In the second article, The Work of Art in the Age of Its Technological Reproducibility, Walter Benjamin mentions the importance of film in bringing about an aura. The aura of film often reshapes the perception of the architecture being photographed – in film, the director incorporates artistic approaches such as story narrative, visual effects and background music to reconstruct an atmosphere. Sometimes different camera views also reconstruct the atmosphere, for example, an aerial view is different from the view from the sidewalk looking up at the building. This artistically constructed atmosphere gives meaning to the architecture being filmed, allowing people who have never seen those environments to perceive the space as a meaningful place. At the same time, people who are familiar with those architecture are more likely to feel the reconstructed meaning of them, as they are more sensitive to the difference between their own perception of the architecture and that of the film. By doing so, the film brings a new and unique perspective on the building and awakens more creativity.
3035983665
Liu Xinyun
I appreciate your insightful perspective on viewing how the aura of film reconstructs architecture and space. Each human sensory perspective is not completely biological or natural. It is also historical and contextual. The ways people perceive change with social changes, or changes in ‘humanity’s entire mode of existence. Please further reflect on how the popularization of film/digital media shifts the way we observe, understand, describe, utilize and even build architecture.