developing a critical analysis that will look into whether experiencing a building is individual or personal

On Affect

Introduction

In situations when one visits or gets an experience with buildings, whether they are historical, contemporary, buildings which have very different backgrounds culturally or even the ones of our very own culture a possibility that one will be affected in one way or another by the said buildings. The term ‘affect’ can be defined as one that produces change or effect in the individual who is having experience on the actual building (This is on the base level). From the architectural perspective, the term could mean harboring emotions, feelings or even making the experiencer’s mind be impressed. Even if the the mind’s intellectual impressing could suggest a reaction that is positive, the triggering emotion’s notion could either be negative or even positive. People will have different experiences on one building hence will have different stimuli, express different views which are from the liking and disliking the perspective of the building fully or partially.

The paper will focus on developing a critical analysis that will look into whether experiencing a building is individual or personal or whether it relies on the assumptions or agreements among certain groups of people, professionals or subcultures. It will also look at the extent in which the response and interpretation depend on the prior knowledge, experience or education or taste. I will continue to look into the way architects build on special effects and qualities of designs which are able to trigger emotions that are positive to the audience, and the way they get to know that the effects will be able to work on the intended ways. Towards the end, I will look at whether the architecture audience is pre established so that the positive or negative reactions from illiterate people is irrelevant and only the ones from the educated architectures are accepted with seriousness as they have informed and intelligent views.

Emotions

People have always talked of the way people’s emotions are affected by architecture. However we also need to ask ourselves how emotions affect designs. People need to be very courageous to be in a position to talk about the way they feel when they are invaded by emotions. At this moment, the feelings are negative. The ones who ate in a position to express themselves will laugh, cry, talk, shout or even scream. Others will show their emotions through things such as creative expressions sometimes done unconsciously (Word press, 2010). It is possible to look at the architectural movements which have been in the past which would give an idea of what caused certain situations for instance what could be created by an architect who is relaxed, or sad. Le Corbusier who taught architect for a long time later thought that whatever he had taught throughout his career was wrong. He later created a Ronchamp, France which was meant to prove this. One thing that is evident in this field is the fact that the experience which is obtained over many years of learning and practicing is a major factor in the evolution that an architect undergoes. This is true in any field all together. However, emotions play a great role in the lives of artists.

Some times people do not like to accept the fact that our feelings affect the things we do or create and imagine that it is the external agents that inspires what we do. This feeling is as a result of the fact that we feel it could reduce the extent of seriousness we have on the same. It is important however to look at it as an idea of enriching so that the moment we learn and be able to control by utilizing the emotions that are positive, we could have a better emotionality level when it comes to the buildings.

Change

Change in architecture and buildings is seen to be a paradigm shift which embraces transience in life and culture of today which advocates for change. The architecture has always been in the service of providing shelter and protection, memorialize and contain our lives and enterprises. The architecture has been able to work hard and provide better buildings. The buildings made have been able to adopt and withstand forces of elements and time. This calls for very enduring mind and also durable materials. The current trend is such that we are provided with very many trends, styles and other different changes. New methods to sustain the adaptability of the buildings in the world has started and is called architecture of change. It is able to make people free from environments and buildings that are bland boxes which are made up of mute walls and immutable materials. This makes architectures be in a position to design buildings with emotion so as to be able to deliver experiences which are controlled by meaning as well as content. The design as well as architecture shows culture’s ideas, traditions and values. Now that we are very much mutable and the initial world which is built has mostly been about permanence, new tools are required to be in a position to reflect the society. The change in architecture designs make use of information that is refreshable, contents, messaging, images, luminosity, transparency, digital technologies and activity as major components used in choreographing and shaping the social experience. The main target is on the setting of people stages for the roles and lives making use of the communication as a medium and message (Foy, 2004).

People hold the believe that the buildings are used as a means to be able to strengthen the traditions and counterchange them as well as confirm the presence of the cultural values. There is however the need to be in a position of sharing information, perpetuate myths, tell stories, knowledge and lessons through the structures. Some of the evidences of this in the early days include the Egyptian tombs which have hieroglyphic tattoos, the early Asian and South American temples which have sculptures and also bas reliefs, the Palaces and Cathedrals are full of paintings, mosaics, murals, glass windows that are stained all with messages. On the other hand, if we consider the current generation which has been trained digitally are able to process several images which are interactive. The importance of telling narrations on buildings to cultures of media savvy and also possibilities of having the technology that is digitally empowered may combine to make places where one is very much likely to become engaged in sight, sound, thought and touch.

References

Word Press.com. (2010) Emotional Architecture. Word Press. Com Retrieved from JuhaniPallasmaa( the eyes of the skin