Forming the negative : architecting the space in between from the interior to the exterior of the dressed figure

Abstract

The fleshy human body is defined and given meaning through the dress. Western ideals and cultural practices identify the dress as a fit-on to the body. Whereas, Asian cultures recognizes the dress with multiple layers of clothing creating spaces between dress and the human body. Inspired by this practice and concept of the dress, the research aims to identify possibilities and notions of creating the dress from the interior to the exterior; designing from spaces in between to result in an exterior. In the process of developing a new approach for designing the dress, the need arises to re-identify its function as well. Therefore, the research relates to the contemporary functions of a dress and redefines them within the possibilities of the previously identified creation of the dress dependent upon the space in between. The research used an inductive methodology following the grounded theory to identify a concluding theoretical framework for designing the dress from the interior to the exterior. The research was primarily funded by qualitative data from archival sources. The research was funded by the Senate Research Committee of the University of Moratuwa under the grant no SRC/ST/2016/18.