Moments

Moments

By: Van Dwinnells

One of the wonders of life we have been so blessed to have has been our cognitive ability to store unique moments in time as memories.  Some can be recalled slightly fuzzy or interrupted; others can be played back in the highest of detail almost as if we are watching a movie.  A beautiful aspect of our recall is implicit in how we actually reminisce.  It doesn't always occur in the same way.  Sometimes this action occurs as a quick recollection as we associate something we are experiencing now with something in the past, almost like a replay in super high speed.  Other moments can slow down immensely so as we appreciate all the detail of all that is actually becoming around us.  As we grow older these experiences will guide us through life.  They are what we rely on to make judgment calls, manipulating our current path based on the good and bad experiences we have had.  With this concept in mind, notable changes in  our environment can affect our recollection of a situation and in fact alter it in a manner, possibly, preconceived.  In psychology this notion or "planting the seed" is called priming a situation and in a social context it is possible to insinuate behavior, attitudes, or even specific actions according to how you manipulate the space.  As architects we have the capability to modify the built environment and we have to consider the consequences of our actions and how it will affect the inhabitants of the space.  Spaces can change moods and over time even change values.  Imagine the possibilities of such.  Imagine the effect if we were able to reduce discrimination, prejudice, or even poverty.  What if we were able to create a better community; to take something that once was falling apart, redesign it, and develop a functional and supportive life system bare of the problems that once were faced.  Granted these things take time, but it only takes a repetition in small changes to often time make a large difference.  Remember this.  Remember this notion the next time you "redevelop" the context of a larger situation.  Take the ramifications of an action and weigh them against the social, cultural, and economic notions of the place against a historic, present, and future model.  Way of life can change.  We can start the change.