Pantheon of Wonder

Essay

Abstraction of Colorful Light

How to Design Architectural Interactivity that Emotionally Connects

by Maria Lorena Lehman

Interactive Architecture

Architecture Drawing

Design for Purposeful Interaction Benefits

As interactivity continues to be integrated into designed environments, it is important to explore how such interactivity can emerge into forming the behavioral character of a design. With each interaction between design element and building occupant, interactive architectural environments form impressions in the memory of their occupants. Yet, the question remains: Is the interactive character emitting from an environmental design purposeful and consciously pre-designed? Or is it simply emanating from the design without the designer ever having given this dimension any thought.

Interaction in design can be significantly distilled. For example, if a building occupant turns on a light switch then that is interaction. But what if such interaction becomes more frequent, where the environment invites its occupant to engage with it in purposeful ways? For example, through interactivity a window within a room can interact with sunlight and the view as it orchestrates a beautiful vantage point for a person to see out of the window (from their specific location within the room). In this case, the environment’s dynamic behavior may be remembered as “beautiful”, “poetic”, or “being one with nature”. Whatever the case, associations are made, and the building occupant remembers this environmental design not only because of how it looks, but because of how it made them feel. This emotional connection has a lot to do with the design of the environment’s interactivity.

Dynamic Behavior Builds Character

As an architectural designer, it is important for you to be aware of not only how your design project invites occupants to engage and interact with it, but also it is important to consciously design for those interactions. Be mindful about how each interaction is impacting your occupant, and design for the cumulative effect of those interactions as they form a narrative. After all, the sequence and narrative journey that your environmental design exudes will build the character and personality behind your design that emotionally connects with people.

‍Image Credit: © RachelCroft | Pixabay

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Dear reader,


I believe life is a continual process of awakening. As the journey of my own life continues, I always find myself connecting my experiences, studies, and ideas to new creative projects that bring beauty, inspiration, and hope for our world. For over 30 years, since starting at age 17, I have immersed myself in architectural design; and early on, I earned a Master of Design with Distinction from Harvard University, setting the foundation for decades of deep immersion in the field. Yet even before this, I held music close to my heart. At the age of 5, I began my first piano lessons; and since then, I began to see the world through a musical lens — even while designing architecture.


Over the decades, I grew closer and closer to music with a deep love for the design of instruments, their unique timbres, and for all the immersive ways their sounds could be interwoven into beautiful orchestrated compositions. I even began to develop a musical composition methodology, Spatial Symphonics, as I found my architectural design work becoming more and more emotive, soul-stirring, and yes: musical.


In recent years, I finally turned my focus to music composition. I hold a Graduate Diploma from the Film Scoring Academy of Europe where my works have been recorded by the acclaimed European Recording Orchestra (ERO), and I am founder of MLL ATELIER® — an award-winning studio now dedicated to my work as an orchestral composer, recording artist, and spatial symphonist — where I advance architectural design through music, and innovate music through an architectural design lens.


It is my hope that I can share my ongoing musical-design journey with you, directly from my studio through my video-newsletter entitled 'Orchestral Notes'. Expect video updates filled with first-access studio news announcing: album/book releases, concert premiers, sheet music publications, creative process sneak-peeks, and my own compositional philosophies as they develop to fuel my ongoing body of musical and architectural authorial works.


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Let’s enjoy the beauty, inspiration, and hope that music brings.


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Maria Lorena Lehman


Founder of MLL ATELIER® | Orchestral Notes

Your invitation:


Dear reader,


I believe life is a continual process of awakening. As the journey of my own life continues, I always find myself connecting my experiences, studies, and ideas to new creative projects that bring beauty, inspiration, and hope for our world. For over 30 years, since starting at age 17, I have immersed myself in architectural design; and early on, I earned a Master of Design with Distinction from Harvard University, setting the foundation for decades of deep immersion in the field. Yet even before this, I held music close to my heart. At the age of 5, I began my first piano lessons; and since then, I began to see the world through a musical lens — even while designing architecture.


Over the decades, I grew closer and closer to music with a deep love for the design of instruments, their unique timbres, and for all the immersive ways their sounds could be interwoven into beautiful orchestrated compositions. I even began to develop a musical composition methodology, Spatial Symphonics, as I found my architectural design work becoming more and more emotive, soul-stirring, and yes: musical.


In recent years, I finally turned my focus to music composition. I hold a Graduate Diploma from the Film Scoring Academy of Europe where my works have been recorded by the acclaimed European Recording Orchestra (ERO), and I am founder of MLL ATELIER® — an award-winning studio now dedicated to my work as an orchestral composer, recording artist, and spatial symphonist — where I advance architectural design through music, and innovate music through an architectural design lens.


It is my hope that I can share my ongoing musical-design journey with you, directly from my studio through my video-newsletter entitled 'Orchestral Notes'. Expect video updates filled with first-access studio news announcing: album/book releases, concert premiers, sheet music publications, creative process sneak-peeks, and my own compositional philosophies as they develop to fuel my ongoing body of musical and architectural authorial works.


I would love for you to join me for this exciting adventure.


Simply click the button below to join my Orchestral Notes video-newsletter delivered every two weeks directly to your email inbox. Plus, get access to the full publication archives.

JOIN ORCHESTRAL NOTES

Limited availability each month.


Warmly,

Maria Lorena Lehman


Founder of MLL ATELIER

Author of PANTHEON OF WONDER

Maria Lorena Lehman has received the following awards and has been seen in the following publications: