Othering space
Translating Bharatanatyam into Architectural Practice
Academic | Senior Thesis | 2022
Dance and movement are tools used to reintegrate embodied ways of being and expressing into formal architecture and space. There have been many investigations integrating western dance into architecture. Bharatantayam, an ancient South Indian, Hindu dance form, has not been recognized as equal to Ballet and other western art forms beyond labels of cultural dance forms.
This thesis experiments with the philosophies and practices of Bharatanatyam to work through the design process of climatory resilient architecture installation. By combining dance movement experiments and community narrative investigations, this project ultimately became a community gathering space in one of the hottest regions of Maryvale, AZ. This illustrated process becomes an example of a generative process integrating and intersecting diverse ethnic philosophies with habitat and community oriented site explorations to promote a pluralistic architectural way of being.
participant movement drawings
working drawing of translation
