ON PLANNING & MEANING – MENTAL STRUCTURES & IMPACTS

It was a publication on brochs,* but one article's summary was surprisingly revealing in its understanding of architecture. Although an archaeological paper, it showed a remarkable insight into the significance of building and its experience. The publication was the oddly named Tall Stories? 2 Millennia of Brochs, edited by Val E. Turner, et).al., published by the Shetland Amenity Trust, Lerwick, 2005. The text that was so impressive was on page 106, in a paper by Niall Sharples, titled Life Histories and the Buildings of the Atlantic Iron Age:

Recent work in anthropology has emphasised that house shape and form not only provide shelter and comfort to the occupants (Carsten and Hugh-Jones 1995) but also a social framework through which individuals and groups can make sense of their lives. Structure is used to constrain and guide the body as it moves through space# and in doing so mediates encounters between individuals. The process of architectural creation captures a particular event in time, and alteration and abandonment delimit a temporal sequence of considerable importance to the occupants.

Archaeological applications of these new approaches have been restricted to the British Isles. They have largely focused on the use of the house for mapping the inhabitants' cosmological understanding of their environment. The plan of the house appears as a template for the mental structures of the inhabitants. This type of approach has been particularly important in rethinking the Iron Age round houses both of southern England (Hingley 1990; Fitzpatrick 1994) and Atlantic Scotland (Pearson and Sharples 1999; Pearson and Giles 1999). The models suggested for these areas provide alternative views, (core/periphery and sunwise movement) of how this cosmology was envisaged. These may well respect a plurality of views in the past but they imply a general homogeneity of beliefs throughout Britain which is otherwise difficult to perceive in the archaeological record.

In this paper I do not wish to examine these cosmological interpretations of the house; instead I wish to look at some other anthropological insights into how the house (or perhaps more appropriately a home) provides a framework for understanding the temporal sequence of prehistoric life. This is to conceptualise the house in terms of life cycle. We can assume that a house undergoes the basic cycle of birth, life and death and that it is analogous to that of an individual. Further-more it is possible that the transitional points are significant events (liminal periods) which might form the focus for ritual or ceremonial activity. Archaeological applications of this form of interpretation are much rarer (Gerritsen 1999).

What is remarkable about this text is that it shows a greater sensitivity to understanding the impact of planning than architects currently do. Once again, architecture can look to other fields of knowledge to learn more about itself. Here one recalls the study on the impact of the loss of familiar places - Peter Read's Returning to nothing: the meaning of lost places, Cambridge University Press, Melbourne, 1997 - where a rich understanding of feeling for place and identity are embodied in another historical/archaeological study that should be read by all architects, just as this broch text should be, for we seem far from ever reaching such perceptions and interests from within the profession of architecture today. It is something to ponder, as we still have quirkily quaint nostalgic feelings for things old, even ancient, sensing something sensitive and meaningful in them without asking what, why or how, just being enthralled by them as a tourist might be – see: http://springbrooklocale.blogspot.com/2012/06/who-or-what-is-tourist.html

These studies highlight how remote architecture currently is from its roots - providing shelter for the human body, soul and spirit, to enrich and support them; managing encounters while defining relationships with each other and the cosmos. Do architects ever consider a home as having a birth, life and death? Little wonder that the world is now plagued with mental health problems** as bodies and souls seek physical and emotional support from 'clever-dick' architecture more interested in its smart self and its unique gymnastics than anything else, creating voids echoing "ME, ME - LOOK!", mocking those who look on doubtfully with the pomposity of the acclaimed success of the “WOW!”

If architecture is to regain any respect and re-establish its important role in life, then it must heed the understandings in these texts and their implications. Without this, architecture will remain merely an indulgent 'look at me' display - boastful and arrogant; and architects will remain self-centred, self-serving, self-promoting princes providing services for like-minded folk who choose to play games with narcissistic expressions for everyone to admire and yearn for, in order to confirm their self-proclaimed importance. One could name this stance 'Trumpish.' It seems to be the sign of our times that tramples the Biblical promise to the meek, dismissing it as a weak irrelevance considered meaningful only by idiots.

Sadly it is almost a joke today to suggest that an architect might plan to shape 'a template for the mental structures of the inhabitants.' Rather it seems that architects perform in order to reveal the brilliance of their own mental states, to proudly declare, like Trump, their 'stable genius.' Similarly, they are just making fools of themselves, but they are so engrossed in their own self-perceptions that they remain totally unaware of how others see them, and what they do.

If this understanding of home and its potential cannot come from architects, then we must turn to other specialties, fields of knowledge and research that can see clearly without the distorting rose coloured glasses of our profession. It has happened before - c.f. Levi Strauss, and semiology and linguistics in the 1970s and 80s. Once the bewildering brilliance of the blinding digital world has become familiar and ordinary, perhaps architects might turn their attention back to those that they build for, and shape buildings for their experience and enrichment as contented, living, feeling, spiritual beings, rather than play as if with new toys in the lolly shop, seeking the unchallenged praise of all others doing likewise.

*

On brochs and experience:

Back to brochs: Sharples' text starts impressively, but the body of the reported research in this paper is less significant. It appears to be a rather bland description of the obvious - that others move in and re-use the structures. There is a bit more than this, but even Sharples comments in his summary that it is all very obvious. Yet he continues with what appears to me to be one of the best theories for broch occupation yet read. It is interesting that this idea comes from the original perception of buildings - see above.

Wheelhouses were temporary structures when compared to brochs. They were probably dismantled with the death of the occupant and reconstructed nearby - (see construction of new 'Iron Age' roundhouse: https://voussoirs.blogspot.com/2019/04/more-on-building-brochs-thinking-doodles.html). The hypothesis is that brochs were occupied by a selected individual chosen by the community for some particular reason. This person became the link to the ancestors who had previously occupied this space. The broch became the community core for remembrance, both symbolic and real. While one suspects it was more than this - see: https://voussoirs.blogspot.com/2019/04/building-brochs.html https://voussoirs.blogspot.com/2019/04/more-on-building-brochs-thinking-doodles.html https://voussoirs.blogspot.com/2019/05/the-game-of-brochs.html - it appears to be a fertile beginning. Sharples explains why the archaeology of brochs is so confused: the constant re-occupation muddles the clarity of discovery, research and interpretation. What seems to be the most appropriate interpretation is that brochs were multi-functional. If they were singular in function, one might have thought that this would have become more than evident by now.

With such activities, one can see how a cosmology can be read into community ideas; how buildings do reveal a mental structure. One wonders what archaeologists might make of us from our building remains: what 'satisfactory progression of tasks designed to sustain life in and around us' might be gleaned from our structures? Just imagine a future archaeologist discovering a Gehry.

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Gropius spoke of this aspect of the plan in his Scope of Total Architecture, Allen & Unwin, London, 1956. This, along with other experiences of architecture has been forgotten: c.f. Steen Eiler Rasmussen's Experiencing Architecture, The MIT Press, 1962. Why do old texts get trashed by the mad trampling of progress that blindly, brashly, demands the constant rush forward named progress, leaving gems in its mire.

**

On witches: one wonders if witches are needed, if not religion. Francis Thompson, in his book The Supernatural Highlands, Luath Press Edinburgh, 1997, writes about witches, on:
p. 18

. . . the 'unknown', as these intangibles often were, developed into something to be feared, particularly by those whose minds were riddled with trouble; or revered by those whose minds had the key to gain access to the mental planes of peace, solace and solitude that these areas offered.

p.19

This Soisgeul, (Gospel for weak minds), was a charm intended to strengthen the weak mind so that grace might be conferred on a poor soul.

p.20

. . . white witchcraft was respected for the good it did in a community; those responsible for it held a high place in the esteem of the people.

p.82

It is, perhaps, but a short step from the applications of concern for the ailments of one's fellows to concern for the natural and satisfactory progression of tasks designed to sustain life in and around the household, and to keep one free from both clinical and spiritual ills. Belief that one's life was overshadowed by unseen spirits which influenced the success or otherwise of human activity was widespread, and led to the build-up of a significant corpus of lore which, at first sight, might seem to be rank superstition but which, on careful scrutiny, reveals the close affinity of man with nature. The latter was a relationship which was encompassed by a simple and pure belief that all in Nature was for the common good and must therefore be treated with respect.

Note: This is a world far removed from our era that thrives on self-important, self-promotion, and selfies. It is no new cry to note the importance of humility, contentment, and care for others, but it is a stance that our Trumpian times sadly knows little of. Maybe an interest in Nature might restructure ambitions and intents?

p. 84

Life, however, was not governed by the rhythm of days. The seasons, the months of the year, all contributed to the Gael's orchestrated life as he progressed from birth to death, participated in community affairs and enhanced his own life by courtship, marriage and parenthood.

p. 86

The work songs cover the whole range of domestic and community activities and contain elements of tradition that have since disappeared from other forms of lore. The songs take in such work as weaving, spinning, walking, shoemaking, herding, milking, churning, driving cattle, fishing, collecting seaware, and the tasks associated with land use.

The simple Prayer at Rising shows the attitude to the world, one of respect and contentment

p.134/135

Thou King of moon and sun,

Thou King of stars beloved,

Thou knowest Thyself our need,

O Thou merciful God of life.

Each day that we move,

Each time that we awaken,

Causing vexation and gloom,

To the King of Hosts who loved us.

Be with us through each day,

Be with us through each night;

Be with us each night and day,

Be with us each day and night.

One can sense the quality of feeling and responsibility here, the humility, a circumstance best highlighted when it is seen as something that Trump would never Tweet.

and on p.135/136, the Prayer for Protection:

O Father of Truth,

O Son of mercy,

Free us at this time,

Free us at every time.

Thou Son of God, grant me forgiveness

In my false swearing,

In my foolish deed,

In my empty talk.

Sain me from the hurt of the quiet women,

Sain me from the hurt of the wanton women,

Sain me from the hurt of the fairy women,

Sain me from the hurt of the world-women.

Maybe one can recite this for Trump?