The spatial body in the proto-architectural phase of design

The spatial body evolved out of academic and creative research on the body and architecture but has been translated into a pedagogical approach that brings attention to space within architecture (Lozanovska and McLean 1995). This chapter proposes that exploration of the spatial body can generate new ways to think and learn about architecture. It will explore this firstly through an understanding and rethinking of space and the role of space in relation to architecture. It will then examine fields of the relationship between body and architecture as a theoretical context and ground, and how recent theories of the body affect these fields. Thirdly, the chapter will explore the spatial body as a concept through which to learn about architecture as a spatial field inhabited by bodies. Following the theoretical enquiry the chapter will detail the beginning studio programme. It will present the sequential exercises translated from the conceptual basis into a teaching toolkit that seeks to develop an exploration of architectural space through the idea of the spatial body.