The Layers of Time

Abstract

The basic thesis of this paper is that temporality gives access to the primary order of architectural topography and thus to the reality and meaning of landscapes, streets, buildings, rooms, and their details. Time is not a contingent attribute of the places intended in design and realized through construction but a key to their essential structure and significance. Three dimensions of temporality are discussed: the time of the world, of the project, and of the experience, as it moves through and comes to rest in a work’s several spatial situations. The interconnections between prior, present, and future appearances are discussed, in consideration of a building or landscape’s materials, spatial order, and location. All of this is set out in a twopart argument: that the stories of our lives are recorded in the spaces of our lives, and that this recording is essentially temporal.

Keywords

Movement / Qualification / Anticipation / Recollection / Projection

RIGHTS & PERMISSIONS

2014 Higher Education Press