Accessing Embodied Knowledge to Understand Place: Developing and Evaluating a New Method

Abstract

The value of embodied knowledge is well argued in relation to understanding place, as is the discussion that this knowledge should be considered when working with places. But how we do such work so that this knowledge can contribute towards not only understanding but also decision making, is lacking. Embodied knowledge is difficult to access, represent, and analyse with its rootedness in the lived experience of the individual. Thus, developing approaches to access this knowledge must work with this complexity. Drawing from approaches within hermeneutic phenomenology this thesis sets out to answer the question ‘How do we access embodied knowledge of place in others?’. This research question was mobilised through an aim to design approaches for the representation and synthesis of embodied knowledge so that it may be utilised to understand place. In tackling these interrelated complex issues this research speaks to theoretical development across multiple concepts that ultimately feeds into the design, testing, and implementation of a method for accessing embodied knowledge of place. This thesis presents a theoretical foundation cultivated through an approach to literature governed by hermeneutic phenomenological attitudes where understanding is formed through a wide and iterative interaction with interdisciplinary materials. A method has been designed incorporating this foundation and draws inspiration from creative practice and philosophy; the method has been tested, evolving through each iteration. Knowledge accessed through this testing was validated through multiple approaches including an exhibition ensuring that knowledge gained from participants was returned to the public realm. The method developed by this research and the in-depth theoretical foundation upon which it sits, fills a gap for all those researching place and as such holds value to many disciplines interested in how knowledge of space and place can be garnered and deployed.