PaperspAce Journal. Issue #14. [TRACE].
WHEN BUILDINGS DANCE
You are dancing. The world spins around you. Wall and window merge to form a continuous rush of colour and light. You twirl, surrounded by onlooking marble columns and beneath the ornate gold ceiling. In this grand space, your emotions are heightened; your kinetic dance and the stationary architecture respond to each other. You realise your display of natural expression is being aided by the rooms organic forms. You are connected. How can this be?
Modern science has made leaps in the effort to understand the human brain. A recent discovery impacting the study of architecture and psychology is that of mirror neurons. These cells in the nervous system allow us to feel empathy as they ‘fire both when an animal acts and when the animal observes the same action performed by another.’ While these electrical signals fire along our limbs, we are affected both physically and emotionally. Essentially, we are doing what we are seeing. Often, architects strive to design dynamic buildings, with a clear purpose and direction. Considering both this and our sensitive response to movement, it begs the question: if we can see buildings, are we copying them too?
In 1969, Hartmut Esslinger coined the phrase ‘form follows emotion’. He saw architecture as the pursuit of creating experiences, with the use of solid materials as a means to this end. By prioritising emotions, we are left with buildings that exist in harmony with ‘the innate reflex of our bodies to respond to rhythms’. Many builders know that a sprung floor is essential for a dancer, it amplifies a leap and cushions a fall. In the same way, a decorated and textured room is also essential to the storytelling aspect of dance.
Within the ballroom dance world, events at Blackpool Tower are eagerly anticipated. There is a buzz of excitement at the prospect of dancing within such a beautiful space. This may be down to the interior’s richness in shape and colour which encourages a greater sense of awe within performers. This heightened emotion may translate itself into more fervent movements and overall a more powerful performance. Similar to how music fills a room, the space itself speaks back and is absorbed by those on the dancefloor.
Going further, it may be that when we look at a curved wall, we curve too. When we see a surface going in one direction, we follow suit. With this, architecture has the biological power to affect how living beings move. In the same way that you would judge a dance partner’s compatibility, we should design buildings that seamlessly partner the human psyche. By keeping that as a central ethos, not only will we live with more emotional fulfilment – we may do so while dancing.