Four Architectural Design Methods for the Active Perceiver: A Study of Phenomenology and Place in the Architectural World

Abstract

Dissecting the work of phenomenologist Maurice Merleau-Ponty, this thesis aims to generate a collection of design methods founded in theories of perception and place. In an effort to comprehend the intangible aspects of phenomenology, photography is employed as a metaphor and as a research tool supporting the development of the final design. The methods are then tested on a set of architectures that build upon existing elements of the Grand Parade in Halifax, Nova Scotia, developing connections to their histories, existing events and imagined potentials.