How to Read Buildings: A Crash Course in Architecture

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To gain a deeper appreciation for how a building relates to the world around it, it helps to dig into its history, its critics, and the stories told about (or by) its architect. Any landmark building anywhere in the world is likely to have voluminous material about it online, but even less famous places are often well documented. If you’re interested in a big, old house in your town, an online search or the local town hall will often bear fruit. Historical plaques on buildings are useful starting points and some even include links for a deeper exploration. Many cities have architectural walking tours that are offered live or via a freely available annotated map. (Here’s an example from the small city where I live.) These sources can provide a wealth of useful contextual information. Design inspiration came from this stone, which was treated with great respect and dignity. Guests can enjoy the antique advantages of bathing in this space designed to help them relax and enjoy a relaxing experience. Combining light and shade, open spaces and enclosed areas, and linear elements yields an intensely sensual and restorative experience. Essentially, the interior space has an informal layout that follows a carefully modelled path of circulation, leading bathers to predetermined points while letting them explore other areas on their own. In constructing the landscape, the architect was primarily influenced by his fascination with the magical qualities of stones within the mountain, with darkness and light, with light reflections on water or in the steam saturated air, with the unique acoustics of the bubbling water, with feelings of bare skin and warm stones, and with bathing rituals. One measure of the success of a building is surely the enjoyment, awe and appreciation of its design. However, there is an important distinction between the performance of a building as a work of art and its role as a functioning piece of machinery in the fabric of life. A breathtaking library is a thing to admire, but if it is very difficult to find a book or even one’s own way, there is a level at which the building has failed. Access-restricted-item true Addeddate 2021-07-29 15:00:44 Boxid IA40195308 Camera Sony Alpha-A6300 (Control) Collection_set printdisabled External-identifier

In many other ways, though, our preferences vary. For example, I can’t stand the style of architecture known as Brutalism, a style characterised by minimal ornamentation, exposed concrete and steel, and a reverence for the raw appearance of materials. Others love the style’s honesty and integrity, and its freedom from the cloying nostalgia of older styles. What do you notice in the space around you? What features draw your attention? Do fine details draw you in? The contours of the space? Colours?Though some of this might seem like it has little to do with architecture, there is abundant evidence that the details of your surroundings exert a powerful influence on the patterns of your thoughts, your nervous system, and even the state of your heart and your skin. You might find yourself attending to the world in a different way while immersed in a space with lots of natural features, with less sharply focused attention. If you’re in a tightly constrained space, you might find yourself responding with anxiety and its attendant increase in heart rate and sweat gland activity. A couple of other tips as you embark on your architectural adventures: it’s completely fine to explore buildings by yourself. In fact, much like solo movie-going, it can be liberating to be freed from the duty to talk to your friends about your experience. On the other hand, there’s much pleasure to be drawn from comparing notes. You’ll learn that our responses to buildings are hardly universal. Also, don’t feel that you have to visit the Louvre or the Sistine Chapel to practise these exercises. Indeed, there are benefits to exploring your responses to highly familiar spaces, even your own home (see the first exercise below).

Buildings are much more than containers for human experience. They have a capacity to stir up emotional responses, serve as symbols, and change how we think about ourselves and others.

Contents

The award-winning journalist Emily Anthes’s book The Great Indoors (2020) focuses on the impact that interior environments have on our lives. The book is replete with fascinating examples and important applications of the science of interior design. Tune in to how a building makes you feel and think. Sitting quietly, contemplate how your body feels in a built space. Note what sights, sounds and other sensations stand out to you, and consider how they are affecting your thoughts and feelings.