The Poetics of Space

"great images have both a history and a prehistory; they are always a blend of memory and legend, with the result that we never experience an image directly. Indeed every great image has an unfathomable oneiric depth to which the personal past adds special colour." p.33 Gaston Bachalard.

The stories that tutors,students and other people have told about the art school seem full of fond memories and happy times. About memories Bachalard exhorts "Our emotion is perhaps nothing but an expression of a poetry that was lost."p6 When people talk about the past, a past that holds good memories their eyes light up, they laugh - "you had to be there" they sometimes say. The stories are shared with others an experience is transported to the listeners mind with all the feelings conveyed by the teller. Its not just words that are spread, also emotions,feelings and vibes.

Bachalard argues that the integration for thoughts, memories and dreams of mankind is the daydream that binds them together.

Mackintosh dreamed up the idea of the art school and now people from all over the world dream of attending its courses. Its not just the bricks and mortar its what goes on inside that has value too.

I have an old webster's dictionary. It belonged to my great grandmother. It's leather bound and very heavy. It was written by Noah Webster in 1827. every time I use it memories of my family heritage come flooding back to me. Old photographs of relatives I never new are crystal clear in my mind. Stories my mum told me about our family live on in my mind, colourful and clear. I feel strong feelings of loss for the dead and proud of their acheivements. Its like a whole world unfolds just by touching a specific book. Bachelard argues that "consciousness rejuvinates everything, giving a quality of beginning to the most everyday actions. It even dominates memory".P.67

Chapter 4 Nests.

"Victor Hugo.....For Quasimodo..."The cathedral has been successively egg, nest,house,country and universe."p90.

I think that the time spent in a place determines what meaning that place has to individuals.We "adhere" to a place and it can become our whole world - our way of life.

Bachalard goes on to discusses primitiveness of a place, like a refuge one can hide away and "take shelter"p91. He argues further that "Shells and nests are images that bring out the primitiveness in us and that to "withdraw into a corner" gives human beings physical pleasure.

These quotes from chptr 4 make me think about corners in my mind and areas in buildings that give pleasure.