Walt Disney Concert hall
Body analysis - Anna Batebe

Body analysis

The body in architecture, like the human body, contains complex cells of information that work together to create a unified whole. As a cultural center of downtown Los Angeles, the Walt Disney concert hall functions as a vessel that connects the visitors of the hall to the wealth of music and information that it houses. The concert hall does this through its inclusive approach of embedding the viewer into its fragmented body; allowing them to experience the space with their whole being. The concert hall also embodies the concept of the phenomenological body that creates extended projections of the body in both mind and spirit, creating a unique experience. Unlike classical buildings, that made symbolic references to the ideal human body; the Walt Disney concert hall makes corporeal references to the human body, allowing the viewer to experience the space by actively engaging all their senses. The fragmented body of the concert hall shows how the literal references to the body during classical times have been eroded. In figure one, we can see that the body is now seen as “fragmented, if not contorted, deliberately torn apart and mutilated beyond recognition” (Vidler, 3). The body of the concert hall is fragmented both in plan and elevation. In plan (figure one) we can see how the buildings body spans out in to uneven, irregular shaped appendages. On the first floor, the under stage section of the concert hall spans outwards onto the parking area on the left and the main entrance to the right at its bottom it accesses the redcat theatre. On the second level, the concert hall is composed of fragments consisting of the main theatre in the centre, the, atrium reception hall, preconcert area and the founders room; all of which have irregular, abstract forms. In elevation (figure two), the masses of these main areas the founders room, the preconcert hall and the atrium take on different forms, creating shapes that collide with each other in an abstract nature that make it hard to determine what interior program they house. These masses change as you move around the building, furthering your perception of the fragmented body. In (figure three) we can see how this abstract, fragmented representation of the body in architecture opens up vast possibilities in which the space can be experienced and demonstrates a departure in architectural theory from classical humanism to a more freed and inclusive architecture. The fragmented spaces both in plan and elevation create multiple possibilities for experience, as there are now multiple ways that the building can be occupied.

figure one

Furthermore, this analysis highlights the fact that body as a metaphor is no longer used to “centre, to fix or to stabilize” (Vidler, 3) the building, but rather the body seems infinitely “ambiguous and extensive in form” (Vidler, 3). As seen in figure one, the body is no longer confined to what we have known as recognizably human, but rather it is now embracing all human existence. This is seen by the way the masses creating the founders hall, the atrium reception hall, and the pre- concert areas seem to extend outwards and create rather ambiguous body. The building is not fixed into place but rather extends in to all directions endlessly; this lack of stable or fixed form shows the destruction of the body as metaphor to stabilize. The building is freed from this reference to the body. Through its non perfect nature, the body now serves to embody the “embryonic to the monstrous; its power no longer in the model of unity, but rather in the imitation of the fragmented, the morsellated, the broken” (Vidler, 3). In addition, the fragmented body of the concert hall suggests that it is free of direct symbolic references to a particular sex (figure four), unlike the classical period where perfection in geometry reflected the body of an ideal man “and established the male body at the centre of the unconscious architectural rules and configurations” (Agrest, 30 ). The Walt Disney concert hall does the opposite and provides experience through embodiment of the viewer within the space. Thus, the hall has no symbolic references to the ideal male body; the fragmentation creates an inclusive architecture in which both sexes can be identified through embodiment. As a result, the viewer is never alienated and depending on their physical nature will experience the space differently from one another. The Walt Disney concert hall exemplifies a more extended form of bodily projection in architecture, In comparison to the classical period that was based entirely on the projection of the human body onto architecture. The concert hall “no longer simply represents the whole or part of the body but, is seen to objectify the various states of the body, both physical and mental” (Merleau – Ponty). In essence, the architecture has the capacity to evoke feelings in the observer both physically and mentally.

figure two

figure three

figure four

This form of extended bodily projection can be referred to as, the phenomenological body. The phenomenological body is an animate body that is situated within the world and seeks a return to concrete experience. The Walt Disney concert hall embodies this concept as it pushes the extension of one’s own body, by embodying the viewer in space. Through this embedded experience, the observer is able to study the conscious experience from the subjective point of view. The phenomenological body makes the human body the centre of the experiential world, and is constantly engaged in the architectural body in order to create these experiences. This phenomenological body focuses on the embodied vision “that is an incarnate part of the flesh of the world: our body is both an object among objects and that which sees and touches them” (Merleau – Ponty). The perception of the viewer is no longer a “sum of visual, tactile and audible givens”, rather it is a way of understanding with one’s whole being, a perception that is gained through all of the senses at once (Merleau-Ponty). This way of experiencing space can be seen in the exterior pathways around the Walt Disney concert hall. In figure five, the changing widths and angles of the pathways as the viewer moves through space all serve to add to the viewers’ experience. As well the play of shadow in these pathways over time shows the ever changing experience of the space and its impact on the viewers’ senses visually, emotionally and physically. Furthermore, there is not one prescribed route of movement through these pathways; the experience of each space is determined by the occupation, rendering it different each time for each person. As well the suppression of vision in certain areas serves to heighten the viewers other senses while moving through the space, views outwards are blocked off. The experience is a fusion of vision and tactility. Through the use of these phenomenological projections the body of the Walt Disney concert hall is able to embed expressions of the mind such as spirit, movement and discovery resulting in an amplified bodily experience. Take for example (in figure five A), the viewer’s inability to predict the sequence of interior spaces that they navigate through, create a sensation of rotational movement of one’s self though the space, a sense of disorientation, vertigo.

figure five

Furthermore, the phenomenological body of the concert hall “arouses sensations that correspond to the function of the building” ( Etienne- Louis Boullee). The body of the concert hall is a manifestation of musical symphony. The sensation of moving through these unpredictable, yet carefully orchestrated spaces becomes an allegory about the love of music, which the viewer actively experiences. In essence, the fusion of body, information and architecture happens. The body of the Walt Disney concert hall shows how the collection of information in the body can serve to work as a unified whole and create a rich architectural experience. Through the embodiment of phenomenological body and through a post modern approach to the body, as a fragmented and broken body; the Walt Disney concert hall is able to create an inclusive architecture, readable on different levels. As a result, it functions effortlessly as a cultural center of downtown Los Angeles, connecting the visitors of the hall to the wealth of music and information.