Barbara Erwine Design
SENSORY DESIGN
SENSORY DESIGN
The historically lush and varied sensory environments we evolved in have paled to a relatively bland homogeneous palette in our built environment. This attenuation of our sensory landscape is a legacy of the modern movement which leveraged new technologies and cheap energy to provide uniform, standardized experiences. Although the mimimum thresholds of comfort this achieved were essential, taken to an extreme, they have impoverished our sensory world. The sensory design approach uses a new design framework of individually shaped sensory spaces including light, color, temperature, smell, sound, touch and the personal and communal spaces brought to life through habitual use patterns. Each of these independent dimensions is envisioned with identifiable characteristics of location, shape, boundary, intensity, duration, etc. which may coincide with or only partially overlap the architectural geometric space of walls and voids.
The multidimensional sensory framework explores how these sensory spaces interact with each other to create memorable and sustainable spaces.
CREATING SENSORY SPACES:
The Architecture of the Invisible
Creating Sensory Spaces celebrates spaces enlivened with sensual richness and provides you with the knowledge and tools necessary to create them. Drawing on numerous built case studies in ten countries and illustrated with over 85 full color images, the book presents a new framework for the design of sensory spaces including light, color, temperature, smell, sound, and touch. Bridging across disciplines of architecture, engineering, phenomenology and perceptual psychology, this book informs the design of buildings and neighborhoods that reclaim the role of the body and all the senses in creating memorable experiences of place and belonging.
