Architectural Atmospheres RZ_architec_atmosph_innen.indd 1 21.02.14 12:54 RZ_architec_atmosph_innen.indd 2 21.02.14 12:54 Architectural Atmospheres On the Experience and Politics of Architecture Christian Borch (Ed.) With texts by Gernot Böhme Christian Borch Olafur Eliasson Juhani Pallasmaa Birkhäuser Basel RZ_architec_atmosph_innen.indd 3 21.02.14 12:54 Contents RZ_architec_atmosph_innen.indd 4 21.02.14 12:54 6 Introduction: Why Atmospheres? Christian Borch 18 Space, Place, and Atmosphere: Peripheral Perception in Existential Experience Juhani Pallasmaa 42 Urban Atmospheres: Charting New Directions for Architecture and Urban Planning Gernot Böhme 60 The Politics of Atmospheres: Architecture, Power, and the Senses Christian Borch 90 Atmospheres, Art, Architecture A Conversation between Gernot Böhme, Christian Borch, Olafur Eliasson, and Juhani Pallasmaa 108 Contributors 110 Index 112 Photo Credits RZ_architec_atmosph_innen.indd 5 21.02.14 12:54 Christian Borch Introduction: Why Atmospheres? RZ_architec_atmosph_innen.indd 6 21.02.14 12:54 Like any other social phenomenon, architecture reflects fads and fashions. Although trends do not shift as fast as in, for example, the clothing indus- try, certain architectural styles rise to prominence at certain times and in particular contexts, only to be replaced by other trends and fashions. One of the most significant recent trends is a turn towards (or perhaps a return to) atmospheric qualities in debates on architecture and urban space, as well as in practical architectural work. This is not to suggest that all architecture today revolves around atmospheric dimensions – it cer- tainly, and regrettably, does not. Nevertheless, there seems to be a ten- dency for architects and urban planners to take seriously the atmospheric features of spatial design. One notable example of this is the Swiss archi- tect Peter Zumthor, who was awarded the prestigious Pritzker Architec- ture Prize (commonly referred to as the Nobel Prize in architecture) in 2009. Zumthor is renowned for his explicit articulation of atmospheric concerns, as is manifest, for instance, in his book Atmospheres: Architec- tural Environments, Surrounding Objects (2006). In it, Zumthor reflects upon what constitutes quality in architecture. Why is it that some build- ings feel more comfortable, pleasurable, and/or exciting than others? The answer, for Zumthor, lies in their atmospheric merits. It is the particular atmosphere of a building that moves us and hence endows it with archi- tectural quality (2006: 11). But to what, then, do atmospheres refer – and, more precisely, how do they move us? According to Zumthor – and his account is tightly linked to his work as a practising architect – two things are important. One relates to how we perceive or experience spaces. Thus, he asserts, ‘[w]e perceive atmosphere through our emotional sensibility – a form of perception that works incredibly quickly’ (2006: 13). In essence, this amounts to some form of ‘immediate appreciation, of a spontaneous emo- tional response’: ‘I enter a building, see a room, and – in the fraction of a second – have this feeling about it’ (ibid.). So even if a building’s full complexity may only gradually affect and move us, we instantly sense the building and its features upon entering it. This relates to the second fea- ture emphasised by Zumthor, namely that encounters with buildings are very much bodily. We innately sense buildings, feel their material-haptic qualities, hear their sounds, see their lights, sense their temperature and 7 RZ_architec_atmosph_innen.indd 7 21.02.14 12:54 Christian Borch smells, etc. Zumthor is at pains not only to address these sensory aspects Introduction: analytically but also, and importantly, to use them in his practical work Why Atmospheres? when trying to generate particular atmospheres (2006: 21). Interestingly, Zumthor’s conception of atmospheres is not con- fined to the interior of a building. That is, architectural atmospheres are not just about bodily engagement with the building itself. They also refer to how the building relates to its environment, or rather to how it ‘becomes part of its surroundings’ (ibid. 63, italics added). Consequently, if a build- ing does not attempt to immerse itself in its environment, it fails misera- bly from an atmospheric point of view. Unfortunately, this is a widespread problem with much contemporary architecture, which appears to be driven more by sheer profit or a will to build for the sake of building than by a concern with how particular buildings become constructive parts of their surroundings. Two final comments on Zumthor are warranted here. Firstly, I have thus far focused on him because he is widely recognised for his atmospheric approach to architecture. However, other significant con- temporary architects also follow this path. For example, the Japanese architects Kazuyo Sejima and Ryue Nishizawa, and their office, SANAA, produce architecture that attends to immersion, as well as to the multi- sensory qualities of physical design. Similarly, the Italian architect Renzo Piano once noted that before embarking on an assignment, he would visit the site of the future building and breathe in its air. A parallel gesture has been emphasised by the French architect Jean Nouvel in his Louisiana Manifesto, in which he underscores the importance of architecture that takes seriously the particular spirit of the place (Nouvel 2008). Of course, such atmospheric gestures are not new. As intimated above, to some ex- tent they mark a return to a previous interest in atmospheric dimensions. Most notably, perhaps, the testimonies of Nouvel and Piano are emblem- atic of a concern with genius loci, i. e. the spirit of place, a notion rein- vigorated by Christian Norberg-Schulz’s book Genius Loci: Towards a Phenomenology of Architecture (1980). In it, Norberg-Schulz made a plea for foregrounding the particular spirit of place in the understanding of architecture, and linked this to an existential argument for the spatial basis of meaning and identity. 8 RZ_architec_atmosph_innen.indd 8 21.02.14 12:54 Atmospheric architecture. The 2011 Serpentine Gallery Pavilion, designed by Peter Zumthor, Serpentine Gallery, London, England. 9 RZ_architec_atmosph_innen.indd 9 21.02.14 12:54 Atmospheres of contemporary ruins. Jeanne Fredac, Willy Flechsig, 2011, Berlin. 10 RZ_architec_atmosph_innen.indd 10 21.02.14 12:54