#happold

point of mothatrucking view ‼️

𝙿𝚛𝚎𝚃𝚃𝚈 𝚃𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚣❣️

#Library of #Birmingham 🇬🇧

ᴋEEᴘ ɪT ʀEEʟ ✨

#xheesy #iphoneart #typography #neopopart #rainbowwarriors

Architect: #FrancineHouben (#Mecanoo architecten)

Structural engineer: Buro Happold 2013

Travelingwithoutmoving 🫶🏾

#architecture #architecturephotography #architecturelovers #architectureporn #architecturedesign #architecturelover #architecturephoto #architecturedaily #architecture_hunter #architecturedetail #architecturephotos #architecturedose #architectureanddesign #architecturelife #architecturegram #architecturelove #architecturephotograpy @frenchpsychiatrybonbons #architectureinspiration #architektur #architekturfotografie #architekturliebe #architekturporn #architekturelovers

Millenium Dome

Mystical experience encompasses many different kinds of religious experience, including dramatic events where people see visions/hear voices, when people feel the overwhelming presence of God, and when feel as if they’ve been united with God/ultimate reality. People who have had mystical experiences feel as if they have reached an understanding of spiritual truth which cannot be accessed through the use of reason and ‘normal’ sense experience alone. When a religious experience is called ‘mystical’, it carries connotations of the idea that underneath the different doctrines and practices, perhaps everyone is connecting with the same God, even though this may be in very different ways.

Happold’s study of mysticism

Happold reflected on the sense that a personal search for truth might involve looking at religious belief systems outside, as well as inside, traditional Christianity. He writes about how mysticism underlies religion in all of its forms, and depends on the non-rational, intuitional side of human understanding. He argues that although it is found throughout the world in all different cultural contexts, there are strikingly similar features and conclusions drawn from it:

The mystic understands hat this physical, material world is only a part of reality, and that it comes from a ‘Divine Ground’.

Human nature is such that people can know the ‘Divine Ground’, not through reason but through intuition.

People have two distinct natures: the ego, which is the part of which we are always conscious, and the spiritual ‘eternal self’, the ‘spark of divinity within him’.

The purpose of humanity is to discover this ‘eternal self’ and to unite it with the ‘Divine Ground’.

Christian mysticism and numinous experience

In the Bible, Isaiah ‘saw God’ and afterwards was able to give a detailed description of the different heavenly beings he encountered. When people hear voices, this can be equally dramatic, and they give reports of exactly what was said to them. In the story of the boy Samuel in the Temple, he is woken from sleep by a voice he believes to be his master Eli because the voice is so vivid, suggesting that this is not meant to be understood metaphorically but as a real sound. In many reports, visions and voices are combined, such as when Bernadette claimed she both saw and heard the Virgin Mary at Lourdes.

Numinous experiences are hard to define, as some class them as a subset of mystical experiences, whilst others put them in a class of their own. Otto claims they are at the heart of all religious experience: ‘the distinctive experience of God’. Numinous experiences are times when the individual gains a new and deeper sense of understanding of reality and feels as if he or she has touched on a different dimension, becoming filled with a sense of awe and wonder.

After our interim crit presentation, we found it crucial to regroup and filter out a few of the ideas that we didn’t want to keep. Even though there were a few good points made from our peers during feedback, our tutor’s feedback really helped stir us in the right direction. 

We immediately called a group meeting and started ideating a few ideas using ‘the crazy 8’ technique of drawing 8 different ideas as quickly as possible without thinking too much, and out of those we would choose the 3 best ones. We knew however a couple of things that gave us a slight advantage; one was that we already had a few strong leads which was the transport waiting areas, and empathy in nature, thanks to our tutor and peer feedback. 

Our group met up at the British Library as ongoing strikes at City meant that the university campus was closed. This proved to be a blessing as being together in a different environment gave us a different perspective of the brief and we remembered that we should enjoy the creative process together.   

Interestingly, we hadn’t bonded as much as a team before we met up at the British Library mainly, I believe due to everyone being quite busy with other modules and their personal lives. And it showed that we hadn’t come together as a group in our last presentation. One of our group members for example had covid, and therefore unable to join us for the final ideation meeting. 

I had mentioned the British Library to my group as it has always been an enjoyable space and experience for me, whether it was for research purposes or just to have a wonder around and a coffee with friends. I found that being in a different environment gave our group a sense of ease and tranquillity, and we all felt quite relaxed which in turn opened our mind to explore different interesting design outputs.

During our fun crazy 8 sketching session, I had remembered that I had seen an online event called: ‘Designing with Empathy’ from the Happold Foundation where many engineers, designers, scientists all took part in this conversation and inspired me to design using data. 

We didn’t want to just try to find a one solution for all with these concepts, however it was important for us not to lose sight of our main topic of ‘Empathy’ or ‘Perspective Taking’ which was the very core of our values as well as who we intended to design for, such as London commuters.

By the end of the session, we had agreed on two main concepts taken from the crazy 8 sketches: The first, was about raising awareness for London species using data and sound in and around transport areas, and the second was using pollution data and sound around public transport spaces and services. The idea was to use pollution data in heavily affected areas of London and as pollution increases, so would a terrible and alarming sound. The idea however, was abandoned as it would be very upsetting for the public.   

The main purpose of these concepts from this ideation session was to bring some Yin and Yang balance between the man made cold public transport spaces, and the natural world represented by organic sounds of London species, and organic chair shapes to be used to add comfort in these spaces. 

This seemed like the best response to creating more empathy, after all, empathy is about our relationship with our natural and built environment and with other human beings.

We ended up taking the sketches and translating them to Miro. 

References and links of interest: