the dazzle of representing space.
When we speak of dimensions, we should never forget that they are variable. And not only that. The concept of dimension is a reading by our brain and that is the reason why it can dazzle us. Architecture, fundamentally, uses the measurement and representation of space. It uses plans for this and it is here that the fascinating play between the second and third dimension takes place.
A plan is always a two-dimensional happening. Dots and lines drawn on paper or on a computer cannot break the boundaries of two dimensions. Nevertheless, humans have come up with the way to combine those dots and lines to create an alluring depth. This illusion of depth is able to create a representation of the third dimension. When we see anything drawn on a plan we can discern three directions: from top to bottom, left to right and from front to back. As far as space is concerned, there are no other options possible. Nevertheless, on a plan, there is the possibility to add further dimensions: colours, shapes, the width of the lines drawn,… On an architectonic plan all of these aforementioned elements are new and variable dimensions and they can take us further than the third dimension.
However, the perception of these dimensions is directly related to cerebral neuronal connections, our education and our ability to visualise anything. If three dimensions have the ability to create a space, the other dimensions we have mentioned can create other dimensions called an ‘observation-space”. These observation spaces have nothing to do with our sense of placement as regards tridimensional space. In the end, the sense we make of a three-dimensional representation is nothing other than a perception of dimension that we create in our brains. Outside of our brains there are no dimensions of height, width, depth, light, colour, sound, temperature, smell or otherwise. These are not objective realities. They are nothing more than the results of neuronal calculations in our brain. That is why dimensions recognized by other cultures are a mystery to us, the inhabitants of the civilized West. Australian Aborigines can read and understand the movements of sand and the Eskimos understand the language of snow. Native tribes of the Amazon have become such a part of their surroundings that if they are removed from the tightly closed parameters of their environment and exposed to open horizons, they become dizzy and can faint (exactly as happens to prisoners who have spent long sentences in jail.)
A plan is always a two-dimensional happening. Dots and lines drawn on paper or on a computer cannot break the boundaries of two dimensions. Nevertheless, humans have come up with the way to combine those dots and lines to create an alluring depth. This illusion of depth is able to create a representation of the third dimension. When we see anything drawn on a plan we can discern three directions: from top to bottom, left to right and from front to back. As far as space is concerned, there are no other options possible. Nevertheless, on a plan, there is the possibility to add further dimensions: colours, shapes, the width of the lines drawn,… On an architectonic plan all of these aforementioned elements are new and variable dimensions and they can take us further than the third dimension.
However, the perception of these dimensions is directly related to cerebral neuronal connections, our education and our ability to visualise anything. If three dimensions have the ability to create a space, the other dimensions we have mentioned can create other dimensions called an ‘observation-space”. These observation spaces have nothing to do with our sense of placement as regards tridimensional space. In the end, the sense we make of a three-dimensional representation is nothing other than a perception of dimension that we create in our brains. Outside of our brains there are no dimensions of height, width, depth, light, colour, sound, temperature, smell or otherwise. These are not objective realities. They are nothing more than the results of neuronal calculations in our brain. That is why dimensions recognized by other cultures are a mystery to us, the inhabitants of the civilized West. Australian Aborigines can read and understand the movements of sand and the Eskimos understand the language of snow. Native tribes of the Amazon have become such a part of their surroundings that if they are removed from the tightly closed parameters of their environment and exposed to open horizons, they become dizzy and can faint (exactly as happens to prisoners who have spent long sentences in jail.)
