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<p> This study involves conducting a rhetorically configurative analysis of an architectural interior, where `configurative' is defined as a set of visual/spatial interrelations perceived within a given context or framework. Specifically, the purpose of this project is to re-animate not only awareness of context, but also the imagination in its role in the creation of human significance in designing spaces.</p><p> Technological changes in communication directly affect the relevance of rhetoric to the development and continuation of culture. Shifts in rhetorical modalities, therefore, may eventually constitute cross-cultural transitions in sharing experiences. Thus, to maintain continuity of meaning, it becomes incumbent on professional communicators to develop a working familiarity with contemporary socio-cultural changes, particularly those changes that involve a transition from one form of communicative form to another.</p><p> According to rhetorician Ernest Grassi (1980, 1994) culture itself is rhetorical, i.e., a by-product of the human need for the psyche to achieve and, more importantly, to <i>share</i> meaning. For Grassi, this adaptation of nature involves a metaphoric transfer of meaning from inner understanding onto the physical world. To do this, however, there must be some means, some venue, available to create a common connection between the two realms.</p><p> Language has been such a venue, and, print, until recently in the West, has been the predominant communicative modality for the maintenance and transmission of culture. One cultural consequence of this adaptation is that written/printed communications deliberately hold form constant so as not to interfere with the transparent dissemination of information, as content. Electronic modalities, however, complicate this cultural communicative assumption in that: (1) virtual form can no longer be routinely subordinated to content, and (2) `knowledge' when experienced as simultaneous pattern need not be distanced and `provable' to be valid,</p><p> Grassi's understanding of metaphor as the link between rhetoric and culture (1980, 1994), in effect, characterizes metaphor as a hybrid communicative form that bridges the gap between rational/linguistic and aesthetic/configurative forms via human ingenuity. This approach has been explored on the linguistic/rhetorical side as generative criticism (Foss, 2004) where the researcher must create and/or design/construct a singular critical framework through which to interpret an unusual artifact. On the aesthetic/rhetorical side, however, Bauhaus artist Wassily Kandinsky's analytical drawing process and correspondence color theory practicably elucidate design as a communicative system (Poling 1986). </p><p> This proposed visual/spatial analysis of the interior the lobby of the rotunda of Skeen hall is intended to depict an architectural interior as schematized space that will illustrate the processing inherent to Grassi's imagistic first principles, i.e., the <i>archai</i>, remnants of a primordial language (Grassi, 1994) where deductive reasoning fords its source, but that cannot, in and of themselves, be discovered via deduction (Grassi, 1980). In this view, the <i>archai</i> represent the collective sources of <i> ingenium</i> which allow humans to overcome their alienation from nature through the figurative development of human meaning that the rawness of the natural world alone cannot provide.</p>

Architecture builds the frames for human lives and thereby frames humans and their well being. Thus, the role of the user and their needs are brought into the picture. The American psychologist Abraham Maslow defined human basic needs as physical needs that must be fulfilled. In my thesis I intend to argue that certain psychic needs should also be added to the basic needs of humans; in particular, the need for aesthetics. I intend to define a specific type of aesthetics, namely the everyday aesthetic that has existed as long as the aesthetic debate. The everyday aesthetic can be defined as a symbolic communication expressed by the user in connection with residential architecture.Scholarship on the need for aesthetics in relation to architecture is lacking. This thesis addresses the subject through a case study documentation and by analyzing traces and patterns of the everyday aesthetic in fifteen residential neighborhoods in different cities across the United States (July 2006). The conclusion that can be drawn from this empirical research indicates the desire for everyday aesthetics functions like a basic need and can be understood as a psychic need appropriate for addition to Maslow's pyramid of human's needs. / Department of Architecture

Traditional formalism of planting design within landscape architecture has two central faults; the objectification of plants and a focus on visual perception. This thesis proposes the correct appreciation of planting design is an aesthetic of engagement founded on interaction with the sublime in nature. Plants are the materiality of nature and design seeks to engender a phenomenological experience of landscape perceived through a series of events or encounters with the sublime. The aesthetic of engagement in planting design is articulated in four ways; direct engagement, indirect engagement, ethical engagement, and therapeutic engagement. Examples from contemporary projects verify an aesthetic of engagement for planting design. This thesis fills a gap in knowledge by providing a philosophical conceptualization of the aesthetics of planting design and a language through which to carry on dialogue over its presence. / The formalist tradition -- Sublime foundations of contemporary planting design -- The aesthetics of engagement -- A concluding example. / Department of Landscape Architecture

My thesis explores the role played by form in our experience of objects of consciousness as art. In doing so, I look at the concept of form as it was understood by prominent philosophers such as Plato and Aristotle, as well as form in Immanuel Kant’s aesthetics in The Critique of the Power of Judgment. My method is phenomenological and rooted in my experience of making and writing about art, as a student of studio art and of philosophy. To connect philosophical understandings of form to the experience of art in a way reflective of my experience, I show the connection between and influence on art critical understandings of form by philosophical understandings of form. In particular, I focus on Modernist formalism as Clive Bell, Roger Fry and Clement Greenberg articulated it. Modernist formalism played a role in the teaching style and content of art studio classes I attended. The role of form in our experience of art was problematized by Conceptual Art, which movement also deeply impacted the teaching style and content of my studio art classes. The tension I experienced between these two movements in art and its criticism led to my interest in this topic and informed my choice to limit the scope of my investigation to Modernist formalism and Conceptual Art. In particular, I focus on philosophically trained Conceptual Artists such as Adrian Piper and Joseph Kosuth. Changes in the way art was made and understood impacted the understanding of the concept of form not only for art critics, but also for philosophers. I include contemporary philosophical discussions of form by Bernard Freydberg and Rudolphe Gasché to show the movement and interrelatedness between art and philosophy about the concept of form. The conclusion I reach is that form in our experience of art is constructive of that experience if our consciousness of art objects is conceived of as an engaged, rather than disinterested. My rejection of disinterest in favour of engagement is adapted from Arnold Berleant’s account of the aesthetic experience. I retain a place for the object as it is given, using H.J. Gadamer’s terms “changing” and “unchanging aspects.” The object’s properties are its unchanging aspects while the shifting contextual ground on which art as an experience is built is the changing aspect. I conclude that form is a way of seeing that requires both of these aspects.

The creative project was a series of three, mixed media drawings created on multiple layers of transparent plexiglass. The artist designed a frame in which three sheets of plexiglass were contained. This unit portrayed a three-dimensional drawing. The artist then experimented with a variety of mediums to determine which material was best suited for successful rendering on plexiglass. The artist then did a number of sketches to determine what images would best convey the idea of humankind's close connection to the land, air, and sea.The primary accomplishments achieved in this project were the knowledge gained in the experimentation of materials and the ability to create a composition on multiple layers of plexiglass. Through these successes, the artist was able to effectively create a series of three three-dimensional mixed media drawings. / Department of Art

Architecture is an inherently functional art – buildings have functions, some more vital than others, beyond the objective of sheer aesthetic appeal. Yet at the same time, aesthetic appeal is an integral part of the human experience that many agree is vital to sustainability objectives, including those of the built environment. Ideally, a building would be able to embody and honor both principles, both form and function, but some contend that in the current architectural climate, the emphasis on beauty has surpassed the importance placed on functionality. This discussion is particularly relevant to sustainability in the built environment: Sustainability as a function, some argue, is often compromised or sacrificed for the sake of the vision of the architect, and faddish concepts of beauty. This, many contend, results in the commodification of our buildings, and quite possibly of sustainability as well. In this thesis, I argue that we can avoid this outcome by employing site-specific and culturally informed design principles, knowledge of sensory perception shaped by the social sciences, and spatially flexible design principles to create architecture that inspires us, roots us, and lasts for multiple generations. Ultimately, this is the core function of a sustainable approach to design – taking into account the entire lifecycle of a product. A new, loose functionalist approach that stresses durability, and is informed by a multidisciplinary approach involving both the humanities and social sciences, could be the key to overcoming the quick obsolescence of styles in a consumptive, aesthetically driven society.

The thesis will explore the idea of feeling Japanese spirituality of Shinto through a contemporary work of art, the animated film My Neighbour Totoro (1988). The idea of a felt spirituality revolves around Shinto’s notion of kami, divine entities whose existence becomes manifest through one’s feeling and perception to awe-inspiring things of the natural world and the aesthetic notion of aware, an immediate felt emotional response that coincides as the response/reaction when coming into contact with awe-inspiring things. This thesis conceives aware to be the meeting point in which the human and kami world converge, a Shinto concept known as shinjin-g itsu, or the meeting of the human spirit with kami. This thesis will uncover themes of Shinto spirituality through a close reading of the functionality of specific components of the film: music, setting, characters, character interactions, and symbolism. Themes such as nature, community, symbolism and the role of aesthetics within the film will be discussed to showcase the idea of a spiritual encounter. It is a spiritual encounter/meeting that is facilitated through the aesthetics and components of the film which elicits a response of aware from the viewer. / Graduate / 0322 / 0332 / 0900 / scarbul@gmail.com

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The study describes how product visual aspects affect development processes and success in the component supply industry. Past research has demonstrated the importance of the product development function to component supply companies. Previous publications have also shown that visual and aesthetic properties are important for the success of manufactured products. The objective of the study was firstly, to establish on a general level how supply companies control the development process and whether supplier involvement in component development affects their business success. The second stage was to examine more specifically whether visual aspects of products affect development control and business success in the supply industry. The thesis is presented as six chapters. Chapter 1 provides an introduction. Chapter 2 sets up a model of product development in the supply industry, conducts a series of case studies in industry and develops three hypotheses predicting the impact of product visuals on the development process and success in the component supply industry. In chapter 3 develops a research method for an extensive survey. Chapter 4 plots the data collected in the survey. Chapter 5 discusses the plots examining the three hypotheses. It was shown that supplier control in the development of component visuals decreased with the visual significance of the component in the final product. Furthermore, component profits for supply companies increased with the visual significance of the component in the final product. Finally in chapter 6 conclusions are made.