Abstract:
How can Qigong meditative practices inform our design approach and phenomenology? If in our design process is embodied the premises of Qigong, then will we be more aware of the essential postulates of it's approach? Qigong is a practice (exercise) that promotes well being and simultaneously makes the participant(s) aware of themsleves and their environment through the cultivation of Qi, or the life force medium. The need to organize vast deposits of information becomes the central preoccupation in our lives as we grow and evolve. Inevitably, mankind will need to economize his/her knowledge base. Qigong is a practice that, utilizing positive theory, seeks to understand man's interactivity within nature. This understanding may facilitate architects to make optimal predictions and design decisions as such. I believe that if carefully articulated, Qigong will prove worthwhile for its role in informing design.I have been studying and practicing a form of Qigong meditative practice in my daily routine for health purposes. I am impressed with the results and think it may be valuable architecturally-possibly as an architectonic devise, discourse, metaphor, or design methodology. Qigong is an appropriate impetus for architectural design because it is an integrated science whose primary intent or essence is inward reckoning and personal balance.IntentI hope to manifest an architectural solution derivative of the process of Qigong meditation. I want to distill the phenomenon that accompanies the exercise and reformulate it, composing a space appropriate for several activities. I hope to design a space that not only resonates with the experiential qualities of meditation, but also to overlapp the meditative consciousness with other aspects of life, imbuing otherwise isolated habits and activities with meaning.
