Seeing architecture in action: designing, evoking, and depicting space and form in embodied interaction

Abstract

Seeing architecture in action: designing, evoking and depicting aesthetic becomingThe reference to the published version of this article is: Luck, R. (2014). "Seeing architecture in action: designing, evoking and depicting space and form in embodied interaction." International journal of design creativity and innovation 2(3): 165--181. AbstractThis article studies the visibility of creative acts and how the aesthetic experience of future architectural form can be seen in movements of the hands, in concert with speech and bodily conduct. Selected sequences are studied closely in two settings to examine the ways that our human interactional practices organise the depiction of architectural concepts and spaces, which can then be explored in movements of the hands. These fleeting but significant actions are proposed as acts of 'aesthetic becoming' in design settings, as design-relevant 'things' are visibly depicted in an unfolding design situation. Seeing this is remarkable, as this study suggests these acts draw our visual attention to the different landscapes that we move in when designing, where imagining and depicting 'what is becoming' is intricately interwoven with 'what is happening now'.

Prototyping with your hands: the many roles of gesture in the communication of design concepts

“…The value of this perspective is illustrated most clearly by the works of Luck (2010Luck ( , 2014, Donovan et al (2011) andMurphy (2005). For example, Luck (2010) describes important sequences of multimodal interaction, narratively describing the roles of gesture, talk, and gaze to provide holistic understanding.…”

“…This can be combined with some categorical elements to provide deep contextualisation of gesture use in a given domain. This is again illustrated by Luck (2014) who relates detailed situational narrations to the different roles described by Streeck (2008).…”

“…Further, all three articles in the AIEDAM special issue on gesture in design -including Donovan et al (2011) -focus primarily on pointing (Visser & Maher, 2011). Finally, the concept of strings or sequences of gestural actions (in conjunction with body language and gaze) have been highlighted as critical in design communication (Luck, 2014;Yasui, 2013) although significant questions remain as to their overall characterisation and roles across contexts. As such, this study explicitly builds on these works to explore the link between design concepts and gesture use in the context of designing an electro-mechanical device.…”

“…First, Luck (2010Luck ( , 2014 points to the need to understand the complex relationship between gesture and its many roles in design. So far, this has primarily been explored in the architectural domain, and in the context of review type meetings (Luck, 2010(Luck, , 2014Murphy et al, 2012;Streeck, 2008;Visser, 2009). In particular, these meetings have centred on pre-prepared architectural drawings, and have focused on tasks substantially different from those likely to be encountered in the design of electro-mechanical systems.…”

“…In particular, it is closely related to gaze, speech, and body position, and is typically encountered in this multimodal context (Luck, 2010(Luck, , 2014. Gesture can embody a wide range of information from tempo or beat to dynamic interactions (Goldin-Meadow, 1999).…”