Dynamic cartography. Body and movement in the architectural space

Dynamic cartography. Body and movement in the architectural space.
Ph.D Thesis in architecture (Universidad Politécnica de Madrid)
Sobresaliente cum laude

The main objective of this thesis is the search for methodologies, tools, and processes in the performance arts and visual arts, that could be applied both to architectural analysis and project processes, in order to construct an investigation of movement in the architectural space. Rudolf Laban, Anne Bogart, Adolphe Appia, Cedric Price, Joan Littlewood, and Hélio Oiticica, are practitioners who have worked within different areas of enquiry from the existing relations between body, space and movement. The works and proposals by each of these practitioners, enables us to approach the space from five scales, having the body as the basic unit:

(1) body and surrounding space (Rudolf Laban)
(2) body and geometry (Anne Bogart)
(3) Body and scenic space (Adolphe Appia)
(4) Body and program (Joan Littlewood/ Cedric Price)
(5) Body and landscape (Hélio Oiticica)

The work of these practitioners is essential in informing further investigation into spatial experience. The theories proposed within this thesis are linked to the scales detailed within their work, which allows for an empirical exploration of some notably problematic areas. Some of them – Kinesferas Virtuales, Envolventes and Microacciones in Greece – explore the presence of the body in the space. In Kinetography I and II, kinetography is used to create these dynamic cartographies. The series CartografíasDinámicas (I, II and III), analyses movement in geometrically controlled spaces, through the Viewpoints techniques, by Anne Bogart. Finally, Kinetography III, proposes the analysis of an urban public space, through the transcription of the body movement.