Intelligent Buildings Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words

Intelligent Buildings - Assignment Example There is another aspect, however, to the design of the modern structure which today is discussed in terms of its use and how well humans who occupy it feel about it from a sensory perspective. From much of what has been written, the modern view of design must adhere as much to its function and it does its aesthetic appearance and usefulness in offering itself as a pleasing place to be. The intelligent building then must be a ‘multi-sensory experience’ (Clements-Croome, 2004, p. 58). We do not 'see' or perceive our environment only with the eyes, but with all senses. It is the job of the architect to acquiesce to those senses and create building designs that are more than warehouses—buildings that encourage from its occupants an emotional and natural interpretation of their environment through the interactive workings of the senses. The Multi-Sensory Perspective While speaking of aesthetics in architecture it is interesting to note that while the term technically a pplies to visual pleasure, in our field we are also speaking about the senses-- auditory, tactile, olfactory, thermal, and even kinesthetic. And while current thinking today favours a holistic or multi-disciplinary approach to building design, the same applies to the multi-sensory approach to design that in the end most affects the building’s occupants or users as well as those who view it. There are examples of this in many older buildings. ‘The delicate composition of the architectural elements in the Residence of the Middelheimpark, in Antwerp...creates an intensely poetical effect: a single tone, white, brings about a wide range of greys and creates optically intriguing effects’ (Farmer & Louw 1993, p. 320). So when the term aesthetics is used it is predominantly referring to the goal of an all-around positive aesthetic experience through all of the senses, often occurring in esoteric ways that must be carefully considered in the design process. Hands and ski n feel texture as pleasing or not; visionary sense elicits other sensory reactions; odours, as we have all experienced, may illicit memories of events and times, such as cooking smells make us think of our mothers’ kitchens. As Clements-Croons (2004: 63) found, ‘The human senses are extraordinarily sensitive, and it is through them that we experience life wherever we are’. From a psychological and spiritual perspective, it can not be emphasized too strongly that people, through their senses. need the stimulation of a pleasing well-considered environment. Buildings, viewed in a philosophical context then provide a high level of stimulation—stimulation that not only presents a pleasing result but a spiritually uplifting one metaphorically similar to those experienced in nature. This animation of the architectural experience is not unlike the lift of spirit one experiences through the senses when viewing a good piece of art. As a necessary life element, such experiences are crucial and as such sensory architectural details ‘should always be given high priority’ (Clements-Croons 2004, p. 58). Space, Sensory Perception and the Human Psyche In the words of filmmaker Murray Grigor, ‘To comprehend architecture, one needs to move through its spaces. After all, that’s how we all experience buildings, inside and outside: we walk,