In the last post I outlined the difference between the kind of architecture we find in games to that found in reality in relation to time. I am begining to get deaper into the rabbit hole; how does the way we design a building in consideration to time affect our social encounters? We have all experianced spaces that make time seem like forever, (e.g doctors office) and spaces that make time move faster, (discoteque); mentally ofcourse and thus it would be fair to state that the perception of time in a space affects our feelings towards it. One architect I stumbled upon, Maria Lorena Lehman wrote an article on this in Discover entitled how our brain can control time.
What I am interested in is how we can utilize time as a tool, control it, in order to change the experiance of a space, and in doing so, how that may affect our social encounters; One thing I noted down in the article is that "the brain utilizes time to understand things like distance. Timing is important for such functions as determining how far away someone is when speaking"-Lehman. This illustrates that for our brains, time in the present-tense is an important factor in spacial oreintation in regards to social encounters. She continues to explain how "a journey through architectural space can expand or contract time dependent upon the experiences encountered. Still, architects can and should use time as a tool to communicate and guide occupant journeys. Mental timing is an important factor to how architecture is perceived" - Lehman. Hence, it is important to understand that time, a dimension often overlooked, can play a major role in designing a space and be used effectivley when considered.
As I have mentioned earlier; this is often seen in games, where events (clusters of time), are created through the architecture to facillitate meaningful social encounters. These social encounters progress the game and in turn, help create the event itself.
I have not mentioned the factor of memory in relation to time however. Good games give you something to remember through the progression of the game. Thus time gives way to memorable moments, these moments create a kind of timeline in our brain which gives us a sense of how long the game took.This feeling can be obscured, controled, the more memorable moments you may have in a short amount of time, perhaps the more meaningful the game was. In a like manner, in reality the same can be said; living in Amsterdam I realize how narrow and tall buildings are and that although Amsterdam is a small city, sometimes people believe that they have been walking for ages simply becuase where there should perhaps be one building there are three tall buildings in place giving a sense that you have been walking for longer than you really have been. This phenonemon goes to show how architecturally, the mental perception of time can indead be controled.
As I have mentioned earlier; this is often seen in games, where events (clusters of time), are created through the architecture to facillitate meaningful social encounters. These social encounters progress the game and in turn, help create the event itself.
I have not mentioned the factor of memory in relation to time however. Good games give you something to remember through the progression of the game. Thus time gives way to memorable moments, these moments create a kind of timeline in our brain which gives us a sense of how long the game took.This feeling can be obscured, controled, the more memorable moments you may have in a short amount of time, perhaps the more meaningful the game was. In a like manner, in reality the same can be said; living in Amsterdam I realize how narrow and tall buildings are and that although Amsterdam is a small city, sometimes people believe that they have been walking for ages simply becuase where there should perhaps be one building there are three tall buildings in place giving a sense that you have been walking for longer than you really have been. This phenonemon goes to show how architecturally, the mental perception of time can indead be controled.
"Certain focal points, alignments, materials and other features can all contribute to how occupants experience, and subsequently remember a built environment. Architecture can utilize time in many instances. Such instances are reverberation time, travel time, textural rhythm and visual timing. Buildings are largely experienced through mental time – and the senses are key" - Lehman. This goes to show, that the mental perception of time is built on memory and understanding this, architecturally, can yield very meaninfulspaces; in games and in real life.
Source: Sensing Architecture
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