In life, we map our memories with the experiences we’ve had which are stimulated by different senses. We tend to remember the memories that have sensitized stimuli to our brain compared to the habituated ones that we are actually used to. Although memories are ephemeral in quality, you are your memories; like the ever old saying, ‘you grow through what you go through’.
We are constantly trying to capture memories, either by hoarding pictures on our phones, or penning them down on our journals, or writing a blog post which at the moment is making me well aware that this is only a passing moment in life; one that I’ll look back at and remember the exact environ around me, including the sight, the sound, the smell and even touch. By heightening my senses with music, or creating an ambient setting for me to continue writing this post, I’m etching a memory quite strongly which I’d tend to recall better than an ordinary experience with a low stimulus to my senses.
An experience that can trigger almost all of our five senses is one of the most memorable experiences we can have, be it a good or a bad one. Individually, my experience and memory of a moment will vary from the person I experienced the same moment with. Capturing the very same moment, although mapped by the same senses will differ on what triggers which sense the most for each of us. On a general note, it could trigger a similar experience for both of us.
A more concrete form of capturing memory is vastly seen in architecture. A monument to memorialize an event, a gravestone to remember a beloved one, museums to depict the rich past which are some of the potent ways of capturing a memory in architecture. These spaces however have a monotonous tone to them because they have a vastly similar feel to fit the same function. If these spaces were to trigger all our senses to heighten our experience, it could be a memorable experience that could market itself better than any other means of promotion.
To decipher this better, I graphically analyzed how three different projects types cater to the five senses by plotting the five senses on the x-axis and rating the experience out of 5 on the y-axis:
A museum:
A ‘do not touch sign’ is the first disappointment we walk into when we enter a museum. The sight is so overwhelming sometimes, there’s no direction as to where to begin and end because most of what is catered to within a museum is to our sight. The sound of silence or whispers starts to ironically seem louder, which I believe is the second best trigger to our senses within the same space of a museum. The smell also could be strong depending on the use of materials, display, and the crowd.
A graveyard:
Personally, I would avoid touching a gravestone because there is a certain fear factor to it. The smell is however quite blatant especially when the grass has been freshly cut, or the grave is frequently visited to be adorned with flowers, or even just the overgrown landscape around. The sound again can get eerily silent, while sight is what strikes us first, and the most amongst our five senses.
A theme Park:
Consider a roller coaster, in which case, the vibration keeps you hooked on the ride even if you tend to close your eyes from the fear of riding it. There could either be a gush of wind that cuts off your sense of smell, or there could be a strong stench of sweat or barf making you feel sick as well. However, the sound and sight can be so overwhelming, they could just die down the other senses.
From this study, I concluded that a theme park catered to most of our senses in a heightened manner, therefore always making it a memorable experience, whilst the other two experiences are pretty mellow in our minds.
This struck me with a revelation of an idea to compare the different design projects I’ve worked on, and how I’ve mostly catered to the visual appeal. I took a snippet of one of my projects from my professional experience backed with a sturdy concept worked around the work that the clients executed.
SEA6:
On a brief note, Sea6 is a biofuel company based in Bangalore that focuses on the “macroalgal” fuel source of seaweed. The company’s primary focus is to derive ethanol fuel from seaweed (particularly red seaweed) that can replace non-renewable energy sources commonly derived from fossil fuels.
CONCEPT:
Using materials to represent the sea which is the source of their raw materials.
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