Someone once said that writing about music is like dancing about architecture, in order to convey the absurdity of written music criticism. Music is a visceral artform that should move the listener with its rhythm, tone, and melody, they insist, and it eludes the wielding of the critics’ pen.
But can writing about dance tell us something about its relationship to architecture? The idea is not as absurd as it may first appear. Both disciplines involve manipulating shape and form to define a space. A well-designed building should be like a well-choreographed dance; there is a rhythm and flow that pleases the senses.
Just as a dancer works with their body and with space to express the emotion of the dance, the architect works with physical materials to define a living space. A building should always be designed with the way people will move and flow within that space in mind, creating moods and memories as they go about their daily lives.
A good architect will consider the impact of the building in relation to the surrounding environment; will it be sympathetic to the landscape, in its location, shape, dimensions, and materials? Will the colours, tones, and textures jar the eye, create a subtle contrast, or appear too drab? These are all elements the dancer and choreographer must consider too.
The architect will consider how the light will fall and flow around the interior of the building; this can make a huge difference to the quality of life of the occupants and how they will come to feel about the building. The proportions and placing of each room should be designed with the purpose of that space in mind, and how it unifies the whole.
Ultimately, dance and architecture are a spatial artform, that have both a physical and an emotional impact on the viewer.
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