Title: The Architecture of Patterns by Paul Andersen and David Salomon

URL: The Architecture of Patterns (affiliate link)

Purpose: to explain how redefining pattern today can unleash new developments in architecture that lead toward greater evolution in building design, instead of merely repetitive building design. This book explains how rethinking patterns is key.

Does How You Perceive Pattern Really Make a Difference?

This book, entitled The Architecture of Patterns (affiliate link) by Paul Andersen and David Salomon, proves to be a quite fascinating read. You will immediately see, upon opening the book, just how patterns play a significant role within architectural design — both as they were thought of in the past, and in how we need to continue re-thinking “pattern” as we strive to direct architecture into new realms.

The authors point out how patterns are inherently playing a part in how we “see”. And the more we engage in perceiving patterns, the greater our chances are in creating design “interactions” as opposed to simply just the design of “things”. (Andersen and Salomon, p 47) I find such notions made within this book to be quite appropriate when considering where architecture has been, and where it is now headed.

As we delve into designing architecture that is more dynamic, transient and personalized, we as architectural designers need to re-think not only how we see pattern, but also how we integrate it within our built environments — as it does affect the very people that we design for, and it does become the very fabric by which our buildings behave to ultimately engage with them.

Patterns that Allow for Greater Variety and Diversification

This book will take you along a journey which begins by exploring how patterns have made their way into our world through both things and environments. Andersen and Salomon look at how pattern has evolved over time, and how with each step in its evolution it has yielded breakthroughs to better the lives of the people that use them.

Interestingly, The Architecture of Patterns (affiliate link) also takes note of why there is a “silence on patterns”, where designers shy away from them due to their fleeting and seemingly unstable nature. But Andersen and Salomon go on to further explain just how the very makeup of patterns, when thought of through new lenses, bring with them characteristics like connection, variability, diversity and new kinds of flexibility. I think more books like this should emerge where authors take on new perspectives that help us to further explain to ourselves the merits of architectural “properties” that have been not fully understood, or maximized for the particularities and challenges of our own evolving era.

In an age where our buildings are headed toward being more sensitive places, I do agree that patterns maintain certain qualities that allow certain architectural stimuli to “vibrate” (Andersen and Salomon, p. 96 ), where it is becoming possible for buildings to yield an elasticity through zones that can create new kinds of architectural differences and same-nesses. As you read this book, you will see these and other examples that deconstruct pattern for architecture in order to help you, the reader, re-consider it for its untapped potential.

Another nice thing to see in this book are the use of case studies to really drive home concepts about how patterns can be reformulated, being seen from different angles to create architectures that are more intelligent, while also embracing both the static and fleeting — which, in the past, has often been thought of as two separate entities which could not exist together.

I highly recommend this book to you, for I think it will help you to see how integral patterns are — going beyond the most obvious use of patterns today, delving deeper to explore the architectural make-up of patterns across multiple disciplines, by pulling from other realms like graphic design, industrial design and even cultural anthropology. I like how Andersen and Salomon explain how patterns make for easier translation, which yields better communication. And as such, patterns also are more malleable as they can more easily be changed on the fly. Reading this book will give you a deeper level of understanding into just how and why this occurs.

The Architecture of Patterns Should Be on Your Shelf

In the end, I do think that this is a worthwhile book to read. It will expand your knowledge about how patterns are interwoven within architecture, and how such patterns can exist in realms beyond the visual — into all of our senses, and ultimately into all of our cultures.

At 133 pages, this book is a must-read, and I am glad that I have it on my shelf. It is filled with wonderfully integrated color images that reinforce the concepts being explained within the book. And it is nice to see a book where the illustrations are as important as the text, teaching how you can “see” patterns in new light, to understand more about our evolving perception of them, and inspiring you to incorporate them anew into your architectural designs.

To buy, or learn more about, the The Architecture of Patterns, please click here. (affiliate link)

Citation:
1) Andersen, Paul and Salomon, David. The Architecture of Patterns. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 2010.

Disclosure: Please note that the book entitled The Architecture of Patterns was provided to me for free by the publisher for the purposes of this book review publication on Sensing Architecture. For more information, go to Sensing Architecture Disclosures

© 2008-2011 Sensing Architecture by Maria Lorena Lehman

The sign on the door doesn't look good, pushing heavy doors doesn't feel good, and both can leave a negative impression upon your building occupants.
Image: gruntzooki | Flickr

The other night as I was approaching (to enter) a restaurant, a group of people happened to be exiting. And as they were making their way through the main doors, one of them exclaimed (with a lot of passion in her voice), “we had to eat a lot of food to be able to push these doors open” — the doors were just “so heavy“.

As it became my turn to enter, it also became my turn to hold the door and I quickly discovered just how right she was in her observation.

While this was a good restaurant…There were some lessons to be learned here.

As an architect you must make a concerted effort to go beyond the visual and aural senses — for, in the restaurant design that I recently experienced, it would have helped immensely if the designers had made their entrance/exit “gateway” feature more than just look good…because despite their best efforts to do this, once occupants interacted with the doors, their negative perceptions reflected badly upon the restaurant and their dining experience.

So much of architecture is a touch-based and tactile experience. Just think of how many times your occupants “touch” something (architectural details) while experiencing your building design.

It may help to actually walk yourself through their journey, while paying particular attention to what their sensorial journey will be like. For instance, what do they hear within each spatial zone of your design? What do they touch? …whether to open a door, pull up a chair, turn on a light switch, lean against a wall, hold a handrail, and so on? Think about how each architectural zone transitions into the next, and about what core points you intend to make in each within your design.

The First and Last Thing They Remember

Not only is it important to understand the sequence of the way your architectural design impacts your occupants through their journey, but it is also good to think about where within the sequence they experience those things. For example, the extremely heavy doors within the restaurant that people experienced became the first and the last thing that those restaurant goers had to contend with during their dining experience at that place. What kind of message do you think that sends to them, especially if this was their first and last impression?

Now, if you are trying to make a bold statement, then it may be wise to work within your designs by juxtaposing different sensory modalities. Perhaps slightly heavier doors are purposely set there to create a certain atmosphere and expectation within the occupant before they experience the full breadth of an interior space. But be careful, making a statement too bold may create the opposite effect that you are aiming for.

Thus, when you are working to get all of the architectural detailing just right, do not overlook (or take for granted) the most simple and obvious within your architectural designs. You may often find that it is within these “details” that many designs (which may have otherwise been good), simply fall short or are otherwise ruined. So, again, do not overlook the details — and I am talking about the ones that are most simple and obvious. Think beyond what might look good to also incorporate how it will actually feel within the overall experience of your design. For, even building details can have strong and long-lasting impact on your entire overarching building design, either positive or negative.

In the end, create your architectural details to give your building occupants the experience that they need, while all the time trying to surpass their expectations.

Please Tell Me What You Think

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© 2008-2011 Sensing Architecture by Maria Lorena Lehman

Image: R. Butler | Flickr

Along with many other innovations that are surfacing today, the Responsive Environments Group at MIT is working on a prototype that, if successful, may make the light switch a thing of the past. (1)

Their new lighting technology will be responsive by being able to adjust both lighting intensity and color balance to the specific activities that are going on within an architectural space — it would work by being able to monitor the light reading wherever a user happens to put the sensors. So for example, if you place the light sensor within the space where you usually only need task lighting, then the light will adjust accordingly, making sure that you have enough light either from natural daylight, the responsive lighting solution or some combined ratio both. (1)

While this responsive lighting innovation may sound somewhat simple in principle, it does take an interesting step toward providing a tool for greater adaptive design approaches. There are so many parts within buildings today that are static, being made to function in almost binary terms, with only “on” or “off” choices — beyond lighting, think of how static building surfaces often are: including wall surface materials, window configurations and even floor and ceiling installations.

The Power of Transience within Your Design

I think that we are in an age where the onset of new adaptive design technologies will help spaces evolve to include more dynamic and fluid behaviors — which will help to make architecture more malleable, versatile and responsive to occupant needs. The key is to move beyond only having a technology radiate stimuli the way a song might sound on a piano if only played with one note.

Instead, architectural technology should be a tool with which, you as an architect, use “responsive gradation” — making the stimuli which your building occupants perceive sound like a beautiful song played on a piano using the full range of notes played at different times, for different lengths, for different intensities and in different combinations — to be most appreciated by your building occupants within the areas that they carry out their most sensitive activities.

So, as an architect, pay attention to where your occupants carry out their activities, look at the way in which they behave and the characteristics of their environment that impact them through their senses in meaningful ways. Then think about how gradation can step in, to give them more than choice, to additionally give them a freedom by which they can enjoy their environments in their entirety, adjusting to their personal preferences and needs — whether they be one thing on a Monday and something entirely different by Friday.

The beauty of pushing toward “responsive gradations” within an architectural environment, is the lessening dependency upon a typical “default” way of thinking, and thus, designing. The advantage is the move from a one-size-fits-all (throw in some lighting) approach to a more thoughtful and strategic spectral arrangement where environments become more attuned to the things that are going on within them.

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.

(1) Intelligent, Adaptive Lights Reduce Energy Use by 90 Percent. Good. November 19, 2010.

© 2008-2011 Sensing Architecture by Maria Lorena Lehman

Instinctively, do you this such connections exist? Have you ever listened to a song and instantly been transported back to a certain time and place in your memory that this song seems to be unexplainably linked to? Or have you ever walked into a room that has a certain smell which instantly reminds you of an experience you had a long time ago? Or what about seeing something that triggers your memory, reminding you of a conversation you once had or a place you once visited? And in each case, did an emotion surface as a result of the sensorial memory trigger? Well, such is the research by neuroscientist Benetto Sacchetti which focuses on those possible “links” which are like narrow bridge-like connections tying together emotional memory and the senses.

If there were such a neural “link”, what would this mean for you as an architect and your building design? Would you purposefully embed certain smells in a school to encourage comforting home-like emotional ease to help foster learning? Or might you play certain sounds (or songs) while at work to help boost productivity and/or creativity to yield more frequent and better quality results with less stress?

It is important for you to realize that such positive outcomes can result from the materials and other sensorial stimuli you put into your buildings — especially in the details. Thus, certain material properties, lighting displays and even geometric architectural arrangements are likely to serve as acute triggers for powerful emotions in occupants. Through their senses and into their emotional memory, you can think of the effect of an inspirational museum or a touching memorial where architectural moments lead visitors on a journey through their senses and into their emotional memory.

In other words, as an architect, you need to understand that what you put in, you will get out…and this will have either a positive or negative effect (with consequences) for your occupant.

Of course, designing to purposely trigger memory can be a tricky thing, and some may say that it is an art to be able to do this well — and at a high level. So, even if there is a definitive link between the senses and emotional memories which they may bring to the surface, I think it is your job as an architect to act as a surgeon at times, knowing how to extract and guide those memories within your designs, so they can resurface, form, be realized, felt and appreciated by your occupants.

As an architect, with the right ingredients, you can create such a vessel — delivering the right environmental stimuli to the senses, and thus, triggering not only memory, but also profound emotion.

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.

(1) Found: Possible Link Between Emotional Memories and Sensory Triggers. Discover.

© 2008-2011 Sensing Architecture by Maria Lorena Lehman

It is time to revisit walls, by really looking at them in section, and understanding how easily walls can turn into the ceilings, floors and transient windows. For this reason, I love the following image which shows you very clearly one way in which an architectural product called Metamorphosis Shimmer (by Philips Design) can make a simple, elegant and multifaceted design for kinetic architecture.

Image: centralasian | Flickr

Here is what Philips Design says when describing their Metamorphosis Shimmer product:

“Shimmer is an architectural product concept designed to facilitate well-being through surprise, movement, natural noise management, air movement and natural light dispersion.
The „stripes‟ are based on flexible elements that emit natural light and channel air. They can transform to change the interior characteristics of a space in response to people and the atmospheric/lighting conditions outside.
The elements of the system are a composite laminate consisting of a light diffusing material; air/vapor capillary system, flexible audio membrane and structural and decorative elements. Space is transformed as the „stripe‟ elements are flexed, changing the volume, affecting the airflow and the sound characteristics. The tension is altered by a system of cables connected to small motors with a gearbox, allowing natural light conditions to be transported from the outside into the interior space.”

The Convergence of Many Transient Designs Working Together

I would like to show you the following video as a source of great inspiration to get you thinking about what can be achieved by injecting kinetics into the equation by which you design. As you will see, a unification of the senses to improve lifestyle for people can help them not only live healthier but in greater harmony with each other and our planet.

In the video below, the visualizations for future designs include many interesting and different ideas, going beyond the Shimmer project I talked about earlier. As you watch it, try to imagine a world where many of these transient designs adapt to your occupants and other surrounding conditions and situations — where not only one kinetic installation makes all the difference, but the harmony and balance between multiple and layered kinetics working together is what really has the potential to bring the human standard of living to a much better level (while also being in greater harmony with the planet).

Here is the video entitled — Philips Design’s latest Design Probe “Metamorphosis”:

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

What Neuroscience is Telling Us

When you design and integrate an architectural feature to engage your building occupant, how do you think it affects them? For example, suppose your occupant is walking toward your building and is just about to enter it — during their approach they can see a waterfall feature just on the other side of the glass which separates the exterior from the interior. How do they process your interior design before ever entering it? Do they actually hear that water feature on the other side of the glass which they can only see?

Such are the questions which leading neuroscientists are uncovering. In fact, findings are indicating that when people are presented with only a visual of something, they do actually hear it. So, even though that interior waterfall is acoustically cut off from the exterior, your occupants will still form a perception of it which is made up of processes beyond the visual.

In the article entitled The Brain Hears Just by Seeing in Scientific American, you can listen to a podcast which describes what is happening with the brain when visual cues stimulate auditory perceptions. You will learn that although people may just “see” something, like a rooster crowing, activity in the brain of the observer actually shows a “lighting up” in their audio cortex — similar to how it would light up if they were actually hearing it.

So as it turns out, the different human senses cross-relate and inform each other in some pretty sophisticated ways. This is something you should definitely understand as you design your built environments.

How to Take Findings about Synchronizing Senses a Step Further

A wonderful book which you should read is called The Film Sense (affiliate link) by Sergei Eisenstein. In it is discussed the notion of “montage” and what the merger between the senses (like sight and sound) means for an observer and director or designer.

I like this book because I think it is critical for you as an architect to understand how various senses relate to one another, and what happens when you play with the way they relate to each other by manipulating factors like time (and space). All that you do as a designer will be perceived by the person experiencing it — and the way you feed them sensorial cues makes a huge impact on how your design is received, ultimately affecting the overall quality of your design (and its ability to uplift your occupant’s lifestyle).

When you design your built environments you should know what message you are getting across to your occupant, how that message is received and how it gets processed through factors like occupant behavior, thought and emotion. Practically speaking, some of this may not be so obvious to you while you design, however, your occupants are sophisticated observers and will pick up on the sensorial nuances in your design — whether you intended them or not.

This book, The Film Sense (affiliate link), is a great way to point you toward the path of dissecting how your building occupant’s perceive through their senses, as written from the perspective of film design. I’m sure that by reading this book, you will gain interesting insight equipping you to reach architectural designs with maximum positive impact.

The Film Sense (affiliate link)

© 2008-2011 Sensing Architecture by Maria Lorena Lehman

As you will find within the following slideshow, color can be used within architecture in soul-stirring and innovative ways. Color not only engages a building occupant by making real the beauty of function, but also invites them “in” to truly “touch” a space — perhaps at first with their eyes, but then with all of their senses as color becomes much more when it meets the eye.

So, how do you use color to “move” your building occupants?

© 2008-2011 Sensing Architecture by Maria Lorena Lehman

Image: lissalou66 | Flickr

Can Desire Influence What You and Your Occupant See?

This interesting experiment might just give you, as an architect, some understanding of how you and your occupants perceive “distance” — and why this aspect of spatial reasoning might vary from person to person; thus, influencing how people perceive your built work:

Here is a Sneak Peak at What the Experiment Revealed

In an interesting experiment, researchers engaged in a series of investigations to see if they could tell whether desire has a consequential effect over a person’s ability to perceive distance. In one of a series of experiments, the researchers put a coupon on the floor and asked participants to throw a beanbag that should land on top of the coupon on the floor in front of them.

Prior to throwing their beanbag, half of the participants were told that the voucher was worth $25, while the other half of the participants were told that it was worthless. Amazingly, the half of the participants that believed the coupon was worth $25 didn’t throw their beanbag far enough. Their throws always came up short.

The resulting explanation for this, as the researchers explained, is that the participants who thought the coupon was valuable actually believed that it was closer to them than it actually was. (The participants who thought the coupon was worthless estimated that it was further away.)

To see the original article, click [here].

Is Distance in the Eye of the Beholder?

As you design a building, you are constantly thinking in terms of distance. It factors into a multitude of the design decisions you make everyday. And once your design is built, your occupants must also think in terms of distance as they travel around and through your building, from feature to feature, from space to space and from experience to experience.

So, how do you incorporate distance as you design? And how do you make sure that what you envisioned when designing, translates well for your occupants once your building is constructed? Also, are your occupant’s reactions what you expected, imagined and hoped for?

Furthermore, when designing, do you primarily think of certain key vantage points and perspectives? Or do you envision a circulation path that your occupants will likely travel through as they experience your design? If you are like most architects, you think along these terms — all of which incorporate distance.

So How Can This Help Your Architecture?

It is nice to know that as a designer there are ways to play with the illusion of space.

In addition to designing for things like texture, light and materiality — you should also incorporate “perceived value”. What do your occupants (and clients) perceive as valuable? And how will you address those things in your building design?

Then, it might help to ask this seemingly unrelated question — “How does perceived value impact distance in my design? — Thus, helping me to fine tune my building design features toward occupant experience and interactivity”.

Who knew that your architect’s scale would have such a subjective dimension to it?

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: kamikazecactus | Flickr

Early on in my architectural education, Paul Klee inspired me when he wrote that “movement underlies the growth and decay of all things.” I think this quote is so true on so many levels — at whatever level of architectural expertise.

I am paraphrasing here but, I can remember this quote coming alive for me as I understood that a point “grows” to become a line just as a column “grows” to become a wall. At its most basic level, this seems to be a simple notion, but there is much to learn by stopping for a moment to contemplate its possible meanings.

“A Line is a Point that Went for a Walk”

The latter is a frequently quoted Paul Klee quote. I like it because it challenges me to think of ways I can use it in my designs. For instance, what if the point is actually an orientation point defining the beginning of an occupant’s physical journey through a building. The line can then become the culmination of that occupant’s steps through the building. Hence, in its simplest form, that circulation route may begin to define a physical and experiential journey for the senses through an architectural space(s).

The gist of what I am saying is this: Every point you incorporate within the design of your building culminates in an overarching experiential journey — starting as a vision, then a point, then lines and so on. Ultimately, as an architect, you are building an experience. That may not be the only thing you do…but you are designing “walks”.

Simple Ideas Can Help Solve Complex Problems

Using Paul Klee’s quote as a way to make us think beyond the “line”, ask yourself these questions about your projects. Here, the “walk” refers to your occupants and how they engage in and perceive their journey through your building:

1. What should that “walk” be like? What mood do you intend to stir?
2. Who should go on that “walk”? How far do they “walk”? With whom?
3. Is the “walk” different for different people? Ages? Genders?
4. When do they go on that “walk”? Morning? February? 2 o’clock?
5. How do they know where to “walk”?
6. How do they know when to “walk”?
7. Does their “walk” change each time they do it?
8. Is there a story or narrative that makes up their “walk”?
9. What happens to mark different milestones along their “walk”?
10. Is there repetition during their “walk”?
11. What do they do during their “walk”? See? Work? Listen? Be still?
12. What happens at the end of their “walk”? Silence? Fanfare? Rest? Healing?
13. What will they remember about their “walk”? Beauty? An idea? Something they’ve never seen before? A job well done?

In the end, it is nice to revisit some fundamental design ideas. Often to our surprise, they make us think about current complex design problems anew.

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

Piet Mondrian, Broadway Boogie Woogie
Image: wallyg | Flickr

An amazing artist is Piet Mondrian, who is known for painting Broadway Boogie Woogie. This painting is quite remarkable and one of its defining qualities is its ability to convey motion to its viewers. As if to deconstruct music, this painting makes use of color, pattern, geometry and sizing.

Consequently, Piet Mondrian has made an excellent and tangible example for us to better understand why we perceive motion when looking at his work. Much can be explained by delving into neuroscience.

Why We Perceive Motion in the Painting

In her book, Vision and Art (affiliate link), Harvard neurobiologist Margaret Livingstone explains why this painting appears to “move or jitter”. She explains that the yellow and gray squares are “close to equiluminant” and they are set against an off-white background.” (1)

You see, the luminance in color plays a special role in human perception. As Livingstone notes, the part of our visual process responsible for determining the location and motion of an object cannot perceive objects where their colors have “the same luminance” — they are equiluminant. (1)

Color present showing that you can see yellow and gray squares

Image: profzucker | Flickr

Color removed in photoshop, showing that you cannot see yellow and gray squares

Image: profzucker | Flickr

Since the gray and yellow squares in Broadway Boogie Woogie have the same luminance, our visual system cannot distinguish their location or motion. Hence, they seem to move about. This concept was first illustrated in the book Vision and Art, but I have manipulated some photographs to convey this concept to you. (1)

As you can see, great artists’ paintings often “work” because they tap into certain aspects of the way we interpret information. By understanding such explanations, we can better interpret what works in existing masterpieces. In turn, we can learn a lot about how to design better for our future.

As architects we should be concerned with how and why occupants perceive as they move through our spaces. Delving deeper, and scientifically into what guides them and stops them, what they remember and later forget and what they want to see again.

Such probing questions will help you to understand how to design better because you will get to the root of why an architecture “works” — functionally and aesthetically.

Big questions with focused answers impact our understanding of how a culture and an individual uses space. Ultimately, we will also better comprehend why and how our architecture will be explained to others.

These are all keys to building for function and beauty.

Just for Fun

Just for fun, you can see a more modern interpretation of the impact Mondrian has with this painting. Take a look at the following video and see how someone just had to create an animation to bring what they perceive as motion into another form.

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.

(1) Livingstone, Margaret.Vision and Art: The Biology of Seeing. New York: Harry N. Abrahams, Inc. 2002

© 2008-2011 Sensing Architecture by Maria Lorena Lehman