What is your favorite childhood memory? Isn’t it about your native family home that you visited every vacation? Or don’t you remember a place that you often come across just because of a specific building that stands there? I am sure you have a special connection to a spot in your home and whatever may come you cannot stand it being occupied by someone else.
These and other endless examples show that architecture, buildings or even spaces go beyond the design principles, theories, or techniques to express themselves and connect with its users- us Humans! The scale, type or nature of an architectural work is immaterial to the fact that it builds a relation with us. Imagine your home, office or the university where you study; you share a special bond with its materials, colors, landscape, etc. That is exactly how these spaces connect with you.
Buildings express themselves in unique and multiple ways. Sometimes it creates a powerful impression and gives an identity to a place. For example, whenever someone says Paris, it is the Eiffel Tower that strikes your mind and vice versa. Thus, we start associating a place with the building that stands out, intrigues, or attracts us. Sometimes the architecture repeats itself in a manner that you subconsciously associate an entire neighborhood with that architectural style. For example, the Fort area of Mumbai City is characterized by the Gothic architecture from the British Era.
When you think of a place, the first picture that gets painted in your mind is either of the most impressive building, a predominant architectural style, or a typical urban scenario of that place. If you find a similar or near equal scenario at any other place you instantly connect with it. Apart from creating memories, buildings or spaces create manifold experiences giving a sense of place. For example, a bamboo or an earth house give you a warmth and a feeling of being connected to the nature. Water bodies or water elements within buildings create a sense of peace and calmness around. Similar architectural elements or spaces might create same or varied experiences for us.
We subconsciously group together places with similar experiences and link new places to the respective groups. And something that cannot fit in any of those, get categorized as novel or out of the box.
Buildings and spaces interact with us by providing innumerable and worthwhile experiences that we can cherish for a lifetime!