Urban Design
yasaman Ghaderi; Seyed Mahdi Khatami
Abstract
HighlightsThe five human senses are known as the window of human communication with the surrounding environment.Perceptions caused by sensory stimuli play an important role in the improvement of the quality of urban space and creation of an atmosphere of memory.In the theoretical foundations and research ...
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HighlightsThe five human senses are known as the window of human communication with the surrounding environment.Perceptions caused by sensory stimuli play an important role in the improvement of the quality of urban space and creation of an atmosphere of memory.In the theoretical foundations and research background section, the library method was used, along with the two methods of sense-walking and sensory notation, used in the section on field studies.The sense of sight exhibits the greatest sensory stimulation, and the sense of taste has the least stimulation.Greater attention is paid to the visual dimension of the environment in today’s designs of commercial spaces. IntroductionThe variety in sensory perceptions creates a quality for the urban space that is known as sensory richness. In other words, sensory richness causes different sensory experiences to take shape and the space to be more responsive ultimately (McGlynn, 2013). The study demonstrates that the sense of eyesight and perception based thereon has received greater attention than the other senses with the emergence of the modern age. Meanwhile, the other senses provide a deeper understanding of space (Khoury, 2006). Therefore, it can be stated that the missing link between urban space and sensory richness involves sufficient attention to all the five human senses. On the other hand, the larger the number of sensory organs involved in the perception of space, the greater its impact and the more complete and more profound the understanding thereof. This will also increase the possibility of the attractiveness, role-playing, and evocativeness of the space and the presence of all members of the society therein. Therefore, it seems that the perceptions caused by sensory stimuli have received less attention from urban designers and scape architects so far in spite of their important role in the specification of the quality of urban space and the creation of a space of memory.Theoretical FrameworkThroughout history, many philosophers have emphasized the need to pay attention to sensory experiences and have challenged the excessive superiority of the sense of eyesight over the others and addressed its pathology. In his book entitled Responsive Environments, Ian Bentley introduced the importance of senses in the specification of the quality of sensory richness in urban spaces and emphasized the need to address non-visual senses. Considering all the senses except eyesight has been an important principle of visual research such as that conducted by Maurice Merleau-Ponty (Bently et al., 2003). Juhani Uolevi Pallasmaa believes that the sense of eyesight separates us from the world, while the others connect and unite us therewith (Pallasmaa, 2012). Mónica Degen uses the term sensory scape in regard to the interdependence of human senses and the simultaneous presence of different sensory experiences in the urban space. This term is derived from the term olfactory scape, which was first mentioned by Porthos (Degen, 2008). Paul Rodaway, who is an expert in the science of human geography, has expressed the concept of sensory geography to regard the structure of the human body as a general positioning system that relies on four sensory groups: eyesight, hearing, smell, and touch (Rodaway, 2002). In the research conducted in the field of scape, various theorists have mentioned three additional senses to the five included in the classical classification, initially made by Aristotle. These include the senses of direction, familiarity, and time. For example, Kevin Andrew Lynch has emphasized the sense of spatial orientation in his book entitled Image of the City. Thinkers such as Wunderlich and Podvin have assumed urban space to involve four dimensions, the fourth being time. They believe that spaces turn over time into places where life flows. These spaces are given more meaning by time-dependent parameters.MethodologyThe method used in this research is descriptive-analytical. In order to collect information and meet the required criteria and metrics, the methods of sensory richness and library information collection were used along with the available books and articles. To carry out field experimentations, the methods of observation and interview were used along with extensive oral questions about the quality of sensory richness, photography, and compilation. The sense-walking and sensory notation methods were used as data collection tools. At first, the library information collection method was used in order to achieve different quality dimensions of sensory richness. The two case studies considered in this research involve Tehran Grand Bazaar and Bamland Shopping Center in Tehran, Iran.Results and DiscussionThe sense of eyesight won the first place in both study areas, although it could be said to be more affected in Bamland Shopping Center than in Tehran Grand Bazaar, with a difference of 3 points. The remarkable point about Tehran Grand Bazaar is that the senses of eyesight and hearing have been given equal points there. This means that the two senses are equally involved in this area, while the second priority in Bamland Shopping Center concerns the sense of touch. The sense of smell, with 18 points, is the second priority in the study area of Tehran Grand Bazaar. The third priority in Bamland Shopping Center pertains to the sense of hearing. The senses of taste and touch are ranked third in Tehran Grand Bazaar, with a score of 14, while the senses of smell and taste are ranked fourth and fifth in Bamland Shopping Center, respectively.ConclusionAs stimulating elements, the five senses affect human perception and behavior in the urban space as well as its quality so that the use of different senses leads to a deeper relationship between man and space. As a result, a better perception of the environment is obtained. The qualitative levels of the components of sensory richness were examined and compared to answer the main question of the research, i.e. what changes have been made to urban designers and planners’ concern for the qualitative components of sensory richness in the design of commercial spaces in Tehran. It can be stated that better sensory richness with greater variety has been provided in Tehran Grand Bazaar, but the concern for sensory richness has not continued in all dimensions in a modern complex such as Bamland Shopping Center. In both cases, the sense of sight is ranked first, and most environmental stimuli pertain to this sense. There is greater variety in sensory stimuli in the study area of Tehran Grand Bazaar, and more attention than to the other senses is paid to sight and hearing, which are ranked almost equally. In the study area of Bamland Shopping Center, however, the second most involved sense after sight is the sense of touch, and fewer senses are involved overall. It is also noteworthy that the sense of sight has received a higher score in Bamland Shopping Center than in Tehran Grand Bazaar. This problem can be interpreted in terms of the idea that the visual dimension of the environment has received greater attention in today’s designs, and the other senses have been neglected to some extent by architects, landscape architects, and urban designers.
