Predicted Experience vs. Actual Experience
I have an uncle who works at the public library in Columbus, Ohio. He's been with them for many
years and obviously has spent a lot of time in the libraries in his community. He recently moved to a brand new library from an older library that was done in a more classical library style. He hates the new one. Its cold, it feels empty and it feels sterile.
As he was telling me this, I thought about the differences in what architects feel in the library vs. the librarians vs. the public. Each of those groups carry a different set of expectations, past experiences, feelings with them about what a library should look and feel like. In Notes Around the Doppler Effect and Other Moods of Modernism, they quote W.G. Sebald,
As he was telling me this, I thought about the differences in what architects feel in the library vs. the librarians vs. the public. Each of those groups carry a different set of expectations, past experiences, feelings with them about what a library should look and feel like. In Notes Around the Doppler Effect and Other Moods of Modernism, they quote W.G. Sebald,
Each one of us experiences moments of repetition, coincidence or duplication, where echoes of other experiences, conversations, moods and encounters affect current ones. Such momentary echoes are like tracks out of alignment, hearing and seeing out of phase that generate momentary deja vus, an overlap of real and virtual worlds.I think this story about the architectural expectations of the library is incredibly relevant when thinking as an architect and during all phases of a project. A recognition of the multiple worlds that will exist in, around, parallel, etc to what we are constructing. We have a lot to learn from those that will be using our spaces. How certain materials might make them feel, reactions that might happen because of the building. On the flip side, those who occupy the architecture could learn from it, maybe feeling a new way about something that's different than what they're used to. As makers of the built environment, we can be better at our jobs by recognizing these delicate intricacies that exist and will exist in our creations well into the future.
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| New library locations in Columbus, OH |
I agree with this ideal that each built environment is experience driven. Is it important as a designer to pay attention to how occupants will interact with your design, which means one must conduct a dense amount of research to see how they react and experience similar spaces. Using that research will help develop procession throughout the space and help create personal feelings that leave that person connected with the space; because the last thing we want as designers is for someone visiting our built space and feeling cold, empty, and disconnected.
ReplyDeleteMegan, your post highlights the dilemma of addressing the wide and varied interests of user groups. The needs and preferences of your uncle and his colleagues—employees who spend long workdays in the library—may be very different from those of patrons who visit the library for shorter, occasional visits. On the other hand, the public library “belongs” to the entire community. Whose opinion matters most? It would be interesting to know how the architects in this project engaged the community and library staff to design the space and whether they were challenged by competing perspectives from different user groups. This is the type of project that might have benefited from the level of collaboration that Alejando Aravena described in his TEDTalk.
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