ARCHITECTURE FOR THE BROKEN: Exploration of Catharsis and Healing Through Architecture

Abstract

Kintsugi or Kintsukuroi is the Japanese art that involves repairing broken pottery using lacquer mixed and or dusted with powdered gold, silver, or platinum, a technique similar to the maki-e technique. As a philosophy it views breakage and repair as part of the history of an object or person, instead of something that needs to be concealed or hidden and it understands that the piece is more beautiful for having been broken . 4 Pakistan is a country full of broken pieces scattered around in the form of people. Unlike the Japanese, our culture discards the broken rather than celebrates it. The ones that are afraid of being discarded cover the cracks with plaster and coat it with veneer polishing furiously every time they feel exposed. The word catharsis, originating from Greek, means to purify. This word is described as the purge of negative emotions in a person upon viewing a well composed tragedy on stage that leaves him feeling calm and satisfied afterwards. Catharsis is associated with tragedy (as a genre), unhappy endings and human suffering. Architecture can be one of the tools used in repairing the broken, it can be one of the ingredients in the gold lacquer that fills the cracks and heals the broken; spaces can provide catharsis and healing and help the broken find psychosocial stability in their minds so that they are able to go back into the world not as the broken pieces they once were but as stronger and more beautiful than before with a lacquer of gold holding them together. Through architecture imperfection will be embraced and celebrated, the emotional cracks once coated with veneer will be sand papered off and exposed to oxidization andthe pain concealed within allowed to bleed out and then filled before more pain can get inside. And by opening up oneself to pain and feelings, one automatically opens up to experiences and perceptual awareness of surroundings and themselves through association leading to growth and healing. Though, not by itself, architecture can and will heal the broken. The following questions need to be answered in this thesis: 1. What are the stages of healing from a trauma? 2. How can architecture aid the healing process? 3. How can architecture celebrate imperfection and brokenness?