Masters of Atmospheres
Peter Zumthor's Lecture on Atmospheres is a critical text for architectural students. The considerations for each point that Zumthor brings up are essential for a project to become a higher experience. This text also looks at architectural design as more of dreaming of a space instead of a lifeless creation of space. While abroad, one of my professors suggested that I read this lecture to develop my project. By evaluating Zumthor's ideas and applying these thoughts to my own project, I was able to create a project that I not only love but something so different than what I normally design.
Fast forward to now, as we are in the depths of comprehensive studio. I feel like a lot of our projects can be lacking this dreamy consideration of atmospheres. With so much focus on resolution and technical details, we tend to forget the whimsy in design like 'surrounding objects' and the need for both 'composure and seduction'. The best projects have considered these aspects of design throughout the whole process.
In introspect of this reading, do y'all feel like your projects are creating atmospheres, or are they just buildings? If they are just buildings, is it too late to develop them into something more meaningful?
In the middle of our comprehensive projects is great time to have this conversation, and in my opinion what you're touching on is what separates good architecture from great architecture. There are countless complex details that need to be worked out in a typical building, so it's easy to get lost in the details, sometimes in a way that goes against your narrative, but great architecture celebrates the atmosphere's you're talking about in every facet of the project down to the details.
ReplyDeleteI agree that atmosphere is a very important aspect of designing that is usually forgotten while having to compete with everything else that goes into building design. It also feels as though more recent buildings don’t have good atmospheres planned, especially when compared to the well-known landmarks. This reminds me of a topic we discussed earlier in the semester about when an architect needs to use their knowledge vs what do we leave to the client. When architects designed whatever they wanted, there was atmosphere. We need to find a way to incorporate that into today’s design philosophies.
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