Abstract

This research explores aspects of architectural phenomenology as evidenced in
the ‘quirk’, described here as a peculiarity or idiosyncrasy of a building’s
personality. Using digital technology, this study frames and contextualises a
body of sculpture, performance and installation in glass that interprets personal
ideas of home through social, cultural and emotional connections. The research
is focused on exposing the quirk to anthropomorphise the site, expressing its
familiar and intimate nature.
Previous research in creative glass has used digital design and manufacturing
technology in studies that contribute primarily to the practical advancement of
CAD/CAM processes. This new research applies such techniques, but is
instead focused on their capacity to record, translate and realise ideas in
relation to the quirk of the architecture. This approach translates quirks through
data capture to visualise aspects of architectural phenomenology, which is
defined in this context as the embodied, personal and sensory experience of
space.
A methodology which adapts architectural practice has been applied to provide
a creative, flexible framework of site selection, discovery of the quirk and its
translation, realisation and analysis. The four bodies of work described in this
PhD include a monumental architectonic sculpture, a series of ‘window’ panels
created using photographic imagery, a kinetic subterranean installation and a
time-based performance of the experience of sleeping on glass. The
contribution to knowledge can be claimed through a model of practice that
utilises phenomenology through the translation of the architectural quirk to
create a unique and diverse body of artwork; and the development of original
working methods for waterjet cutting and kiln-forming to produce architectonic
sculpture and imagery in glass. This PhD offers an example of the application of
architectural phenomenology for those wishing to use architecture as inspiration
for artwork.