Architecture: Bridging Humans to the World Paging through a copy of Architectural Digest would reveal a catalog of buildings ranging

from towering skyscrapers to abstract glass spheres on the beach. Even though architectural styles vary wildly as one jumps from century to century, from country to country, from architect to architect, Juhani Pallasmaa would argue that all buildings serve a single function: to solidify an individuals connection to the world he lives in. Pallasmaa believes that a building of good design promotes a sense of the human rootedness in the world (Pallasmaa 286). Essentially, when a person walks into a structure, he should not feel isolated from the world outside. The building should instead appeal to the persons senses in a way that reveals the bond he or she shares with his or her surroundings. Though most people simply view architecture, true intimacy is achieved when buildings appeal to more sensory organs beyond the eyes. For example, Pallasmaa references how a particular smell makes us unknowingly re-enter a space completely forgotten by the retinal memory; the nostrils awaken a forgotten image, and we are enticed to enter a vivid daydream (292). Through the presence of a scent, a room can be more than just a location of storage. A room embedded with a smell of candy can inspire images and memories of a persons confectionery-filled childhood. The olfactory attribute of the room gives it the power to remind them of past events that had occurred in the world outside the room. By including odor in the architectural design of a building, the architect empowers his work to more than simply exist but to invoke existence. Scent is able to promote the mans rootedness in the world, because it is able to prompt images of the outside world and remind them that they exist in a world beyond the confines of the room.

Similarly, the tactile feel of a building is another useful instrument good architects employ in order to add another dimension to their work. By simply feeling the texture of an object invokes emotions and memories in ways that pure vision cannot compare to. As Pallasmaa states, standing barefoot on a smooth glacial rock by the sea at sunset, and sensing the warmth of the sun-heated stone through ones soles, is an extraordinarily healing experience, making one part of the eternal cycle of nature. One senses the slow breathing of the earth (296). Despite the fact that one is indoors, good architecture should give its dwellers a sense of comfort, pleasure, and intimacy with nature. Touch can translated into architecture in ways like the feel of cool marble can invoke thoughts of a chilly fall breeze even as the sun blazes outside. In this case, not only does the building protect its inhabitants from the sun, but comforts them with memories of the fall breeze grazing across their faces. Just because a building has a practical function does mean it has to limited to the sole purpose of housing; architecture is also meant to offer a sensation that reminds people of the vivid existence that is life on earth. Just as smell and touch can create images and scenes in the mind without the use of the eyes to give architecture an appearance of vitality, the auditory characteristics of a building can have the same effect. Architects use these sight-less visions to trick the inhabitants of the buildings into thinking they are not simply inside of a structure, but are actually interacting with the world around them. In reference to necessity of an acoustic aspect, Pallasmaa states, every building or space has its characteristic sound of intimacy or monumentality, invitation or rejection, hospitality or hostilityOur look wanders lonesomely in the dark depths of a cathedral, but the sound of an organ makes us immediately experience our affinity with the space (289). The auditory composition of a building is just as important as the mortar that holds the bricks together. Without it, a building is simply an oversized, fortified box, but with it,

entering a building becomes an interactive experience. Sound gives life to a building and gives it a personality, and by doing so, gives the inhabitants the ability to connect to buildings in ways that silence could never permit. A buildings acoustics reminds people that they are part of living, breathing, thriving world despite the fact the structures walls may physically isolate them from it. At its core, architecture would be predicated upon solidify an individuals connection to the world around them. Architects should aim to create structures that are more than simple appeasing to the eyes; their creations should target as many sensory organs as possible. By doing so they give their works of steel and stone the ability to invoke emotion, to form mental images, and to have a semblance of life. A well-designed building promotes a sense of community with the world to its inhabitants. For a reader to digest all an architectural piece has to offer, they must look beyond the windows and the walls to see that they share a deep bond to the world even as it seems to disappear behind the closing doors.