chapter 7 {miniatures}
In chapter seven Bachelard speaks about "miniature". To begin to try and ponder the idea of this small scale world whether it be compared to yourself as a human or the human scale miniatured by some giant. It is hard to accomplish without letting your mind start to wander off into the day dreaming world that Bachelard seems to be so fixed upon. "But imagination deserves better than that. In point of fact, imagination which appears at all ages in the daydreams of born dreamers." (p.149) The main idea being conveyed is that of a world within a world. He mentions the apple (p.151) and how it is a world within itself, and of course it is part of another world, which is in fact the world that we live in.
To me this could be taken on so many levels. It seems very appropriate that this idea of miniatures would be in this book by Bachelard because even just thinking about miniatures will ultimately lead to a dream world. This idea of "a world within a world" relates to the design world. We are always trying to create special moments that are spaces within a space. Its all about context and how things relate. Taking it to the next level of how one element relates to the greater layer from it and the connections between. The "miniatures" are like the connections and "clues" that tie all of the elements within the space, or in Bachelard's case the universe itself, together.
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chapter 8 Intimate Immensity:
“As soon as we become motionless, we are elsewhere. We are dreaming in a world that is immense. Indeed immensity is the movement of motionless man. It is one of the dynamic characteristics of quiet daydreaming.” Pg. 184. Bachelard continues the discussion of scale on into chapter 8. When one daydreams it often is about this "immensity", a vast, huge, unlikely event that would ever occur in our lives, which is precisely why we daydream about it. Intimate Intensity is not only a factor in dreams but in memories as well. Like I mentioned in the very first blogs about Poetics of space I feel like when Bachelard speaks about our memories of the past it relates to the grass is greener scenario. Looking back on our memories we tend to make things out to be better, bigger, or more extraordinary then they actually were. Sometimes we are made to feel out of scale by things or circumstances in our lives which could be physical, emotional, or spiritual. One can experience Intimate Immensity in all three of these senses.
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chapter 9: Dialects of Outside and Inside
Just thinking about the connections and disconnections of Inside vs. Out and what is truly our or in one could get thoroughly confused and disoriented. This chapter mainly deals with finding one's self and trying to reach that stage of becoming completely oriented and knowing their place in the world. “But what a spiral a man’s being represents! And what a number of invertible dynamism there are in this spiral! p.214 This idea of a man's being representing a spiral is true to the fact that we are always moving learning growing. Sometimes we move forward and unfortunately sometimes we move backwards. The spiral can be either or. This is the spiral of in vs. out. Man is always in constant flux trying to determine on which spiral he is. This is the dilemma of life and finding one's self.
image courtesy of: scienceblogs.com
chapter 10:Phenomenology of Roundness
This was a great chapter. Bachelard is speaking about the Roundness of life. This relates back to many of the lessons we have learned as design students. Life is about cycles, even cycles within cycles. He uses the analogy of the bird. The bird is a great example of the "roundness" Bachelard is speaking. The bird ( which as you can see by the image above can be quite round themselves!) makes its nest by gathering elements from nature. Once it lays its eggs which are surround by a round shell, they are protected in the spherical nest, which is their home. The bird gives back to nature by spreading seeds and giving back what it took from nature, completing this cycle. The concept of cradle to cradle is represented by cycle which is the ideal situation vs. cradle to grave. Circles are never ending. This concept will make your head spin if you try to think about and justify the beginning and end of a circle.
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