Society. Spaces. Screens

Abstract

Over the decades, our cities have been dominated by architecture consumed as images, focusing on visuals and their visualization, characteristic of postmodern architecture. With the emergence of new digital technologies such as VR and AI further accelerating the significance of visual aspects in architecture, my research began with the premise that a profound examination of the relationship between vision and space within the discipline of architecture is urgently needed to avoid repeating the visual-centric tendencies of postmodern architecture. The act of ‘seeing’ constitutes a recurring behavioral pattern integral to our daily existence. To grasp the significance of vision in architecture, this inquiry prompted a shift in perspective from exploring the meaning of ‘seeing’ to investigating the concept of ‘not seeing’. However, ‘not seeing’ does not imply blindness but rather denotes a state characterized by a complete absence of knowledge and experience, resulting in a lack of understanding regarding object size, materiality, the concept of movement, among others. This state mirrors the vision of a newborn infant: the eyes of epoché. As a critique of ocularcentrism in architecture, I propose an architectural fiction divided into three chapters: 1) artificial incarnation of the eyes of Epoché, completely isolated from the real world, 2) different methodologies to cure the eyes of Epoché and replace them with the standard eyes of an architect, 3) fictional architecture project developed by an architect with the eyes of Epoché. Various experimental devices, including physical tools and 3D simulations through VR devices, will be designed to experiment with different ways of applying the eyes of Epoché in the architectural design process. In this presentation, I will introduce the theoretical and historical foundations of the project, focusing on spatial perception through the vision. Additionally, I will present devices designed for this architectural fiction.