Pallasmaa
How can we understand and determine a person’s experience of architecture?
“It is time that we considered whether forms or geometry in general can give rise toarchitectural feeling. Are forms the real basic elements of architecture at all.” “Its meaning lies not in its forms, but in the images transmitted by the forms and the emotional force that
they carry. Form only affects our feelings through what it represents.”
A person’s experience of architecture is based upon the feelings that one has in a set place. It is subjective due to the varied nature of one’s history, and will evoke different emotions in different people. It is based on other experiences, and compounds throughout one’s lifetime.
How do you interpret Pallassmaa’s ideas about the following?
All art eminates from the body…..
“The experience of art is an interaction between our embodied memories and our world”I believe Pallasamaa is saying that all artistic and creative endeavors start with something elemental- our knowledge of ourselves, and that the body is the most basic part of this. It is essential to know the body before creating larger artistic works, and concerning architecture it is impossible to connect to the building without a reference to the body.
Early childhood memories inform us and form us as we grow up….
Pallasamaa states that early childhood memories stay with us because of their emotional force. I believe this is correct, and that these memories are a reference point to which we can base new experiences and thus relate back to our childhood for life.
Other arts create the importance of place and experience…..
Because other forms of art must ground their work in a human environment, describing place is essential. This description of architecture is “the ‘pure looking’ of a child’s way of experiencing things”, and is based solely upon experience and emotion. This is a very pure way of thinking about architecture, and gets to the emotional ‘meat’ of a place.
Loneliness and silence of buildings…….
I disagree that a profound architectural experience directly translates into a feeling of loneliness. In my own personal experiences, when I am in a great architectural space I want to share it with the others around me, and feel more connected to my environment and the people around because of the impressive emotions that happen. However, in some instances, where it is the intention to create a feeling of isolation or introspection, such as a cathedral, architecture does isolate.