The Quality of Experience

I didn’t realize that there was so much involved in creating a sense of place.  It’s so easy for us to pass through spaces and remain unaware of the way that they work on us.  I’m not so ignorant of that anymore.  Looking back on my earlier posts, I see that what I value in a space and a place hasn’t changed, but now I value more.  I consider more than the way it looks or many other superficial assessments.  Because really, there is so much more to a space—it’s chi, if it’s authentic, and many other qualities.  I noticed myself paying attention to these ideas as I searched for an apartment with my roommate for next semester.  I realize that I enter places now and immediately assess their quality.  I find myself upset in bad places and drawn to good ones.  In way, this course has made me more critical of where I am and more appreciative of those spaces. 

I notice that many of posts are concerned with qualities of space and place that aren’t inherent in the design or implementation of it.  I return often to Tuan and Jackson’s ideas that what actually happens in the space lends to its character.  I think these ideas resonate strongly with me because I feel the strongest connections to places that hold some sort of meaning—usually because of the people there or a significant event that happened there.  Of course, I do find myself in awe of places for their aesthetic qualities and the feelings that design and use bring out in me.)  This realization has shown me that this course has helped me to realize that the qualities of spaces and places are complex things.