Re-Covering Pain in Architecture

Abstract

Is pain an architectural issue/idea? This is the central question of the Research Paper. The intention in pursuing this topic is to explore the presence of pain in architecture. (I.e does pain exist in the context of architecture ?) Pain is an essential 'element' of all cultures. It is transformatory...its effects/affects are both formative and deformative. As an action in and of itself, pain can be a centring or shattering force. Architecture comprises both the conceptual and literal. The metaphor of pain operates within these layers....of meaning and making architecture. Pain as an architectural/theoretical issue is explored and exposed, in this Research Paper. Essentially, the research deals with the manner in which the metaphor of pain infuses the conceptual and literal layers of the architectural body. The metaphor of body, and its "reinscription" in architecture continues on from historical precedents, appearing in contemporary works as a fragmented, contorted, torn body. Pain is an issue of anthropomorphism in architecture. 'Pain' can be an infliction (from the exterior), or an affliction (from the interior). Pain is the opposite of 'comfort' and 'pleasure'; two issues which have been essential to the maintenance of the architectural body; i.e. have kept architecture 'alive'. Pain is essential to the maintenance of the real body, it is simultaneously protector and destroyer. When the metaphor of pain infuses the architectural body, the same notions of protection/destruction remain, thus pain is necessary for the recovery of architecture, i.e. bringing architecture back to a sense of 'awareness' of its corporeal status of 'bodiliness'. The recovery room is a place where memory and sensation return to the 'body'--a sense of 'being alive'. Pain as an issue in itself is not 'simple', it is vast and complex, and thus the relationship to, and with, architecture is equally complex. Pain is both sensation and indication. Architecture can be the visual 'indicator' of pain, that illicits pain in the spectator. The exchange between pain and architecture is what is researched in order to determine the 'existence' of pain as an issue/concern and idea/concept in architecture. Cutting a building is the participant inflicting pain on the architecture. versus Architecture illicits pain in the participant. The pathway of this exchange follows the ritualistic pathway of discovery through to recovery through the four rooms of waiting , examining, operating and recovering.