ability through flow. It’s a concept I believe that applies to all creative individuals, athletes and performers. Everett Bogue says: ‚Flow is a moment in time when you’re both challenged at the activity that you’re doing, and when you also have complete autonomy in the task you’re conducting.‛ We are wired to resist creative work, and are programmed to take the easy way out. Creative energy is constantly in flux, because we are going into the unknown, doing new things, and stepping out of our comfort zone. Blogger Justine Musk fittingly articulates how we need to address our flow state: ‚We have to figure out ways to sidestep that part of our brain, to engage its higher and more evolved elements, to tap into the parts that create rather than judge. Creative intelligence is fluid and dynamic, calling on different forms of your intelligence simultaneously. So call it your higher self, your mojo, your spirit, your divine spark, your inner goddess, your cosmic energy, your spiritual cowboy, your funky flying spaghetti monster: whatever it is, it wants and needs to serve you. But first it needs to move through you, and for you to get out of its way.‛ I find that my favorite hours of the day are from 6 am until dusk. Waking when everybody is still asleep gives me a sense of accomplishment right at the start of my day. With a warm shower and my yoga pants on, I get onto my matt and practice my vinyāsa, either with music or instructive videos. I then engage in breathing exercises (pranayama) and end my morning session with meditation. With a body now relaxed and stretched, a mind now cleared and calm and awareness more heightened, I find that I have focus and concentration for the task that lies ahead. A passageway has opened up between the conscious and the subconscious minds, allowing the dodging of the creativity-killing judge and the tapping into a different state of being. We enter the creative trance, the waking dream. We flow. When its bright outside, with a to-do list jotted down, a table de-cluttered, my digital pen tablet connected, a thick roll of tracing paper, my supply of artsy pens and markers, a freshly cup of brewed green tea and my favorite tunes in the backdrop, I am now ready to delve into what moves me the most. Design. REFERENCES Anne-Marie Willis. (2006). Ontological Designing — laying the ground, 80–98. Becker, E. (1973). The Denial of Death. Lawson, B. (2005). How Designers Think. Pallasmaa, J. (1996). The eyes ofthe skin. Thompson, E. (2007). Mind in Life. Zumthor, P. (1998). Thinking Architecture. Campo, K (2014) Bor, D. (2012). The Ravenous Brain Silva, J. (2014). Shots of Awe – How our creations change us Silva, J. (2014) Shots of Awe – Ontological Design Silva, J. (2014) Shots of Awe – The Ecstasy of Curiosity Hughes, N. (2010) Blog - http:// hauntedgeographies.typepad.com/ Musk, J. (2010) Blog - How to develop a creative practice