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 Read more

As an architect, you probably spend much of your time designing and preparing for programmatic functions and the aesthetic beauty to be experienced by future building occupants. But, did you know that your design ultimately is “interpreted” into what is frequently called the “mind’s eye”? Simply stated, this is a mental map that is said to be responsible for your own personal view-point and how you perceive the world.

The process behind the mental map is very important for you, as an architect, to understand — or at least be aware of. You see, your occupants accumulate information about places and then visualize this information to help with memory and learning. In effect, such spatial information is collected from all kinds of sources, and such sources influence Read more

You walk into a room. You notice a certain aroma. You smell fresh cookies baking in the kitchen. Immediately, you remember your childhood days when your mother brought you fresh chocolate chip cookies.

Ok, this may seem a bit idealistic but smell and memory are linked. The article entitled Smell and Memory explains that of all the human senses, the process of smelling takes the longest to reach the brain, and once you do smell, the smell lasts longer than other senses. This leads to the assumption that smell and memory are linked in different ways as compared to the other senses; and yes, this is an important differentiation.

If the latter is true, then when you design, you instantly trigger memory the moment someone walks into your building. You see, memory is intrinsically linked with learning. So, the minute someone actually smells within your space, they begin to learn, and the olfactory process can play a meaningful role.

So, how can you design better now that you know this knowledge?

SENSE OF SMELL CAN OPTIMIZE YOUR DESIGNS

Perhaps you can be more proactive as you design. Instead of letting the scent within your space just sort of happen as a by-product of all your other design decisions, you can instead think about what Read more

As you design architecture, it is important to consider your occupant’s memory. You should consider not only what your occupants remember, but also how they remember.

Why?

Just after experiencing your building design, your occupant will be full of a large portion of the information they just absorbed. The memory of walking through your design will be fresh in their mind and the nuances about their experience will be easy to recall. But, what do you want them to remember about their experience? Do you have any control over what they remember as a great moment? Do you want to have a say?

HOW OCCUPANTS REMEMBER

When your occupant processes an architectural “scene”, they actually dismiss a lot that they don’t think is important…. In the video below you will watch a scholar from Princeton University further explain that the brain uses processes (like shortcuts) to help people Read more

COMPUTER VISUALIZATION FOR DESIGN

3D visualization has become such a part of the architectural design process in many firms. Architects use virtual model-making for many reasons.

For instance, 3D computer visualizations help teams to make design decisions by testing different solutions as they create. Also, 3D visualizations help to communicate architectural design schemes to consultants and clients.

All in all, visualizations have made their way into not just helping to produce construction drawings, but also, as a way to communicate design ideas to an array of other involved parties.

VISUALIZATIONS AFTER A DESIGN IS BUILT?

A team of computer scientists at the University of Washington’s Graphics and Imaging Laboratory have developed algorithms to be used with Microsoft’s Photosynth. The big idea behind their work is to create a “collective” visualization where a 3D model is constructed from a repository of Flickr photos of an urban space. So far, they have reconstructed the small city of Dubrovnik and several famous Italian landmarks.

By using a puzzle-like approach to stitching together photos taken by random tourists, the resulting visualizations make me realize the significance to a “collective” approach to perception — especially with the increasing social and dynamic nature of the internet.

As social media becomes more popular and increasing amounts of data are collected, visualization techniques will really be able to Read more

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.