Surroundings In Architecture

 

“Interiors are like large instruments, collecting sound, amplifying it, transmitting it elsewhere. That has to do with the shape; peculiar to each room and with the surfaces of materials they contain, and the way those materials have been applied. Take a wonderful spruce floor like the top of violin and lay it across wood. Or again: stick it on a concrete slab. Do you notice the difference in sound? The sound we associate with certain rooms, speaking personally, what always comes to my mind are the sounds when I was a boy. The noises my mother made in the kitchen.” – Peter Zumthor | Atmosphere

                                                    National Parlament of Bangladesh | Google image

                                                     National Parlament of Bangladesh | Google image

I can so relate this quote with my own experience. Once I was fortunate to be in the interior space of the National Parlament of Bangladesh, designed by the famous architect Louis I. Kahn. This building is clear in form and composition, powerful in scale and sitting, and it is widely considered as a masterpiece of the architect Louis I. Kahn. Both the vernacular and monumental archetypes of the region were articulated by the architect in the form of utter purity with eternal architectural ideas from history and civilizations.

                                                       National Parlament of Bangladesh | Google image

                                                      National Parlament of Bangladesh | Google image

If I was asked to describe the interior environment of this space, I would portray it as monumental architectural quality. The building materials complement every space of this building with the natural lights, the sound quality of the space, the relationship of interior and exterior spaces, and its surrounding objects. In the change of time, the lights casting shadows in a different position which illuminates the physiological aspects of the architecture. As Peter Zumthor narrates, Interiors are like large instruments, collecting sound, amplifying it, transmitting it elsewhere. In a word, this space is well composed with the environment and the context.