Monday, September 21, 2009

OCCUPYING ECSTATIC FESTIVAL SPACES – The costume and the city stage

Abstract

This thesis examines the role architecture plays in the profound nature of collective human joy during festivals. It will look at human behavior during the festive hours and the events, places and actions that encompass play in festival. There are many different types of festivals but there are basic commonalities that exist in all. There is a voluntary participation, celebration in excess and its occurrences outside of ordinary life.
The Stage and Costume are vital contributors to the collective ecstatic joy experienced at festivals. This includes the spatial role of the city as a theater stage and the stage structures that exist during festivals. While some stages are permanent others are temporary and subjective. At times a stage can be a specific route or area where something symbolic has occurred. The stage creates a relationship between the performer and the audience. Another element that stresses differences from the ordinary world outside festival is the costume. Seeing the Costume as architecture for the body and as the space the human body occupies is relevant. The line between friend and stranger is diminished with the adorning of a costume. Transformations such as these lead up to the climatic joyous feelings that encompass festival.
Parades, festivals and carnivals are celebrated in many cities around the world. While the customs, religions and cultures may be different, a common thread is the profound nature of collective human joy experienced in these diverse cities. However industrialization and human obsessive drive to succeed in social rank and class has dampened our festive nature. This thesis will assist in renewing the capacity of festival particularly in Trinidad's Carnival. By examining the role of architectural space in the actions that encompass this urban festival, it will propose both new and revived forms and spaces that contribute to the festivals collective ecstasy
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