Pallasmma

How can we understand and determine a person’s experience of architecture?

I believe that instead of trying to ‘determine a person’s experience of architecture, as architecture we ought to predict it. As architects, our job is to create architecture that moves people toward a common experience. If a dark room is to be designed, there need to be a reason behind it. Architects are required to predict what the experience of a person in a dark room will be. Therefore, the decisions made in the design process are founded. Even though at the end of the day every person will have a slightly different experience within a building, in successful architecture the majority will in some way experience what the architect meant for them to experience in a particular space.

How do you interpret Pallasmma’s ideas about the following?

All art emanates from the body… 

I believe that Pallasmma was referring to the need of using our whole body in the process of creating art.  Especially is architecture, we not only see, but we also hear, smell and feel. When accomplishing successful architecture, is must me a product of thinking with out bodies instead of just our minds. Also, every person will have different interpretations of a space, which are created by the experience of the body and not only the mind.

Early childhood memories inform and form us as we grow up…

Pallasmma was referring to that memories of childhood must inform us because they are what can be referred as ‘first impressions’.  Windows and doors, for instance, have become so mundane and boring that they have lost importance. When attempting to remember that first image of a door, or that first interaction with a window, architects may be informed by the experiential qualities that were felt, therefore in a sense rewinding to design without ‘baggage’

 Other arts create the importance of place and our experience…

Pallasmma here is referring to the use of architecture by other arts without the preconception architects may have. He gives example of photography, painting, film and literature as arts that use architecture to present a setting. He states that this setting is “pure looking” and is similar to a “child’s way of experiencing things…”

Loneliness and silence of buildings…

I believe that Pallasmma was talking about the individual experience that every person has when looking at a piece of art. A painting is subject to many different interpretations the same way a building is. He states: “experiencing loneliness is one of the basic feelings given by architecture…” I feel that he is referring to the individual experience and interpretation that every person has when interacting with architecture.