Environmental Psychology ARC 359 THE CREATIVE MIND

Environmental Psychology ARC 359 THE CREATIVE MIND Three domains of creativity: Humour Discovery Art Comic comparison – intended to make us laugh Objective analogy – to make us understand Poetic image – to make us marvel THE ACT OF CREATION ARTHUR KOESTLER

Environmental Psychology ARC 359 THE CREATIVE MIND THE CONTINUUM - where does architecture fit?

Environmental Psychology ARC 359 THE CREATIVE MIND Making connections between disparate elements Bisociation “When two independent matrices of perception or reasoning interact with each other the result is either a collision ending in laughter, or their fusion in a new intellectual synthesis, or the confrontation in an aesthetic experience.

Environmental Psychology ARC 359 THE CREATIVE MIND HUMOUR Two conditions had to exist for ‘homo ridens’ to emerge: Relative security of existence (calling for new outlets for excess energy) Reasoning must gain a certain degree of autonomy (a nimbleness and independence of thought)

Environmental Psychology ARC 359 THE CREATIVE MIND Pun - ‘the bisociation of a single phonetic form with two meanings.’ (65)

Environmental Psychology ARC 359 THE CREATIVE MIND Witticism - the play of ideas "A computer once beat me at chess, but it was no match for me at kick boxing." "When I was a kid I used to pray every night for a new bicycle. Then I realised that the Lord doesn't work that way so I stole one and asked Him to forgive me." Man and animal – like man and machine, the bisociation of the animal with human characteristics. Impersonation – the impersonator is perceived as himself and somebody else at the same time. Child-adult – a form of impersonation.

Environmental Psychology ARC 359 THE CREATIVE MIND Trivial/Exalted – parody which deflates hollow pretence and destroys illusion. In science the trivial may be the apple for Newton, the boiling teakettle for James Watt and so on.

Environmental Psychology ARC 359 THE CREATIVE MIND Caricature & Satire the exaggeration of a particular feature Originality Emphasis Economy Implication Picasso

Environmental Psychology ARC 359 THE CREATIVE MIND Intellectual curiosity The Eureka moment - outward Catharsis - inward Tool making - apes The power of analogy Pasteur - “fortune favours the prepared mind”

Environmental Psychology ARC 359 THE CREATIVE MIND THE IDEA OF EVOLUTION DARWIN “All observation must be for or against some view if it is to be of service” WALLACE “it suddenly flashed upon me...”

Environmental Psychology ARC 359 THE CREATIVE MIND

Environmental Psychology ARC 359 THE CREATIVE MIND “to invent you must think aside” “if you strive hard enough to get to India you are bound to get to some America or other” THE UNCONSCIOUS “I never think - my thoughts think for me.” Back to James, Jung and Freud. How do we tap into this well of ideas?

Environmental Psychology ARC 359 THE CREATIVE MIND Coleridge and Kubla Khan Word pictures “images rose up as things” Kubla Khan OR, A VISION IN A DREAM. In Xanadu did Kubla Khan A stately pleasure-dome decree : Where Alph, the sacred river, ran Through caverns measureless to man Down to a sunless sea. So twice five miles of fertile ground With walls and towers were girdled round : And there were gardens bright with sinuous rills, Where blossomed many an incense- bearing tree ; And here were forests ancient as the hills, Enfolding sunny spots of greenery. Visualizer vs verbalizer The poet bisociates between the two

Environmental Psychology ARC 359 THE CREATIVE MIND Asian Neighborhood Design