Negin Djavaherian

Marc J. Neveu

This collection of previously unpublished essays from a diverse range of well-known scholars and architects builds on the architectural tradition of phenomenological hermeneutics as developed by Dalibor Veseley and Joseph Rykwert and carried on by David Leatherbarrow, Peter Carl and Alberto Pérez-Gómez. Taking an interdisciplinary approach and drawing on ideas from beyond the architectural canon, contributors including Kenneth Frampton, David Leatherbarrow, Juhani Pallasmaa, Karsten Harries, Steven Holl, Indra Kagis McEwen, Paul Emmons, and Louise Pelletier offer new insights and perspectives on questions such as the following: Given the recent fascination with all things digital and novel, what is the role of history and theory in contemporary architectural praxis? Is authentic meaning possible in a technological environment that is so global and interconnected? What is the nature and role of the architect in our shared modern world? How can these questions inform a new model of architectural praxis? Architecture's Appeal is a thought-provoking book which will inspire further scholarly inquiry and act as a basis for discussion in the wider field as well as graduate seminars in architectural theory and history.

How Theory Informs Architectural Praxis

Architecture's Appeal

"The thesis explores architectural potential and experience in the theatre of Peter Brook (1925-). The importance of his thought, writings and theatrical creation in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries reaches far beyond the question of theatre. It prepares a ground for exploring the ethical and poetic dimensions of architecture. Refusing to reduce the role of theatre to making 'pictures,' Brook's theatre strives to offer us ephemeral experience in space and to engage us with the power of individual and communal imagination. What is explored and can be learned from Brook's theatre cannot be considered as a 'practical prescription' or methodology, but rather as a call to an incessant quest. It offers an entry to rethinking the role of architecture not as a finished design, but as a phenomenon that emerges through an 'event' and engages its inhabitants and their being in the world. The dissertation, seen through the lens of an architect, embarks on a journey into Brook's theatre in which it unravels crucial concepts from his discourse and theatrical experiments offering insights of great value to architects and architectural creation alike. The idea of "empty space," the relationship between visible and invisible, and the notion of 'Immediate Theatre' resonate throughout the investigation. Along the way, I study three theatrical plays: Orghast at the tombs of the Persian kings at Persepolis and Naqsh-e-Rustam (Iran, 1971); The Mahabharata at the Callet Quarry in Boulbon (France, 1985); and Eleven and Twelve at the theatre of Bouffes du Nord (Paris, 2009). The investigation reveals the unusual approach toward places of performance, the exploratory process of creation, and the audience's involvement in space/time. In the view of this thesis, Brook's theatrical creation invokes an architecture that temporalizes space and recognizes the 'present moment,' immersing its participants in a wholeness of narrative, play and place." --

Negin Djavaherian

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