MASTER THESIS
Project
Unit
Tutor(s)
Date
Award(s)
'The Pensieve': an inquiry into the creative process
Architectural Dissertation
Simon Pendal
2013 | semester 2
92% (top 3)
Cameron Chisholm & Nicol | Best thesis commendation
ABSTRACT
“Nothing is more distressing than a thought that escapes itself, than ideas that fly off, that disappear hardly formed, already eroded by forgetfulness or precipitated into others that we no longer master” (1)
The ‘Pensieve’ develops a new model for the creative process, establishing an approach which handles the complex making of work as a student in architecture and future practioner. The ‘Pensieve’ reiterates what is universally experienced through the creative process: that ideas are fleeting, and if not pinned down quickly and safely, can dissolve into other thoughts and disappear forever.
The thesis is structured and presented as a library of knowledge, cataloguing and archiving the ideas and research. The ‘Pensieve’ crystalizes the thought process through the act of ‘doing’ and ‘making’ which governs the creative approach, developing an awareness to our own internal working processes. The ‘Pensieve’ only exists in the efforts of making marks on a page and it is through this obsessive passion that drives the manner of working through the thesis.
The ‘Pensieve’ provides an understanding to the working mechanism of the mind, a metaphorical object providing new ways of thinking and making thoughtful work. The thesis examines the application of the ‘Pensieve’ to a site focusing on the Perth ‘City Proper’, a generative proposition grounding the findings made and providing weight to this thesis.
(1) Gilles Deleuze and Felix Guattari. What is Philosophy? 1194,201.
(2) Margaret Hooper. From head to hand and beyond: ‘thought -image; drawing in sketchbooks
ON READING THE THESIS
This document is structured to align with the ‘Pensieve’, pulling out and binding all the information and findings. The images which accompany the thesis are termed ‘threads’ [thr.] extracted directly from the ‘Pensieve’. The threads inject themselves, when needed, into the document to clarify and support the findings
The thesis is structured and presented as a ‘library of knowledge’
gathering
storing
archiving
sifting
pulling out
making sense of
The thesis is divided into 5 chapters. Each ‘chapter will be accompanied by the ‘Pensieve’ model diagram [thr. 1] referencing the model back to this document. This diagram sets out the thesis providing a structure to the process as persisting themes emerged.
Each chapter is accompanied by one or more of the following processes of exploring, testing, making and context. The document represents the five key milestones that were made and directs the next subsequent move made during the thesis.
CHAPTER ONE | THE INQUIRY
Exploring : Pen + Sieve
Builds upon the ‘Pensieve’ and positions it in its broader theoretical context. This chapter represents the readings made interpreting texts and gathering information preceding site selection.
Testing: Drawing Suite
Introduces the role of drawing in the ‘Pensieve’ as an exploratory mode of research and discovery
Context: Catalogue
Explains the role of the catalogue and summates the findings from the drawing suite into a series of written and visual registers. Suggests other catalogues which may be discovered or constructed in the future.
Making: Process
Making primarily concerned with documenting the process of getting to the project. This chapter further develops through acts of making by drawing.
The proposition constitutes its own section in chapter 4 – The Proposition.
ON READING THE 'PENSIEVE'
The ‘Pensieve’ is representative of the research methodology developed over the duration of the thesis. A process that exists as a concept to understand my own manner of working which emerged over the semester by the constant making of work. The research and work produced was recorded into the ‘Pensieve’ as a daily exercise.
The rigor and approach to the documenting and archival process sets out an approach to the research and reflects the mantra which was established early in semester two: “just do, analyse later”.
The method and approach is communicated through the ‘Pensieve’ diagrams that were drawn every week to express the nature of the findings [thr. 1 and 2], aligning with the four modes of working: exploring, testing, making and context.
The ‘Pensieve’ undertakes the momentous task of gathering the wealth of information available to us. The constant input of information draws from a wide range of knowledge coming from different fields of thought and work. The research gathering phase of the thesis was extensive and intensive, often immersing myself in a sea of texts. Ploughing through the information gathered and binding the relevant research together appeared to be a daunting and impossible task. The ‘Pensieve’ model provides a structure for the thesis and becomes representative of my own manner of working which is usually carried out chaotically and obsessively.
The ‘Pensieve’ reveals what was already present in my own working process that I was unaware of. By examining this methodology in greater depth provided opportunities for the thesis to diverge from the usual path as new findings were uncovered. No set objectives were made at the beginning as a result of this approach, trying to find what the thesis was and how the knowledge found from constructing the ‘Pensieve’ could be applied to a context. For the most part, the work undertaken has three focuses:
1. Creation of the ‘Pensieve’ through the exploratory medium of drawings and other materials
2. Chronologically distilling the process through the thesis from finding a thesis topic to finding a site to materialise the ‘Pensieve’ by testing it through an architectural ‘proposition’
3. How the ‘Pensieve’, as a carefully crafted architectural object, can generate intelligence on new ways of thinking about site and process.
The search for a site became a critical chapter within the thesis, a turning point which consolidated all the knowledge- a limitless exercise in itself - by fusing it with the context of site and igniting the ‘Pensieve’.
“I use the Pensieve. One simply siphons the excess thoughts from one’s mind, pours them into the basin, and examines them at one’s leisure. It becomes easier to spot patterns and links, you understand, when they are in this form.”
–Albus Dumbledore to Harry Potter (Rowling, 2000. Pg 597)
THE CONTEXT OF THE STUDY | THE 'PENSIEVE'
The creation of the ‘Pensieve’ evolved over the course of the semester and is a product of reflecting upon my own creative process, grounding the ‘Pensieve’ into the discipline of architecture. The term ‘Pensieve’ borrows and draws upon the idea of Albus Dumbledore’s ‘Pensieve’ described as a device to examine memories. The ‘Pensieve’ functions as a depository that binds the research undertaken throughout the duration of the thesis and provides structure to the creative process. It is a reflection not based on speculative thinking but an approach that establishes a sophisticated handling on the complex making of work as a student of architecture and future practitioner.
The sketch was put aside and was later revisited in semester two. It gave clarity to the nature of the research and becomes the touchstone to the thesis. The diagram in its simplicity expresses the core idea behind the ‘Pensieve’ and communicates the manner of working through the thesis.
The ‘Pensieve’ diagram [thr 4] was constantly redrawn1 as new findings were uncovered, shaping my perception of the ‘Pensieve’ during its construction in semester one to two and its role projecting out from the thesis. The ‘Pensieve’ tracks the process against time and becomes a lifelong document that is built upon daily; likened to a litmus strip [thr. 5] that becomes darker and denser as we gather knowledge and acquire experiences of the world. It becomes the product of appropriating the knowledge and learning’s from within the ‘Pensieve’ through the use of our own reasoning.
Time was the only constraint during this thesis. If there was more of it, the obsessive nature of immersing into the world of the ‘Pensieve’ would have intensified; allowing formal clarity and new meanings to be uncovered about my own internal working process. A period of sustained thinking was undertaken over the course of the semester to understand the role of the ‘Pesieve’ and to identify the legitimacy of the thinking process behind it. It became a statement to my own developing philosophy, devoting myself to constantly learn and giving back the knowledge I have acquired to others. The ‘Pensieve’ becomes both the teacher and the student. True learning begins when we exercise what is offered and to not take possession of something that is offered to us. It is for the reader to understand how the ‘Pensieve’ could work for them and how it may reveal what was already present, but was not known, to the author of the ‘Pensieve’.
CONSTRUCTING THE 'PENSIEVE'
The ‘Pensieve’ is based on observations from the creative process and is built on three foundations. It involves the design of a process within itself;
'Pensieve’ as:
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process
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device
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machine
‘Pensieve’ as process
The research forming the foundation of the thesis encompasses all the knowledge gained through reading, writing and documenting the experiences and observations of the world. The ‘Pensieve’ accumulates documents and material of varying nature, including but not limited to: drawings, sketches, paintings, models, readings, interpreting texts, quotes, maps, collages, and photography by depositing them into a bank; an archiving mechanism to our own personalised library of knowledge.
'Pensieve' as device
How the material and research is documented. The ‘Pensieve’ collects, assembles and exhibits the material with which we do things. It functions as a sieve in which the mound of information is trawled through and critically reflected upon to find clarity of thought and to generate creative modes of thinking; working towards producing meaningful architecture. The ‘Pensieve’ is a metaphorical object revealing the working mechanism of the mind. Information is collectively archived for future action by the author and requires a visual spark to ignite the imagination. The ‘Pensieve’ as a perceptual model (1) and as an object of design, represents how many parts might be assembled into a compelling whole (2). Borrowing from the exhibition: Portable Memories, Luggage for a Young Architect by Ricardo Flores and Eva Prats [thr.6], the ‘Pensieve’ functions as a container of thoughts and knowledge exhibiting an overview of the work picked along the thesis year (3).
The ‘Pensieve’ model strings the fragmented research and material pieces into being and provides scenographic help to represent the internal working process of the author.
'Pensieve' as machine
The ‘Pensieve’ provides a mechanism for exploring new ideas of space and human perception not offered by the ordinary design process (2). The findings and research injected into the ‘Pensieve’ become materialised through an architectural proposition and functions as a compass to the project. Site research and material is injected into the machine and is filtered through the site by testing and applying the ‘Pensieve’. What was discovered about the ‘Pensieve’ was the flexibility it provided to the thesis, alowing the ‘Pensieve’ to change form as the research and fndings shifted. First perceived as an object later evolving to take on different forms- a mental head space rather than the ‘Pensieve’ as a ‘thing’.
(1) The ‘Pensieve’ sits within type 3 describeed by Stephen Neille in SPEED_SPACE “projects designed as a model to generate poetic intelligence rather than offer any particular new architectural project or scheme.” (09).
(2) Libeskind’s Machine, 2009.
(3) Final Thesis Design Studio of the Escola Tecnica Superior d’Arquitectura de la Universitat Internacional de Catalunya. 2010-2012.
“There is a rather intriguing scientific theory that in the evolution of our organs, the brain evolved last. It was the hand influencing the evolution of the brain and not vice-versa. I’m a not a genius, I’m a labourer. I labour on my ideas.”
– Raimund Abraham (Paper Planes – 106 Free radical 2004)
CHAPTER 1 | EXPLORING | PEN + SIEVE
The following chapter establishes the research foundation to the thesis. The first chapter (Chapter 1: Inquiry) adds onto the pre-existing research and knowledge gathered in semester one. The thesis topic slowly emerged when an inquisitive probe was made on the theoretical approach existing between the eye and the hand and between the intellect and the hand (1).
Understanding the connection between the mind, hand and eye are applied to the ‘Pensieve’. These inquires represent my interpretations and readings based upon what others have extensively documented, grounding the ‘Pensieve’ and providing weight to the readings made. The following draws the inspiration to the ‘Pensieve’
The Mind, Hand and Eye: the act of ‘making’ and ‘doing’
The process of ‘doing’ and ‘making’ propels the ‘Pensieve’ using the hands to craft. The act of ‘making’ strengthens the link between the hand and mind by passing it through the ‘Pensieve’ to transform the perceptual findings into tangible objects of ideas. The ‘Pensieve’ is the vessel through which the theories are tested [thr. 7], suspending the author between reality and possibility. It is through this process which attempts to find ‘places’ – environments of meaning, which architecture can have a direct response to through the tactical engagement of the world (2).
(1)Clements, J. Roberts. 1954. Eye, Mind, and Hand in Michelangelo’s Poetry. Modern Language Association. Volume 69. Number 1.
(2)Henri Lefbvre, 1992. The Production of Space. Wiley Blackwell
“Hands are a part of a person’s individual persona and character, but they also perform their independent actions, and are crucial in human communication with a language of their own"
- Juhani Pallassma, The Thinking Hand (10)
This understanding establishes the nature of the ‘Pensieve’ as a self-made body of work unique to every individual; a fingerprint to our own working methodology. This allows ourselves to be self- indulgent in the making of work independent from the aesthetic values and judgements of others.
The work produced at the beginning may seem contrived but through the constant, almost habitual, mode of working generates an architecture that seeks to find clarity. Clarity in the way we work and produce architecture, seeking solutions that are innovative, inventive and intense.
What was discovered about the thesis at this point was that it wasn’t strictly a theoretical endeavour. The research foundations were set quite early on and with this fascination of ‘making’ and ‘doing’ defined my understanding of the creative process; the crux to the thesis. By testing the ‘Pensieve’, it validated my positioning that architecture is not simply the output of a building but a discipline, a way of doing. Hans Hollein’s belief that “there is no barrier between disciplines, the fact that ‘everything’ was and is architecture” touches on the core understanding of the ‘Pensieve’, in its entirety, as an all knowing object. The ‘Pensieve’ is further broken down into two constituent parts.
THE PEN + SIEVE
The ‘pen’ was initially conceived as the tool which mediated the bridge between the mind and the hand. The process of putting pen to paper evolved over the course of the semester allowing the research to diverge from drawings to include a variety of mediums which constitutes the entire act of ‘making’ and ‘doing’; a metaphor for the creative process. The ‘sieve’ demonstrates the refinement of the process as a filtering mechanism selecting and examining the research. The sorting and assembling of information allows the author to think critically on the research as an act of understanding and is demonstrated through the project. The reflective nature of the ‘Pensieve’ constitutes the making of evidence: the sketches, diagrams, drawings, models, prototypes, tests, critical readings and writing, as a fundamental part of architectural making; creating a personal itinerary for future aspirations. The proposition becomes manifested as these parts are assembled.
“A picture is not thought out and settled beforehand...An idea is a starting point and nothing more...I search constantly and there is a logical sequence in all this resrach. It’s an experiment in time. I number them [sketchbooks] and date them. Perhaps one day someone will be grateful.”
- Pablo Picasso, Insights of Genius: Imagery and creativity in science and art. Arthur Miller, 2000. 242.
The union of the ‘Pen’ and ‘Sieve’, to form the ‘Pensieve’, provides a framework to provide a context for ‘making’ and thinking. The ‘Pensieve’ seeks to process the complexities of the problems encountered during the creative process which is defined by infinite factors and constraints. The ‘Pensieve’ provides a way forward (not solution) that will accommodate, embrace or negate the constraints2.
Drawing and the Hand
The possibilities of the thesis exist in the efforts of making marks on a page. Our drawing abilities stem from three sources1. 1. It arises in the hand - almost as an athletic exercise, the hand must move inorder to make 2.It arises in the intellect (mind) - the structure of the world must be understood 3. And it arises in conception - using the maker’s intuition to impart order to what is drawn “
The Hand as Symbol
The hand grasps the physicality and materiality of thought and turns it into a concrete image. In the arduous processes of designing, the hand often takes the lead in probing for a vision, a vague inkling that it eventually turns into a sketch, a materialisation of an idea.”
– (Pallasmaa 2009, 16-17)
The hand not only records and observes the world but it pulls out and reveals internal images and feelings from within us. Aligning with the ‘Pensieve’, the hand binds with the tool and through the medium of drawing, tests the evolution of process and thinking. The term drawing is used loosely within the context of the ‘Pensieve’, the drawing suites began as a core chapter to the thesis but also pertains to the act of making marks on the page using computers, collage and photography to name a few.
“Drawing as creation and as design is a means for action. This means that drawing stands between the author, the design and the conrete realization that is embodied in other materials and spaces that are not those of drawings. Therefore drawing is not an end in itself”
– Aleandre Alves Costa, Porto Academy Lecture, 2013
CHAPTER ONE | TESTING | DRAWING SUITE
This chapter introduces the role of drawing in the ‘Pensieve’ as a means for acquiring knowledge and as a research tool for discovery. The creation of the ‘Pensieve’ explores and tests the role of drawing which are applied to the territory of the New Church site [Part 3: The Church Study]
“The drawings do not replace the real, but explain it better than our lazy direct experiences, because between it and its representation is a gaze that deciphers all its riddles. And we record, rather than on paper, processed in our own memory, and therefore available for use in the complex process of creation.”
