Sense of Place

By Vincenzo Burdi

Creating a sense of place is not an easy task at all. In fact is hard to come by in world where new buildings spring up in a blink of an eye. Architects strive to understand things like program, material selection, and space planning, that contribute spatial experience. They may not be successful in creating a fully functional yet appealing space, but we can sure try. This is such an endeavor for Architects to tackle considering spaces can and should be perceived differently by the public. Making one choice may lead to series of questions or concerns by a particular group of people. A sense of space is desired by the public for institutions like schools, courtrooms, libraries, museums, any other public areas. For example both students and janitors use and occupy a school, but when an Architect sits down to design a school he or she consequently designs for the student first in mind. That does not excuse the Architect from designing for janitors at all. A "good" Architect considers his or her entire public as a whole, and how each and every one of them may experience the space. So, that is the challenge set aside for an Architect to make his or her building appeal to the greater public.

A piece of advice an Architect once told me was, "If you got them talking about your work after they left your space, well then you did your job...You may not have done it right, but you still did your job." Making people experience your site is the fun of our job. It is truly the design of space that unites Architects together in our profession no matter the size, scale, or cost of a project. So, don't forget to make them experience your space the way you want them to.