Book in Focus: The Poetics of Space by Gaston Bachelard

Earning his Doctor of Letters in 1927 from Sorbonne, French philosopher Gaston Bachelard studied the intersection of science and philosophy. He was born into a shoemaker family and worked his way up from mail carrier to philosopher. His book, The Poetics of Space, published in 1958, overlaps architecture, philosophy, and poetry in a way that transports the reader to a realm the author has created and to a realm the reader creates for themselves, relating it to their experiences throughout life. The main objective of this book is to dissect and explore the human relationship with the interiors of specific spaces. The Poetics of Space serves an essential purpose in understanding the psyche in accordance with architecture and is recommended for architects, poets, philosophers, or designers in general. 

Introspection and Phenomenology

‘Introspection’ is the observation of one’s own mental and emotional processes, and ‘phenomenology’ is the approach that concentrates on the study of consciousness and the object of direct experience. In the human experience, the conscious and subconscious minds together form the psyche. The subconscious mind guides the conscious mind when seeing repetitive patterns and creates core memories with new experiences. In the book, Bachelard utilises design and physical spaces to understand how people exist in the world and the impact of their surroundings on their relationship with the universe. It questions and concludes how people designate certain emotions to specific spaces, nooks, corners, architecture, and outside context.

House as the realm of the soul

Bachelard starts his essay with an introduction to childhood home and its connection to the psyche. Associating the verticality of a house with the conscious mind, similarly, the cellar with underground walls signify walls people build around them, which birth from fear, and attics with the fear of burglars. Roofs are built by calculating different slopes in accordance with the rainfall certain places receive. The roof battens exposed and bare like the soul and the roof above it, the persona of a human. Persona is the personality a human adopts to sustain in society by interacting with various people. Humans have numerous personas, but only one soul that stays real. 

Continuing this style of writing, he mentions that the city houses (towers and skyscrapers) do not accurately depict childhood emotions. They fail to display a tall roof and are instead horizontal and confined, unlike the human mind, which knows no limits. Bachelard mentions Henri Bosco’s work, calling the city a big clamorous sea, where one hears infinite murmurs of flood and tides that depict negative emotions and anxiety. The city house fails to enumerate an environment to daydream and ponder on good memories due to the hectic human lifestyle.

Interiors and exteriors in architecture for interdependent expressions

In chapter two, Bachelard throws light on the importance of juxtaposition in architecture and the human psyche. He quotes another poem that depicts the house as a warm and protected place on a winter night. The more ferocious winds and snow, the warmer and more intimate the house feels. Along with this beautiful depiction, he also mentions groups of lit houses as stars on the dark ground that form constellations on Earth. The mystical poetic references sure invoke related emotional responses, teleporting the reader to the scene and reimagining it with their own specific emotions. 

Lessons from non-human shelters

Chapters four and five of Bachelard’s writing emphasise the study of homes of the natural world. Nests and shells by different living species portray a deeper sense of protection and intimacy. The poem by Jean Caubere called ‘The Warm Nest’ brings a bird’s nest and a person’s home together. Like the bird’s nest, which nestles the bird from its egg stage to the stage where it starts growing feathers over its bare skin and then takes off, a person who loses or goes away from their old home and comes back to it later, makes the reader feel fuzzes inside their heart further bringing in the emotions of solitude and infinite love. 

Corners and Miniatures

In the sixth chapter, the readers knock inside their corners and niches from childhood, which provides them with a sense of security, immobility, and liberation while daydreaming. In spite of being a tiny part of a huge space, the corner acts like a new universe of imagination. The next two chapters focus on dualities where the miniature encompasses intricacies of the world on a smaller scale in relation to humans’ connection with infinity. The author gives an example of a lamp on the table, a universe in itself, which can be derived as a miniature sun for a tiny world of small living organisms.

The analogy between roundness and infinity

The tenth chapter stirs a complex conversation where Bachelard delves into the phenomenology of roundness. He studies and philosophises children’s view of natural forms as inherently round. This observation notes that the roundness protrudes from an epicentre. It engages human imagination and connects it with the universe. Like a huge tree (a natural form) growing out, its crown seemingly reaches for infinity, blurring its round edge.

The book is a written manifestation of what it is to experience the world in relation to particular spaces. Bachelard focuses on how the physical world can contribute to consciousness and help navigate the imaginary world. The book might feel intimidating and ambiguous in the introduction, but later unfolds a variety of perspectives to the reader; it is enlightening; the breakdown of poetries by the author makes it easier to digest and walk along his lines. It is one of those books that expects a reread to learn and understand the message better and clearer.

References

1. Books

Citations for books with one author:

• Bachelard, G. (1958) Translated by Jolas, M. (1994). The Poetics of Space. Beacon Press, Boston.

2. Online sources

Citations for websites:

• SuperSummary. (n.d.). SuperSummary. [online] Available at: https://www.supersummary.com/the-poetics-of-space/summary/ [Accessed 11 Nov. 2023].

3. Images/visual mediums

Citations for images/photographs – Print or Online:

• Unsplash (2018). Photo by Michael Jasmund on Unsplash. [online] unsplash.com. Available at: https://unsplash.com/photos/top-view-of-spiral-stare-M3NP6dyt9KA [Accessed 12 Nov. 2023].
• Darley, G. (2017). Intimate spaces. [online] Aeon. Available at: https://aeon.co/essays/how-gaston-bachelard-gave-the-emotions-of-home-a-philosophy [Accessed 12 Nov. 2023].
• Unsplash (2018a). Photo by Conner Baker on Unsplash. [online] unsplash.com. Available at: https://unsplash.com/photos/brown-wooden-barn–PR_BybYYqo [Accessed 12 Nov. 2023].
• Unsplash (2022). Photo by Rohan Solankurkar on Unsplash. [online] unsplash.com. Available at: https://unsplash.com/photos/a-bird-in-a-nest-M8weHJ1qNfY [Accessed 12 Nov. 2023].
• Unsplash (2014). Photo by Jez Timms on Unsplash. [online] unsplash.com. Available at: https://unsplash.com/photos/turned-on-desk-lamp-beside-pile-of-books-8muUTAmcWU4 [Accessed 12 Nov. 2023].
• Unsplash (2015). Photo by Greg Rakozy on Unsplash. [online] unsplash.com. Available at: https://unsplash.com/photos/silhouette-of-man-standing-on-rock-while-looking-in-sky-0LU4vO5iFpM [Accessed 12 Nov. 2023].