Atmosphere, Architecture, Cinema: Thematic Reflections on Ambiance and Place

276 Pages·2022·7.884 MB·English

by  Michael Tawa

Atmosphere,
Architecture, Cinema
Thematic Reflections on Ambiance and Place
Michael Tawa
Atmosphere, Architecture, Cinema
Michael Tawa
Atmosphere,
Architecture, Cinema
Thematic Reflections on Ambiance and Place
Michael Tawa
School of Architecture, Design and Planning
The University of Sydney
Camperdown, NSW, Australia
ISBN 978-3-031-13963-5 ISBN 978-3-031-13964-2 (eBook)
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-13964-2
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In memory of Nadia Tawa.
Born Alexandria, Egypt, 29 January 1925. Died Sydney, Australia, 11
February 2022
To build, to plant, whatever you intend,
To rear the column, or the arch to bend,
To swell the terrace, or to sink the grot;
In all, let Nature never be forgot.
But treat the goddess like a modest fair,
Nor overdress, nor leave her wholly bare;
Let not each beauty ev’rywhere be spied,
Where half the skill is decently to hide.
He gains all points, who pleasingly confounds,
Surprises, varies, and conceals the bounds.1
“The day was ending in a serenity of still and exquisite brilliance. The
water shone pacifically; the sky, without a speck, was a benign immensity
of unstained light; the very mist on the Essex marsh was like a gauzy
and radiant fabric, hung from the wooded rises inland, and draping
the low shores in diaphanous folds. Only the gloom to the west, brooding
over the upper reaches, became more sombre every minute, as if angered
by the approach of the sun.”2
All my world is scaffolding.3
1 Alexander Pope, Epistle to Several Persons: Epistle 4 (1733–1734). https://www.poetry-
foundation.org/poems/44894/epistles-to-several-persons-epistle-iv. Accessed 20
February 2022.
2 Joseph Conrad, Heart of Darkness (New York: Harper and Brothers, 1910), 1.
3 Gerard Manley Hopkins. “Commentary on the Spiritual Exercises,” in W. H. Gardner
and N. H. Mackenzie (eds.), The Poems of Gerard Manley Hopkins (Oxford: Oxford University
Press, 1970), xxvii.
vii
C
ontents
Prologue 1
Rehearsing Atmospheres 11
Alexandria, Egypt 11
Karnataka 12
Gamaka 14
Gerald Manley Hopkins, 1844–1899 16
Coogee Beach, January 1995 20
Dhurabbin Country 21
Adele: ANZ Stadium, Friday, 10 March 2017 23
A Million Windows 24
Das Fastenschleiertuch 26
Shadow 27
Sumvitg 36
Ambiance 43
Ambiguity 43
Types of Ambiguity 45
Instress 52
Circumstance and Consequence 59
Circumspection 64
Tracking 73
On the Lookout 80
ix
x CONTENTS
Mood 85
Mood and Stimmung 85
Attunement 89
Dasein: Being-the-There 93
Melancholia 101
Music and Melancholia 109
Atmosphere 117
Flaky, Fluffy Wadding 117
Atmosphere 128
Meteorology 131
Halo 138
Haze 142
Scenography 150
Tectonics of Cinematic Atmosphere 157
Atmosphere and Cinema 157
Immanence: Robert Bresson 159
Reverie: Alain Resnais 165
Terror: David Lynch 170
Aporia: Béla Tarr 175
Grace: Terrence Malik 182
Suspense: Jane Campion 187
Tectonics of Architectural Atmosphere 193
Architecture and Atmosphere 193
Suspense: Tympanae 196
Anomie: Kafka’s Castle 204
Consilient Discrepancy: Flores Prats 222
Anatomy of Atmosphere 231
Advent 231
Agency 231
Allegory 231
Ambiance 232
Ambiguity 232
Anticipation 232
Aporia 233
CONTENTS xi
Apprehension 233
Assemblage 233
Atmosphere 233
Attunement 233
Character 234
Circumambiance 234
Circumstance 234
Climate 234
Coalesce 235
Colour 235
Complexion 235
Conjugation 236
Consequence 236
Consilience 236
Countenance 236
Crisis 237
Defer 237
Density 237
Discrepancy 237
Ekstasis 237
Emergence 238
Fold 238
Fragment 238
Garden 239
Gesture 239
Gleam 239
Gloaming 240
Gloom 240
Immanent 240
Indeterminate 241
Interstice 241
Margin 241
Matrix 242
Melancholia 242
Metaphor 242
Milieu 243
Mood 243
Pertubation 243
Porosity 244
xii CONTENTS
Potentiality 244
Remembrance 244
Reverie 244
Rhythm 245
Shimmer 245
Space 245
Sublime 245
Suspend 246
Tectonics 246
Temper 246
Time 247
Undecidable 247
Waver 248
Postscript 249
References 253
Index 263