From Rebirth to Architectural Design Process

Architectural Thesis

‘A Journey to Rebirth’ through Mt. Haguro, Mt. Gaasan and Mt.Yudono is taken every year as part of an old Japanese ritual of Rebirth. Through this journey it is believed that while still alive you can be reborn as a new soul. Rebirth means being born for a second time in a new body, starting life anew, without blemish. Reincarnation is the transmigration of a decease persons spirit/soul, essence and consciousness into another body. Rebirth is a phenomenon that extend beyond three spatial dimensions, therefore it is not possible to study or examine rebirth through classical science, we have to use the knowledge system of modern science. For the purpose of examining rebirth we can consider the human being as consisting of two distinct parts: the material part or the body which is within the scope of classical science and the non-material part or the consciousness which is beyond the scope of classical science. When consciousness de-localizes at death, it becomes a free floating consciousness. Once a free floating consciousness finds a vacant brain and re-localizes, then the person is reborn.

Ruskin treats the building as a human body, and compares its facade with the soul, while the structure becomes the body. In his view architecture should not be remodelled, but restored. He believes that architecture too has a life and when it dies, its soul remains in the documented details of its facade. In order to restore a building, we should tear down the facade and reclade the structure, through this way the building is reborn. Renaissance architecture, a style originating from classicism, undergoes three stages of revival: tentative reuse of classical concepts, strong revival, and reaction against the second stage. These stages mirror the rebirth ritual, involving present, past, and future stages for a rebirth.

This thesis identifies the different types of Rebirth and applies then in architecture through design processes. Therefore, a continuous cycle, a discontinuous cycle and a combination of continuous and discontinuous cycle appears as a result to the research Rebirths, and becomes remodelling, restoring and demolition in a design process.

The research goes further by applying them to St. George’s Garrison Church and speculate the outcome of each rebirth type.