Movement Architecture : A Performing Arts Center for Bharathanatyam

Abstract

The thesis looks at what contemporary architecture can borrow from the often neglected, but omnipresent, act of human body movement in space. The vehicle for the study is Bharathanatyam, a classical dance originating from South India. The programme is to design a performing arts center for Bharathanatyam, and the site is in Scarborough, Ontario, Canada.

Using Bharathanatyam as a vehicle, can architecture evolve out of the relationship that exists between the body and the building in designing a performing arts center?

The thesis is separated into three sections. First it gives a brief explanation of Bharathanatyam, its structure and its history. The second part is a more theoretical inquiry into the idea of movement and how it may be translated into spatial forms. It must be made clear that this architectural investigation does not try to uncover equations or unearth answers to draw any definite conclusions, which would only oversimplify a complex and multi layered discipline. Rather, it is an investigation into the philosophical and theoretical aspects of movement, using it to understand an age-old art form. The third part of the report is the design, which explains how ideas relating to movement and Bharathanatyam were poetically and metaphorically translated into the built form.