Performing the Architectural Plan: Egocentric and Allocentric Drawing
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Yeoryia Manolopoulou
Abstract
Elaborating on experiments in spatial cognition and representation from the Losing Myself project, this chapter highlights the confines of the architectural plan as a drawing medium that privileges an allocentric conception of space, one that is progressively lost to those living with dementia. The chapter describes an alternative, performative mode of drawing that animates the architectural plan and incorporates egocentric representation, a more direct, person-centered conception of space that is retained for longer as we age. Architects had not considered the egocentric and allocentric functions of spatial reference that occur in the human brain before. Allocentric spatial referencing requires a sophisticated form of mental manipulation whereby the world is understood by assessing and imagining multiple spatial relationships between objects and is dependent on the ability to retain a mental image of the whole. In egocentric spatial referencing, the brain makes simpler connections, however only between the viewer’s position and the observed objects. Studies of aging show a greater preservation of egocentric functions in the brain and a marked decline in the more complex allocentric processes, alongside a weakening of the ability to switch between the two. A loss of allocentric abilities is common to all forms of Alzheimer’s disease. In Losing Myself, a collaborative investigation of dementia and architecture, Yeoryia Manolopoulou and Niall McLaughlin developed a kind of performance drawing that synthesizes both allocentric and egocentric representation. This novel drawing method fosters a deeper understanding of how architecture is experienced, and how we might approach its design. ‘Performing’ the architectural plan simultaneously creates temporal and empathetic connections between the space of building as experienced in time by different occupants and the space of drawing produced by multiple authors.
Abstract
Elaborating on experiments in spatial cognition and representation from the Losing Myself project, this chapter highlights the confines of the architectural plan as a drawing medium that privileges an allocentric conception of space, one that is progressively lost to those living with dementia. The chapter describes an alternative, performative mode of drawing that animates the architectural plan and incorporates egocentric representation, a more direct, person-centered conception of space that is retained for longer as we age. Architects had not considered the egocentric and allocentric functions of spatial reference that occur in the human brain before. Allocentric spatial referencing requires a sophisticated form of mental manipulation whereby the world is understood by assessing and imagining multiple spatial relationships between objects and is dependent on the ability to retain a mental image of the whole. In egocentric spatial referencing, the brain makes simpler connections, however only between the viewer’s position and the observed objects. Studies of aging show a greater preservation of egocentric functions in the brain and a marked decline in the more complex allocentric processes, alongside a weakening of the ability to switch between the two. A loss of allocentric abilities is common to all forms of Alzheimer’s disease. In Losing Myself, a collaborative investigation of dementia and architecture, Yeoryia Manolopoulou and Niall McLaughlin developed a kind of performance drawing that synthesizes both allocentric and egocentric representation. This novel drawing method fosters a deeper understanding of how architecture is experienced, and how we might approach its design. ‘Performing’ the architectural plan simultaneously creates temporal and empathetic connections between the space of building as experienced in time by different occupants and the space of drawing produced by multiple authors.
Kapitel in diesem Buch
- Frontmatter 1
- Contents 4
- Preface 9
- Foreword 10
-
Arts & Dementia Care
- A Manifesto for the Individual Narrative: Visual Art as More than a Therapeutic Tool 16
- Changing the Social Fabric: How Art and Social Design Can Contribute to Recognizing People with Dementia as an Essential Part of Vibrant Societies 26
- Changing Perspectives: How Art Can Enhance Quality of Life in People Living with Dementia 42
- Reawakening the Mind: Consultancy Regarding Learning and Participation Programs at Arts Venues for People with Early- Stage Dementia and Their Companions 54
- Connection through Creativity: TOI AKO, a Creative Ageing Mentoring Programme in Tamaki Makaurau, Aotearoa, New Zealand for Older People and People Living with Dementia 66
- Art and Dementia – Pause – Wake Up: The Aesthetics of Artistic Creativity in People Living with Dementia 84
- Creating an Empathetic Society for Dementia through Art: Art, Social Design and Artistic Research 100
- The Point of Intersection in Focus: On the Emergence of the Pictorial Image, Its Disintegration through Dementia, and How Art Could Offer a Possible Explanation for the Wax and Wane of Perceptive Ability 154
-
DESIGN & DEMENTIA CARE
- Sensual Fake: What If You Can’t Trust Your Senses? 170
- From Participatory Design to Discursive Designs: Involving People Living with Dementia in the Design Process to Generate Artworks That Initiate Debate 184
- Feeling Things with Dementia Carers: Arts & Design as a Method of Salutogenesis and Self-Tuning 200
- Feather Meets Tread Plate: An Art and Dementia Workshop from Two Perspectives 226
- Contribution of Active Cues to Arts & Dementia 234
- Participatory Design in Research and Teaching at University alongside People Living with Dementia and Their Carers in the Pre-stationary Sector and Residential Care Facilities 252
-
MUSIC & DEMENTIA CARE
- Music & Participation: A Report on Three Innovative Projects 268
- Dementia & Avantgarde: The Concept and Practice of the KlangKunstLabor Sound Art Project in Duisburg, Germany 280
-
ARCHITECTURE & DEMENTIA CARE
- Performing the Architectural Plan: Egocentric and Allocentric Drawing 294
- Lost in Space: Exploring the House of Life 310
-
MUSEUMS & DEMENTIA CARE
- Connecting with and through Art: Arts Engagement for Livable Communities 326
- Closer to the Center: A Dom Museum Wien Workshop Series, in Cooperation with Organizations Supporting People with Dementia 342
- Back to Life: Art Education for People Living with Dementia at the Kunsthistorisches Museum 354
- Do You Offer Something for People Like Us? A Short History of the Development of Dementia-Friendly Activities in the National Museums of Vienna 366
Kapitel in diesem Buch
- Frontmatter 1
- Contents 4
- Preface 9
- Foreword 10
-
Arts & Dementia Care
- A Manifesto for the Individual Narrative: Visual Art as More than a Therapeutic Tool 16
- Changing the Social Fabric: How Art and Social Design Can Contribute to Recognizing People with Dementia as an Essential Part of Vibrant Societies 26
- Changing Perspectives: How Art Can Enhance Quality of Life in People Living with Dementia 42
- Reawakening the Mind: Consultancy Regarding Learning and Participation Programs at Arts Venues for People with Early- Stage Dementia and Their Companions 54
- Connection through Creativity: TOI AKO, a Creative Ageing Mentoring Programme in Tamaki Makaurau, Aotearoa, New Zealand for Older People and People Living with Dementia 66
- Art and Dementia – Pause – Wake Up: The Aesthetics of Artistic Creativity in People Living with Dementia 84
- Creating an Empathetic Society for Dementia through Art: Art, Social Design and Artistic Research 100
- The Point of Intersection in Focus: On the Emergence of the Pictorial Image, Its Disintegration through Dementia, and How Art Could Offer a Possible Explanation for the Wax and Wane of Perceptive Ability 154
-
DESIGN & DEMENTIA CARE
- Sensual Fake: What If You Can’t Trust Your Senses? 170
- From Participatory Design to Discursive Designs: Involving People Living with Dementia in the Design Process to Generate Artworks That Initiate Debate 184
- Feeling Things with Dementia Carers: Arts & Design as a Method of Salutogenesis and Self-Tuning 200
- Feather Meets Tread Plate: An Art and Dementia Workshop from Two Perspectives 226
- Contribution of Active Cues to Arts & Dementia 234
- Participatory Design in Research and Teaching at University alongside People Living with Dementia and Their Carers in the Pre-stationary Sector and Residential Care Facilities 252
-
MUSIC & DEMENTIA CARE
- Music & Participation: A Report on Three Innovative Projects 268
- Dementia & Avantgarde: The Concept and Practice of the KlangKunstLabor Sound Art Project in Duisburg, Germany 280
-
ARCHITECTURE & DEMENTIA CARE
- Performing the Architectural Plan: Egocentric and Allocentric Drawing 294
- Lost in Space: Exploring the House of Life 310
-
MUSEUMS & DEMENTIA CARE
- Connecting with and through Art: Arts Engagement for Livable Communities 326
- Closer to the Center: A Dom Museum Wien Workshop Series, in Cooperation with Organizations Supporting People with Dementia 342
- Back to Life: Art Education for People Living with Dementia at the Kunsthistorisches Museum 354
- Do You Offer Something for People Like Us? A Short History of the Development of Dementia-Friendly Activities in the National Museums of Vienna 366
