Image Credit: country_boy_shane | Flickr

Within your building it is very important to meet basic human needs — whether they be your occupants’ needs for shelter, to work productively, learn alertly or even heal more quickly. Yet, that is not all that good and inspired architecture should do. As you may have noticed, within great works of architecture there is often a more spiritual side to those buildings which “moves” those occupants as they travel within them — and thus, is born spiritual design.

So the question then becomes… How do you as an architect tap into this more spiritual and awe-inspiring kind of architecture? How do you innovate by finding new ways to meet occupant needs that are better for them, better for the planet and which also simultaneously give them more of an experiential journey through your building that is both beautiful and stirs their soul?

Elicit Occupant Emotion by Merging the Senses with Context

Now, this does not mean that your architecture always needs to evoke the human emotion of “happiness”. Often, it is possible for your architecture to evoke other emotions by calling upon memories as within a memorial, faith as within a religious building or even beauty as might be experienced in an art museum. And while most all building types can benefit by having that emotional-side, it is up to you as the architect to hone in on the core context so that you can translate a given situation into an architectural and spiritual design.

One way in which you as an architect can begin to tap into your occupants’ emotions would be to design a narrative that speaks the language of your occupants’ senses. And by using more than the visual sense, you may design your architecture as a more holistic and harmonious composition which calls upon its contexts. When I refer to “context” here, I speak not only of a building’s site and location, but also about the more personal (and at times universal) past memories and future visions with which its occupants connect.

Just as a great memorial may tell a story about the past for the future generations to come — it is because of that memorial’s ability to transcend its materiality that it can connect its occupants to not only deeper understanding, but also more profound feeling. It is interesting to think of the moment where a stone wall becomes more than its materials and placement, when it becomes a celebration, a rememebrance or even a space for contemplation.

Touching Your Occupant’s Soul in Any Building Type

So now I invite you to take your turn at tapping into your occupants’ senses to elicit and create that spirit of place that is your building. By delving deeper and going beyond basic human needs, you can find the spiritual within your architecture that may permeate your overall design composition. Whether you are designing a religious institution, a museum full of masterpieces or even an office building where employees will spend most of their days, look for the context in those situations by understand the bigger story whereby you can anchor and uplift your architecture into the spiritual design realm.

View your architecture as a spiritual vision within which your occupants can travel. And by all means, be sure to meet your occupants’ human needs elegantly — doing it better by assembling them in a way that moves them and inspires them, all the while, transporting them in such a way that the experiences within your building are enhanced, and their memories of those experiences will have touched their soul.

Please Tell Me What You Think

I would really like to get your feedback on my post today, so please leave me a comment in the form below. And if you enjoyed it, make sure you share it with your Twitter and Facebook followers by clicking on the “re-tweet” and “like” button at the beginning of this page.

© 2008-2011 Sensing Architecture by Maria Lorena Lehman

Image: Aka Hige | Flickr

Many major companies and institutions (like Starbucks and some major airports) are now making sure to include free WiFi wireless connection to boost sales through major increases in customer traffic. And in doing so, they are using this incentive for customers to come in and buy their products and services.

But, as more and more people come to these venues with their mobile digitally connected technologies, what does that mean for the design of the buildings which house them? How do you as an architect account for higher volumes of traffic that may congregate, use the space differently, and be technologically connected at just about all times?

Almost gone are the few coffee shops where the space is simply a place to enjoy that warm cup of coffee and perhaps a slice of desert with a friend or with a good book. Instead, being added to that picture, is the rapidly increasing popularity of free WiFi connection — which, with it, is bringing about some new occupant interaction behaviors within such established institutions like cafés and airports.

In fact, I went into a café recently and saw their new renovation which “updated” their previous standalone tables and chairs to now be replaced by one elongated cafeteria-style table where cyber café customers now sit with their laptops, androids, ipads, and other mobile devices. What I find interesting is that in a world where so many people are “on the go”, it seems that mobile devices are simultaneously better connecting them to information, while also disconnecting them from various social or “sensorial” interactions. Being interpreted loosely, being “on the go” time-wise does not necessarily mean moving between only physical spaces, but it can now mean moving between virtual ones as well.

A Place Where Bits Merge with Bites

Thus, I think it is the new challenge for architects to straddle both areas — providing building occupants with both greater digital world connectivity to social and informational networks while also providing them with a way to “disconnect”, or better “bridge” with the physical world so they can sensorially experience what is happening around them in real time. After all, I think that the two can work together very well for people, as they feed in and out of each other. For example, your design could bring sensorial and social interactions to impact building occupants’ way of thinking, which, in turn, will impact what they do with their virtual connections…and visa versa.

I was recently reading an excerpt from the book Me++: The Cyborg Self and the Networked City (affiliate link) where William J. Mitchell makes a point about just how interconnected virtual bits are to their physical body counterparts. That is to say that actions that occur in the physical world, are almost timelessly linked to the actions that are now occurring in virtual space. With that in mind, it should be your job as an architect to design physical spaces that impact not only the building occupants within them, but also the stream of bit-like interactions that will result because of them.

So begin simply by taking a second look at those cafés and airports which are often taken for granted. For when you think of a café and its customers, think of the physical and sensorial interactions that occur there — and then think of the parallel effects of those interactions in the digital world of virtual space. How will the two merge within your design? How can you play off of one to make the other better? And is there a place within which you would ever try to separate them? Today, architects must often design for not only the physical, not only the ethereal, but also the digital world of bits.

So, perhaps the reason customers go to these places are changing. And as what they do there changes, will you be adjusting your architectural designs to their change in behavior after the fact? Or will your architectural designs lead the way?

Please Tell Me What You Think

I would really like to get your feedback on my post today, so please leave me a comment in the form below. And if you enjoyed it, make sure you share it with your Twitter and Facebook followers by clicking on the “re-tweet” and “like” button at the beginning of this page.

© 2008-2011 Sensing Architecture by Maria Lorena Lehman

Image: plantronicsgermany | Flickr

As people travel through the world today, they experience many dimensions to the spaces they encounter. Whether within a building, or when exploring a city, people are navigating with the help of things like cars, handheld instruments like smart phones, cameras, books or various map-like devices. However, one thing is for sure…

New technology often leads to realizing new ways of designing spaces with a “sense of place” — and that is something you should be keenly aware of as an architect.

When a certain building radiates this “sense of place”, it often can lift occupants to higher levels where greater learning, spirituality and a sense of well-being can be achieved. And it is no secret that many places have exuded this “sense of place” in both timeless and universal fashions — well before certain state-of-the-art technologies that we see today ever existed. But, I do ask…what happens when new technologies find their way into architecture? Do they enhance or detract from it as they augment its very being?

That, furthermore, leads me to ask…”What does “sense of place” mean today? And with all of the new and rapidly developing technologies being literally carried around by occupants all over the world, how does this re-preset, re-define and re-introduce people to the built environment which surrounds them?

Including Augmented Reality Technology to Exude a “Sense of Place”

When I can walk down the street and “see” to form an impression of a building, using my smart phone for example, I am often given a preview (whether it be accurate or not) of what an architectural “place” might have in store. But then the question really becomes… Is this sort of augmented reality really enhancing that buildings’ ability to lift me to that higher-level I spoke about earlier? And what happens once I bring that augmented reality with me once I step inside?

In other words, does augmented reality help a building when it is an accidental after-thought? Or when it was well pre-conceived and designed by an architect to help that building to teach me, spiritually lift me, or guide me to have a better sense of well-being?

So, take a moment to consider how the widespread use of augmented reality technologies will impact your building, and its occupants. Ask yourself how such devices can contribute to your building’s message and its ability to convey that message. After all, not only do buildings exist in the moment as an occupant physiologically experiences them through their body’s senses, but they also exist well before (and after) that occupant ever steps foot inside.

Please Tell Me What You Think

I would really like to get your feedback on my post today, so please leave me a comment in the form below. And if you enjoyed it, make sure you share it with your Twitter and Facebook followers by “tweeting” and “sharing” it using the buttons at the beginning of this page.

* This idea for this article was inspired by: A Sense of Place: A World of Augmented Reality

© 2008-2011 Sensing Architecture by Maria Lorena Lehman

Image: laurenatclemson | Flickr

If by chance you watched the 2010 Academy Awards you may have noticed that the “Animated Short” category was won by the film called Logorama, directed by the French animation collective H5. This interesting film, like so many others, has actually proven to be a bit controversial. But I do think one thing remains clear — so many of our environments are “branded” in many ways and at many levels.

In Logorama, the entire animated environment is made up of logos, brands and slogans to depict an entire world with much of the complexity of ours. To give you a better idea of what I’m talking about…the following is a short trailer to give you a quick glimpse at the world of branding which Logorama creates:

What Logorama Will Help You to Ask Yourself

From an architectural point of view, this animated short film brings up some old and new questions regarding architecture, “signage” and branding — whether it be stylistic branding or more additive branding. For instance, how might your building be perceived, after all of the hard work you put into designing it, when a well-known “brand” it added to your building by way of signage, corporate cultural identity or even by its proximity to another built form with a strong “branded” identity?

The latter are some interesting questions, but first, you may need to ask this — Is branding and architecture really a bad combination? I mean, to some extent everything might be “branded” — as if branding is inherently woven into all designs in our built environment. Is perhaps “branding” something that we humans do as we perceive objects, places, people and so on? If so, is there such a thing as good branding or bad branding? And how do you know the difference?

All of these questions lead me to ask whether the final “branding” on a building overshadows the original design intent. After all, don’t architectural features that you integrate into your designs, even though they are not necessarily a “logo”, become brands which encapsulate or stick with your occupants experience of your building? So then I must ask, does branding go hand in hand with what makes a built form and its experience memorable? And where is that fine line which divides more overt branding from more subtle impression?

I think Logorama is a very intriguing short film in that it makes us confront one way in which we have labeled, and furthermore interpreted, the things and experiences which make up the world in which we live. And since architecture plays a major role in the development and follow-through of that built environment, you as an architect, should be well-aware of how your building gets “branded”, both intentionally and by chance.

You should ask questions like: Who will have the majority of say in how my building gets branded? What will I be able to control about how my building gets branded? And how will my overall body of architectural work be branded — in a stylistic manner, in a functional manner, in an iconic manner, in an experiential manner and so on?

So, think about branding and all that might come with it when you delve into where you are in your architectural career. When designing, interpretation is fundamentally linked with both aesthetics and function — but you must also wonder what it is about your architectural design work that you are trying to “sell’ (if anything)? And then step back and consider whether it “sells” itself.

By asking such questions you might get to the root of not only your design intent, but also the success or failure of your design’s outcome.

Please Tell Me What You Think

I would really like to get your feedback on my post today, so please leave me a comment in the form below. And if you enjoyed it, make sure you share it with your Twitter followers by “tweeting” it using the re-tweet button on this page.

© 2008-2011 Sensing Architecture by Maria Lorena Lehman

Image: La Citta Vita | Flickr

What will turn your architecture from merely being a place that people go to, into a place that people feel attached to — a space where they have made a connection and one that is meaningful? Many theories exist and contribute to what can make a place…well, more than a “place”.

In reading the article entitled What makes neighborhood different from home and city? Effects of place scale on place attachment, I found that this study determined that scale plays a large role when it comes to predicting and creating place attachment for those that experience it. So, this leads me to consider this notion of scale and its meaning for you, as an architect, when it comes to designing architectural spaces that attract — versus just standing to exist.

My personal notion about “spaces of attachment” also brings up the aspects of socialization. I deem that providing a community place within your architectural designs is important. The way in which your occupants interact not only with the architecture, but with each other is paramount. And I think this is a major player when it comes to building a place that will foster and promote occupant attachment.

Using Principles of Scale to Promote Better Occupant Connections

Scale is relative. You can look at what I will call “macro-scales” like cities, versus neighborhoods, versus individual buildings. Or you can look at more “micro-scales” like a building, versus a room, versus a transitional space. Again, scale is relative — not only when it comes to size of the space, but also when it comes to how many people inhabit that space and how they interact within it.

In the article which I previously mentioned, it was found that neighborhoods actually yield the largest inhabitant attachment (compared to city or home/apartment). So why might this be? For starters, I think that in a neighborhood you have the best of both worlds. You have a place to call your own and to retreat to, but you also have collective areas which you share, maintain and within which you can commune, socialize and interact with your neighbors.

Key reasons that neighborhoods foster meaningful occupant attachments can stem from design techniques which are seemingly simple — like providing variety, an influx of person-to-person interaction, having different private and public areas, balancing built from with nature, giving individual choice and freedom to create their own “space” within the whole, giving the collective of inhabitants responsibility to work together to make the overall “place” nice, providing spaces for contemplation, for play, for gathering and so on.

In short, all of these design elements are variations that go into the scale of place. And most all of these elements also involve great attention to socialization — whether it is a one-on-one interaction or a group-to-group interaction.

I challenge you to design an architecture that better promotes occupant attachment. It can become a building that is more than a sum of its parts, able to reach out to its inhabitants by bringing them together in new, yet novel, ways.

Please Tell Me What You Think

I would really like to get your feedback on my post today, so please leave me a comment in the form below. And if you enjoyed it, make sure you share it with your Twitter followers by “tweeting” it using the re-tweet button on this page.

© 2008-2011 Sensing Architecture by Maria Lorena Lehman

image: batintherain | Flickr

Your architectural design reverberates.

Yes, architecture maintains walls made up of materials and even wayfinding systems that convey important information; but, the beauty and function that radiates from an incredible architectural work into the soul of those that experience it is often the culmination of seemingly invisible effects exuded by that designed “place”.

Pay much attention to the “invisible” and “intangible” effects which your designs radiate, as these things can make or break your building. You might be completely up to code, meet all programmatic requirements and even have reached a certain level of aesthetic beauty with your building design — but do you know what cumulative effects your building design will have upon its occupants over time?

Try to capture those qualities about architecture that radiate into the lives of its occupants — whether they spend every day going into your building for years or they only spend minutes there once in there lives. On the drawing board the “invisible” may be a bit hard to “see”, but hone this skill because occupants will notice if you don’t.

I challenge you to go beyond designing for a building that will only be “used”. Design for one that will be “experienced” to its fullest — no matter how large or small the project.

For now, I will leave you with this passage from the book aptly entitled Experiencing Architecture (my affiliate link):

“… [M]ost people would say that as architecture does not produce sound, it cannot be heard. But neither does it radiate light and yet can be seen. We see the light it reflects and thereby gain an impression of the form and material. In the same way we hear the sounds it reflects and they, too, give us an impression of form and material. Differently shaped rooms and different materials reverberate differently.”

— page 224, Experiencing Architecture by Steen Eiler Rasmussen

© 2008-2011 Sensing Architecture by Maria Lorena Lehman

image: MissTurner | Flickr

Architecture resonates at many scales — the human scale, the building scale, the urban scale, the global scale and the cultural scale. Each building creates a ripple effect beginning with one occupant to ultimately reach its even wider audience which experiences it. Thus, architectural scale is something which you, as an architect, should use instinctively and consciously.

Often, critics might say that a building captures a perfect “sense of scale”, and so often, many architects have trouble pinpointing exactly what they mean and what they did to achieve this. Conversely, when a building does not capture an appropriate sense of scale, what went wrong can be glaringly obvious. Either way, a building always makes (and leaves) an impression.

It seems that, even upon approach, an occupant immediately scans a building looking for ways that they can relate to it. They may find something beautiful, novel or even just plain useful. One thing is for sure though; occupants form opinions about what they like (and what they don’t like), for better or for worse.

Can the Key Be Translation?

Designing a “language” can take you a long way toward achieving a good “sense of scale” in your designs. Take narrative, for instance. Just as a story is made up by chapters, each sentence is made up by words and each letter is made up by a set of geometries which make them readable. One key here can be seen as “translation” — which authors use to capture the best of what scaling can do. Well, architects can do the same.

So, translate from the micro (nano-scale, for instance) to the macro (urban-scale, for instance) and remember that each scale jump may require translation — because what you solve for one occupant’s experience may have an entirely different effect as it compounds its impression upon a larger community.

Design your “sense of scale” as a fabric that links from a human to an entire culture.

Please Tell Me What You Think

I would really like to get your feedback on my post today, so please leave me a comment in the form below. And if you enjoyed it, make sure you share it with your Twitter followers by “tweeting” it using the re-tweet button on this page.

© 2008-2011 Sensing Architecture by Maria Lorena Lehman

image: Manky Maxblack | Flickr

As you design your building, do you ever think about what will remain “standing” both physically and in the minds of those that experience it in the future?

Yes, buildings weather and must pass certain “tests of time”, but do you ever consider whether your building will be worth “saving”, or will even be in use as time passes? It has been said that “[i]t takes a lot of money to build a building, but it doesn’t cost that much more to get it right”.

Thus, you should think about how to gain the most “design leverage” to ensure that your architecture will not only “stand” in the future, but will also be of value to those that experience it.

What Makes a Building Stand the Test of Time?

Eventually as time passes, you will reach a point in your career where you will need to expand, preserve or even tear down a building as occupant’s needs change or even as zoning or codes change. Needless to say, it can be quite tricky if you are the architect who must resurrect or modernize the “old” to give way to the “new”.

So, what is your design philosophy when tackling this set of challenges? How do you integrate the collective memory of the people who have experienced the old? And then turn around to rise above the collective expectations of those that want their “site” to receive that proverbial “facelift”?

Of course, there is no one-size-fits-all answer to architecturally exploring, integrating, deconstructing, demolishing or preserving what once was into what will become. However, one ideal goal might be to reach true architectural innovation that brings a site’s potential forward so architecture can leap toward elevating the lifestyles of the people it serves.

It is your job as an architect to pay attention to what came before, with much attention to what is needed now — and how you will rise to the needs of occupants in the future, with your foresight today.

Designing a building that stands the test of time takes much ingenuity and insight. But in the end, it seems that great architecture usually resonates with its occupants not only in their everyday individual memories, but within their collective memories — which are shared and passed on — as they contribute to overarching cultures.

Please Tell Me What You Think

I would really like to get your feedback on my post today, so please leave me a comment in the form below. And if you enjoyed it, make sure you share it with your Twitter followers by “tweeting” it using the re-tweet button on this page.

© 2008-2011 Sensing Architecture by Maria Lorena Lehman

Image: Adam36 | Dreamstime

Within architectural space it is important to establish a sense of place. This is true not only for the architecture to be good but also for your experience within that space to be memorable. Did you know that your memory and your sense of place are closely linked?(1) Creating an environment involves designing for meaningful experiences — to do this, establishing a sense of place is key.

In the paper Neuroscience and Architecture: Seeking Common Ground, both landmarks and paths are described as important when designing architecture. It seems that both memory and sense of place prominently involve the same part of the brain – the hippocampus. “Our memory of events may depend upon a strong sense of place, and by extension, our sense of place may be influenced by the integrity of the memories formed there.”(1)

A key factor in distinguishing place from space is the ability for humans to interact. This provides occupants with a feeling of belonging to the environment, instead of just “passing through it.” Also, establishing a connection between spaces is important. This provides opportunity for the incorporation of landmarks and other architectural features that can make a place memorable.(1)

Can you remember being in an architectural space that had a strong sense of place? Is your memory of that place linked to an experience that happened there? Odds are that that place also had a strong sense of orientation. As landmarks and other architectural features come together in one’s mental map, your sense of place becomes stronger.

Buildings that guide you through them while providing you with enough information to make meaningful decisions along the way can make for quite profound experiences. Embed within your architecture a succession for a meaningful sense of place – where memories can be shaped and built form can transcend the senses.

(1) Sternberg, Esther M. and Wilson, Matthew A. Neuroscience and Architecture: Seeking Common Ground. Cell 127, Elsevier Inc. October 20, 2006.

© 2008-2011 Sensing Architecture by Maria Lorena Lehman

Dmitry Maslov | Dreamstime

What makes architecture sacred? That spirituality that a “place” makes you feel often serves to inspire and provoke memory through the senses. By capturing and triggering important memories, architecture can bring people together to unite individual memories into a collective memory. Architecture can allow important moments to live on, sacredly, in this way.

In some regard, all good architecture has a spiritual quality about it. Such architecture triggers our senses to experience in renewed ways. However, sacred architecture can provide for a more spiritual journey as occupants interact and travel through a “space”.

Did you know that when humans look up they often experience a sense of awe? By tuning to occupant senses, sacred architecture can have a profound effect. Sacred architecture can transcend symbols by speaking a universal language that stirs spiritual experience through the senses.

© 2008-2011 Sensing Architecture by Maria Lorena Lehman