The Politics of the Envelope of the Everyday

“You remember 1/3 of what you read, 1/2 of what people tell you, but 100% of what you feel.”-Paul Kaihla, July 1, 2005, The CEO’s Secret Handbook

I find the contrast between Zumthor’s emotion-basaed analysis and Zaera’s intellectual-based analysis of space and elements intriguing; as evidenced in the manner (or “atmosphere” - pun totally intended) that each of the authors conveys through his content and diction. Both are highly romanticized views of architecture as compared with the realities of everyday life (as described by Crawford and Habraken) experienced by the general populace – an experience that tends toward a transient stance on the notion of space, assuming away the seemingly extraneous yet ever influencing details. After riding my bike through downtown Clemson for a semester, I continuously interact with the space but no longer see the buildings, or the cars really, that have an ever present influence on the quality of the space itself – my mind assumes this away and I’m left with a picture of my destination coupled with how I felt riding through the space on that particular day. Same goes for Lee Hall, or our campus, or a city like Chicago. We all come to assume away much of the self-formulated envelope surrounding our everyday lives. 

I currently identify more with Zaera’s mindset – one based on intellectually based arguments on the impacts of space (and its component elements) over time. I’m starting to see, however, that while these factors operate in the background of any project, at the forefront is a Zumthor-ian notion of what moves you about a space. Because as we move through these spaces in our everyday lives, its what moves us that we will remember.

 

Image source: http://www.magic4walls.com/wallpaper/men-city-street-photo-house-evening-bokeh-hd-wallpaper-27580.html