Spacing Time: Engaging Temporality in the Realm of Architectural Space

Abstract

The paper is a theoretical approach regarding digital architecture, performance and time. It tries to reflect on the philosophical taxonomy of time -cosmological, phenomenological and narrative- and how digitally conscious architectural design developed by architects, media artists, engineers and multidisciplinary teams address the engagement of the architectural space in real-time. The traditional static conception of architecture is altered through performativity and the ideals of permanence and endurance radically questioned. The research also constitutes a reflection on interaction, participation and performance in an ample sense with regard to performative architecture and some urban implications it may entail. Various examples addressing these topics mainly installed or built during the last decade exemplify the different issues that the paper reflects on. A critical reading of the installations and the intelligent-façades commented is posed to the reader together with the conceptual implications the different performative approaches involve and the goals they may achieve. The question remains if buildings instead of being or meaning should, more than ever, perform.