Investigating sensuous correspondences within architecture of the local context : can this lived experience be captured?

Abstract

Our lived experiences occur in a contextual landscape. Over time, they both evolve as they continuously, mutually transform each other. People, through several intangible ‘forces’, instigate qualities as matter and space, which we refer to as ‘architecture’. The German terminologies ‘zimmer’ and ‘raum’, address the difference between the tangible and intangible notions in architecture. The zimmer and raum are perceived as the tension between the visual-factual and the sensual-emotional experiences respectively. The dissertation research investigates and proposes a framework to capture the lived experience, the emotive feeling which emerges from our sensuous correspondence with the other. More specifically, through a process of assimilation, we become a place, whether it is a building, a dwelling, or a public space. Place becomes us when we appropriate it both physically and imaginatively to meet our needs. These emotive experiences contribute to the feeling of belonging and sense of home, making places an integral part of our identity. Here, the notions homely (heimlich) and unhomely (unheimlich), are understood as, at once, dialectically opposing and similar, since the distinction between both emotions can be blurred. Such tension between the notions is studied theoretically by consulting the existing constructs in contemporary architectural discourse and practically, by studying three sites in the Local context (Maltese) from the point of view of the individual. Since the studied sites are public spaces, the experience of its users and outsiders is considered. The derived narratives expose and enforce the initial research premise that there are multiple dualities in our experience of shared spaces. These dualities, tensions between elements like shadow and light, and intimacy and immensity, contribute to our belonging and identification with place. Through the derived narratives and discussions with professionals, the dissertation research also unveils how fleeting experiences in a heterogeneous environment contribute to the formation of our ‘fixed’ identity. Even though we are able to adapt to depersonalized spaces through assimilation and appropriation, due to the steep rate of contemporary urbanisation, homogeneity is a threat.