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Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University

The sacred way

Abstract

dc:description.abstract

The real task of architecture begins once functional and behavioral needs have been satisfied. Its essence is to give poetic form to the pragmatic. My work is only interested in the discovery, not the recovery of ideas; the invention, not classification. In working this way the search is for the essential and lasting principles in architecture, the origins of which must lie in the psychological experience of a building which is physically realized in the mind through one's senses. Thus architecture's manifestation begins as a set of intended experiences which begin to write a narrative or fable for a building. In writing a fable rather than a theoretical essay something basic has been found; fables remain immutable long after theories have disappeared. The invention of these writings is central to the work and not merely literary accessory, for it is this narrative that gives a building its ritual of experience, and it is to the support of these rituals that most of my work addresses itself. Thus the poetic form begins in the composition of experiences; the narrative.

Degree

thesis:*
Name thesis:degree_name
Master of Architecture
Level thesis:degree_level
masters
Discipline thesis:degree_discipline
Architecture
Department dc:contributor.department
Architecture
Grantor dc:publisher
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
Year dc:date.issued
1994

Author and committee

dc:creator, dc:contributor.*
Author dc:creator
  • Spencer, Edward G. S.
Chair dc:contributor.committeechair
  • Brown, William W.
Committee members dc:contributor.committeemember
  • O'Brien, Michael J.
  • Weiner, Frank H.

Rights

dc:rights
Statement dc:rights
  • In Copyright
Language dc:language.iso
en_US

Identifiers

dc:identifier.*
Handle dc:identifier.uri
http://hdl.handle.net/10919/53387
OAI identifier oai:identifier
oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/53387

Chain of custody

source
Harvested from
Virginia Tech
Base URL
vtechworks.lib.vt.edu/oai/request
Last updated
2026-07-22
Source record
OAI-PMH GetRecord
related terms
citation

Spencer, Edward G. S.. The sacred way. masters thesis, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, 1994. http://hdl.handle.net/10919/53387