A world without architecture can be fairly said as a desolate land. Architecture is the essence of any built environment, a structured vision for us as viewers to completely immerse ourselves into what the world has provided along with what we can evolve from it.
As kids we often tend to be curious about things beyond what we can comprehend, we look at the world as a happy place with blossoms of luxury embedded into it, however, understanding the depth of how an environment is created isn’t acknowledged. This is on a similar path for an adult as well, we are always in a rush and neglect how the environment is molding us to be better and productive.
‘We shape our buildings, and afterward, buildings shape us.’ -Winston Churchill
This is the absolute truth we need to hear, how we react to a situation is completely based on how the space around us affects us mentally, physically, and emotionally. Perception of the space we create is ignorance that we can’t hide, architecture helps eliminate that ignorance to keep us aware of our surroundings in a much more meticulous way than what would be seen by a meek mind.
The Evolution of How Architecture Changes Perceptions
At its roots, architecture not only defines the physicality of the environment but also the emotional state of mind of the users. Before the “foreign” word called architecture was infested into us, a simpler world was what we looked upon. But as the grasp of this new reality was entrusted upon us, the world seemed much larger.
As an architect what we envision is something that oblivious people cannot even imagine. We tend to break the simple barriers between living and built structure, understand the coexistence of what is real and timeless to what determines eternity. After the exposure to the culture of ‘Architecture’ every space comes with the nostalgia of what we are made to experience in 3-dimensional thinking as a student.
With the sense of space, the building becomes a measured quantity that is to look at the given entity not just as a built environment but rather makes us think about its progress from concept to evolution as well as the look and feel. The perception expands from 1 dimensional to much more of a 3-dimensional vision.
Architecture opens up various senses of understanding an environment i.e. as a designer the focus turns more towards the kind of impact space would have on the user rather than just its aesthetics. You get a heightened sense of awareness about the spatial feeling and start complementing the unusual “diction” of building and construction which might seem a bit eerie to normal people. As we are more aware of the kind of environment we expect to live in it becomes necessary for us to retaliate those feelings when we walk into a place.
More than just materials and buildings
Architecture not only affects society on a macro level but also on a more personal level, it can have a profound impact on its occupants and the way they feel. As a novice to the architecture world, we tend to not notice the effect of space on our psychology, rather the presence is always strong enough for us to wonder about how we perceive the area.
Have you ever walked into space or rather stared at a magnificent building and said, ’Wow, what a piece of art!’ or rather ‘This feels so surreal, such a beautiful place.’, this is how a novice would end up appreciating visually a space, but for an architect, there is much more than the outside façade, they look into the layers of prospects of the entire design.
Perception of how architecture changes the way we visualize buildings, places, community spaces, or any other space or entity varies from one individual to another, analytically all of the opinions are true in a different fashion, yet each understanding and visions are new and singular.
Architecture questions the style of living and how we could diminish the barricade between inanimate and living sense. Thus as an architect, it is a fundamental necessity to view not just what the world is but also what the world could be. The way designers view is to question the quintessential existence of living. Architects, when compared to others, have a particular point of view, namely, they do not only interact with buildings daily, but they also have to build them.
Architecture and its limitless impacts on simple minds
Architecture is more than just a subject, it’s a way of living. Every single element of change and understanding that you observe after becoming an architect opens up various hundred new opportunities.
Perceiving any visual space as an architect is a more realistic interpretation of how an environment could change the way you feel. It thrusts the fact that any space or building is more than a concrete surrounding or just materials, it’s an intensive play of emotions that only an architect can analyze.
A rather elementary conclusion is that when one judges architecture, one speaks about perceiving architecture and not about architecture per se.
At times, the real horror of society can be overlooked by the normal vision; however, as an architect, the sense of responsibility for your society takes a greater toll. For example, a trip to the foothills of the Western Ghats is rather a beauty on its own but as an architect what catches the eyes are the living conditions as well as the ghastliness that nature has been subjected to.
Sometimes architects not just visualize the area based on aesthetics or its scenario but are constantly deliberated with the history, the evolution as well as its prospects. Understanding what the world is yet capable of is more like a consequence of architecture. The change of perceptions occurs mostly as you are now exposed to a world of possibilities as an architect, designer as well as a respectable member of society.
Architects shape our world — how we see it, how we think about it, how we live in it. They take the basic principles of physics and geometry and apply them to the environment around us, creating a society that is not only beautiful, but that is purposeful and practical as well.
Progressive perceptions of an architect
As an architect or a designer over the years of experience the way we perceive to progress. It moves from a simple holistic approach to an in-depth curiosity that has boundless solutions. The way we talk, perceive things, visualize even a scenario all them changes in course.
As the ideology of perceptions progresses with experience, so does the analogy of how we solve the problems placed in front of us. Being an architect is to keep a keen eye on every single detail that you can catch so that as a designer we can narrate a much in-depth tale to others and in turn create a deeper sense of what is seen and felt around us.
