A journey of my theory of architecture. MY blog. Mei Yin's blog.
P06: An Architecture of Seven Senses
'The taste of the apple...lies in the contact of the fruit with the palate...not in the fruit itself; in a similar way...poetry lies in the meeting of the poem and reader...not in the lines of symbols printed on the pages of a book.'
- Jorge Luis Borges
*i like this :)
From the article, Architecture is closely related to the seven senses which including; 'Acoustic Intimacy', 'Silence, Time & Solitude', 'Space of Scent', 'The Shape of Touch', 'Images of Muscle & Bones', 'Bodily Identification', and 'Taste of Architecture'.
At the beginning of the article, the author talked about the losing of plasticity on architecture because instead of putting ourselves in the world, we often capture the world using camera lenses as if we are spectators from outside. By doing this, we tend to lose connection with the language and wisdom of the structure and as an result, they become isolated and distance was created between human and architecture. Compared with the materials used today which most of them are glass, metal and plaster, the use of stone, brick and wood allowed us to see the expression of age, history, tale of its birth and human use through senses of hear, see, touch, smell and taste.
Acoustic Intimacy
Hearing creates a sense of connection and solidarity between human and architecture. Every building or space has its own characteristic sound of intimacy or monumentality, rejection or invitation, hospitality and hostility. From the example given; the gaze wanders lonesomely in the dark depths of a cathedral but the sound of the organ makes us realize out affinity with the space, it shows that hearing brings us closer to architecture and space by attaching us either by memory or the feeling it gives. I can still remember how it sounds like when we went to the bird park. The sound of birds chirping make us feel like we are part of them too and we started to imitate their sounds. Even with our eyes closed, we can feel the affinity with the space and the connection between human and nature.
Silence, Time and Solitude
According to the author, the most essential auditory experience created by architecture is tranquillity where architecture presents the drama of construction in silence into matter and space, and the building becomes a space of waiting, waiting patiently in silence. For example, the silence of Pharaohs inside the Pyramids. Architecture; buildings and cities are the museum of time, they enable us to see and understand the passing of history in silence mode. It allows us to experience the slow, firm flow of time and tradition. The time of architecture is a detained time, in the greatest of buildings time stands firmly still.
I agree with the thought of 'experiencing a work of art is a private dialogue between the work and the viewer that excludes other interactions' because i do believe that the art or building itself will be able to speak for itself through how the viewer perceive the art or building. The interaction between human and art is silence but the understanding or dialogue is there, between them.
Space of Scent
In this part of article, the author talked about a few examples of how odor of a particular place can brings memory that have been forgotten and imagination of the atmosphere or feeling that odor gives. From the example of the author; 'I cannot remember the appearance of the door to my grandfather's farm-house from my early childhood but i do remember the resistance of its weight, the patina of its wood surface scarred by a half century of use and i recall especially the scent of home that hit my face as an invisible wall behind the door.' This shows that how important it is that the scent actually brings back the memory of how his grandfather's house looked like. For my own experience, the scent of traditional Chinese medicine which made from herbs really left a strong impression on my memory especially when we pass by the traditional Chinese shops, the smell of herbs reminds me of how the kitchen of my grandmother's kitchen smells like as she used to make the herbs herself. This leads to my imagination of the bitterness of the herbs.
The Shape of Touch
The skin reads the texture, weight, density and temperature of matter. The sense of touch connect us by seducing the stroking of our hands. Besides hands, eye also touches. Through touches, for example, standing barefoot on a smooth glacial rock by sea at sunset and sensing through one's soles the warmth of the stone heated by the sun gives a feeling connection between human and nature and one can sense the slow breathing of earth. Great architecture offers shapes and surfaces molded for the pleasure touch of the eye. For example, deep shadows and darkness are essential because they dim the sharpness of vision and invite the unconscious peripheral vision and tactile fantasy. Eye is the sense of separation and distance where touch is the sense of nearness, intimacy and affection. This can be further explained that during overpowering emotional states we tend to close our eyes, the distancing sense of vision when caressing our loved ones.
Images of Muscle and Bone
During the older time, builders used to use their own body as a measurement tool to build buildings. Hence, every part of the building are well related to our body. For example, stepping stones set in the grass of a garden are images and imprints of human steps. As we open the door, our body weight meets the weight of the door, our legs measure the steps as we ascend a stair, our hand strokes the handrail and our entire body moves diagonally and dramatically through spaces. Authentic architectural experiences consist of approaching or confronting a building rather than the facade of the act of entering rather than the frame of door itself. This can be support by the statement of we behold, touch, listen and measure the world with our entire bodily existence and the experiential world is organized and articulated around the center of the body. I am the space, where i am - Noel Arnaud.
Bodily Identification
The encounter of any work of art implies a bodily interaction. Meaning, our body is able to interact with the environment and therefore, gives different signals to our mind how does it feels like. Similarly, an architect internalizes a building in his body, movement, balance, distance and scale are felt unconsciously through the body as tension in the muscular system and in the position of skeleton and inner organs. Understanding architectural scale implies the unconscious measuring of an object or a building with one's body and projecting one's bodily scheme on the space. We can feel pleasure and protection when the body discovers its resonance in space; as i have mentioned earlier, body interacts with environment. As we experiencing a structure, we tend to recognize its composition using our body unconsciously.
Taste of Architecture
Vision, touch and smell are closely related to taste as we tend to imagine the taste of certain thing based on the texture, the appearance and the smell. As i have mentioned earlier, the smell of traditional Chinese herbs make me think of the bitterness of it. This shows that we cant really separate between smell and taste as they are actually linked. From the article, the senses of all are interacting with each other in our life, architecturally.
Conclusion, all experience from touch, see, smell, hear and taste are able to imply the act of recollecting, remembering and comparing. An embodied memory has an essential role as the basis of remembering a space or place. We identify ourselves with the space, that moment and those dimensions as they become ingredients of our very existence. Architecture is the art of mediation and reconciliation.
Yet Another Day ; Monday, July 19, 2010
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