Kinaesthetic Perception and Architecture

Abstract

This article highlights the review of the kinaesthetic perception derived from Greek kinein (to move), and aesthesis which is defined as the perception of movement in architecture. Kinaesthetic perception is defined as “a sense mediated by end organs located in muscles, tendons, and joints and stimulated by bodily movement and tensions,” and “sensory experience derived from this sense”. Since the 1960s, kinaesthetic perception, known as a term in neurology, psychology, orthopedics, and medicine, has been explored for creativity, especially in architecture, art, dance, particle animation, hypermedia, and game theories. This perception has been studied in Merleau-Ponty’s phenomenology in architectural theory and education and in terms of the oblique idea of Paul Virilio and Claude Parent, which have emerged as one of the important and triggering terms of kinaesthetic perception in architecture today. With the advent of technology, re-introducing this perception through technology or traditional means can help us remember the multi-dimensional interaction of our senses. Therefore, this article examines an interdisciplinary relationship among kinaesthetic perception, architecture, movement, and the body or soma and asks what kinaesthetic perception can provide new experiences in architecture.