A sense of architecture

Abstract

Is the essence of architecture merely visual? Since the beginning of time, vision has been considered the dominant means of perception. This is evident when considering the aesthetic debate from Plato through to modernity. Gestalt theory is based on visual perception alone. The five senses, as classified by Aristotle, have always been the body’s mechanism for interpreting the environment. Gibson regrouped these senses according to the type of information they perceive. The resulting sensory systems allow a deeper understanding of the human perceptive system, and has paved the way for architecture theorists to analyse more fully the role of all the senses in perceiving architecture. The essence of architectural experience revolves around the body in its entirety. Seeing is only one of the factors involved. Hearing, articulates the understanding of space. Its medium is omni-directional, and like radar, can probe out far beyond the visual window. Scent, is a subconscious feature, which plays more with the associations of memories than anything else. The haptic realm of architecture is defined by the sense of touch. It opens up awareness to the materiality of the details. Taste, augments the haptic qualities of architecture. It outlines the materiality of the detailing, while evoking certain oral sensations. Such sensations, entice the functions of memory and imagination. The thermal environment sets the stage for all the above factors. It has the affect of altering all the above perceptions depending on the heat transfer of the body and the environment. Two final case studies of Maltese houses show how architecture is more than what meets the eye. Architecture is about sensory agglomeration.