18 - Feeding the Other Senses
If I were to articulate the style of phenomenology that I am focusing on, I would include the distinction against architectural style that generates its inspiration from visual cues that often never engage the other senses in a deliberate manner. When the other senses are engaged, it is an afterthought, and develops after the visual “form” of the building is already designed. In a way, this approach seems to make people “fit” or conform into a design. This type of retinal architecture that gives primacy to the sense of sight is also sometimes best visually appreciated from above (helicopter view) which puts the average user at a disadvantage because those views are difficult to access and for many may never be accessed or experienced. The language used to describe this type of visual architecture is also sometimes communicated poetically by assigning fantastical actions to the building (like “movement,” “dancing,” or “growing from the ground”). Moreover, form and poetic descriptions in architecture are understood as inescapable. Recognizing this, the style of architectural phenomenology I am aiming to explore consciously focuses on exploring architecture (in regard to the qualities of form and description) in a way that, upon experiencing the architecture, makes form more accessible and descriptions more practical. The phenomenological architecture I want to explore has attributes of form whose genesis and inspiration are derived from human scale and readily accessible to sensory communication. In other words, whereas retinal architecture simply “fits” people into primarily visually stimulating buildings, the style I want to engage customizes design around the complexities of human senses. Lastly, the ultimate assessment of a successful solution that integrates this design premise is best realized in the content of what the everyday user of the building chooses to communicate about the building. PRECEDENTS
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or this study, I have chosen a few examples that are both antithetical (sight-focused design) and a few that are supportive of the qualities I wish to incorporate (haptic, multi-sensory design), into the design I am proposing.
One antithetical example is the Greater Columbus Convention Center in downtown Columbus, Ohio, designed by architect Peter Eisenman. The inspiration of the design is that it evokes the site history of a previously existing rail yard. This inspiration is not necessarily in contrast to designing a multi-sensory building, but what is in contrast is that it achieves this concept mainly through building form—which