Sensual Analysis of Place-Specificity - A Lecture by David Sweere

Through the lens of twelve points discussed in Peter Zumthor’s Atmospheres lecture, this talk will explore a series of buildings which are derived from place to the level of each well-crafted detail. Inspired by vernacular architecture and local building traditions, these buildings exemplify critical regional specificity. An experiential analysis seeks to explain a deeper phenomenological state, an added value, to the experience of architecture which is of its place, connecting architecture and the observer to the collective memories and traces of the landscape. Connecting these buildings beyond this regional approach is a certain spirituality, religious or not, that permeates these buildings in their multisensory and phenomenological experience. Personal accounts of these experiences will attempt to relay this “emotional reconstruction.” Through experiential and emotive sketching, descriptive writing, photography, and audible recording, this presentation will dive into a personal psyche. With the understanding that each observer brings a unique set of ideas, memories, and bias to architectural experience, the argument will be made to design with attentiveness to the multisensory approach through regional and site-specific strategies that engage memory and historical contexts. 

Date: Thursday, 18th July, 2019
Time: 17:00 to 18:30 hrs
Venue: Level 1, The Daily Star-Bengal Arts Precinct.