Is it Real or is it my Mind

It's fascinating to hear about someone else's experiences.  When they speak about it with such fondness.  It triggers an emotion of longing and awe.  An emotion that I believe we have all experienced at one point or another.  And we try to cling on to that memory in any way we can.  Whether we write about it or sketch it up and include all of the details, the light, the trash in the corner, or take a photograph.  When Peter Zumthor brings this up in his lecture, my mind is flooded of many experiences I've had like this in buildings where I just wonder, how did they do it.  How were they able to achieve this magic, or as Peter calls it, 'magic of the real.'

As designers, I think we all strive to create moments where others can also experience this.  Whether it's the way a door handle feels in a hand as you turn it, or how the window sits at just the right height to let in the perfect amount of light at 6:30 pm, that's what we wish to achieve.  As our profession has evolved and other fields are taking part in projects, it becomes more difficult to achieve this 'magic of the real.'  As other professionals have more knowledge of other aspects of the project, whether it's the budget or the structural loads on a header, or what mortar works best with a certain brick, it is difficult to achieve the magic.  This is where, even though we might not have that much control over those aspects, I think we need to strive to be better at presenting and explaining the magic.  Yes, it is something that it's quantifiable, but it is something that we are all capable of feeling and coming to understand.