A short architecture history response according to 3 short readings

= o o ~ o

~"..._. 11

to the b uild in g it se lf and to its 0

sca pin g and court spaces, there'

essi ty fo r d e pendence on artl'li ~ CII)

Th e more li ghtwells in the

be tter . As P a rk e r says, "Sunlight i

cheri s hed comm odity, especialiy i nesot a." The experien ces of cou dows, and skyli ghts in this import a nt,

mak e th e most

sen se.

The

vo lume" idiom. "In retrospect," be

ment s, " I feel that we were too lim our ex ploitation of these elemen

buildin g co uld have been much

brok en down into r elated units,

m ay be so, thou gh thi s observer fee

such a n in ves ti gation on Parker'

should take pl ace in a more

la rger- scal e building. Th e

form s, fun ctions, and corners

bee n th e m ost suc cessful aspect

buildin g, going just far enough in

ple xity to ac hi eve interest and di

in unity, but not far enough to tip

in to e xcited con fu sion.

Stru cture o f the center i~

forw a rd loa db ea ring masonry with,

e rall y, bar j oist and metal deck

e ithe r slab on grade or precast

pla n floor s. In the auditorium,

and swimming pool, the large ar

spa nn ed b y preca st giant T·beams

ing on s pecial pre cast concrete

inse rts ( see detail, 10). T he form

in serts has b een used as the

d eta il s in other part s of the

dentl y to add to th e sense of

a nd oneness . Unfort.unately, in one cases- for in stan ce, th e pI

lath ca pital s of th e columns (1 e ntr ance are a- thi s becomes a

ish "d elight" ele ment. The

b "'a nce of the buildin g itself belie

for suc h gratuit ous touches.

The client' s cavil about the

quietness aside, he is, according to

" enthu sia sticall y ha ppy with Ih~ in g," a fee lin g borne out durIn

writ er's tour of the building by the . The

m a n of th e building commItt ee. . . d y haveprobl e ms sm ce openmg a

. I' fthe on th e ex cessIve popu anty 0 h . . the heall more people want to Jom

anyoll use the kit chen , et c. , than bl di eted. These, ce rtainly, are pro

a rchitect ca n boast abo ut.

DESIGN OL •

LSD has rOllsed storms of controversy afl~ has been the subject of nationwide publicity, often of a sensational kind. One of the less publicized aspects of the psychedelic drllgs

is their possible lise in creative work. In an attempt to assess their value to the profession, P / A interviewed a number of architects tvho have taken the drugs on an experimental basis, anti asked such questions as: Do the psychedelics heighten the ability to vimalize three.dimensionally? Do the y enhance creativity and problem.solvin g? Do they have a positive effect that outlasts a particular session? This article presents our findin gs, including extensive verbatim reports by architects and the desig n uses to which they put their psychedelic experiences,

D ru gs th at have a "psych edeli c" e ff ec t on th e human

mind a re, in the ir gen er al ord e r of potency, peyo te,

mesca li n , ps il ocy bin , DM T (dimethylthryptamin e) , a nd

LSD (d ext rolyce r g ic aci d dim e th ylmid e). The word

psychede li c, m eanin g " mind man ifesting"- from th e Greek

"psyche" ( mi nd ) a nd " de l os" ( ma nifes t ) - was fi rs t assoc iated

wit h th e dru g by psyc h ia tri st Humphrey Osmond , Director o f

the Bu rea u of Rese a r ch in e urology a nd Psychi atry in P rin ce­

ton, . J. Dr. 0 mo nd , in a le tt.er writte n to Ald ous Huxley, ve r si fi ed: " To s ink in H e ll or soar a ngelic/Ju st tak e a pin ch

of psyc hede li c." It seems a mo re a p p ro pri a te term for th ese

chemi ca ls th a n the ir medi ca l co unte rpart, " hallu ci nogens," since

ha llu c ina ti ons are rarel y lis ted as one of th e e ffec ts o f th e dru gs .

Arc hite cts r epo rt th at percepti ons as s uch a re heightened and

c ha nged, b ut they a re based on rea l- as a gain st im agi ned­

objects p resen t in the p hys ica l environm ent.

It is not yet acc ura tel y kn own what th ese c hemical s do to

th e br a in. Since LS D, for exa m ple, com pletel y d isap pears from

the system 30 to 45 minut es a ft e r in ges ti on , th e dru g is thou ght

to tri gge r th e action of so me oth e r, as ye t unid entifi ed, chemi cal.

The d ru gs a lter th e bra in 's che mis tr y, ce rt a inl y, and th ey seem

to inhibi t th e ac ti vi ty o f a noth er c hemical , serotonin , th at regu ­

la tes th e d eco d in g proce 'es o f th a t part of th e b rai n whe re raw,

in co min g se nse da ta a re in te rpre ted a nd tra ns form ed into fa ctual in formati on abo ut th e environm e n t.

A number o f a rch itec ts ha ve a dd ed to th e exte nsive e vid ence o f the d r ugs' use as in str um ent s for e nh a ncin g per cep ti on, fo r

"t r a ini ng in vi sua liza ti on. " Th ey re port that , un der th e psy ­

c he delic e ffec t of th e dru gs, visua l and a uditory ac uit y ( in a ddi­

t.i on to ge nera l awa reness) a re "revo luti oni zed ." Appa r ently, th e

ta ke r has th e se nsa ti on o f seei ng for th e fir st tim e, as children

mu st see befo re they lea rn labe ls for th ei r se nse impressions of

objec ts--directl y, on co nt ac t. Co lor s see m to throb, te xtures

vibra te, objec ts ap pea r l umin esce nt , eve rythin g is imbu ed with

tbe glo w of s p rin g mornin g,,; . Ald o us Hu xle y, one of the first to

ex pe rim ent with the pe rccp ti on-h e ighte nin g eff ects of th e dru gs,

whi c h he d escribed in h is boo k, T h e Doors of P e rce ption, even

termed the e xpe ri e nce as glim ps in g th e " mornin g of c rea ti on."

Man y sa y th a t th e vi sua l sen a t ions are ofte n acco m pa ni ed by a

sense o f one nes with th e un ive rse a nd a disa ppear ance of th e

fee lin g o f be in g se pa ra ted from oth er peo pl e a nd th e phys ical

env iron ment. Wha t is consiste ntl y r e ported is that the dru g-take r

re m a in s ac u te ly, tota ll y, co nscio us thr oughout- not slee pily ,

d rea ril y benu m bed, as fr om too m uch a lco hol. I nd eed, th e effect s

are te rm ed by a d vocates a s "consc ious ness-ex pa ndi ng."

In div id ua ls are r epo rt ed to d e ri ve from the exper ie nce with these che m ica ls what na ti ve e ndowm e nt th ey brin g to it : T he

L. S.D: A Design Tool ? 147

more visu ally oriented one is, for example, the more likely one is to ha ve a dec idedly visu al experience. In addition, a rchitect s

h ave r epo rted that, for th e visually sen sitive person , the effects

of m escaJin and LSD i-nelude an in crea sed ab ility to visualize

three.dimen sionally, to see images vividly- in general, a height·

ened perception of spatlaf relations. Ab stract thoughts apparently

are transformed into visual images; words become irrelevant. M oreover one does not.forget everything the next morning­, . .. - ...

Becau se it is a conscious experience throughout, it is retained,

and thus has been described as a l~arning experience.

LSD AND SPACE PERCEPTION

I{ YO Isumi, an architect practi sing in Saskatchewan,

Canada, has described his own perceptual experience

with LSD as follow s : "The space and thc elements which define this

space, the color, the te)(ture, the forms, shades and

shadows, the planes, the solids apd voids, hecome points of reference and yct m{,aningful in thcmselves... , The elements of architectural design, as partially listcd here,

each attain visual significance in order and intensity to fit the mind's necds... , It heightened my ahility to visualize in greater clarity the interrelalionship of the element!! of design, which are ­ to use the jargon of the architect­

scale, proportion, color, texture, shade, and shadow... , In my ca!;e, the LSD experience!! acted as a form of catalyst

in the thinking process during the course of design. , , , My new awareness, and the suhscquent accompanying

phenomena of heing able to experience simultaneously in series and in parallel the numerous perceptual effects of space and all its elements, would not have been achieved

in almost an instantaneous fashion without the aid of LSD."

As Izumi's desc ription makes clear, the quality, as well as the

quantity, of visual perce ption is altered. Usually, physical objects

and the environment are not seen as things in themselves, com­

prised of their own material , sitting within their own universe of

weight, color, form, and texture, The preconceptions with which

we habitually perceive obj ects-a cha ir as som ething to sit on,

a lamp as something that throws light-are tran scended , and

obj ect s are experien ced as things in themselves, not merely as

serving some partic ular function, but as colored , te xt ured, seem­

ingly alive forms, Architect s r e port that the rel evan ce of the

psychedelic drugs should be apparent: A su bstan ce that enables

man to increase his visual a waren ess, that heighten s his ability

to visualize three-dimensionally, might have se rious and far­

re aching applications to the practice of IIrchitecture, especially

as buildings become more complex.

LSD AS AN AID TO DESIGN

the environment the way a schizo phrenic does and . h psycholo . believe that how and w at one ees largely determi

f 1 . h ' T h" nes wbat

ee s m respon se to t at ee mg- IS IS not to say h, owever th e way one sees wh en u ing LSD as a psychotomim ' •ehe i same as the way one sees when the drug is not bein that purpose. In fact, that is apparently how some Ofgt:~ ordinary properties of LSD were di scovered; some peo e ellr

d 'd b' 'h' h . 11 pIeI not egm to perceIve sc IZOP remca y. Instead h

they were "seeing for the fir st time." ' t ey

In approaching the problem of designing a mental ho p'

Izumi knew that the mentally ill see the world differentl other people and that their altered perception influene y

moods and feelings. LSD enabled him to enter their exp ," enent world and thus to perceIve the archItectural environment a

do . The purpose of Izumi's experiment was to discover and the

avoid qualities pf design that are confusing, terrifying.

psychically destructive for mentally ill people. Besides this specific aid to Izumi in designing a mental h

pital, LSD seems to have changed his attitude toward architect

generally: "I no longer design for architects, I am now tnin

design for human beings, , .. A most sign ifi cant eff'(,.t'\

on my concepts of aesthetics. Like most architcets. I

seeing space as more of an aesthetic experience, ~itb regard for what people would be doing in it. I no~ to think of people living and working in these space . 1 am much more consciom; of sl)aces with r e le vance to human being and in this sense critical of architeclu

spaces in which the human figure becomes an inlm I In a similar way that some people see a 'halo' around

favorite subject, I am much more conscious of Ih(' 't

torial space' around a person that appears to mon them, .. , The acquisition of the sensitivity, a nd eert

the awareness of these phenomena to Ihis intense d would not have occurred in such short order witho I

LSD experience."

LSD: THE DANGERS

O ne danger of LSD is its potency. One ounce COli

300,000 dosages of 100 mi crograms-approximate

size of a grain of salt. Even when conditions are

cally right for its use, r eactions to overdosage'

e xtrem e fear, panic, and sometimes a temporary psychoSl

ce ptions and images reel through co nsciousness with an '

preh ensible rapidity the mind cannot tolerate, But the potency of the drug should not be confused

drug itself. That is like saying that all driving is dang ero

that driving at 10 miles an hour is as dangerouS as dri

100 miles an hour. Furthermore, the rea sons why a dri~er his car on a parti cular day hav e a lot to do with hoW d

I{ YO Izumi took LSD in 1957 , when much of the researc h

being done with it co ncern ed its "psychotomimetic"

effects- that is, the similarity of visual perception in

schizophrenic s and normal people experiencing the

effects of LSD. The emotional experiences that accompany the

perceptions differ, however, since normal people maintain their

own consciousness and basic patterns of emotional respon se ; the

"mimetic" effect of LSD is that normal persons can not perceive

hi s driving will be - If he is out for a thrill, he will be dangerou s than if he wer e out to demonstrate techniqueS of

ful driving. And all of this ha s nothing to do with the ca f

The automobile is only a device, an in strument for getti~ place to pla ce, just as the psyc hedelic drugs are de!\C~ researchers as devices, tool s for the e xploration of the

m ethod for going from one level of perce ption to an ol

,

e xperien cing the vari ed effects of a temporary alteration i8

chemistry.

148 L.5.D: A Design Tool ?

\ seco nd danger of LSD (a nd th other psychedelic drugs ) , the nature of the exper ienc itself A 0 d'o 111 - S m on s ve r se

J" -te" it can be heave n or hell and will depe nd d',0IC " _ , • ' , accor mg 0 ...a

rch fin dmgs, on three speci fi c variables: the setti n th , 1" t" f h d g, e .. Ilolo glca se 0 t e ru g- use r ( hi s ex pect atl' h ' ,H on s, I rea-

P' for taking the dr ug, his personality), a nd the qualities and

rec tation s of the perso n s upe rvi si ng hi s use of th e drug, T hat

f out co me depe nd on these con ditions has been am ply docu­

_p ted. The experts apparently agree that the most d , angerous

.. 'a tion occurs whe n the potent c hemica ls are used 'd' . . , u m Iscnml­ te ll' for th rins, binge s, or on momentary whim. It I'S I hc ear, ow' fr, that much more research is needed to dete rmine exactly

I t effect the d rugs will have under particular .'circ um stan ces

" far. thou gh, researchers report that if th e se tt" ." Ing IS com­ rta ble, warm , a nd relaxing, the motivation of th ' . ' e person In­ ;l ing th e d:u g l~ a .senou s one, and he is not psychoti c (ancl

, e n s ISperso n Wit h 111m IS sympath e ti c and confident) th . k -

;nimal. In spite of all the unknown s and uncertainties d' h'" . ' " surroun mg t elr

.... the halluc mogem c drugs have reportedl b f I.' y een sa e y and n;t ructlv ely used m th e treatment of psychon e ur f . 'd'" oses, fl gl Ity,

cancer patIents so'ohohsm, and eve n given to terminally ill . p I osop Ica Iyat th ey can bea r their pain and fa ce death h'l h' I

nt il Sandoz P harm ace utical Company vol t '1 ' , " un an y stopped s up - e a IOna nstItute,li ng LSD to investIgators sa nction ed by th N t' I I '

f Health , some 54 resear ch project s we re be' . d ' , " mg carne out (pn­ w i)' mto al coh ohslT\ psychoneurosis and h' h ., ' ,se IZOP rema) , What wo ul d seem to emer"e from the s' I'. . , b enous Iterature on the

ru g, .IS th eir umCJu e, "midwife" quality. Dr. Robert E , Mo"ar \..oelate Professor of P sychology at San F . S b ,ran clsco tate Collecre

. commented, "W hether expanded awareness or in creased 7n:

'" htfacco mp.any these un habitu al perceptions and alte red fram es re ere nce 1 not a fun ction of th h 'I "e c emlca agent , Apparently nr of the effects of th d .e rugs are Simply spontan eo us and

_ne ral ; resul ts depend on how the y arc used and on h I "u ld e h h' worn, t fF hi ~ em, t hat a r c Ite cts, then , even though their visual abilities . H g II' mi g t not ex perien ce the euphoria of imagery re counted , u~ ey an d others unless the situation is so stru ctured and ,pe m sed th at they can.

THE MEDICAL EVIDENCE

T o sum up the medi cal ev id ence conce rnin(T th h' I Dr S'd C h b ese c eml ca s

, ' , I ~ey 0 en, Chi ef P syc hiatrist at the Ve ter ans Ad: mllll sratlO n Ho sp't I' L A h

' I a III os nge les ha s stated' "P c otiC ' I ' ' . sy­

aled le s ~eactlOns a stIng more th a n 48 hours after ingestion

, for e~:I~ ;5nOOtwo for each 1000 [mental] patient s, and only . , normal voluntee rs" . it h j"fie to d ' - m a , t e c Inlcal work

ate WIth LSD C C D hlb 'I' hoanal 'st h .,' a erg, a prominent New York d that h) , as u~ed L,SD for years in psychotherapy, He ha s

e never gIv es It t . b41 ysis h 0 a patient efore three months of , ave been compj t d d h havorabl ' . e e , an t at e h as not yet had an

e reac tIOn Finally D MlilOex ' - ,r. I ogar s ummarizes th e res ults pen ment s . LSD"0 . , usm g as a the r ape utic a"ent·

~sPl\e great J' ' , b ' (Ires,.;. ( Iverslly III the conduct of these studies

IVe Improve t J ' P<lr ted, , • men rat4'S ,.ave been almost uniformly "holir ' L . Based on findlllgs with more than 1000

s, SO was t' ff"~rarn." wlce as e ective as any other treatmcnt

'~a r I- a so bel ie th Ives at t l e possibility of positive bia s in these

reports ~s off et by their consistency and the divergent theoretical

p r uaSlons of th re 'earche rs. \

.I n the context of th e recen t pub li city abo ut these dr ugs in th pI e s generall wh ich h d d e, a te n e to stress the se nsat io nal and th e mo re ne ga tive a s pect s o f LSD ' t " ., I IS mt ere tIng to no te a

rec~n~ r epo rt of th e u bcommittee on N arcotic s Addiction (whi ch tec nlcally, has no bu sin ess with the non·narcoti non ad d' t' ' LSD ) Th - b . ' . Ie m g

, e ou commItt ee examined the record s of 52 I who had take n th d ' peop e d h e rug pnvately , without medical sup erv i ion ; ~ ~ ,were admitted to the psychiatric division of Bellevu~

osplta In Ne w York City with "acute psychoses" indu ced b LSD, a nd found that 12 of the 52 h d" d I' y or schizoid personalities" be fore th ey :ooku;hee~;:I:g a~s:~~oses of those with ac t LSD h , mo st ., u e psyc oses re cove red rapidly , 30 becom- Ing onented and normal in le ss than 48 hI ' .10 . ours, n an additIOnal

patI ents, the psychoses were r esolved in less than k " It would h . a wee" .

seem, t en , from th e available literature th at f normal person s admini ste red th e d . h ' " or, rug In t e proper se ttm psychede lI c drugs are no t route s into madness B t g, t r I ' ., . u as ye t ~o ttl e IS known about , how the drug actually work s ~nd wha~

t e . ong-term psychologIcal and phy sica l effects of 't to make th 'I bl I S use a re

em ava l a e to th e general publi c for self ' tion A . I -ex penmenta­

, pp:ox~mate y 5 per ce nt of the U.S, population is beli eved by psychlatn sts to be predi sposed to h' h .num . , , SC IZOP r enla; an untold

. b~r In additIOn harbor psychotic inclination s. For these

power ul and unpredictable dru gs to get into such hand s is

dangerous both for th em and f 'or society,

LSD AS A AID TO CREATI l TY

Jt c hit ecls a re apparently interested ind the psychedelic

rbug s becau e of their perception-enhan cin" qualities ut Neill S ' th SF' b ,, ml ,a an ranc Isco architect, is inte rested

, I In th em because of the ir effect on hi s ability to fun ction creative y, He told P / A:

"I felt the effect· f 'I ' . S 0 my Iwo experIences with LSD to )e posItIve and beneficial Ab h, . '. out t e al>plication of psychedelics in the field of architecture' It - that tI I ' ~eems to me

Ie va ue of these drugs cannot be d' ­ d from their effects on h Iscusse apart . I e total personality of the i d"d I Illvolved M n IVI ua

. y own experience effected changes in m

~~ough~ proc~sses and my abilities in dealing with thre:' ImenslOnal Ima"'erv B t'" ". u, even more importantly th

was a change . ' ere eh . III my approach to architecture through

anges III personality slructure and needs of } l\-ly wh I my psyc 14'.

o e approach 10 design has heeome far I cern d 'th ess con-

f f e WI ,conceptual structure and preconceived notions o ~rm or, Ideal content. Instead, my interest has been on an IIIcreaslllgly mo II 'hl ' . re eXI e, eXIstential, or ontolo i I deSlb'll process It is t' I I . g caLSD ' . par ICU or y III this respect Ihal 1 think

f and the other psychedelics seem to have the capabilitv

o enormously enhancing th I •" ' e lOman potenlial.

DM In ohservlllg myself and others who have taken T, and the other p' h d I" LSD,.. sye e e ICS With a constructive

orIentatIon, there seem to he two'" I ffI' ...~nera e ects on almost ~_nYh cvel. One. IS the 4'nhanced ability to function; the other I", I e greatly mcreas d d ff I h . e egree 0 personal and intellectual reee o~ t at develops after taking the drugs." Hennk Bull and Eric Cl h I h C' ,m ]" , , oug ,)o t ahforma architects, took

esca III III c reatIvity experime nts carried out by th Ie nter-

L.5.D: A Design. Tool ? 149

more visu ally oriented one is, for example, the more likely one is to ha ve a dec idedly visu al experience. In addition, a rchitect s

h ave r epo rted that, for th e visually sen sitive person , the effects

of m escaJin and LSD i-nelude an in crea sed ab ility to visualize

three.dimen sionally, to see images vividly- in general, a height·

ened perception of spatlaf relations. Ab stract thoughts apparently

are transformed into visual images; words become irrelevant. M oreover one does not.forget everything the next morning­, . .. - ...

Becau se it is a conscious experience throughout, it is retained,

and thus has been described as a l~arning experience.

LSD AND SPACE PERCEPTION

I{ YO Isumi, an architect practi sing in Saskatchewan,

Canada, has described his own perceptual experience

with LSD as follow s : "The space and thc elements which define this

space, the color, the te)(ture, the forms, shades and

shadows, the planes, the solids apd voids, hecome points of reference and yct m{,aningful in thcmselves... , The elements of architectural design, as partially listcd here,

each attain visual significance in order and intensity to fit the mind's necds... , It heightened my ahility to visualize in greater clarity the interrelalionship of the element!! of design, which are ­ to use the jargon of the architect­

scale, proportion, color, texture, shade, and shadow... , In my ca!;e, the LSD experience!! acted as a form of catalyst

in the thinking process during the course of design. , , , My new awareness, and the suhscquent accompanying

phenomena of heing able to experience simultaneously in series and in parallel the numerous perceptual effects of space and all its elements, would not have been achieved

in almost an instantaneous fashion without the aid of LSD."

As Izumi's desc ription makes clear, the quality, as well as the

quantity, of visual perce ption is altered. Usually, physical objects

and the environment are not seen as things in themselves, com­

prised of their own material , sitting within their own universe of

weight, color, form, and texture, The preconceptions with which

we habitually perceive obj ects-a cha ir as som ething to sit on,

a lamp as something that throws light-are tran scended , and

obj ect s are experien ced as things in themselves, not merely as

serving some partic ular function, but as colored , te xt ured, seem­

ingly alive forms, Architect s r e port that the rel evan ce of the

psychedelic drugs should be apparent: A su bstan ce that enables

man to increase his visual a waren ess, that heighten s his ability

to visualize three-dimensionally, might have se rious and far­

reaching applications to the practice of IIrchitecture, especially

as buildings become more complex.

LSD AS AN AID TO DESIGN

the environment the way a schizo phrenic does and . h psycholo . believe that how and w at one ees largely determi

f 1 . h ' T h" nes wbat

ee s m respon se to t at ee mg- IS IS not to say h, owever th e way one sees wh en u ing LSD as a psychotomim ' •ehe i same as the way one sees when the drug is not bein that purpose. In fact, that is apparently how some Ofgt:~ ordinary properties of LSD were di scovered; some peo e ellr

d 'd b' 'h' h . 11 pIeI not egm to perceIve sc IZOP remca y. Instead h

they were "seeing for the fir st time." ' t ey

In approaching the problem of designing a mental ho p'

Izumi knew that the mentally ill see the world differentl other people and that their altered perception influene y

moods and feelings. LSD enabled him to enter their exp ," enent world and thus to perceIve the archItectural environment a

do . The purpose of Izumi's experiment was to discover and the

avoid qualities pf design that are confusing, terrifying.

psychically destructive for mentally ill people. Besides this specific aid to Izumi in designing a mental h

pital, LSD seems to have changed his attitude toward architect

generally: "I no longer design for architects, I am now tnin

design for human beings, , .. A most sign ifi cant eff'(,.t'\

on my concepts of aesthetics. Like most architcets. I

seeing space as more of an aesthetic experience, ~itb regard for what people would be doing in it. I no~ to think of people living and working in these space . 1 am much more consciom; of sl)aces with r e le vance to human being and in this sense critical of architeclu

spaces in which the human figure becomes an inlm I In a similar way that some people see a 'halo' around

favorite subject, I am much more conscious of Ih(' 't

torial space' around a person that appears to mon them, .. , The acquisition of the sensitivity, a nd eert

the awareness of these phenomena to Ihis intense d would not have occurred in such short order witho I

LSD experience."

LSD: THE DANGERS

O ne danger of LSD is its potency. One ounce COli

300,000 dosages of 100 mi crograms-approximate

size of a grain of salt. Even when conditions are

cally right for its use, r eactions to overdosage'

e xtrem e fear, panic, and sometimes a temporary psychoSl

ce ptions and images reel through co nsciousness with an '

preh ensible rapidity the mind cannot tolerate, But the potency of the drug should not be confused

drug itself. That is like saying that all driving is dang ero

that driving at 10 miles an hour is as dangerouS as dri

100 miles an hour. Furthermore, the rea sons why a dri~er his car on a parti cular day hav e a lot to do with hoW d

I{ YO Izumi took LSD in 1957 , when much of the researc h

being done with it co ncern ed its "psychotomimetic"

effects- that is, the similarity of visual perception in

schizophrenic s and normal people experiencing the

effects of LSD. The emotional experiences that accompany the

perceptions differ, however, since normal people maintain their

own consciousness and basic patterns of emotional respon se ; the

"mimetic" effect of LSD is that normal persons can not perceive

hi s driving will be - If he is out for a thrill, he will be dangerou s than if he wer e out to demonstrate techniqueS of

ful driving. And all of this ha s nothing to do with the ca f

The automobile is only a d evice, an in strument for getti~ place to pla ce, just as the psyc hedelic drugs are de!\C~ researchers as devices, tool s for the e xploration of the

m ethod for going from one level of perce ption to an ol

,

e xperien cing the vari ed effects of a temporary alteration i8

chemistry.

148 L.5.D: A Design Tool ?

\ seco nd danger of LSD (a nd th other psychedelic drugs ) , the nature of the exper ienc itself A 0 d'o 111 - S m on s ve r se

J" -te" it can be heave n or hell and will depe nd d',0IC " _ , • ' , accor mg 0 ...a

rch fin dmgs, on three speci fi c variables: the setti n th , 1" t" f h d g, e .. Ilolo glca se 0 t e ru g- use r ( hi s ex pect atl' h ' ,H on s, I rea-

P' for taking the dr ug, his personality), a nd the qualities and

rec tation s of the perso n s upe rvi si ng hi s use of th e drug, T hat

f out co me depe nd on these con ditions has been am ply docu­

_p ted. The experts apparently agree that the most d , angerous

.. 'a tion occurs whe n the potent c hemica ls are used 'd' . . , u m Iscnml­ te ll' for th rins, binge s, or on momentary whim. It I'S I hc ear, ow' fr, that much more research is needed to dete rmine exactly

I t effect the d rugs will have under particular .'circ um stan ces

" far. thou gh, researchers report that if th e se tt" ." Ing IS com­ rta ble, warm , a nd relaxing, the motivation of th ' . ' e person In­ ;l ing th e d:u g l~ a .senou s one, and he is not psychoti c (ancl

, e n s ISperso n Wit h 111m IS sympath e ti c and confident) th . k -

;nimal. In spite of all the unknown s and uncertainties d' h'" . ' " surroun mg t elr

.... the halluc mogem c drugs have reportedl b f I.' y een sa e y and n;t ructlv ely used m th e treatment of psychon e ur f . 'd'" oses, fl gl Ity,

cancer patIents so'ohohsm, and eve n given to terminally ill . p I osop Ica Iyat th ey can bea r their pain and fa ce death h'l h' I

nt il Sandoz P harm ace utical Company vol t '1 ' , " un an y stopped s up - e a IOna nstItute,li ng LSD to investIgators sa nction ed by th N t' I I '

f Health , some 54 resear ch project s we re be' . d ' , " mg carne out (pn­ w i)' mto al coh ohslT\ psychoneurosis and h' h ., ' ,se IZOP rema) , What wo ul d seem to emer"e from the s' I'. . , b enous Iterature on the

ru g, .IS th eir umCJu e, "midwife" quality. Dr. Robert E , Mo"ar \..oelate Professor of P sychology at San F . S b ,ran clsco tate Collecre

. commented, "W hether expanded awareness or in creased 7n:

'" htfacco mp.any these un habitu al perceptions and alte red fram es re ere nce 1 not a fun ction of th h 'I "e c emlca agent , Apparently nr of the effects of th d .e rugs are Simply spontan eo us and

_ne ral ; resul ts depend on how the y arc used and on h I "u ld e h h' worn, t fF hi ~ em, t hat a r c Ite cts, then , even though their visual abilities . H g II' mi g t not ex perien ce the euphoria of imagery re counted , u~ ey an d others unless the situation is so stru ctured and ,pe m sed th at they can.

THE MEDICAL EVIDENCE

T o sum up the medi cal ev id ence conce rnin(T th h' I Dr S'd C h b ese c eml ca s

, ' , I ~ey 0 en, Chi ef P syc hiatrist at the Ve ter ans Ad: mllll sratlO n Ho sp't I' L A h

' I a III os nge les ha s stated' "P c otiC ' I ' ' . sy­

aled le s ~eactlOns a stIng more th a n 48 hours after ingestion

, for e~:I~ ;5nOOtwo for each 1000 [mental] patient s, and only . , normal voluntee rs" . it h j"fie to d ' - m a , t e c Inlcal work

ate WIth LSD C C D hlb 'I' hoanal 'st h .,' a erg, a prominent New York d that h) , as u~ed L,SD for years in psychotherapy, He ha s

e never gIv es It t . b41 ysis h 0 a patient efore three months of , ave been compj t d d h havorabl ' . e e , an t at e h as not yet had an

e reac tIOn Finally D MlilOex ' - ,r. I ogar s ummarizes th e res ults pen ment s . LSD"0 . , usm g as a the r ape utic a"ent·

~sPl\e great J' ' , b ' (Ires,.;. ( Iverslly III the conduct of these studies

IVe Improve t J ' P<lr ted, , • men rat4'S ,.ave been almost uniformly "holir ' L . Based on findlllgs with more than 1000

s, SO was t' ff"~rarn." wlce as e ective as any other treatmcnt

'~a r I- a so bel ie th Ives at t l e possibility of positive bia s in these

reports ~s off et by their consistency and the divergent theoretical

p r uaSlons of th re 'earche rs. \

.I n the context of th e recen t pub li city abo ut these dr ugs in th pI e s generall wh ich h d d e, a te n e to stress the se nsat io nal and th e mo re ne ga tive a s pect s o f LSD ' t " ., I IS mt ere tIng to no te a

rec~n~ r epo rt of th e u bcommittee on N arcotic s Addiction (whi ch tec nlcally, has no bu sin ess with the non·narcoti non ad d' t' ' LSD ) Th - b . ' . Ie m g

, e ou commItt ee examined the record s of 52 I who had take n th d ' peop e d h e rug pnvately , without medical sup erv i ion ; ~ ~ ,were admitted to the psychiatric division of Bellevu~

osplta In Ne w York City with "acute psychoses" indu ced b LSD, a nd found that 12 of the 52 h d" d I' y or schizoid personalities" be fore th ey :ooku;hee~;:I:g a~s:~~oses of those with ac t LSD h , mo st ., u e psyc oses re cove red rapidly , 30 becom- Ing onented and normal in le ss than 48 hI ' .10 . ours, n an additIOnal

patI ents, the psychoses were r esolved in less than k " It would h . a wee" .

seem, t en , from th e available literature th at f normal person s admini ste red th e d . h ' " or, rug In t e proper se ttm psychede lI c drugs are no t route s into madness B t g, t r I ' ., . u as ye t ~o ttl e IS known about , how the drug actually work s ~nd wha~

t e . ong-term psychologIcal and phy sica l effects of 't to make th 'I bl I S use a re

em ava l a e to th e general publi c for self ' tion A . I -ex penmenta­

, pp:ox~mate y 5 per ce nt of the U.S, population is beli eved by psychlatn sts to be predi sposed to h' h .num . , , SC IZOP r enla; an untold

. b~r In additIOn harbor psychotic inclination s. For these

power ul and unpredictable dru gs to get into such hand s is

dangerous both for th em and f 'or society,

LSD AS A AID TO CREATI l TY

Jt c hit ecls a re apparently interested ind the psychedelic

rbug s becau e of their perception-enhan cin" qualities ut Neill S ' th SF' b ,, ml ,a an ranc Isco architect, is inte rested

, I In th em because of the ir effect on hi s ability to fun ction creative y, He told P / A:

"I felt the effect· f 'I ' . S 0 my Iwo experIences with LSD to )e posItIve and beneficial Ab h, . '. out t e al>plication of psychedelics in the field of architecture' It - that tI I ' ~eems to me

Ie va ue of these drugs cannot be d' ­ d from their effects on h Iscusse apart . I e total personality of the i d"d I Illvolved M n IVI ua

. y own experience effected changes in m

~~ough~ proc~sses and my abilities in dealing with thre:' ImenslOnal Ima"'erv B t'" ". u, even more importantly th

was a change . ' ere eh . III my approach to architecture through

anges III personality slructure and needs of } l\-ly wh I my psyc 14'.

o e approach 10 design has heeome far I cern d 'th ess con-

f f e WI ,conceptual structure and preconceived notions o ~rm or, Ideal content. Instead, my interest has been on an IIIcreaslllgly mo II 'hl ' . re eXI e, eXIstential, or ontolo i I deSlb'll process It is t' I I . g caLSD ' . par ICU or y III this respect Ihal 1 think

f and the other psychedelics seem to have the capabilitv

o enormously enhancing th I •" ' e lOman potenlial.

DM In ohservlllg myself and others who have taken T, and the other p' h d I" LSD,.. sye e e ICS With a constructive

orIentatIon, there seem to he two'" I ffI' ...~nera e ects on almost ~_nYh cvel. One. IS the 4'nhanced ability to function; the other I", I e greatly mcreas d d ff I h . e egree 0 personal and intellectual reee o~ t at develops after taking the drugs." Hennk Bull and Eric Cl h I h C' ,m ]" , , oug ,)o t ahforma architects, took

esca III III c reatIvity experime nts carried out by th Ie nter-

L.5.D: A Design. Tool ? 149

• •

national Foundation for Advanced Study in Menlo Pa r k: Cali­ . L ' ke many of t he r esea rch re u lts reported, It w a s

forma. I .fi d b on explo rat or y r sea r ch that re m a in to b ven e y m ore ~ t rolled studies; th e results obta ined are a~paren tlY in gen.~ra obtainable only wh e n t he s ubj ec ts are dlfec ted by specIall y

train ed p er so n s. ne n ri k Bull com m ented: . "Mv experience lIu"ring the session was an unbeh~~able

. '.' abilitv to concentrate and to make decISions. Illcrease III • f f . te

'mpos 'I'hle t . p' rocrastinatc, one 0 my avorl1t was I • . ' A hobbies. Cobwcbs, blocks, and binds di~appeared. . ny­

s possible but 1 wali working OIi very real and tl

. ling wa, - h d . tl - r'lght prohlems [during the scssion]. T e eSlg

ns ra ler. d . t f

b "t probably more from the stan pom 0 were more f ree, u I 1 . g blocks in thc consideration of what I fe t t Ie

removm '.,. . outlined in the client might accept. Three desl.,ns were

were acceptcd by the clients; one was Allt1Irec IlOurs. . I ut after 1 saw that a better solution was posslb e. 1tosse< 0 ff ater

Perhaps this is the greatest long-term e ect-a gre.

flexibility. I bTt t "The;e is definitely an enhaneement of t Ie a I I Y 0

visualize, I~ut my experience was that I became a hetter 'k Bull not Gaudi or Wright. 1 do feel that everyH enrl , . I

architect should have the experience, to see what pot~ntIa

I. 'tl' himself Be)·ond the usefulness, the experIence

les WI lin· . " was highly enjoyable and really quite fantastIc.

PROBLEM-SOLVI NG N DER LSD

ull's point that he was not sudd e nly transfor~cd into

B Wright or Gaudi is an important on e, illustratm~ that these ' drucr s do not work mira cles, Just as th ey ale not

yet believ:d to be des tru ctiv e. Commentin~ in greater detail on hi s "sess ion " in th e Inte rnational FoundatIOn study of

c reativity and the psychedeli c dru gs, he continues :

" ... I had felt for a long time that my life was plagued with necessarv hut relatively unimportant detail work that was interferi~g with my creative work. The detail work was in comp("tition with the design work, and both were suffer­

ing. B("yond that, I felt that my design efforts w~re o~t~n repeatin'" old ideas and should be more free m splnt.

" 1 k . - I' [After theThe~e are the reasons too mesca m. . . . . . .] I was lookm a morning session of listenmg to mUSIC, '"

forward to the opportunity to att("mpt some of th~ prof~s­ sional creative problems we had been told to brmg With us. There were four of these, ranging from an extremely complex state college building with a program of 82 pages,

to a rather simple vacation house . .. , . "The simplest problem was attacked first. Almost 1m­

mediatf'iv, several relationships that had escaped my ~t­ . d I.. t the spallaltention became apparent, an a ~o u Ion 0 .

relationships followed soon after. 1 avoided looking at. a watch throughout the sC!';sion, but I would p;uess that 20 minutes had elapsed. Quite normall~', 1 would ste~ and fret for weck" hefore coming to such a solution. Not to h(" misleading, on a simple problem the period at the end which is truly productive is often quite short under

normal cireum~tallce", but in any case a matter of hours. . .. Quite literally, I had only a Iwad to think and a hand

The Hrst problem com­to make sketches an d notes... · . pleted, I felt "ery exhilarated, and could not wait to get

on to the next. "This was hasically a site problem, locating a nUntht

of condominium bouses on a very beautiful (Ii,."" property. The decisions came very quickly and I OUt lin

a solution which pleased me in ~ ve~y short tim . In II ing, I investigated the economIc Yield to my di..nt f several similar solutions and deeided on what I f,-It the best one. Why not do a typical 8 0 0r plan fol' li n.. the units? This, too, was accomplished without my U II

number of false start ... . "[He hegan to work on a house fo r a cli("nt "h" h

turnf>d down several previou!;l scheme s]: This tim"

a roach to the problem was unrel a t ed to all )I1''''i" a~t~mpt , and I looked at the challenging site in H n way. 1 really believe the solution that resu\t("d in a f minutes is better than any of those which pr('('l'd...! \I This is a job which lItas taken several hundred hour r time, and represents a great money loss for the nffi.·... \\ h had 1 nevcr seen this solution before ?

"I should emphasize that the solu tion CQltltl haH h pened before. It belongs to the same fa mily as m? l'arll work, The only real difference was that the solution I r

. 1 I t appeared in almost no t im e at all.. . . rIg It a lOU . • "The day had started at six in the m ornmp; and I'mlt

22 hours later. It was probably the shortest and m

enjoyahle day in my life."

ARCHITECT DESCRIBES HIS EXPERIENCE IN FruA

h · E' Clough took part in the same studyc Itect riC . 't He told PI A of hi s two experience~ "I

~ cr eatlvl y,

m escalin in detail. H e pointed out ~om~ of the dan~ as well as the b e ne fit s for him , whIch mcluded a gr

improvem ent in hi s problem -solvin g ca pability. What fo\l o\\.

Clough's verbatim account: , "After ingesting the drug [mescalin] the fir~t tIme l.tIM

It· to the enVlf" it 1 lav down on the 8001' and hegan to me III . , , I . Jl'l h' th ent. I felt as if I were a mass of pro to p asmlC ' .

m d . f' ith eVl'r\thl wa~ just creeping out into an III uSlllg w . . '

nd it 1 felt some tension and wondered wh)-l m I!. arou . . 1 tl·· ml'lu eralh' relaxed-and 1 realized that, along WIt I 1I~. I'

, citing toO. I VI.ua I of my general being, my ego was m .

go as a head sticking up ahove the protoplasm, t~hl mye d Illau/! to preserve itself. Once 1 realized that an cou ( I

d awav "I' -elf-at my ego-it just went 8Oil an ,

mys , that "a' The general feeling and the mental Image ry. .

, h t I tllvoh entI d ' n it had to do largely Wit a to a vo ve I . Id about mI'. nhvsicalh' and emotionally, With the wor . h ,- • - h' k b t whal "a­ with life in general. 1 tried to t III a ou r abo >ening and realized that 1 was trying to intelle ctual Ize h

I l· k' cesS t lat what was the most complete th III IIlg pro 'h "I'

Id ain at how foolt~d I l aug Ie I' k abo'ever experienee. ag · k' d we t linsometime; we think ahout tIlin 1llP; an

. '" when it's so simple and basic to just be. , _Jb em", . I erti'llt<" "That da\', without thinking about It, e xp p

, h'l I" that nIB . er knowledo-e of the p I osop lles 'td eep mn '" . . I didll devibed for himself through the c("nturl e s . . b

h 'losoph". U"t in tellectually' un<Ierstan d p i, ,Ionger ] 'art' k ew life

0

and I knew that all the philosoplll •

e~ ... n· . d I t rnall ..,

tially and integrally the same. I reahze t la

for himself-that is, construcb-which are alluctUres .If 'uy paradoxically ridiculous, but at the same time ,.Crl llil

\lv necessary as ways of dealmg WIth the l>;!)rld and rt' rca ,

ves '1It ,rl . .

"1 went from seemg myself as Professor, World's ost Authority, to a Zen master sitting on a mountain­

orem alld seeing all the human eonstructs in a series of

IP t Ires-abstract kind of geometrie forms which inter- 1(lle , . I and overlal>ped and stood on top and underneath.

I'p c( all seemed to be the same thing and they all seemed

f l hr 'd' I I f I I I" h'ttl" "ery, very 1'1 ICU ous. e t t lat, as a Ivmg t Illg,

I _ integrallv a pari of life, and, while I didn't ask for ~a~ ~

Jt particular state of being, neither could I accept any hr1icular responsibility for it having happened, yet I was I lhe same time totally responsible for life itself because

integrally involved in it. I .3'

.. 011 1" interesting thing ahout the Jlsychedelic experienee . the way in which these ideas, thoughts, feelings-what­ , ,' r they might be eaUed-come to one. Normally we use ords all tools to form constructs, communicate, and to

~ iok with, but in the psychedelic experience there is really II thi nking proeess involved. Thoughts are essentially ,rota l images-very, very clear, and complete, and integral ilh heing, so to speak-so that t he thought-process, as ,' normally know it, doesn't r("ally exist. "Dll ring the almost two years from the first to the rond experience, I would say that my general ability to

~ink in pictures, rather than in words, was much en­ .m ~ed, My ability to flow easily with life was enhanced, nil therefore my creativity. There was less internal friction d a greater ability to focus on what 1 was doing, thinking,

r designing. I don't think I learned anything new about .il:ll, but found it easier to explore possibilities in a

'rer way. "[Th e second session was the actual creativity experi­ rot at the Foundation.] The problem I brought to the ·, ion was an art and cultural center on a site near the ~ University of California campus near Santa Cruz,

M ornia. Prior to the session, I thought about the projeet II discarded many different sehemes. The day before

• ,es~ion, I bad a basic construct in mind and an idea • a good solution for the problem. We were instructed ~o into the session thinking about the fact that we were

linf: to work on a particular project. There were three u' in the room that day: two phy~icists amI myself, each

"rking on his own project. WI' were told not to think · 'UI Our projects as sueh during the morning but to be • "I)CII as we could.

"Th at morning. at 8: 30, we talked for awhil(", lay down, it lin earphones and eyeblinders, and listened to stereo U·i c fol' the hulk of the morning. My morning expericnce drd at 10: 30 because I was anxious to get to work, but ~ rograrn was set up so that WI' didn't work until noon. I patiently waited until it was time to go to work. 1 took

!ech ' I . nleo 01' dream trip through hi"tory: 1 found mysdf In . ~Ing through trees with a lot of other people, hut we

te all pl'etty much simian and we ;,eemed to be enjoyinp; t' cl" Ih es. could see the forcst-or jungle- the flow("rs, the ~r ' people,' having a delightful cxperience, chattering

all " forth in words I didn't understand but the mood ' lI!ed a "cry hapl}y one. ImmNliately after that I was in

a cave, with prehistoric paintings on the w ,I)('ople both

clothed and unclothed sitting around a fire, I was eating a great chunk of raw meat, sort of braised meat. Par­ ticularly I noticed the environment we were in-the figure drawings on the eave wall. Immediately after that, I was in either an Inean or an Aztec village, wandering around through a market place that was the center of a large square, looking at the temple which was very huge and impressive, seeing the people in the market place, looking at their mode of dress-the gold ornaments the wealthy people were wearing, stoJ)ping and eating a piece of fruit at a stand; essentially living in and being a part of this beautiful city I was in. After that, I was in a formal hall­ room, dressed in what looked like one of the old tintype photographs, talking to people with a very formal ap­ proaeh, feeling v~ry formal inside and noticing the arehi­ teeture of the huge ballroom, the big windows made up of small panels of glass, the clothing the people were wearing, the dancing. Then I was in an ice-cream parlor in the Roaring Twenties. Everybody was having a terrifie time in the 23 Skidoo style, which somehow felt v("ry su~erficial. Then I was in a'modern city the likes of which I have never seen. It is best deseribed as the "City of the Future"- the kind P / A occasionally publishes as concepts for redevelopment. Everything was new, everything effi­ cient, everything beautifully articulated.

"I sat up at ahout II: 00 with the stronp; feeling that everything having to do with the history of architecture and everything having to do with leading all architects, all designers, myself, up to the cultural point we are at now

with the ability to design has("d on experience and knowl­ edge of the past-that all of this was fine, hut any copying of or taking directly from any past ap;e or any other culture was ludicrous, meaningless, and had no validity in a fresh design approach. With this feeling, the prior ideas I had had about my project were all gone; 1 found myself in an absolute void of idea and creative thought. It was about noon; the others were aroused from their eyeshades and eaq)hon(,,8. We had som(" lunch, talked awhile, and then it was time to work.

"I sat down with a sketch-pad and drew a square outline of the property, looked at it, and had absolutely no idea at all of what was appropriat(" to solve the problems. I must have looked at the paper for 5 or 10 minutes with an absolute blank. And thcn, all of a sudden, with a total flash of an absolutely clear, completed project was the cultural center-designed, built, complete before my eyes. So complete that I could walk through it in my imagina­ tion, see til(" architectural detailing, see the insid("s of the shops, and so on. It was a totally complete, finished product, So [ began to do the plot plan layout. 1 knew 1 had to have so many square fect of building, so many ear parkings, knew the e irculation patterns. I began to draw what I saw and everything fit precisely, and, although I had a scale ruler with me, 1 hardly had to use it, bccause ev("rything seemed to be exactly as it should be and fitted exactly as it would if 1 were measuring it. 1 doodled figures around the edge of the sheet, trying to arrive at per sq ft estimate~ of eonlitruction cost, total value of project, potential monthly income. And all of these factors seemed to work 100, so that the project had cconomic feasibility. As rapidly

L .5.D : A Design T oo!' 15 1 l50 L.5.D: A Design Tool "!

• •

national Foundation for Advanced Study in Menlo Pa r k: Cali­ . L ' ke many of t he r esea rch re u lts reported, It w a s

forma. I .fi d b on explo rat or y r sea r ch that re m a in to b ven e y m ore ~ t rolled studies; th e results obta ined are a~paren tlY in gen.~ra obtainable only wh e n t he s ubj ec ts are dlfec ted by specIall y

train ed p er so n s. ne n ri k Bull com m ented: . "Mv experience lIu"ring the session was an unbeh~~able

. '.' abilitv to concentrate and to make decISions. Illcrease III • f f . te

'mpos 'I'hle t . p' rocrastinatc, one 0 my avorl1t was I • . ' A hobbies. Cobwcbs, blocks, and binds di~appeared. . ny­

s possible but 1 wali working OIi very real and tl

. ling wa, - h d . tl - r'lght prohlems [during the scssion]. T e eSlg

ns ra ler. d . t f

b "t probably more from the stan pom 0 were more f ree, u I 1 . g blocks in thc consideration of what I fe t t Ie

removm '.,. . outlined in the client might accept. Three desl.,ns were

were acceptcd by the clients; one was Allt1Irec IlOurs. . I ut after 1 saw that a better solution was posslb e. 1tosse< 0 ff ater

Perhaps this is the greatest long-term e ect-a gre.

flexibility. I bTt t "The;e is definitely an enhaneement of t Ie a I I Y 0

visualize, I~ut my experience was that I became a hetter 'k Bull not Gaudi or Wright. 1 do feel that everyH enrl , . I

architect should have the experience, to see what pot~ntIa

I. 'tl' himself Be)·ond the usefulness, the experIence

les WI lin· . " was highly enjoyable and really quite fantastIc.

PROBLEM-SOLVI NG N DER LSD

ull's point that he was not sudd e nly transfor~cd into

B Wright or Gaudi is an important on e, illustratm~ that these ' drucr s do not work mira cles, Just as th ey ale not

yet believ:d to be des tru ctiv e. Commentin~ in greater detail on hi s "sess ion " in th e Inte rnational FoundatIOn study of

c reativity and the psychedeli c dru gs, he continues :

" ... I had felt for a long time that my life was plagued with necessarv hut relatively unimportant detail work that was interferi~g with my creative work. The detail work was in comp("tition with the design work, and both were suffer­

ing. B("yond that, I felt that my design efforts w~re o~t~n repeatin'" old ideas and should be more free m splnt.

" 1 k . - I' [After theThe~e are the reasons too mesca m. . . . . . .] I was lookm a morning session of listenmg to mUSIC, '"

forward to the opportunity to att("mpt some of th~ prof~s­ sional creative problems we had been told to brmg With us. There were four of these, ranging from an extremely complex state college building with a program of 82 pages,

to a rather simple vacation house . .. , . "The simplest problem was attacked first. Almost 1m­

mediatf'iv, several relationships that had escaped my ~t­ . d I.. t the spallaltention became apparent, an a ~o u Ion 0 .

relationships followed soon after. 1 avoided looking at. a watch throughout the sC!';sion, but I would p;uess that 20 minutes had elapsed. Quite normall~', 1 would ste~ and fret for weck" hefore coming to such a solution. Not to h(" misleading, on a simple problem the period at the end which is truly productive is often quite short under

normal cireum~tallce", but in any case a matter of hours. . .. Quite literally, I had only a Iwad to think and a hand

The Hrst problem com­to make sketches an d notes... · . pleted, I felt "ery exhilarated, and could not wait to get

on to the next. "This was hasically a site problem, locating a nUntht

of condominium bouses on a very beautiful (Ii,."" property. The decisions came very quickly and I OUt lin

a solution which pleased me in ~ ve~y short tim . In II ing, I investigated the economIc Yield to my di..nt f several similar solutions and deeided on what I f,-It the best one. Why not do a typical 8 0 0r plan fol' li n.. the units? This, too, was accomplished without my U II

number of false start ... . "[He hegan to work on a house fo r a cli("nt "h" h

turnf>d down several previou!;l scheme s]: This tim"

a roach to the problem was unrel a t ed to all )I1''''i" a~t~mpt , and I looked at the challenging site in H n way. 1 really believe the solution that resu\t("d in a f minutes is better than any of those which pr('('l'd...! \I This is a job which lItas taken several hundred hour r time, and represents a great money loss for the nffi.·... \\ h had 1 nevcr seen this solution before ?

"I should emphasize that the solu tion CQltltl haH h pened before. It belongs to the same fa mily as m? l'arll work, The only real difference was that the solution I r

. 1 I t appeared in almost no t im e at all.. . . rIg It a lOU . • "The day had started at six in the m ornmp; and I'mlt

22 hours later. It was probably the shortest and m

enjoyahle day in my life."

ARCHITECT DESCRIBES HIS EXPERIENCE IN FruA

h · E' Clough took part in the same studyc Itect riC . 't He told PI A of hi s two experience~ "I

~ cr eatlvl y,

m escalin in detail. H e pointed out ~om~ of the dan~ as well as the b e ne fit s for him , whIch mcluded a gr

improvem ent in hi s problem -solvin g ca pability. What fo\l o\\.

Clough's verbatim account: , "After ingesting the drug [mescalin] the fir~t tIme l.tIM

It· to the enVlf" it 1 lav down on the 8001' and hegan to me III . , , I . Jl'l h' th ent. I felt as if I were a mass of pro to p asmlC ' .

m d . f' ith eVl'r\thl wa~ just creeping out into an III uSlllg w . . '

nd it 1 felt some tension and wondered wh)-l m I!. arou . . 1 tl·· ml'lu eralh' relaxed-and 1 realized that, along WIt I 1I~. I'

, citing toO. I VI.ua I of my general being, my ego was m .

go as a head sticking up ahove the protoplasm, t~hl mye d Illau/! to preserve itself. Once 1 realized that an cou ( I

d awav "I' -elf-at my ego-it just went 8Oil an ,

mys , that "a' The general feeling and the mental Image ry. .

, h t I tllvoh entI d ' n it had to do largely Wit a to a vo ve I . Id about mI'. nhvsicalh' and emotionally, With the wor . h ,- • - h' k b t whal "a­ with life in general. 1 tried to t III a ou r abo >ening and realized that 1 was trying to intelle ctual Ize h

I l· k' cesS t lat what was the most complete th III IIlg pro 'h "I'

Id ain at how foolt~d I l aug Ie I' k abo'ever experienee. ag · k' d we t linsometime; we think ahout tIlin 1llP; an

. '" when it's so simple and basic to just be. , _Jb em", . I erti'llt<" "That da\', without thinking about It, e xp p

, h'l I" that nIB . er knowledo-e of the p I osop lles 'td eep mn '" . . I didll devibed for himself through the c("nturl e s . . b

h 'losoph". U"t in tellectually' un<Ierstan d p i, ,Ionger ] 'art' k ew life

0

and I knew that all the philosoplll •

e~ ... n· . d I t rnall ..,

tially and integrally the same. I reahze t la

for himself-that is, construcb-which are alluctUres .If 'uy paradoxically ridiculous, but at the same time ,.Crl llil

\lv necessary as ways of dealmg WIth the l>;!)rld and rt' rca ,

ves '1It ,rl . .

"1 went from seemg myself as Professor, World's ost Authority, to a Zen master sitting on a mountain­

orem alld seeing all the human eonstructs in a series of

IP t Ires-abstract kind of geometrie forms which inter- 1(lle , . I and overlal>ped and stood on top and underneath.

I'p c( all seemed to be the same thing and they all seemed

f l hr 'd' I I f I I I" h'ttl" "ery, very 1'1 ICU ous. e t t lat, as a Ivmg t Illg,

I _ integrallv a pari of life, and, while I didn't ask for ~a~ ~

Jt particular state of being, neither could I accept any hr1icular responsibility for it having happened, yet I was I lhe same time totally responsible for life itself because

integrally involved in it. I .3'

.. 011 1" interesting thing ahout the Jlsychedelic experienee . the way in which these ideas, thoughts, feelings-what­ , ,' r they might be eaUed-come to one. Normally we use ords all tools to form constructs, communicate, and to

~ iok with, but in the psychedelic experience there is really II thi nking proeess involved. Thoughts are essentially ,rota l images-very, very clear, and complete, and integral ilh heing, so to speak-so that t he thought-process, as ,' normally know it, doesn't r("ally exist. "Dll ring the almost two years from the first to the rond experience, I would say that my general ability to

~ink in pictures, rather than in words, was much en­ .m ~ed, My ability to flow easily with life was enhanced, nil therefore my creativity. There was less internal friction d a greater ability to focus on what 1 was doing, thinking,

r designing. I don't think I learned anything new about .il:ll, but found it easier to explore possibilities in a

'rer way. "[Th e second session was the actual creativity experi­ rot at the Foundation.] The problem I brought to the ·, ion was an art and cultural center on a site near the ~ University of California campus near Santa Cruz,

M ornia. Prior to the session, I thought about the projeet II discarded many different sehemes. The day before

• ,es~ion, I bad a basic construct in mind and an idea • a good solution for the problem. We were instructed ~o into the session thinking about the fact that we were

linf: to work on a particular project. There were three u' in the room that day: two phy~icists amI myself, each

"rking on his own project. WI' were told not to think · 'UI Our projects as sueh during the morning but to be • "I)CII as we could.

"Th at morning. at 8: 30, we talked for awhil(", lay down, it lin earphones and eyeblinders, and listened to stereo U·i c fol' the hulk of the morning. My morning expericnce drd at 10: 30 because I was anxious to get to work, but ~ rograrn was set up so that WI' didn't work until noon. I patiently waited until it was time to go to work. 1 took

!ech ' I . nleo 01' dream trip through hi"tory: 1 found mysdf In . ~Ing through trees with a lot of other people, hut we

te all pl'etty much simian and we ;,eemed to be enjoyinp; t' cl" Ih es. could see the forcst-or jungle- the flow("rs, the ~r ' people,' having a delightful cxperience, chattering

all " forth in words I didn't understand but the mood ' lI!ed a "cry hapl}y one. ImmNliately after that I was in

a cave, with prehistoric paintings on the w ,I)('ople both

clothed and unclothed sitting around a fire, I was eating a great chunk of raw meat, sort of braised meat. Par­ ticularly I noticed the environment we were in-the figure drawings on the eave wall. Immediately after that, I was in either an Inean or an Aztec village, wandering around through a market place that was the center of a large square, looking at the temple which was very huge and impressive, seeing the people in the market place, looking at their mode of dress-the gold ornaments the wealthy people were wearing, stoJ)ping and eating a piece of fruit at a stand; essentially living in and being a part of this beautiful city I was in. After that, I was in a formal hall­ room, dressed in what looked like one of the old tintype photographs, talking to people with a very formal ap­ proaeh, feeling v~ry formal inside and noticing the arehi­ teeture of the huge ballroom, the big windows made up of small panels of glass, the clothing the people were wearing, the dancing. Then I was in an ice-cream parlor in the Roaring Twenties. Everybody was having a terrifie time in the 23 Skidoo style, which somehow felt v("ry su~erficial. Then I was in a'modern city the likes of which I have never seen. It is best deseribed as the "City of the Future"- the kind P / A occasionally publishes as concepts for redevelopment. Everything was new, everything effi­ cient, everything beautifully articulated.

"I sat up at ahout II: 00 with the stronp; feeling that everything having to do with the history of architecture and everything having to do with leading all architects, all designers, myself, up to the cultural point we are at now

with the ability to design has("d on experience and knowl­ edge of the past-that all of this was fine, hut any copying of or taking directly from any past ap;e or any other culture was ludicrous, meaningless, and had no validity in a fresh design approach. With this feeling, the prior ideas I had had about my project were all gone; 1 found myself in an absolute void of idea and creative thought. It was about noon; the others were aroused from their eyeshades and eaq)hon(,,8. We had som(" lunch, talked awhile, and then it was time to work.

"I sat down with a sketch-pad and drew a square outline of the property, looked at it, and had absolutely no idea at all of what was appropriat(" to solve the problems. I must have looked at the paper for 5 or 10 minutes with an absolute blank. And thcn, all of a sudden, with a total flash of an absolutely clear, completed project was the cultural center-designed, built, complete before my eyes. So complete that I could walk through it in my imagina­ tion, see til(" architectural detailing, see the insid("s of the shops, and so on. It was a totally complete, finished product, So [ began to do the plot plan layout. 1 knew 1 had to have so many square fect of building, so many ear parkings, knew the e irculation patterns. I began to draw what I saw and everything fit precisely, and, although I had a scale ruler with me, 1 hardly had to use it, bccause ev("rything seemed to be exactly as it should be and fitted exactly as it would if 1 were measuring it. 1 doodled figures around the edge of the sheet, trying to arrive at per sq ft estimate~ of eonlitruction cost, total value of project, potential monthly income. And all of these factors seemed to work 100, so that the project had cconomic feasibility. As rapidly

L .5.D : A Design T oo!' 15 1 l50 L.5.D: A Design Tool "!

as I could, much faster than my hand would work, I tried

to capture the essenee of the building project, of the Center.

I was almost certain that my total knowledge of it and how it was built wouldn't stay with me, and therefore I had to get sy~bol!! down ~n paper that would give me a key back in later. This was . done in about an hour-the total

proeess-ancl the project was completed. "While I fclt I could certainly go on and do a great deal

more work on tru~ cent r~· 1 im;tead hatJ a lot of fun design· inl'!:' I dt'signed a littl~ meditation house, fo~ example, in the woods-in mv head. I could see i~ -jll!;t as completely as I could see th~ center. I designed a couple of mountain cabins, and I desi~ed a residence that was larger than the cabins. I played with a piece of sculpture for a mailbox. This was all pure mental projection. I felt I had done my work for the day; in fact, the way I normally would work I had done something like four or five days' work of really good production in a matter of that hour-and.a-~alf or so. I spent the rest of the day enjoying and lookmg a~ ~he other people's mental wheels turning. They were Slllmg

there dt'ep in thought, working through very complex

problems-one on light pallerns and photons, and one on

otlwr things, just as complex, having to do with the

neurological patterns of the human body. "The psycht'delic materials seem to be ·f~cilitator.s" or

perhaps 'focusers.' I think that what this. experiment showed is that it's possible to use the materJ8ls to focus

on anything, or to facilitate focusing on anything, that

one m~y ehoose to do. So they could he U8cd for designing, . I did for seientific thinking, as others did, for psycho-as , ,

therapy, for explorations into telepathy perhaps-:-l do~ t know what the potential" are. I learned from bem/ot With

the Institute twice that the selling is the vital part of the

eXlleriment with psychedelic materials. They open the

uneonscious completely, although it can still be tapped

directlv into a focus; but unless there is a focus, and unless there is a protective atmosphere, I think there is a great

danger in having an experience that would he wide opf'n

to I don't know what: Some of the horrors of the un· . the 10~I'ng of all structures that one functionsconSCIOUS, , 0 ' '

with and not being able to replace them, or to replace

them in a way that is antithetical to the socif'ty in which

we Iiye. I see -a ~reat danger in the misuse or the playing around with thl' psychedelic matt"rials, but I'm tremen­

dously I'nthusiastic about their potential. I want to say: All

architect~ ought to have this experience. Maybe cverybody ought to haye this experience. But it would be sheer

insanity to have mass distribution of the drugs and say

to eve;yllOdy, hert', Ict's see what can be done. "Co~jt"cturing about how the psychedelic experience

enhanccd mv awart'ness and what it can do for the future:

The project"1 designed hiD't particularly unusual in archi·

tt'cture. Essentially, I had a problem to work out that

needed a comfortable, warm architecturc; it needed to have

a feeling of culture, a feeling of artistry that wouldn't, as

I see it, dominate so strongly that it would essentially

destroy the inte~ration of other people's arts into it. So, in the ~ense of IIsin~ tht" psycheddic ~ession for the creation of somt"thing totally new or even very different-that is

somethin~ I wa.m't involvl'd in trying to do . What I was amazed by was the facility ~ith which problem-solving was

152 LSD: A Design Tool?

S ket ches by architect E ric Clo ugh 0/ art cente r designed Und . d"') eTtA. influence 0/ mescalme (see a .Jommg text.

J#

--~" .-- ~ , . :.

··-rrif:'" .r: ..: '

e...\"",\ ,, _ ' f Dn ~ , .. . _ 4

~:.~..:­ ,'~ ';l. O' .

l .... .. . ".'

I~: - t "

J • need. Until the time of tIl(' beSbion, it had heen a

1'111 11 . I,. difficult problem; I hadn't been able to solve it in

(.Ia r , ," 11" that 1 was happy with. The solution came so clearly

~" . Id ,0 completel) and with no problems to rf'adjust, that

~'lth ink, for myself, the value was in that ahility to problem-

J ..e in sueh a complete, thorough, and rapid way. This

.0' . lit " has stayed with me. It was five months ago now.

I,u a • II not functioning e very day as I did on that day, but

[ al d I . f " d . h .r,'e ha tie experlCncc 0 SlUmp; own 111 t e mornmg all d designing six h Ollses in t hree hours- in rough, very erude sketch f orm . 1 have done a liule bit of very free

thinki lll! and very free sketching on new forms and new

_hapes-things I hadn't attempted before-and I'm pleased

"itb these too . "While people have said their experience doesn't stay

"jib them, I think t h a t somehow I learned something from it. I learned that what ever I was able to do that day was not because of the ·drug, but because the drug allowed ml'

10 fu nction in a way t hat I wa,,; capable all along of function· in!,. without the us u al fric t ions we encount er.

"Perhaps the next step is to try and work out totally

nrW concepts. Perhaps a whole new view of architeeture

('ould be developed. I'd like to see eomeone like the

!",til ute put a g r oup of people together in a prohlem­

.oh·ing session w h ere they were all working on the same

proje(·t, for exam p le . I believe that the psychedelics are a l"oJ-like a key to open d o ors so that we can look at

tiM things in new and open ways . This is what we are capable of all t h e time but we don't u.~ually recognize the

racl Ih at we arc ."

THE WIDER IMPLICATIO S OF LSD

he soc ial and cu ltural implications of the psychedelic

dr ugs have been widely comm ented upon. It is easy to spec ulate th a t 20th-Century Man, living in an age of

5cientific revolution that has overthrown in th e span of a

few decade the soc ial and moral assumptions of several

renturies- a n age where theologians the mse lves are for ced into

anguished debates as to the very ex iste nce of God, and where

the new tec hnology is rapidl y deh umanizing man- in s uc h a

' ontext, the appeal of dru gs that promise man a supposed ability

' 0 tran scend the routine sense of se lf and e nvironm e nt are

ubvious. W he the r th ese more mysti ca l claims to self-discovery

nave any legitimate scientifi c base remain s the job of stea dy,

·ober scientific study in th e years ahead.

In term s of the limited aims of this article , th e psychedeli c

drugs arc of interest to th e profession to the extent th at the y

Illay be ho wn to fa cilitate creativity and problem-solvin g. The

d,fficu lty is that th e nature of creativity itself, of talent, even of

;eni us, although under scientific investigation for decades, still 1nt .

atns areas of mystery and specu lation. Whet her pharma- Qlogy b . b .can rIng new weapons to ear III th e war that psy­ ho lo gists and psychiatrists have been waging for so lon g is the

,n1erestin g is ue.

: h~he~ one consider s the enormou s complexity of the brain as ultIma te instrument that classifies and interpre ts all the

"'nse data the individual is exposed to, the problem becomes

PPare nt. The brain receives one billion signal s per second­ , an

Yl110re than norm ally reach con scio usness . There are between

~CUST 1966 PI A

ten and thirteen billion brain cell s, and ea ch one is connected

to 25 ,000 othe r ce ll s. As yet, researc hers hav l ittle know ledge

of the chemical p ro ces es th at occur am on g the cells. One of the

grea t mysteries of the psychedelic d rugs is whethe r or not a nyone

will be abl e to dem n strate that what a n individu a l normally

sees and e xpe ri e nces is more "real" than wh'at is expe rienced

with th e aid of the dru gs. They are repeated ly described as

chem ical agen ts that ca n some how open the mind , allowing th e

free flow of sense data directly into consciousness, unimpeded

by the intell ect ualizin g, the ca tego rizin g according to p re­

con cep tion s the indivi du al normally resorts to. And yet thi s

ma ssive influx of sen se data is experienced in a fully conscious

stat e. I nterestingly, fr om the descriptions of many who have

taken the dru g, the psychedelic experi e nce seems to correspond

to t he world as it ha s been describ ed by physicists-a world co mposed of minute, moving, bobbing particles of energy ca ll ed

electrons; everything is sa id to mov e and pul sate.

Another interesting aspect of the psychedeli cs is what several

r esearch psychologists have termed the similarity between the

effe cts created by these chemi cal s and the so rt of con sciousne ss

identified with c reativity : The ability to become detached from

everyday experience and become totally absor bed by deeper

levels of awa ren ess, coupled with the ability to aban don this

det achment and re turn to normal leve ls of consciousness. A

rathe r far-r emoved specu lation in this respect that ha s been

forwarded by some commentators is the fascinating possibility

that in future years the psychedelic dru gs may ma ke accessible

to the ave r age man levels of consc iou sness a nd perception

previously re stri cted only to the artist.

The conse nsus a mon g the arc hitect s P / A intervie wed , seve ral

of whom we have quoted in these pages, seem s to be that L SD,

when administered under ca r e fully controll ed condition s, does

enhance cr eativity to the exte nt th at it vastly speeds up problem­

so lvin g, aids in -visualizing three-dimensionally, and generally

heighte ns perceptivity. The drug apparently ca nnot give an

architect more talent than nature originally endowed him with ,

but it ca n make it more accessible. In a se nse, Henrik Bull

s ummed it up wh en he co mmented, "My experien ce was that I

beca me a bette r Henrik Bull, not Gaud! or Wri ght."

L.5.D: A Design Tool? 153

as I could, much faster than my hand would work, I tried

to capture the essenee of the building project, of the Center.

I was almost certain that my total knowledge of it and how it was built wouldn't stay with me, and therefore I had to get sy~bol!! down ~n paper that would give me a key back in later. This was . done in about an hour-the total

proeess-ancl the project was completed. "While I fclt I could certainly go on and do a great deal

more work on tru~ cent r~· 1 im;tead hatJ a lot of fun design· inl'!:' I dt'signed a littl~ meditation house, fo~ example, in the woods-in mv head. I could see i~ -jll!;t as completely as I could see th~ center. I designed a couple of mountain cabins, and I desi~ed a residence that was larger than the cabins. I played with a piece of sculpture for a mailbox. This was all pure mental projection. I felt I had done my work for the day; in fact, the way I normally would work I had done something like four or five days' work of really good production in a matter of that hour-and.a-~alf or so. I spent the rest of the day enjoying and lookmg a~ ~he other people's mental wheels turning. They were Slllmg

there dt'ep in thought, working through very complex

problems-one on light pallerns and photons, and one on

otlwr things, just as complex, having to do with the

neurological patterns of the human body. "The psycht'delic materials seem to be ·f~cilitator.s" or

perhaps 'focusers.' I think that what this. experiment showed is that it's possible to use the materJ8ls to focus

on anything, or to facilitate focusing on anything, that

one m~y ehoose to do. So they could he U8cd for designing, . I did for seientific thinking, as others did, for psycho-as , ,

therapy, for explorations into telepathy perhaps-:-l do~ t know what the potential" are. I learned from bem/ot With

the Institute twice that the selling is the vital part of the

eXlleriment with psychedelic materials. They open the

uneonscious completely, although it can still be tapped

directlv into a focus; but unless there is a focus, and unless there is a protective atmosphere, I think there is a great

danger in having an experience that would he wide opf'n

to I don't know what: Some of the horrors of the un· . the 10~I'ng of all structures that one functionsconSCIOUS, , 0 ' '

with and not being able to replace them, or to replace

them in a way that is antithetical to the socif'ty in which

we Iiye. I see -a ~reat danger in the misuse or the playing around with thl' psychedelic matt"rials, but I'm tremen­

dously I'nthusiastic about their potential. I want to say: All

architect~ ought to have this experience. Maybe cverybody ought to haye this experience. But it would be sheer

insanity to have mass distribution of the drugs and say

to eve;yllOdy, hert', Ict's see what can be done. "Co~jt"cturing about how the psychedelic experience

enhanccd mv awart'ness and what it can do for the future:

The project"1 designed hiD't particularly unusual in archi·

tt'cture. Essentially, I had a problem to work out that

needed a comfortable, warm architecturc; it needed to have

a feeling of culture, a feeling of artistry that wouldn't, as

I see it, dominate so strongly that it would essentially

destroy the inte~ration of other people's arts into it. So, in the ~ense of IIsin~ tht" psycheddic ~ession for the creation of somt"thing totally new or even very different-that is

somethin~ I wa.m't involvl'd in trying to do . What I was amazed by was the facility ~ith which problem-solving was

152 LSD: A Design Tool?

S ket ches by architect E ric Clo ugh 0/ art cente r designed Und . d"') eTtA. influence 0/ mescalme (see a .Jommg text.

J#

--~" .-- ~ , . :.

··-rrif:'" .r: ..: '

e...\"",\ ,, _ ' f Dn ~ , .. . _ 4

~:.~..:­ ,'~ ';l. O' .

l .... .. . ".'

I~: - t "

J • need. Until the time of tIl(' beSbion, it had heen a

1'111 11 . I,. difficult problem; I hadn't been able to solve it in

(.Ia r , ," 11" that 1 was happy with. The solution came so clearly

~" . Id ,0 completel) and with no problems to rf'adjust, that

~'lth ink, for myself, the value was in that ahility to problem-

J ..e in sueh a complete, thorough, and rapid way. This

.0' . lit " has stayed with me. It was five months ago now.

I,u a • II not functioning e very day as I did on that day, but

[ al d I . f " d . h .r,'e ha tie experlCncc 0 SlUmp; own 111 t e mornmg all d designing six h Ollses in t hree hours- in rough, very erude sketch f orm . 1 have done a liule bit of very free

thinki lll! and very free sketching on new forms and new

_hapes-things I hadn't attempted before-and I'm pleased

"itb these too . "While people have said their experience doesn't stay

"jib them, I think t h a t somehow I learned something from it. I learned that what ever I was able to do that day was not because of the ·drug, but because the drug allowed ml'

10 fu nction in a way t hat I wa,,; capable all along of function· in!,. without the us u al fric t ions we encount er.

"Perhaps the next step is to try and work out totally

nrW concepts. Perhaps a whole new view of architeeture

('ould be developed. I'd like to see eomeone like the

!",til ute put a g r oup of people together in a prohlem­

.oh·ing session w h ere they were all working on the same

proje(·t, for exam p le . I believe that the psychedelics are a l"oJ-like a key to open d o ors so that we can look at

tiM things in new and open ways . This is what we are capable of all t h e time but we don't u.~ually recognize the

racl Ih at we arc ."

THE WIDER IMPLICATIO S OF LSD

he soc ial and cu ltural implications of the psychedelic

dr ugs have been widely comm ented upon. It is easy to spec ulate th a t 20th-Century Man, living in an age of

5cientific revolution that has overthrown in th e span of a

few decade the soc ial and moral assumptions of several

renturies- a n age where theologians the mse lves are for ced into

anguished debates as to the very ex iste nce of God, and where

the new tec hnology is rapidl y deh umanizing man- in s uc h a

' ontext, the appeal of dru gs that promise man a supposed ability

' 0 tran scend the routine sense of se lf and e nvironm e nt are

ubvious. W he the r th ese more mysti ca l claims to self-discovery

nave any legitimate scientifi c base remain s the job of stea dy,

·ober scientific study in th e years ahead.

In term s of the limited aims of this article , th e psychedeli c

drugs arc of interest to th e profession to the extent th at the y

Illay be ho wn to fa cilitate creativity and problem-solvin g. The

d,fficu lty is that th e nature of creativity itself, of talent, even of

;eni us, although under scientific investigation for decades, still 1nt .

atns areas of mystery and specu lation. Whet her pharma- Qlogy b . b .can rIng new weapons to ear III th e war that psy­ ho lo gists and psychiatrists have been waging for so lon g is the

,n1erestin g is ue.

: h~he~ one consider s the enormou s complexity of the brain as ultIma te instrument that classifies and interpre ts all the

"'nse data the individual is exposed to, the problem becomes

PPare nt. The brain receives one billion signal s per second­ , an

Yl110re than norm ally reach con scio usness . There are between

~CUST 1966 PI A

ten and thirteen billion brain cell s, and ea ch one is connected

to 25 ,000 othe r ce ll s. As yet, researc hers hav l ittle know ledge

of the chemical p ro ces es th at occur am on g the cells. One of the

grea t mysteries of the psychedelic d rugs is whethe r or not a nyone

will be abl e to dem n strate that what a n individu a l normally

sees and e xpe ri e nces is more "real" than wh'at is expe rienced

with th e aid of the dru gs. They are repeated ly described as

chem ical agen ts that ca n some how open the mind , allowing th e

free flow of sense data directly into consciousness, unimpeded

by the intell ect ualizin g, the ca tego rizin g according to p re­

con cep tion s the indivi du al normally resorts to. And yet thi s

ma ssive influx of sen se data is experienced in a fully conscious

stat e. I nterestingly, fr om the descriptions of many who have

taken the dru g, the psychedelic experi e nce seems to correspond

to t he world as it ha s been describ ed by physicists-a world co mposed of minute, moving, bobbing particles of energy ca ll ed

electrons; everything is sa id to mov e and pul sate.

Another interesting aspect of the psychedeli cs is what several

r esearch psychologists have termed the similarity between the

effe cts created by these chemi cal s and the so rt of con sciousne ss

identified with c reativity : The ability to become detached from

everyday experience and become totally absor bed by deeper

levels of awa ren ess, coupled with the ability to aban don this

det achment and re turn to normal leve ls of consciousness. A

rathe r far-r emoved specu lation in this respect that ha s been

forwarded by some commentators is the fascinating possibility

that in future years the psychedelic dru gs may ma ke accessible

to the ave r age man levels of consc iou sness a nd perception

previously re stri cted only to the artist.

The conse nsus a mon g the arc hitect s P / A intervie wed , seve ral

of whom we have quoted in these pages, seem s to be that L SD,

when administered under ca r e fully controll ed condition s, does

enhance cr eativity to the exte nt th at it vastly speeds up problem­

so lvin g, aids in -visualizing three-dimensionally, and generally

heighte ns perceptivity. The drug apparently ca nnot give an

architect more talent than nature originally endowed him with ,

but it ca n make it more accessible. In a se nse, Henrik Bull

s ummed it up wh en he co mmented, "My experien ce was that I

beca me a bette r Henrik Bull, not Gaud! or Wri ght."

L.5.D: A Design Tool? 153