Sense [able] architecture: accentuating the human experience of space.

Abstract

This thesis studies the increasing awareness of the connectedness of the body to architecture. It acts as a platform for sense.able/sensual design. To fully engage with architecture on a physical and mental level involves an openness to the realm of the sensory. This is derived form the proposition that our experience of space is mediated through the senses. The aim is to create an architecture, mediated through the senses, that can emphasise a physical and mental interaction between bodies and built spaces in an attempt to allow a more intimate connection between the body (us) and architecture. The thesis's architectural ontology is therefore accentuating the relationship between bodily senses and buildings. Without ignoring the traditional program generators of function and comfort, architecture primarily situates bodies as vessels for looking at or viewing space. This thesis acknowledges that human bodies do more than look - they feel, smell, taste, touch and are touched, they are highly specific and variable.