Empathy with the built environment : exploration through the design of a museum

Abstract

How can we build to allow empathy with the physical environment? The term empathy is understood primarily from sociology referring to an association with another person. In terms of architecture, empathy can be understood as a positive association with the built environment. Association, whether positive or negative, is subjective to some extant; however, this is not the aim of the thesis. There are behaviors of the physical environment that are positively associative to all people, in spite of race, culture, and differences in personal experience. The more people can associate with the built environment the better they are able to understand the world they live in. The aim of this thesis is to look at two ways of building this association with the physical world. The first aspect of this topic is to reveal the making of the buildings we live in. The second aspect of this subject is size relationships. The understanding of the built environment by revealing building systems may be contrary to advocates of neutral gallery spaces. Minimization of the setting in the dialogue between art and viewer results in undifferentiated and non articulated spaces and surfaces . This enhances the disassociation of the viewer from the physical environment. How can we build museums to allow association between the built space that we inhabit and the requirements for a museum?