Confidential Custom ize d for Lorem Ipsum LLC Ve rsio n 1.

Nat ure and man

archit ect ure as an int erface
Ar. Yamuna V M
Overview
NATURE - ITS FIVE BASIC ELEMENTS

HUMAN BEING - THE FIVE BASIC SENSES -

What are the five elements of nature?
Five element s
EARTH represents the solid state of
1 4
matter. It manifests stability, permanence,
and rigidity such as material, site and
vegetation
AIR is the Element that is mobile and
eternally dynamic, with no arrest,
whatsoever. Its constant motion and speed
is its unique characteristic and it represents
ventilation in architecture

2
WATER characterizes eternal flow and is
always unstable by nature, It is a liquid
state and is a majority composer of various
fluid substance such as rain and humidity
5
SKY is the space in which everything
happens. The spaces in architecture rooms,
courtyards, open spaces etc.

FIRE is the power to transform, burn, and

3
illumine light, temperature and radiation
EARTH material, site, vegetation etc.
WATER rain, humidity etc.
FIRE light, temperature, radiation
WIND ventilation
SKY space
Project casest udy

House of five elements

Manasara architects, Banglore
Juhani Pallasmaa

Architecture is the art of understanding

between ourselves and the world, and
this mediation takes place through the
senses”
What are the five senses ?
Five senses
Sight – the top sense Smell – space’s odour
1 4

2
Touch – an intimate sense 5
Taste – more a combination of two

3
Hear – the silent sense
Underst anding t he five senses
Sight
01
Already in early times the vision was the leading sense. Until
today, sight prevailed on top of the hierarchy of the senses
and our technological culture has separated the senses even
further.
With the technological development our world has become a
lot faster than it used to be. Screens, advertisements, radios.
Constantly our senses are triggered and it seems like time
and space are fused by speed. The only sense that can keep
the pace of this development is sight.
As a result architectural design is meant to please this sense.
Touch
02
The eye is the organ of distance, whereas touch is the sense o
nearness, intimacy and affection. The eye observes and
investigates, whereas the touch approaches and feels.
So when the light makes space for shadow our other senses
are sharpened including the sensitivity to touch.
Feeling shape- We can feel if a room is brightly lid or if it is
dim. In the same way as we can feel the sunlight on our skin.
So light is a good method to address touch in architecture.
Structures have a visual effect but by touching them we feel
more components of their construct. Hardness, Depth,
Temperature these components can vary in materials that
give the same visual impression.
Hear
03
Hearing is a very incorporating sense. It is omni-directional,
not focused like vision.
“We are not aware of the significance of hearing in spatial
experience, although sound often provides the temporal
continuum in which visual impressions are embedded.”
“However the temporary city has lost its echo.”
On one hand we have new technologies that enable
architects to build great soundscapes on the other hand we
cheat on the spatial experience by installing sound absorbing
materials and other sound optimizing elementsThe question
is, if this is a smart alternative or just a lack of critical
examination.
Hearing not hing
03
One of the most exciting auditory experiences in
architecture is tranquility. In the past the tool of silence has
been used to create great atmospheres. The silence in the
Pantheon combined with the great view to the roof is
indescribable. The absence of sound is actually creating the
atmosphere.

if it is a birds song recording in an interior garden or a ground

covered with sand and it is possible to hear the sound of it
while walking over it.
Smell
04
We need only a little amount of molecules of substance to
trigger an impulse of smell in a nerve end, and we can smell
more than ten thousand different scents. Since it is not
possible to name all the odours, spatial qualities are
associated. That is why the expression “it is a hospital smell”
is familiar to most people. These associations could be used
in architecture. To stimulate emotions, to guide, or to
distract.
In the same way as every city has its own smell every building
could have the same. It will end up as a difficult task, since
smell is so sensitive.
Tast e
05
The human tongue can only distinguish among 7-8 distinct
types of taste, while the nose can distinguish among
hundreds of substances, even in minute quantities. Olfaction
amplifies the sense of taste. This rule is also applicable to
taste in architecture. It turns out clear that there is not a
literal taste of architecture. And still architecture can
stimulate the sense of taste. In this case together with the
sense of vision not with smell.
Vision becomes transferred to taste. “Certain colours and
delicate details evoke oral sensation.
Project casest udy

MODUSARCHITECTS
PRESCHOOL, KINDERGARTEN AND
FAMILY CENTER, ITALY
Assignment 2

Take a the section of FLW’s falling waters

1)study the elements of nature in it,
2)make a color palette of that section
Thank you.