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ABOUT EMPATHY AND DWELLING

D. Negrisanu, C. Blidariu

Abstract

Architecture is often criticized for providing a self-referential and autistic result [1], prevailingly focusing on formal and aesthetic criteria, failing therefore in offering a valid spatial response to its end-users. The dwelling is directly affected by this deficiency, suffering from a detachment of dweller’s real and authentic needs. Interceding between resident and residence, the architect is subjectively influencing this relationship. Developing empathic abilities inside the profession must begin with architecture students, so that it will turn into an automatic response during project design process. A study with architecture students from Architecture and Urbanism Faculty from Timisoara investigated their ability to empathize with the needs of their potential clients, by using some of their character traits during the process of conceiving certain spaces. For the first stages of the exercise, the students had to find the rightful inhabitant (a literary character of their choosing, but one with sufficiently defined character traits) for a famous house that they had just analyzed. In its later stage, using the data of their own analysis, the students had to imagine their own project for the same character, this time using only the most specific architectural traits that they could attribute to their subject. It was relevant to observe if they are consequent or not with their own findings and argumentation of the client. The results of this research, as it is shown in this paper, will highlight the biases that even inexperienced architects show favoritism towards their own personal goals, to the detriment of their client’s specific needs. The mixed methodology used for present research is based on a literature review of housing theory bibliography, combined with qualitative research with architecture students. All research methods served in detecting and diagnosing the empathic features distinguished at people, at architects and at architecture students. Bringing together the relevant information resulted from both research methods generated a diagnosis of architecture students’ degree of empathy, useful in adjusting architecture faculty curricula and, in extension, useful in improving on a long term the architectural practice.

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DOI resolver: doi.org/10.5593/sgemsocial2017/52/S21.055

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