The Spirit of Public Space: Embodied Through Writing and Movement

To design places of spiritual quality and depth, designers need to reconnect themselves to the nature of place in order to create a sense of belonging prior to presenting a design solution. The traditional site analysis research produced by architects is too removed from the atmosphere of place and often becomes a set of drawings representing a hierarchical human use analysis based solely on function. This type of process needs to change in order to bring about awareness of the character of place, including making users more present with time and their own sense of belonging.

Rituals are an inherent part of spirituality, and in this case, the acts performed to understand and embody the character of place encourage the sense of spiritual. The rituals presented in this paper are ethnographic methods that challenge the Western conventions of the design process. They encourage imagination and empathy through writing poetry that utilizes personification, rhythm, and bodily movement that cocreates knowledge of the sense of place through action.

The design of public spaces is an important aspect of our culture and critical engagement. To arrive at meaningful spaces, the personal and civic culture needs to be expressed and highlighted. This paper presents how to change the traditional design process in order to better understand the character of place prior to designing a solution.