Transformable Space Based on Human Body Movement

Abstract

Due to the increase in urban population and the rising cost of providing housing, the size and quality of dwelling space in the city has become an issue. Asian cities like Hong Kong and Tokyo have already shrunk the normal living space to accommodate more units in a development. Taipei, Singapore, and Shanghai are also evolving toward the same solution. This dissertation argues that there are alternative ways to design and reshape our dwelling space to create an efficient space based on human body movement and at the same time retain spatial quality . Dance can be seen as creating extreme body movements compared to our daily movement, so the hypothesis of this dissertation is that if a space can accommodate dance movement, then most likely it will be a comfortable space for daily movement. The study begins with a historical research of space, including the concept of space, human use of space, and body movement in the space. Rudolf Laban’s theory of dance movement is one of the main ideas investigated and reinterpreted for the research and design dissertation. To understand the human daily movement, data gathering is key to the thesis. The subjects of study are from both dance body movement and daily body movement. A videotaping process is used to record these movements. During the data collecting process, both two dimensional and four dimensional methods are used. The first phase records the body movements and translates these into two dimensional images. These images are simulated into three dimensional representations. In the design phase, computer models are made with Rhinoceros, Maya, 3D Studio Max, and MotionBuilder to simulate the new space prototype and body movements based on the analyzed information to create more efficient spaces that also provide a better quality living environment. 1 For the purpose of this study, spatial quality is defined as visual experience, lighting quality, and ventilation quality. 2Four dimensional is a combination of three dimension and the time factor, can also be called 3D animation.