Katachi
The Japanese notion of katachi (roughly) refers to a shape that tells a story. I’m interested in developing this idea into a shape-based method of reasoning that informs and is informed by the way stories can have a satisfying structure. Why does one ending seem better than another? I suspect it has something to do with how narrative structures fit, against those in culture and everyday life, as well as within themselves.
Katachi is the science of learning why some physical forms are more satisfying than others.
My research group uses the similar-but-different term kutachi to refer to a notion of good or satisfying form that also has an adaptive quality. The change of word reflects a respect for the traditional Japanese notion of katachi, and the ways our aims diverge from it. Rather than always returning to traditionally accepted forms, we are interested in the way stories are able to seek new forms that still work.
The Most Beautiful Statue in the World
The example in my slide-movie is a statue rumoured to be the most beautiful in the world, the Bodhisattva Maitreya in half lotus position, known as Hōkan Miroku, which can be found in Kyoto.
When I went to see this statue, I left a colleague behind at the hotel, because he was ill. We are well-travelled, and none of us thought it would actually be the most beautiful statue in the world. On my return from having seen it, the ill colleague asked, “So, was it the most beautiful?” I considered for a moment, and answered, “Yes, it probably is.” My keynote movie was an attempt to understand why this seemed so.
What is Katachi?
By Beth Cardier, Ryuji Takaki and Shu Matsuura
Katachi literally means form, but the concept has complex meanings that can only be found in the Japanese understanding of the term. In Japan, the science of form is nurtured from generation to generation by an energetic community of researchers, known as “the Society for Science on Form, Japan,” who study the way form and function are related. Informally, we say the “Katachi Society.”
Newcomers might ask, why should we extend our notion of form to katachi? One answer is, because it can reveal how form facilitates interactions, and it can lend new insight to fields across the arts and sciences.
The word “katachi” is a composite of “kata” (pattern) and “chi” (magical power), thus it includes meanings such as “complete form” or “form telling an attractive story.” It can reveal the relationship between shape, function and meaning; the Society studies it in relation to everything from self-inflating sails for spacecraft, to new solutions for molecular biology, and even attractive mechanisms such as pop-up books. It is likely to be an important consideration in future designs of user-friendly devices, such as advanced computer interfaces.