Eksperiential

The experience of meaning

Victorian engraving of an ancient view of the Parthenon, Athens.

Meaning when experienced, is the feeling of understanding, belonging and participating in a collective body of shared values and ideals.

In that sens, Architecture can be understood as the manifestation of that meaning in the public space, as well as the canvas on which artists and craftsmen, can express their own work. Thro…

Wonder is the emotion felt in front of the spectacle of human achievement, the informed appreciation of the hand or mind's labor.

The word informed is important: If the sublime is induced by mystery, wonder is conditioned by knowledge.

Would you be as impressed by a hand made sculpture, as you would by a 3D printed object? 

While the objects might look exactly the same, and maybe even better executed by the machine, we certainly won't have the same emotional reaction to them. Assuming that we know which one is which.

This might be one of the reasons why we can be so moved by an medieval cathedral, but not by a modern building no matter how formally impressive. 

In the past, the function of wonder was largely fulfilled by craftsmen. The intricacy of patterns, the precision of a sculpture or the technique in a painting, allowed us to experience an empathetic connection with the original act of creation.

Today's architecture, by straightening it's edges, banning ornamentation and reducing labor to mere assembly sucked wonder out of it's walls. We are left with nice looking (at best), but inert forms that seem to require a masters degree in Architecture to be appreciated.

How do we reintroduce wonder? 

let’s start by defining the sublime as both the descriptive quality of an experience, and the emotion produced during that experience.

It's the feeling of standing in front of a majestic mountain. it’s a mixture of fear and admiration. An imposing presence of something that is beyond us. Something that exceeds our ability to make sens of the world.

we could say that the experience of the sublime is produced in our mindscape, from the interaction between the scale of our human life and the intemporel scale of the landscape. In this collision, we experience an opening where we see beyond our solid individuality.

It's a feeling a belonging.

Subverting expectations in music, humor and architecture.

On my Uber ride back home today, I had a compelling conversation with a musician. I got to ask her what the secret to music is. What it is about certain sounds strung together that have this amazing ability to move us? she said, it’s about creating then subverting expectation. creating expectation is relatively easy, as our brain is made to fill-in gaps. Subverting it is what makes a great moment,…

The experience of Wonder

It’s the emotion felt in front of the spectacle of human achievement, the informed appreciation of the hand or mind’s labor.

The word informed is important: If the sublime is induced by mystery, wonder is conditioned by knowledge. Would you be as impressed by a hand made sculpture, as you would by a 3D printed object?  While the objects might look exactly the same, and maybe even better executed…

The experience of the sublime

let’s start by defining the sublime as both the descriptive quality of an experience, and the emotion produced during that experience.

It’s the feeling of standing in front of a majestic mountain. it’s a mixture of fear and admiration. An imposing presence of something that is beyond us. Something that exceeds our ability to make sens of the world.

we could…

THE FIRST ARCHITECTURAL INSTINCT To break down scale.

that is what we probably all did as kids, when we created little shelters made of pillows and blankets.

We adapt the environement to our scale, from the vastness of the house, the realm of the adults, we create a little shelter. A space of our own.