Essay

Yes, I often write that you should think about the senses, materiality and so on. But I would like to emphasize that as an architect you are a “director” of sorts. It is important to learn how to synchronize and orchestrate all of those architectural elements to create the experience you intend.

As an architect, once you get a good grasp on how the human senses really work and really develop a high design skillset, you should always be concerned with synergy and orchestration.

Here is what I mean…

Lighting + Material = Redefined Form

The equation I just made up above is an example of how powerful (and simple) this idea can be. Take a building like the Torre Agbar in Barcelona and you will get a notion of what I am talking about.

Using technologies to enhance, minimize or morph your architectural elements can be a very effective technique. Most architects today simply “add-on” new technologies to their design. Kind of like the architect said “I’ll include this because I can.” The result is that it is not well integrated and does not do much for the design. In some cases, it actually makes the design worst.

Some Design Tips

Take the simple equation that I wrote above and get this to challenge and push the way you think when you are designing a building. Ask yourself about what other technologies you could insert into the “lighting” variable shown above. Also, question what other architectural element types you could insert into the “material” variable shown above.

Although the “Redefined Form” variable in the equation above may not physically move or morph, your technologies often can. Think of ways to integrate new technologies into your architectural design to help bend, enhance, texturize, highlight or soften architectural elements.

Think about how doing this will make the building a better experience.

Image Credit: © MarcelGermain | Flickr