A Bathhouse and a library in Sultangazi, Istanbul

Abstract

According to the Oxford Learner’s Dictionaries, the notion of “space” can be read in several ways, of what is the five general understandings of it would be: outside earth’s atmosphere, empty area, period, freedom, and lastly, where things exist/move. With the speed, amount of information, and technology we are currently facing in the 21st century., it is no surprise that the idea of “space” is often correlated with the “space race,” “space tech,” even in the realm of architecture1. Given its vast and generic nature, it is essential, especially for this architectural research paper, to make a clear position on “space” or, to be more specific, something “spatial.” Architecture is indeed something of “spatial,” introduced by E. Moursund that a form of “spatial expression” that develops opportunities for humans to navigate, measure, anticipate, project, and construct perceptions; dictated by what architectural practitioner so-called “the language of space,” which consisted numerous spatial manipulative method and tool that help to shape our physical environment (Kasparowitz, 2017). Some great examples of “method” could be Architectural theory, education, or personal experience; as vague as it seems in comparison to “tools,” it could be almost anything creative and inspiring (or the other way); “tool” is more of a tangible object in our daily life that prevents or encourages a type of human behaviour, and as simple as it seems, some of the notable examples would be your bathroom door, living room windows, or partition walls that separate different functions; to demonstrate our knowledge and skill in both the “method” and “tool,” we draw, and to realize. Therefore, we build. The charm, speed, and impact of our panoptical creations encourage our egotistical profession to think that “space” stops where the site boundary of the plot of land ends. Fortunately (also, unfortunately), the domain of “space” does not end here; it also exists in what our optic and haptic sensibility cannot perceive; it is something else and, indeed, something more.
A truly cross-dimensional [Physical] research that explores and recognizes “space” that exists in another realm outside architecture. This realm of “space” and “spatial” would be the starting point of this research, asking the generic yet essential question of how people perceive the notion of “space”? Meanwhile, with the ambitious attempt to answer it by investigating the elements that compose “space” and something “spatial.” Next, the topic of “sensation” would also be discussed as a reaction and first tier of consequences generated by the composition of “space.” The third chapter of this research is the “Power of Architecture”; it could be seen as an attempt to show the inevitable influential power of our physical space and environment while simultaneously demonstrating the limitation of its “space.” The departure point of this research could be seen as another attempt to seek a common understanding from the audience that to create what we so-called the ideal “space,” we must first understand, study, and consider “space” from other realms cause only then “space” can be as meaningful, as functional, and pragmatic like they are all first intended to be.