URBANISM

1. BACHELOR OF SCIENCE (HONOURS) IN
ARCHITECTURE
THEORIES OF ARCHITECTURE AND URBANISM
(ARC61303/ARC2224)
SYNOPSIS: REACTION PAPER (MARCH 2017)
Name: Schani Daniel Bharat ID No.: 0318788
Lecturer: Mr. Nicholas Ng Tutorial Time:
Reader/Text Title: THE EYES OF THE SKIN (Part
2) 1996
Synopsis No: 2
Author: Juhani Pallasmaa
As James J Gibson states that ‘senses are aggressively seeking mechanisms rather than mere passive
receivers’. I personally do agree with this statement as our senses constantly feed us with information of the
environment around us. It provokes our conscious and we understand the world around us.
However, I dissent when it is thought that every sense is an extension to haptic sensory. Hegel claims ‘that
the only sense which can give sensation of spatial depth is touch, because touch senses the weight,
resistance, and three-dimensional shape of material bodies’. A prime example of my disagreement would
be the Guggenheim Museum by Frank Lloyd Wright, from the exterior, visitors already perceive multiple
sensations from the sight of its form. The top-heavy structure, corkscrew-like form and horizontal lines help
perceivers interpret the scale and profile of the building before getting a closer look.
Proceeding with remembering an environment and its experiential experiences in it. Making a place or a
building memorable depends on 2 aspects, the uniqueness (in terms of design, culture) and the user’s
personal sensory experience in that particular place. ‘Our capacity of memory would be impossible without
body memory’, a statement by Edward S Casey. It expresses that our memory is heavily influenced by the
sensations we experience in our daily lives. To establish such a memory, requires the place to initiate
enough experiential sensations that allow the body to generate an association with that place to our personal
memory.
Another powerful sensation the user can experience would be auditory sense. The play on this can make a
huge impact on the overall ambience of a place. ‘A powerful architectural experience silences all external
noise; it focuses our attention on our very existence’. From that I have agreed that effective architecture
produces a polyphonic of senses on it’s own. Invigorating the user and bringing the environment to life.
Word Count: Mark Grade
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