COLLECTION of ARTICLES on MINIMALISM in DESIGN

Post 56 -by Gautam Shah

These 21 articles are from my Micro Blog site https://wordpress.com/ The Topics relate to #Minimalism, #Functionalism, #Frugality, #Brevity, #Abstract #Reductionism. The second list are articles of post Dec2021 period which are NOT included here.

105 POINT or BINDU
192 MINIMALISM IN DESIGN
219 FRUGALITY IN DESIGN
275 BREVITY in DESIGN EXPRESSION
316 APARIGRAHA and MINIMALISM
426 FUNCTIONAL ADEQUACY
455 FUNCTIONALISM in DESIGN
569 SYMBOL to SYMBOLISM
595 ABSTRACTION for COMMUNICATION
640 ABSTRACTION in ART
649 ANEKANTAVADA
700 MEANING of ABSTRACT
780 CONVERGENCE vs DIVERGENCE
840 HORROR VACUI versus AMOR VACUI
934 HORROR VACUI
978 STATE of NOTHINGNESS
1226 SHUNYATA or NOTHINGNESS
1151 EVOLVING CONCEPT of FUNCTIONALISM
1159 SUPERFLUOUS in DESIGN
1175 SPARTAN LIFESTYLE
1203 MICROCOSM

1262 VACUI and BUILT SPACE OCCUPATION
1295 MAXIMISING and MINIMISING the INCLUSIONS
1339 FUNCTIONALISM to MONUMENTALISM in DESIGN
1350 SILHOUETTE -minimalist presentation
1362 MINIMALISM versus MAXIMALISM
1524 MINIMALIST EXPRESSIONS
1678 PHENOMENOLOGY and REDUCTIONISM
1679 IMPLICIT-EXPLICIT ASPECTS of DESIGN
1682 BREVITY in EXPRESSION
1683 DISRUPTIVE THINKING

105 POINT or BINDU
According to Indian traditions point is the Shiva, a Bindu where consciousness (all senses), converges, and from which creation begins. Bindu (centre of the forehead) is the focal point of all perceptions (like two eyes (seeing), two ears (listening), nose (aural) and mouth (taste), and the pervasive sense of touch) converge here to complete the cognition. Hindu ritual design of Yantra and Mandala have a focus. A bindu is the portal, not an edge of a threshold but a point. It is beyond or out of the mind, a realm, from where time, space, and causality manifests. Bindu means point or dot; the word is derived from the root verb ‘bhid’ or ‘bhind’, which means to burst, to break through. Piercing, breaking, or bursting through the bindu is the last stage of attainment. A bindu is described as the Void or Shiv (the Nucleus) suffused with the Shakti (Electrons?).

192 MINIMALISM IN DESIGN
An Expression to be effective requires condensation and rearrangement of the content. The minimalism takes many different forms, in Art, it takes abstraction of form or story, in Writing, it turns to recitable poetry, and in Built forms (product design and Architecture) it needs to remain steadfast with sheer functionality.
In audio-visual expression, the re-enactions are never faithful to the original, and yet the improvisation can be creative. For minimalism, the productivity is just the frugal use of means, but efficiency of the process. Minimalism is the distinctive impression created through the space and time scales. ‘In design, clarity trumps the brevity’.
The word Frugality stands against Substantial. A thing, substantial, is more ‘down to the earth’, but conversely a minimal entity is infinitesimal or spectral.
Bauhaus was about rejecting the unnecessary things that had begun to undermine the functionality of designed objects. Minimalists ask, What can we strip away without losing the purpose and identity? This is in stark contrast to Redesign Engineering ideology, which ask, What can be redefined? And the search is not a “Eureka”, but adopting and improvising the operative efficiency available in competitive offerings.

219 FRUGALITY in DESIGN 
Striping entities of all unnecessary elements has been a design attitude since nearly a century. The attitude formed in an age when decorations had become cumbersome and concealed the purpose or meaning. The stripping reduced the mass of both, the space and materials. This in turn made the operations (movement, carriage, handling) efficient.
In arts, literature, performing arts and design, lot of empty or ethereal spaces were left over, due to use of fewest and barest essentials for expression. The process, however, affected the meaning that elemental vocabulary offered. Earlier, vast array of elements camouflaged the chances of multiple interpretations. But striped entities were prone to multiple and de-constructive interpretations. These proved devastating. Some allowed such destruction as the game of abstraction and privilege of the ‘other party’.
As furtherance to the ‘stripped or minimal approach, creators stop short of adding any interpretive expressions. Creation is left to the perceiver or the stakeholders. ‘Frugality in Design was never inspired by poverty or carried out for austerity’.
In reality the Frugality in Design has been more a superfluous process. Instead of removing the unnecessary, simplicity is achieved by adopting simple shapes, monochromatic primary colours, directional textures, greater use of intervening spaces, anonymous styling.

275 BREVITY in DESIGN EXPRESSION
Brevity in Design relates to two fundamental measures, the TIME and SPACE. And the calibration of both, leads to efficiency. Brevity in architecture is a reflection of minimalism. It comes from a yearning to ‘shed weight’ so as to be less ‘substantial’. In architecture (and also other forms of design) ‘substantial’ translates into monumental or elaborate. A monumental entity, must confirm to the stabilizing force of gravity, and so should be large and wide-based. An elaborate entity could be multi-functional or multi-faceted, satisfying many needs.
The superfluous ‘becomes intense and dense’ in ‘classical ages’ that reappraisal becomes necessary not to discipline it but to discover the ‘new’. But such pursuit for Brevity starts at personal level, and is initially a preconception. By the time the originator and followers understand the means and methods of it, it may become a style weighed down by ‘substantial’.
Brevity as a doctrine has many subscriptive forms, like, ABC art, minimal art, reductivism, rejective art, De Stijl, neo-plasticism, Bauhaus movement, minimalism, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe’ Less Is More and Traditional Japanese art.
Brevity (First attested in English in 1509)has origins from Latin -brevitās or brevitātem, Anglo-Norman brevité, Old French brieveté (=br -brave + evity -evidence).

316 APARIGRAHA and MINIMALISM
Aparigraha means non-possessiveness or being non-greedy. Aparigraha is the opposite of Parigraha, which means, to amass, crave, seek or seize material possessions.
Aparigraha is one of the virtues in #Jainism. It is also one of the five vows that both the householders (Sravaka) and ascetics must observe. Aparigraha is a desirable self restraint and sincerity (as a fellow citizen) for possessing what is absolutely necessary and so minimum.
(#Jainism -a religion in India, originating in roughly the same time span as Buddhism).
American scholar Richard Gregg coined the term ‘voluntary simplicity’ to describe a lifestyle purged of the inessential. My space is small but my life is big.
The concept of minimalist design was to strip everything down to its essential quality and thereby achieve simplicity. Thereafter nothing can be eliminated ‘to simplify or improve the design’. Minimalists not only ‘reconsider’ the physical qualities but spiritual meaning also.
This usually creates a design statement that is very frugal and personal. And it requires converts, who can understand, believe and accept it. If you are a design service provider that needs spirit and energy of a crusader.

426 FUNCTIONAL ADEQUACY
A space is perceived to be small, adequate or large in terms of the ergonomic facilitation for various tasks. Occupation of spaces with unusual proportions (combinations of lengths, widths, and height) and sizes require extra efforts of functional accommodation.
Functional adequacy of a space is checked for: tasks conduction, social interactions, degree of proximity for intimacy and privacy, security, cognition, physical reach, communication and expression.
A space must offer adequate sensorial responses, such as echoes, reverberation, reflection, illumination, glare, vision. Space adequacy offers social interactions, and supports expression and communication. Space size and shape bear upon the intimacy and privacy inhabitants need.
Same space may be experienced to be of a different size depending on the recent experience. Functional adequacy of a space is also determined by the physical and cognitive reach. Former is important for functional needs, but the later one offers sensorial satisfaction. For both, the quality and depth or extent can be modulated by reach tools.

455 FUNCTIONALISM in DESIGN
In the wake of World War I, an international functionalist Design movement emerged, riding on the wave of Modernism. This was triggered by consumer product periodicals that had wide base of female subscribers.
The movement was for achieving purity in design of a product through functional relevance. This was gaining momentum with a similar trend in art, architecture and craft-artefacts. It was for reduction and restrain with the aim to remove the unnecessary and put the essential in the spotlight. These trends in Design were confirming to than current ideas of socialism and humanism.
Louis Sullivan’s 1896, idea of ‘form ever follows function’ was more metaphysical than being practical to users’ needs. It was more reflective of ‘lack of (‘excessive’) ornamentation. Some treated as ‘bald and brutal’ manner. Philip Johnson daringly ‘held that the profession has no functional responsibility whatsoever’. The postmodern architect Peter Eisenman was more extreme, ‘I don’t do function.’
From all these personal interpretations products, art and architecture began to rely of structural stresses as expressed through straight line and right-angled geometry. This was bereft of emotion, as good design should be ‘clear and unobtrusive.’ The success of functional design was in the rationality and cost effectiveness, as it removed wastage of space and materials.

569 SYMBOL to SYMBOLISM
The word symbol derives from the Greek word σύμβολον symbolon or symballein which means to put or throw together. An object like decorated pottery was cut in half and given to two different people, who were to reassemble (throw together) the two halves for the acknowledgement of the alliance.
Symbol was a token used in comparison to determine if something is genuine. A symbol is a mark, sign or expression that meant something that stands for something else. It indicates an idea, object, or relationship.
First symbols were linked representations of the original, but over a period and after profuse usage, multiple conversions take place. Each such conversion diffuses the original trace, and changes the meaning and intention. Each such transition made the symbols extra ordinary brief and economic expression. Symbols have region or culture specific relevance and so serve a finite purpose in a time-space frame. Symbols have transient relevance.
Symbols are essentially meant for abridgement of expression, where both, the conveyance (time) and storage (space) are to be economized.
Symbolism as a style of expression was exploited in literature, painting and many other fields. It was largely a reaction against the naturalism and realism, anti-idealistic styles of 1800s ‘Symbolists believed that art should represent absolute truths that could only be described indirectly.’ Symbolists, were not kind to ‘plain meanings, simplistic interpretations, over-sentimentality and matter-of-fact description’. Their agenda was to ‘depict not the thing, but the effect it produces’.
The symbolist painters relied on imagery which was very personal with unusual forms. They ended up supporting a philosophy, than launching an influence. Symbolism in art influenced the expressionism and surrealism.

595 ABSTRACTION for COMMUNICATION
Communication occurs through writing, orally, gestural deliveries and through metaphors or graphics. Authors usually have some knowledge about the target audience.
All communications use spatial or temporal assets and so need to have minimal content. The tradition is ancient one, as knowledge was conveyed orally as Shrut Gyan’ (Vedic mantras are in easy to remember and in recitable form).
For content rationalization several strategies are resorted to. The contents are abstracted by removing all time-space gaps and less important information. The language in Internet chat-rooms, whats-app, etc. shows the nature of abstraction spreading across the world. Here common words are shortened by eliminating vowels and are denoted by their phonemes. Symbols and metaphors are also used to squeeze the contents.
The contents are sequenced, with time as the operative element. Oral or gestural deliveries are sequenced in time and so are lineal. Writings can have non-lineal arrangement if aided indexing. Graphical formats are impressionistic, rely on the holistic effect.
The focus of abstraction and communication are through the retrieval and re-enactment of content. So what one strongly feels, desires, believes, becomes the force-de-majeure.
For frugality of expression beginning with a pre declaration or concluding with a definitive statement
The contents can be minimized by forming bridges (e.g. hyperlinks, bibliographies, index) to create a seamless statement or a larger concept. A well linked or cited content vouches its authenticity through circumstantial referencing.

640 ABSTRACTION in ART
Abstraction is a process of removing irrelevant appendages from the idea, thought or concept. This reduces the complexity and increase efficiency.
Abstraction in Art began with the removal or de-emphasis of the background or the context. This allowed the thematic concept to be perceived not just distinctly but in a different manner. The abstract Art was more concerned with the later. The newness of the object independently of its associations or attributes provided an exciting option to impressionism and expressionism. Both the -isms were substantially dependent on negation through colour, texture, form depiction, foreground-background delimitation, depth representation with intensities, perspective or scaling, and environmental connections like light and shadows.
Word Abstract derives from the Latin Abstrahere =to divert and Aabstractus =drawn away, drag away, detach, pull away, divert. It is an assimilated form of Ab =off, away from + Trahere =to draw.In computer programming abstraction hides all but the relevant data about an object.
Acute abstraction takes away the reality. The subject is not sought or to be recognized. It has no bearing of perception like top-bottom, left-right, real or mirror. But on massing the abstract creations, do reflect the creator and that becomes the style. It is the mannerism that becomes universal. But before that universalism sets in the Art moves to something New.

649 ANEKANTAVADA
The word ‘anekaāntavāda’ is a compound of two Sanskrit words: anekānta and vāda. The word anekānta itself is composed of three root words, ‘an’ (not), ‘eka’ (one) and ‘anta’ (end, side). These three together connote ‘not one ended’, ‘sided’, ‘many-sidedness’, ‘manifoldness’ or ‘many pointedness’.
According to ‘Jain’ (Indian religion that originated in roughly the same time span as Buddhism) doctrine, there is no absolute truth or reality. Anekantavada has also been interpreted, to mean non-absolutism. It is said no single concept can describe the nature of existence and the absolute truth.
Every truth is incomplete, and at best a partial truth. The ultimate truth and reality, if any, are complex and multi faceted. All knowledge must be qualified in many ways, including being affirmed and denied. Anekantavada is a fundamental doctrine of Jainism.
According Jainism reality has many facets, which are difficult to be perceived by one person or through several cycles of life. Different people interpret different aspects of it. Their conclusions are good for them and in the time-space context.
Reality is what we perceive and also of what we do not perceive. We cannot understand the reality unless we are ready to accept both. So all conditions have potentials of many truths.

700 MEANING of ABSTRACT
The word abstract in fine arts is something that lacks representational qualities and so difficult to understand or obscure (since 1400AD). Expressionism in art was conditioned representation but it graduated to ‘uninhibited approach’ for expression of things that were essential, minimal and carried a personal meaning. A personal meaning that the creator perhaps branded with a title but never had to elaborate or justify. Abstract refers to creations not concerned with the literal depiction of things from the nominal world of perception. The tag abstract is being substantively used since 1920 (for works of Kandinsky and others).
Abstract is meant to be withdrawn, separated, pulled away or detached, content in ‘metaphoric’ form. But the other realm of the metaphor is unavailable. Abstraction is a graduated process. The creative person, perhaps has already seen several sequential earlier versions, and that offers not just greater maturity but more an abstractive result.
The abstraction though detests confirmation of any order is now getting classed into several categories. Intensional deconstruction of scale, form, proportions, colour, texture, motifs, geometry, etc. have led to new ways of abstractions. An abstraction is seen as a process condensation and selective or experimental elimination. But synthesis leaves out some trail of process and so not favoured. It also abhors the specification or explanation. But as said in Architecture, ‘one cannot conceive anything that is un-contractible’. Reality is omnipresent.
Abstraction generates images that are not easy to connect to the past, in the same manner things that are unfamiliar seem to be abstract.
Medieval Latin word abstractus, and its past participle of abstrahere means to drag, pull, take away or remove. Abstraction, from the Latin, is the process of taking away or removing characteristics from something in order to reduce it to a set of essential characteristics. Abstraction turns physical things to nonphysical entities like ideas. In science abstraction involves synthesis (several) theories into one general theory.
In programming software the process of abstraction means identification of routine processes and indexing them as objects.

780 CONVERGENCE vs DIVERGENCE
Convergence means bringing together many different things together for a conceptual or real whole. The ideal for convergence is Bindu or Point. In Indian philosophy a Bindu is described in two distinct forms, Jyot (light) Bindu & Naad (sound) Bindu. Both, as sensorial phenomenons are perceived through dual nodes, but cognised as a single entity.
Convergence is assimilation of things or energies, and reducing or condensing to a point. The act of focussing forces one to reject the unessential. Convergence is a process of rationalization, where connections have little meaning. Connections are time and space interventions with own protocols of negotiation. When the connections get converged, there is greater chance of calescence.
Design rarely emerges from convergence of ideas, concepts about styles, manners, materials or processes. Design emerges from radical divergence, something that is not mundane, presupposed or expected. To include that element of divergence, one must create a conceptual whole and then try to intervene with a divergent element. Divergence allows one to move far and apart.
Convergence is the ability to turn the two eyes or ears to focus -Jyot (light) Bindu & Naad (sound) Bindu. The question arises here, Why only these two senses are involved in convergence? The Vision and Sound are the two sensualities that can configure the space and time.
Convergence stimulates one towards inclusive design. But these can be irrelevant and without meaning. It may even be lost or forgotten. But some inspirational indulgence can endow a new character. It becomes the design signature.

840 HORROR VACUI versus AMOR VACUI
Horror Vacui denotes a ‘fear of empty space’, and its antonym Amor Vacui is the reverence for emptiness. The later are White Spaces, meaning ‘unoccupied intervening spaces’.
In the Victorian, Baroque and Georgian eras, affluence was seen in embellishments, and poverty was reflected in absence of the ‘superfluous’. The embellishments reflected resources, culture and experience. Emptiness was ‘Spartan’ or simplicity.
In all forms of expressions, arts, crafts, literature, music, drama, the space, time, opportunities or media were few and expensive. Oral knowledge or ‘Shrut-Gyan’ was crammed as recite-able stanzas, composite words and metaphoric expressions. Writing media paper and printing were once scarce, resulting in choked paper layouts. Art paintings, mosaic murals and stained glasses were packed with characters, animals, angels, motifs, background scenery with buildings and trees.
It was Aristotle who theorized that ‘nature abhors an empty space’. It was observed that a physical vacuum is impossible or a state of nothingness does not exist.
Italian art critic and scholar Mario Praz used ‘Horror Vacui’ as term to ‘describe the excessive use of ornament in design during the Victorian age’. Islamic mosaic decorations on building were at both extremes, as a simple wall colourant and motif laden patterns. Other examples ‘Horror Vacui’ includes carpets, Victorian interiors, and modern day Road signage in Tokyo and New York Times square plaza.
Now during the past two centuries decoration has become a dirty word followed by concepts like form follows function and less is more. The value of the whitespace or intervening time-space distancing has emerged vigorously. The ‘busyness’ of content is not necessarily attention catching. Leonardo da Vinci had foreseen this by saying, ‘simplicity is the ultimate sophistication’.
On stage, physical set properties are now ‘thinner’ replaced by sound, illumination control, use of visual dynamics of movements and inclusion of VR. In music silent gaps have become emphatic.
White space is to be regarded as an active element, not a passive background.’- Jan Tschichold.

934 HORROR VACUI
Horror Vacui is a Latin term meaning ‘fear of empty space’. Its near equivalent term Kenophobia, is a Greek term meaning ‘fear of the empty’. It relates to art, architecture, science, music, stage performances and many other expressions where unused spaces or moments abound. It is a very old recognition of human mentality, to fill up entire space. Aristotle ideated, the term saying ‘vacuum is impossible as nature abhors an empty space’.
The term has been interpreted differently and often recognised subconsciously. The problem of emptiness has primarily been an issue of tension that occurs ‘when spaces and moments do not connect’. The immediacy of neighbouring elements is defined by many things like the sensorial distancing, thematic identity (size, form colour, texture, etc.), characteristic indicators of direction, movement, etc. To imply emptiness, these may be avoided consciously or misplaced. One must recognise the intermediate emptiness for its value of tensileness.
The creator’s mentality, even if it is to persist with formation of the emptiness, the next generation will not tolerate the intermediate silence and fill it up with some thing. ‘Horror vacui uses high levels of detail to contrast with the sublime unknown.’
Horror vacui meant the fear of an empty space, so its antonym was Amor vacui -the worship of emptiness. White space is to be regarded as an active element, not a passive background.’ -Jan Tschichold.

978 STATE of NOTHINGNESS

Nothingness has been often the pursuit to reduce the content (physical and metaphysical). To achieve a state of nothingness, one needs to achieve voidness, vacuity, emptiness or hollowness. Buddhist Pali Canon terms nothingness as a state of Sunyata (emptiness), in three different context 1. as a ‘meditative dwelling’, 2. as an attribute of objects, and 3. as a type of awareness-release.
According to Shi Huifeng, the terms, void (rittaka), hollow (tucchaka), and coreless (asaraka) are used to refer to words and things which are non essential, worthless, deceptive, false or vain.
The sense of nothingness emerges with realization of worthlessness and vacuousness, being the form of Maya (illusion or appearance of the phenomenal world).
Since the times of Parmenides (5th BC ), there is a debate, if an empty world is possible, whether there are vacuums, and about the nature of privations and negation.
Nothingness, as a concept has become part of the ‘meditative dwelling’, to discard things that are irrelevant.
Kazimir Malevich developed the concept of Suprematism, to gain primacy of pure feeling in creative art. He created ‘a suprematist grammar based on fundamental geometric forms, the square and the circle’. These ideas were in contrast with positions of Constructivism and Materialism. Former was concerned with utilitarian strategies of adapting art to the principles of functional organization, whereas the later, expected the artist to be a constructor ‘of organizing life in all of its aspects’. All three ideological movements were reacted through, Deconstructivism. This was a movement of the1980s. It intentionally gives an impression of the fragmentation to break the formal order by absence of obvious harmony, continuity, or symmetry.
To achieve state of nothingness one has to form a meditative dwelling, a metaphysical object. But Artists, Architects or Designers who express things through the attribute of objects, cannot realize a real or unreal (Maya) dwelling out of nothing.

1226 SHUNYATA or NOTHINGNESS
There is classical Buddhist text Milinda-Panha (1st C BCE), where Milinda =King Menander of Bactria, Greece and Panha =questions or queries in Pali. It describes a dialogue between King Menander of Bactria and a sage named Nagasena.
Menander administered a large territory in the NW regions of the Indian Subcontinent from his capital at Sagala. He was a covert to Greco-Buddhism. Many of Menander’s coins have been unearthed in the region.
Nagasena asked the King about his chariot and then described taking the chariot apart. Was the thing called a chariot still a chariot if you took off its wheels? Or its axles? At exactly what point does the chariot reaches a state of Nothingness? The chariot is a designation given to a phenomenon, and there is no inherent chariot-nature, dwelling in the chariot.
Nagarjuna (born 150BCE) was Indian Mahayana, Buddhist thinker, scholar-saint and philosopher. Nagarjuna’s major thematic focus is the concept of Shunyata (Shoonyata =emptiness, vacuity, voidness, devoidness, hollowness, coreless).
In Buddhist texts, Shunyata or emptiness is described, 1 as a meditative dwelling, 2 as an attribute of objects, and 3 as a type of awareness. Similarly the manifestations of emptiness are form -‘a lump of foam’, sensation -‘water bubble’, perception -‘mirage’, formations -‘a plantain tree’ and cognition -‘magical illusion or maya’.
Emptiness is a Nirvana like state. But in visual and other performing arts, emptiness in time and space, both are abhorred. Horror Vacui (Latin for ‘fear of emptiness’ -Kenophobia), is occupying every moment and extent. Ref: Horror Vacui -https://designsynopsis.wordpress.com/2021/01/07/934-horror-vacui/

1151 EVOLVING CONCEPT of FUNCTIONALISM
Functionalism in Design is a concept as old as the human civilization. Every human creation over the age stagnates, refuses to change for new materials and rediscover new technologies. The society also fails to adopt new forms or even accept new functions for the impressive new experiences.
The Greek, Egyptian, Mycenaean, Roman, each culture had own comfortable materials, technologies and favoured forms. Each culture though perceived these to be lacking in something. It was realized that some logical deduction was necessary to adopt it. The rational of simplicity were in the form reductionism.
The need to work on the ‘basics’, was defined by Vitruvius as ‘utilitas’ (translated as ‘commodity, convenience or utility). And the ‘utilitas’ were to offer ‘venustas’ (beauty) and ‘firmitas’ (firmness). He claimed buildings needed to be useful, stable, and beautiful.
Gothic buildings rose to modify the cumbersome and claustrophobic Romanesque buildings with spaces of ‘simpler’ configurations’. Augustus Welby Pugin (Gothic Revival stylist Architect 1812-1852) wrote ‘there should be no features about a building which are not necessary for convenience, construction, or propriety’ and ‘all ornament should consist of enrichment of the essential construction of the building’.
The historical revivalism of architectural styles had little to offer in 19 C to the new needs of developing world, in terms of what Vitruvius had said for the ‘utilitas’.
The ‘form follows function’ by Louis Sullivan, in the 1880s, in 1920s ‘house is a machine for living’ by Le Corbusier, and many others have defined the functionalism with diverse and partly contradictory artistic and social terms. Everyone began to justify their creations to be more functional. There were many similar concepts, reductionism, austere-ism, functionalism, minimalism, formalism (form for form’s sake).

1159 SUPERFLUOUS in DESIGN 
It is very difficult to isolate any part, component, element or a system as superfluous from an enacted Design. The isolation could be physical dissection or metaphysical disregard or delusion. An enacted Design is an integrated entity that has turned holistic, complete and unique in every sense. The Design process has nothing ‘beyond what is needed, un-necessary, extra, too much, or obsolete.
The word, superfluous comes from Latin, it derives from, super (‘over’) + fluere (‘to flow’), literally =‘overflowing’.
In simple terms, ornaments or embellishments are elements that are not structural, that is perceived to be >less purposive, functional or relevant<. Three categories of superfluous entities in any enacted design can be sensed, such as, Mimetic, (Imitative), Symbolic (metaphoric significance), and Extrinsic (emergent).
The Mimetic entity is the imported one, as the best fit into a situation or experimental. The content is gestated, so is difficult to trace the origins. There is rare realization that it is not ethnic, because of its impressionistic character. The process matures to uses for new materials, geometry, form and spatial configurations.
The Symbolic entity is well-matured design enaction, in part or whole. To accept, it needs to be separated from original setting, and customise it. Such transplantation could occur as the motifs forming new patterns that can free it up from the metaphoric moorings.
Extrinsic entities are products of adaption, usually post enaction of the Design, carried out by non-designers, other designers or users. It is an instant gratification for change, new experience, additional functionality or being relevant to the surroundings.
Superfluous entities can also be classified as
1 Things that follow building’s fundamental geometry, shape, size, contour, form, etc., and enrich them.
2 Things that reinforce the symbolic value of the design by helping build certain type of narrative.
3 Things that modulate the form and functionality of a design, by offering values like style, theme, consistency, novelty, etc.

1175 SPARTAN LIFESTYLE
Sparta, ancient Greek city-state had a reputation of military culture, with a severe and highly disciplined way of life, lacking many means of comforts. Greece had two city states, Athens, with rich or affluent life versus Sparta with ascetical life. The Spartans lived in southern Greece, from 650BC to 396 AD. Today Spartan life reflects sternly disciplined and rigorously simple, frugal, or austere living.
For Spartans, character, honour and virtue were important. They did not trust philosophers or intellectuals, believing that wisdom should be displayed through deeds. The Spartans were notoriously Laconic (=use of a minimum of words, concise), a word which comes from Laconia, (the region of Sparta). Spartan king ALCAMENES led an austere life, because a noble man lives according to reason, rather than according to his desires.
Spartan art and architecture were beautifully rendered, which is fairly contradictory to belief about the lifestyle.
Spartan way of life was frugal or minimal compared with the Athenian, the substantial. A minimal entity, is not necessarily infinitesimal or spectral, but rather selectively eliminatory (strip-down the unessential) or of denial. For such enforcement, a strong and singular belief must prevail. For Spartans, it was a case of survival as much as political proliferation.

1203 MICROCOSM 
Microcosm is a perceptual entity that replicates a larger system. It is often considered as a contrasting concept of Macrocosm. A Tamil (Indian Language) line explains as ‘Andaththil Ullathu Pindathilum Ullathu’ and a Sanskrit line describes ‘Yat Pinde Tad Brahmaande’, both meaning the same =. What is in you, is the same as the Universe.
Microcosm and Macrocosm, both reflect the complexity of things, at whatever the scale. This shows the limitations of human thought and distinct incapacity to understand the complex processes. At both the levels, things that cannot be comprehended easily, explained ‘logically’ and universally applied, to all conditions and situations, find an inclusive approach or justification.
The analogy between the whole and its parts (or parts and the whole) served many purposes, such as to develop cosmology where the metaphysical relationship between man and universe can be perceived. Such a postulation helped find a space for the God and place for the smallest live thing, material objects or even metaphorical things like ideas, beliefs or concepts. It helped universe for the soul to exist.
The word microcosm has been discussed in many cultures over the ages. Microcosm derives from Latin microcosmus where mikrós=small, and kosmos =world. The concept of microcosm was known in Arabic as ʿālam aghīr, in Hebrew as olam katan, and in Latin as minor mundus.

TACTILE PERCEPTION

Post 55 -by Gautam Shah

(Lecture series: Space Perception -Article-IX of 15 —delayed documentation)

.

Our Sense of Touch is controlled by a complex somatosensory system. It is a network of sensory neurons and neural pathways that responds to changes both, at the surface or inside the body. It covers all the tactile sensations, like cold, hot, smooth, rough, pressure, tickle, itch, pain, vibrations, etc. The Tactile experiences act as reinforces for other sensorial encounters. Tactile or touch perception not only modulates our experience of objects but, senses the affectations of the climate. A touch receptor node is very adaptive, as it can immediately senses the changes. These changes include start and end of the touching and any variation within it.

All sensorial nodes of perception are fairly localized, except the touch. Touch nodes are fairly spread across the body, though some of the body parts are more sensitive (face, hands -finger tips) than others. Tactile perception, if corroborated by other sensory perception, it reinforces the experience, but this is not a perquisite.

Typically, the perception of textures of Visual and Touch, need mutual confirmation. So we try to feel the surface as soon as we have seen it. Tactile experiences are generally real, but could be presumptive. We tend to presume or relate certain experience under specific environmental conditions. Brightness and warmth or darkness and coolness are co-related. Similarly air movement (on skin) and freshness (smell), are related due to dilution of foul air. Elevation (territorial) is sensed by body as drop (or rise) of air pressure, but reinforced by the reduced (or increased) proportions of oxygen in breathing.

Experience of Texture as touch, have several components, like the roughness, direction of grain, movement direction of the body limb, surface temperature, moisture, immediate pre-experience, past remembrancers and associated environmental conditions. All these act as arousal or diffusing factors.

Perception of Visual texture depends, degree of gloss, colour, angles of illumination, and past touch associations like warmth, stiffness, etc. The expectations for a visual texture as aroused for a certain tactile experience, plays a great role (or other way around, the expectations for a tactile texture as aroused by a specific visual encounter). The dis-confirmation between the expectations and real experience is always very exciting an affair.

The exciting affair is based on Two factors. The Contrast (expectation versus real experience) is remarkably acute, or the experience is Confirmative. One can design for the tactile-visual experiences for both, non-affirmation or confirmation. With e-commerce, we have to perceive the tactile details from only visual feed. We learn to judge the texture by relying on past experiences, but the visual feeds in e-commerce are continually manipulated, and so, impressionistic.

While dealing with products, the textures are experienced through not just hands, but for personal or wearable items the contact with the relevant skin areas is involved. ‘Perception of touch has Three manifests. 1 Passive touch, where one is being touched like the caress (being touched upon), 2 Active touch, where one discovers the touch as a voluntary action, but explores it further, and 3 Interactive touch occurs with the encouraging response.

Massage is a tactile craft of relaxing body muscles. It is carried out by hand, feet, knees, heated stones, woods, etc. and using many different mediums, like hot air, smoke, water, oils, extracts, flour dough, vibrations etc. The earliest word for massage in Sumerian and Akkadian texts of Mesopotamia was muššu’u. Massage word comes from the French massage (=friction of kneading) and from the Arabic word massa (=to touch or feel). There is another word of the Portuguese origin, amassar (=knead), from the Latin massa (=mass or dough)”, from the Greek verb massō (=to handle, touch, to work with the hands, to knead dough). A distinctive words in ancient Greek for massage was anatripsis, and the Latin word frictio.

Touch is closely related to the identity of Five basic elements: Fire, Air, Water, Earth, Sky (nothingness). Each of these is experienced through Touch. Fire=warmth, Air=pressure, Water=moisture, coolness, Earth=Energy and Sky=life. The connections and interpretations vary from culture to culture, but all are part of spiritual, religious and human interaction practices of the world.

Commercial merchandise managers encourage, one to try out the clothes, shoes, food items, etc. Here not just the ‘feel’, but handling or ruffling sounds, smells, electric charge, etc. reinforce the experience. To these reinforcements the ambience of place adds to the experience. These are some of the sensorial reinforcements not available in e-commerce or communicable media. Perhaps future will transmit such experiences.

The Food Experiences are formed of several factors, such as visual, audio and tactile (hand and in the mouth -chewing, turning around with tongue adding of saliva and partial digestion) stimuli. These factors affect consumers’ likes and preferences of eatables. There are several words that describe the food experience as, soft, hard, rough, creamy, crispy, mushy, sticky, lumpy, liquid, solid, etc. These encounters relate to physical properties like density, viscosity, surface tension, and electrical charges, temperature, moisture and other tastes and odours. Food experiences also relate to ambience of the places (formed of place, serviettes, sequencing, gaps or delays and accompaniments).

Dysesthesia or Dysaesthesia =abnormal, inappropriate or unpleasant sensation of touch. The word comes from the Greek word, ‘dys =not-normal’ and ‘aesthesis =sensation’.

Presence or absence of Electrical Charge in objects has a great role in modifying the touch experiences. The objects include materials, products, foods, fabrics, shoes, etc. and architectural elements like table tops, furniture surfaces, floors, knobs, handles, railings, toilets, etc. These may gain charge on contact or on being rubbed (tribo-electric effect #). The charge may remain as potential due to poor conduction. Electric charge from lifeless things may create a detestable feeling. Electric charge is sensed through human to human touch like in case of accidental contact or conscious reach like a handshake, kiss, hug, caress etc. These later, interactions are more pronounced when the contact is casual brush to be shocking or little longer lasting for realization.

# Tribo-electric (tribo=rubbing or friction -Greek) effect is from static electric charge. Its strength depends on the type of material, surface roughness, temperature, etc. When two materials can attract or deject each other depending on, if these are molecularly the same or different.

Vibrations are experienced by skin through the mechanico receptors (The receptors perceive sensations such as pressure, vibrations, and texture). The mechano-receptors in the skin, sense four different stimuli of varied duration. The electro-tactile sensations are felt as vibration, touch, tingling, itching, pinching, pressure, and pain.

‘Merkel cell nerve endings are found in the basal epidermis and hair follicles, perceive low vibrations (5–15 Hz) and deep static touch such as shapes and edges. Tactile corpuscles sense moderate vibrations (10–50 Hz) and light touch. They are located in fingertips and lips. They help read Braille and feel the gentle stimuli. Pacinian corpuscles distinguish rough and soft substances. They react to vibrations around 250 Hz. These react only to sudden stimuli like clothes and hand-held tools. Bulbous corpuscles are slow to react but respond to sustained skin stretch. They have kinesthetic sense and control the finger position, detect slippage of objects, movement etc.’

There are three tactile sensory systems, cutaneous, kinaesthetic and haptic. First two are referred to as tactual (active-passive) perceptions. The Haptic experience is active touch to communicate or recognize objects.

Haptic (from Greek haptikos=Tactile or sense of touch) technology creates an experience of touch-reflex or acknowledgement by creating force, vibration, or motion to the user. It is also called kinaesthetic communication or 3D touch. These are used to control virtual experiences, like remote control of machines and devices (tele-robotics).

Fabric-hand is a collection of several sensory perceptions. It indicates smoothness, compressibility, elasticity, creases, etc. of the textiles. It shapes the aesthetic qualities and perceived comfort of comfort. Drapability manifests from the ‘fabric-hand’. It combines effects of several factors, such as stiffness, flexural rigidity, weight, thickness, etc. Soft fabric drapes closer to the body forming ripples, whereas stiff fabric drapes away from the body. Stiffness of fabric itself depends upon ‘geometrical’ character of the fabric.

.

MEASURING BUILDING WORKS

Post 54 -by Gautam Shah

.

These slides form part of a course in Measuring – Estimating on site works.

.

RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN OBJECTS

Post 53 –by Gautam Shah

(Lecture series: Space Perception -Article-VIII of 15)

.

Perceivers establish several orders of relationships with objects referenced in a space. The objects are sensed as real things, recollections, and intriguing mix of both. The real things, also include physical objects and the perceivers themselves. Both are sensed due the environment. Recollections, as remembrances and dreams, derive from the experiences, and are not dependent on the actual environmental conditions or the presence of physical objects. The real things and recollections often get mixed up due to sensorial and psychical aberrations.

The Relationships between objects in space is seen in many references.

[1]   Objects and the environment form the process of space perception.

The objects and the environment affect each other, and these form the process of space perception. For all humans, affectations are nearly universal, with minor differences due to the physiological conditions (age, sickness, deficiencies, psychical, etc.) and quality of past experiences. Recollections are the impressions of past experiences, but in parts. Recollections occur on cues from the expectations. Expectations and recollections add a new flavour to the space perception.

Our experiences consist of happenings between, 1-real things, 2-real things and metaphysical entities, and 3 between metaphysical entities.

Experiences of First type (between real things) are existential and so manipulable. These are objects that we shift around with sensorial and functional interest. We highlight them by their position (fore-side, backside), comparative placement (near, away, distanced, up, down), controlling the exposure in the space-time (hiding, partially covering, narrowing the window of experience, static, mobile), or by allowing or curtailing the effects of the environment.

Experiences of Second type (between real things and metaphysical entities) occur when certain spatial arrangements and environmental conditions trigger the past associations. Metaphysical entities are already imminent at personal level, but the situational conditions reinforce the experience. Metaphysical elements like, fresh air, moisture, temperature, sound reverberation, absence of background noise, odours, reminds, not only of the past experiences but their associations. Typically sanctimonious spaces, un-kept and abandoned spaces carry a personal meaning, and so are sensed with a subjective interest.

Experiences of Third type (between metaphysical entities) are derivative like, recollections or dreams. These entities have no body and so fuzzy definitions. But the metaphysical elements, can alter the cognition of physical elements. These elements without the body cannot be shifted around and are difficult to recollect in different context. It can be used as theme for new insights into perception. The content is incisive but has limited relevance. The dreams, even if one can recall, have fragile and perishable content.

[2]   The recognition of relationships distinguishes ‘groups’.

The groups are classes of relationships, between objects and between objects and perceivers. The objects or the perceivers, though not in the reference frame, get included. Non existent things come from the remembrances. The relationships are realized across time and space.

Star formations or constellations were recognized as relationships, where the individual elements were separated in depth (distance) by many light years, each individual element shifting, and yet these were observed as consistent patterns by people across the earth and ages.

[3]   Objects have relationships among themselves, and with us (the perceivers).

The relationships are of comparisons, contradictions and for equalization. There are some common relationships such as of size, scale, proximity, change, purpose. The objects are perceived in front or back of others, and so relationships emerge due to characteristic nearness or remoteness in time and space. Objects are perceived to be similar, if different in scale, orientation, slightly deformed (stretched, contracted, warped) or state of completeness. Objects have features that are partly distinct or familiar due to recollections of the past, and so perceivers grasp them easily, immediately or distinctly. The capacity to refurbish perception is subjective, and so the composite value of a frame or sequence remains relevant only to the person and the context.

[4]   Objects are perceived as group, because their position, orientation, shape, size, sensorial qualities, etc. reflect a pattern.

The pattern relates to geometry, spatial scaling or repetitions. The positions of real objects allow recognition of the geometry that is axial or spatial in nature. Usually such a process is difficult, due the effort and time required, but most perceivers have an innate sense of recognizing such patterns. Objects that are distanced from each other may not constitute a pattern, but an object sharply inscribed in memory may do so.

[5]   A group implies that some degree of commonality and diversity exist.

Objects and other things have some commonality within their own classes or types. But we assign common meaning to many diverse things. It is difficult to understand why x and y belonging to different classes, mean same things. These could be a genetic carry-over or a cultural process. Diversity is distinctive and always limited, it translates that everything else is non-diverse or common.

[6]   Using remembrances for characterizing groups in set of objects.

The conception of a nonexistent thing is not possible and so do their recollections. Remembrances cannot occur beyond the reality. So the degree of reality in a set of real objects becomes the only factor for group to emerge. Several recollections of (real) objects happen simultaneously, without any clue of their origin, relevance as of now or in any logical sequence.

[7]   Objects forming a group and persisting in time have a common fate.

Real objects persist longer in time than recollections. With time, the group characteristics change, because late realizations aided by recollections change the perceptions about the group. In case of dynamic happenings, state of the group composition, moments earlier turn into a recollection But the immediacy of the past depicts the movement direction of the pattern. Such a common fate for all changing things is forbearing. It allows us to interpret the dynamic scenes through the changes in intensities, distances, overlapping, and sensorial aberrations. Objects persisting in time enliven the happening.

.

URBAN SMELLS

Post 52 –by Gautam Shah

.

(Lecture series: Space Perception -Article-VII of 15)

‘Turn around a street corner and the smell changes because a new orientation has different visual and aural scale and airs movement. In many instances a different set of culture’ suggests itself. Cities offer “a rich melange of olfactory and other sensations”. Smell is an experience of living, and the nature, so represents a terrain-based location. ‘Smell is an intangible property of tangible heritage.’

A city has neighbourhoods, each with distinctive smell. The smell has cultural significance for a place, but has no history to denote. The distinction is ethnological through cultural, religious and other practices. Odours have strong compartmentalizing factor for a society. We easily sense the ethnic groups with a different diet, but to distinguish members of our own tribe, we have to rely on other means such as visual (body) and aural (speech-diction) features. (After- Urban Smell-scapes: Understanding and Designing City Smell Environments By Victoria Henshaw)

5^th C BC Sophocles describes Thebes as ‘heavy with mingled burden of sounds and smells, of groans, hymns and incense’.

Nero’s Rome was full of stench of refuse rotting by the wayside, the piercing fragrance of burning myrrh from the temples, a heavy aroma of foods being cooked in the street, sweet seductive scents of flowering gardens, the mal-odour of rotting fish, sharp smell of urine from public latrines, and incense trail of passing procession -Aroma: The Cultural History of Smell.

On a typical day some 10,000 people would be present at Versailles estate. But there were hardly any toilets, not even for the aristocrats. And everyone, without exception to their position would occasionally ease themselves in courtyards, interior corners or under the stairs. Visitors complained about the awful stench that was omnipresent everywhere. Chamber pots overflowed and moisture seeped into the structure. It was visually a splendid palace, but a stinkiest one. Louis XIV put a new rule in place according to which the hallways were to be cleansed once every week. Orange trees’ cuttings were placed in vases to mask the smell.

The City of Paris had terrible sanitary conditions. There was no system for management of solid wastes and night soil waste. Servants emptied the pots out of the windows. In a city where water pipes were laid to enliven fountains, but not carry the sewage. Solid waste of repairs or demolition of buildings was simply spread out on the streets or public lands. Cities’ streets were full of ground dirt of debris, mixed with night soil and blood from slaughterhouses. Dirt, dung, food, and filth mix rose to ankle-deep levels. At places ground floors were buried and became cellar floors. It soiled the clothes so badly that no soap could remove the stain or stink of it. Kings dictate to clean up the city, asked the commissioners to carry away the debris, and dump it in the river Seine. Things were no different across towns across the world and till 1900s.

Place making has emerged as the central theme in Urban Design. It is ‘aimed at rediscovering, enhancing, protecting or creating locally significant place related meanings’. —Urban Smell scapes: Understanding and Designing City Smell Environments By Victoria Henshaw.

Our urban smell environment once comprised of open sewers, open heaps of garbage, animal excreta, meat-fish shops, slaughterhouses and factories near residential areas, diesel vehicles and exotic foods. The smells were intimately linked with the density of population, social and economic conditions of the community, distribution and proportion of open spaces and orientation and patterns of street layout and climate of the place. For these reasons, it is common to see connections drawn between unpleasant smells (the definition of which is also contentious) and poverty and specific ethnicity. Urban geographical isolation of communities through political machinations has the basis in smells and related social and religious prejudices.

The smell-based geography is more of visitors’ perception, local residents are smell habituated. Smell of a place is a unique brand for tourism. Other tangible heritage can be recorded and recreated, but smell of a place is variable and circumstantial, so unless the totality of living and environment are allowed to flourish, the smell will disappear.

Japanese Ministry for the Environment through a survey listed 100 most important smells of Japan (including ancient woods, sea breeze, sake distilleries and a street lined with bookshops) This was a cultural legacy ‘to be handed down to the children’.

The smell-knowledge of the past is odourless. We used to smell history in museums, but not in open to sky archeological sites. Museums, once allowed the smell of books, artefacts, because these were stored in open cases. It was realized that such smells emanate from the processes of decay, and so exhibits are now sealed in vacuum or gas.

In built spaces, we were, once able to simultaneously experience exterior and interior olfactory environments. For many children of late 20^th C the exteriors were for the experience of ‘unused or pristine spaces’. The exteriors are now becoming vastly inter-connected or continuous spaces with controlled environments. New built structures offer some ‘freshness’ of the unused spaces.

The smell ‘habituation’ and smell personalization are aspects of occupation of interior spaces. New occupants change the interior furnishings and repaint the space to scour the effects of earlier occupation, and imprint it with odours of own lifestyles. The process is very similar to a conscious attempt of visual changes made to domesticate and personalize a home into a distinguished entity.

Smell is gradually being eliminated from our Urban living, with factory cooked foods, ventilation through tall ducts, air-filtering devices, better environmental controls and planning of public spaces and streets, in consideration of natural air movements, use of non-fossil fuels, preference for neutral odours in all consumer goods.

Smell neutral space of modern urban setting is not an exclusive process sensorial perception. Cities are losing the local spatial variations through equal architecture and equally bland environment. This is a continuing process. Night darkness of the middle ages towns were removed with street lighting as well as interior illumination through glazed windows and feebly lit architectural lanterns and steeples. Later the city noises of trams, trains and industry of late 19^th C were removed. The cluttered city spaces have clean and well-articulated streets and public spaces. Sensorial subduing may regulate the tactility in living.

.

SMELLS and SPACES

Post 51 –by Gautam Shah

.

(Lecture series: Space Perception -Article-VI of 15)

There are main two facets, each for Smell and Space. Both are real, and also manifest in recollections. For design considerations, visual, audio and tactile experiences can define a space. But smell alone cannot define a space. Smell, like the vision and hearing, is not a space scaling factor. A spatial experience arises from the shape, size and scale of a space, but its smell chiefly emerges from the environment of the space. The source is not part of what we perceive in a smell mechanism. A space through its configuration and openings allows concentration or dilution of smell forming elements. The smell generating elements are of two basic types: materials of space forming and habitation. The built spaces have smells of their own, whether it is an unused relic or inhabited entity.

Sense of smell is related to spatial remembrances, but not as a single phenomenon. We recollect it, in association with other things like the visual and audio qualities of space. Once we smell something, the recollection of a particular situation or space is powerful. It is difficult to imagine smell of a place from representations like audio, photograph, video or description.

Our spatial experiences with smells are substantially environmental. An actual space with the interlaced environment lets one to predict or recall comparable ‘smell-conditions’. A lay person, however, cannot separate out the space, environment and its smells. The role of some architectural components typically openings and volume are basic to the living with the smells. Smells change with environmental conditions, like it is more effective in dry and cool, but higher temperatures cause smells to feel more pronounced as it spreads further.

Intensive engagement and temporal over-exposures to good or bad smells, are traumatic due to insufficiency of breathable air. Smells form dislike for the space-environment and cause loss of comfort, well being, concentration, productivity and appetite. The sense of smell is a basic element for comfort though influenced by experience, expectations, personality and situational factors.

Smells have a connection to feel good or bad aspect of a space. And this varies with the communities. In confined indoor spaces the concentrations of odours increase many times due to lack of fresh air for dilution. The sense of smell gets fatigued with such intense and continuous exposure. This is beginning of physiological and physiological side-effects. Sense of smell, however, can recover, if the stimulus is removed.

The smell ‘habituation’ depends on physical conditions and memories of past exposures to similar situations. The sensitivity and ability to perceive smells are unique to each person, but the capacity to discriminate odours, reduce with exposure and age. The threshold before an odour becomes a nuisance, depends on the frequency, concentration, and duration of an odour. Memories of odours are significantly more intense and evocative, than those recalled by the visual or audio cues.

‘Most memories that pertain to an odour come from the first decade of life, compared to verbal and visual memories which usually come from the 10^th to 30^th years of life’. ‘Odour-evoked memories are more emotional, associated with stronger feelings of being brought back in time, and have been thought of less often as compared to memories evoked by other cues’. (Willander, Johan & Larsson, Maria. (2006). Smell Your Way Back to Childhood: Autobiographical Odor Memory. Psychonomic bulletin & review. 13. 240-4. 10.3758/BF03193837.)

Smell is a primal sense. It impacts relationships with people, liking for places, foods, and products. The sense of smell enables pleasure, can subconsciously warn of danger, help locate mates, find food, or detect predators.

Of the common sensorial perceptions, Olfactory function directly relates to emotion and sense of well being. The emotions are, some universal, others culture specific but mostly associative. The smell is seamless, and if ‘neutral’ in effect, there is no acute need to trace its source. An incense in church, temple or mosque may add devotional fervour, but one infused in commercial and public places, is more subtle, masking with a less emotional content. Smell branding Commercial spaces include offices, trade-booths in exhibitions, fashion-shows, large format retail outlets, hotels, automobile showrooms, metro UG stations, passenger air crafts, etc. Smell branding of such spaces serve many different intentions like: familiarity, reliability, loyalty, memorability, consistent identity, productivity, promote sales, provide sense of well being, inculcate safety-security, thematic alignment, etc.

“Today, Hyatt Place’s signature scent can be found in almost 300 hotels across the U.S. The scent is such a proven brand asset that it has been codified as a brand standard that defines the company’s experience and brand personality”. -https://hbr.org/2018/04/inside-the-invisible-but-influential-world-of-scent-branding.

Studies show that humans can distinguish about one trillion odours. Smells are part of culture and belief systems. In spite of the vast ability to distinguish one smell from the other, it has not been possible to formally define that into some rational classes. Smell, like colour or texture has been difficult to describe characteristics. Colour and Texture are now codified, but sense of smell still evades the definition. We do not have any plausible vocabulary for different smells. We tend to identify the source of smell rather then its class, like eggy, meaty, floral, nutty. Aristotle classified odours in Seven categories: aromatic, fragrant, alliaceous (garlic), ambrosial (musky) hiricinous (goaty), repulsive, and nauseous.

“–there is a geography of places characterized by variety and meaning, and there is place-less geography, a labyrinth of endless similarities. –Ralph 1976-140 “.

Japanese Government identified 100 locations with ‘good fragrances’, and the list includes: early morning markets, old books stores, grilled sweet-fish of the Gogasegawa river, and Nabu rice crackers of Morioka.

The smell defies codification mainly due to lack of mechanics to measures it. The WHO defines the annoyance threshold for odour nuisance as being at a level where five percent of a specified population experience annoyance for two percent of the time. But this are personal or cultural references.

English word Perfume literally means ‘to smoke through’ and that relates to fire and warm air. And so does the word incense derives from Latin incendere meaning ‘to burn’. Perfume is a ‘mixture of fragrant essential oils or aroma compounds, fixatives and solvents’. Perfume and its evaporation process is metaphorically compared with music, as having three sets of notes rendered out in time. The Top note offers the introductory impression, such as mint, lavender and coriander. The head note arrives before the diffusion of the top note and masks the often unpleasant initial impression of the head note. These smells include seawater, sandalwood and jasmine. The base note, after nearly 30 minutes of the application brings in depth and solidity to the experience of a perfume. Examples of base notes include tobacco, amber and musk.

Perfumes were used primarily by the wealthy to mask body odours resulting from infrequent bathing and lack of urinals in large estates (Versailles Palace) in 16^th and 17^th C. The smells were sought to be suppressed with cuttings of Orange trees. Fruits of citrus plants (Latin =Hesperidium), provide fresh, fleeting and effervescent fragrances. The Hesperides are nature nymphs in Greek mythology. By extension, the garden they tended also was known by that name. Other scents derive from: flowers, greens (freshly crumpled leaves, cut grasses), spices, foods and beverages, wood and mosses, resins and balsams and animal smells.

.

PERCEIVING set of OBJECTS

Post 50 –by Gautam Shah

(Lecture series: Space Perception -Article-V of 15)

.

Objects are sensed as physical things, hyper real recollections and mix of both. Collection of objects random or arranged, reflect relationships at many different levels. The basic relationship that we perceive is the degree of nearness or farness in time and space. These also define the forward-backward in spatial terms, and previous-later positions in time, of the objects. Other relationships that we perceive about objects include diversity and commonality, continuity and separation, complete figures and partly occluded articles, static and dynamic forms.

The perception of objects occurs through all senses. Some senses, like vision and audio are capable of measuring objects and their distances. But sense of smell, taste or touch are only fuzzily indicative of location and direction, and so do not offer the spatial totality.

Objects appear as recollections, but without any sequence or time reference. Objects appear as flitting images, without any clue of their relevance or origins. Such recollections seem to be individual ‘frames or shots’ of happenings, but without any distinctive links to the greater whole. The images do not have any concern with the past, present or future but are altered compositions, which perhaps our subconscious expects or desires. The recollections represent intense sensual experiences, but need definitive context, otherwise these can remain sporadic and unrelated incidences.

The spatial and temporal contexts are the most important aspect of perceiving objects. Spatial context provides a ground for comparison of ‘scenes’. The comparison occurs in terms of size, scale, direction or orientation and nature of exposure to the ‘scene’ (forward, backward, partly occluded). Spatial context emerges from three references, the position of the perceiver, the adjacent objects and environmental effects. The temporal context relates to sequence of happening, duration, rate of change and chances occurrence.

The spatial and temporal contexts are relevant mainly due to environmental effects. The effects are spatially directional and variable in time. And both of these factors continually create new compositions of objects. Environmental effects mould the experiences. Objects seem closer or far from each other. We tend to see complete figures or forms from sparing details, if we had past encounter with such objects. Similarly we build hyper real bridges of relations or connections between objects that are far distanced from each other, and often out of the scope of perception.

Objects are marked by conditions that indicate direction. The direction indicators are experienced on objects that are long, short, sharp-edged or rounded, affected on few faces by the environment, and with graphics. The direction indicators in static objects represent potential for movement. Objects that have sequencing motifs such as forms that have overbearing pointers, retreating or advancing repeats, fading or intensifying clarity, varying environmental effects also state directions, and so movements.

Directions and movements in groups of objects are perceived, when the real, hyper-real and remembrances, all have the same reference frame or datum. Here the reference frame is evident through the features remaining strong and consistent. Environmental effects are directional and so suggest the change when the real and remembered perceptions merge.

Our perception of objects is always unequal. The unequal experiences help in exacting or blurring a location. The former (exacting a location) is due to the duality of the sensorial nodes like ears and eyes and the later (blurring) is due to synchronicity of two nodes like smell and taste or the widely placed multiple (like pain, temperature, moisture, etc.) tactile experiences over the entire body surface. The unequal perception is due to age, natural proficiencies and experience building exposures.

One of the remarkable proficiency, natural or gained is about multitasking. Multitasking or multi attendance involves capacity to perceive many things concurrently, using the same or different sensorial nodes. Multitasking also may mean using various body limbs simultaneously.

.

MULTI NODAL PERCEPTIONS of OBJECTS in SPACE

Post 49 –by Gautam Shah

(Lecture series: Space Perception -Article-IV of 15)

.

Our experience of the world, is based substantially on the input of sensory information. It is a personal process. But we also learn from others about such experiences, accept it, or reconfirm that through our own encounters. It ultimately builds a large repertoire of experiences. We, are continuously exposed to several of stimuli, but remember or retain only few of them. We broadly distinguish our awareness about things and happenings around us, as focus or on margins. Perhaps, our repertoire of experiences helps to decide what is to be in focus and margin.

`Perception may be regarded as primarily the modification of anticipation’ (Art & Vision: E H Gombrich). We perceive objects and environment in space by selectively assessing or blocking the stimuli, in a process called cognition. It is mental acquisition of knowledge through the sensorial faculties. Human cognition is intuitive and conscious. It includes, remembering, forming associations, conceptualizing, and order recognition.

Perceptual organization occurs in many different ways, like:

1. Things, if nearer, are perceived best.
2. Things that have distinctive clarity due to environmental support are well perceived.
3. Things that lie in the direction of the perception node are better sensed.
4. Things that are in the foreground and not shrouded by other elements or effects, are easy to register.
5. Things that have balance, symmetry, equality, pose as an extensive and comprehensive entity and so easy to recognize.
6. Experiences that are within recognizable time and space segments seem of the same category.
7. Objects and happenings are comparable as whole or in parts, have some similarities within the perceptual frame, or somewhere back in past experiences.
8. Things that have continuous form (unbroken or interconnected sub-elements) and contrasting silhouettes (order that ties up several sub-elements) are easy to discern.
9. Happenings that have distinctive and predictable order of change (directions, rise or depletion of the intensity, rhythm), can be sensed even in highly chaotic condition.
10. Perception is comprehensive if different nodes of sensorial perception offer a confirming experience, or else doubts persist.

We continuously shift our attention, even while both, the environment and its cognition manifest. There are several hypotheses to explain how and why we shift the attention. It is said that what we know and, what we expect the thing to be, attract the attention first. Some believe that we process our repertoire of experiences into the core and marginal. Others believe we assess and ignore the less wanted stimuli. These occur as ‘distributed processing’, at sensorial nodes, possibly at many intermediate places or central-mental level. The process possibly, occurs with individual sensorial faculties. But somehow the sensorial faculties supplement each other. Some type of auto regulation creates the equipoise.

Nominal five senses of perception relate more to the external stimuli. But organs in the muscles like tendons and joints indicate the position of body-limbs and state of tension in the muscles. Similarly ear fluids make us aware of the balance of the body. The process of supplementing the perception by sensorial faculties is subliminal, but one may learn it when a particular faculty is debilitated or occluded. Vision deficiency enhances the touch and hearing abilities. Taste is supplemented by smell.

Depth is a measure, perceived through vision, hearing and smell and touch-proximity. The presence of dual (two eyes-ears) or multi-nodal (touch) perceptions define the direction and make the depth measure more accurate. The movement of eyes and ability to focus creates a sense of visual and aural perspective. Here the far-off objects become duller and the intervening distances proportionately change.

The perception of depth with direction becomes precise with the context of environment. Visual perception includes shadows that tell us about the ‘other’ (concealed) facets of the objects, and direction of the Sun (and so orientation). It also shows the difference between natural and artificial sources of illumination. Effects of surface illumination are visually perceived as change in the tonal intensity and texture. The colour tone and texture, both are also perceived, even from a distance, through surface sensation of hot-cold.

Aural and smell perceptions also include variations in scales and directions. For aural perception, the echoes, reverberations, change of selective frequencies and transmission channels (ducts, corridors, dome), help to learn about the quality of space. Smell traces get mixed up with others and that shows their path, and mediating elements like air movements.

Sensorial perceptions occur in many different types of context. The cognitive processes compound that information and also show how to further use it. The context is highly variable, offered by the moment to moment changes and relevant past experiences. The differing contexts provide measure for change, like the intensity, direction and probability. Sensorial perceptions mutually offer the context for any happening. We listen to some thing and turn our eyes to it, focus our eyes to see a detail, smell with deeper breadth, or use fingers, palms or cheeks to feel the temperature-pressure sensations (air, hot-cold).

The most important context is the perception of differentials in movements. Objects, sounds, smells, etc., that are nearer, or moving towards us, indicate rapid changes, but we may not feel the change if the setting is very familiar. Here a lot of pre information maintains perceptual constancy. In case of simultaneous changes across several sensorial perceptions, the cognition may be confused.

.

PERCEPTION of SPATIAL FIELDS -ILLUMINATION

 Post 48 –by Gautam Shah  (Lecture series: Space Perception -Article-III of 15)

.

The Illumination in a space is fairly consistent due the fairly steady source and predictability of the change. As one moves around a spatial field, things are perceived from different positions and in different contextual conditions. Other important factor that leads to changed perception is the increasing maturity of cognition. With the duration and proximity we learn lot more about the spatial field.

There are many ways the eyes move. “Our eyes converge as well as diverge” according to the intensity of light and size of the field to be scanned. The fovea region in the retina of the eyes helps in perception movement. In even seemingly non-moving eyes, small jiggling movements, called micro-saccades to occur. The broadest movements occur with gestural movement of eyes and heads and shifting during postures.

A spatial field has many depths.

● Some fields, closer to the position of perception are illuminated with sources under our own control. Here the illumination conditions can be changed at will, or the position of perception shifted around. In both of these cases, the cause-effect has some certainty.

● Fields that are faraway from the position of perception are illuminated with sources under no-one’s control. Here the illumination conditions cannot be altered at will. Shifting the position of perception perhaps changes the contextual conditions, but the illumination component of the scene remains nearly static.

● In very vast natural scapes the contrasts (changes) due to illumination are not highly noticed except in variable cloud cover, or during sunlight refraction at morning-evening periods. ‘A brilliant sunrise, sunset or cloud formation in illuminated distant sky, show very little effect on the perception foreground of landscape’.

● The effects of illumination are more pronounced and under control in restrictive space fields such as the built-forms, interior spaces and neighbourhood extents. Here the changes in contextual conditions accompany the changes in the foreground or components of the scene, so both seem controlled and restrained.

The ILLUMINANTS

A spatial field is illuminated by natural light as Direct sun light, Sky Component (SC), Reflected Component (RC) of natural light, artificial illumination, and in many urban areas from surroundings’ lights like a street and vehicles. In addition to these sources, we use fluorescence to aid perception.

Fluorescence and phosphorescence are form of luminescence, or the emission of light by a substance that has absorbed light or other electromagnetic radiation.

The illuminants’ contexts are: strength and direction of source, background and foreground brightness, reflectance from surroundings, colour of light, multiplicity of sources. Other conditions include variability of space, objects and presence of dynamic (moving-vibrating) elements.

Built Space forms are occupied by objects, people and environmental effects but these rarely occur distinctly alone, in any rational form or within a nominal framing reference. The illuminants complicate the scene even if these elements manifest in for a fraction of a moment or remain unvaried for a very long period.

Single source illuminants are very definitive but complications arise due to the reflectance from many surfaces, directions, strength (brightness) and colour. Such complications are compounded with increasing number of original illuminants. Single illuminant defines a space and its objects in familiar sense, but fail as soon as the position of perception changes. Single illuminant is an irritant if any part of space has flickering movement (eg. Fan, moving curtains). Single illuminants are ideal for ‘object modelling’ as the shapes emerge without any compromises.

Perception ambiguities and compromises occur when an object or a group of overlapping objects, are lit by nearly same tonal colour value as the background. Indistinct figure-ground contrast, dissolve the edges. We tend to relate larger elements as the ground, over which smaller entities exist.

The objects are seen as composition of surfaces that reflect incident light. Besides the variations caused by the angular exposition of surfaces, the surface quality or textures are detected by naked eye (at 0.07 mm). Smaller scale variations affect the gloss of the surface and mirroring effect of the surface. Very large surfaces have possibly no edges or breaks, and so are perceived through local variations of illumination.

SPATIAL FORM RECOGNITION

Spatial forms are recognized with illumination references such as the proportionate extent of foreground-background, framing, strength of silhouettes, partial occlusion of elements, shading with the differing contrast and direction of the shadows, and diffusion by way of reflection, and refractions.

Illuminated forms become difficult to recognize when an object curves around out of sight. Such occluding contours dissolve the edge of an object, and present poor silhouette formation. The absence of a well-defined contour renders the surface shapes (such as convex/concave) ambiguous.

The process of perception is a two-way affair. Position of a person and relative source of illumination are very important consideration for Space Planning. A person trying to project own-self must be aware of the perceiver’s distance, angles of connection, social dependency and postural condition. A strong back illumination, makes it difficult to perceive a chair-person’s features and gestures.

Position of a person relative to the source of illumination also holds true in conference rooms, executive cabins, reception areas, lecture rooms, press conference rooms, etc. Natural or artificial illumination -as singular source and that too from the backside must be avoided, and if inevitable, reinforce it with lighting from other directions. One of the simplest ways is to envision how the situation manifests from every single position.

The daytime happenings, change considerably at supper time, as the ‘backbite window’ illumination is replaced with artificial lighting. Nominally the situation should stand corrected (if not reversed), but attitudes formed during daytime persist at other times. Shops in business districts are low illuminated because the staff is occupying the space for longer time and so is accustomed to low level (or even to save power), but customer entering from bright outside finds the darkness discouraging.

Side illumination eliminates many of the anomalies of perception and recognition but not all. To create good diffusion, the source for side illumination needs some depth from the occupying position. In small rooms this is rather difficult and requires careful design.

We are more used to illumination from top. But very strong such sources create under the chin shadows. This can be corrected by illumination from other directions, or from floor and table top reflections. Light colour floors and table tops, needs to be excluded from TV camera shooting angles. This is done by positioning the participants on a raised platform, and cameras at a slightly lower level then the table tops.

.

This is the III article (of intended 15) in series ‘Space Perception‘ that will form a course of One semester.

 

STRATIFICATION of VISION

Post 47  –by Gautam Shah   (Lecture series: Space Perception’ -Article-II of 15).

.

One of the most important functions of architectural openings is the composition of vision. And the fascinating aspect of the visual makeup, inward or outward, is the stratification of the view. The stratification is circumstantial, intentional or accidental.

The view of outside or inside gains different dimension depending on how far or close, one is from the picture plane (face of the opening), what is covered within the nominal cone of vision, and the postural-gestural movements of the head and body to scan the view. Architectonic elements also mask, frame and filter the view.

The mechanics of vision depend on several factors, such as: a vision cones, extent of the framing element, sill and lintel level, shading devices, depth of opening, design or configuration, quality of glazing, level of maintenance, differences of illumination between outside and inside, amount of the glare, treatments on internal and external faces of openings, quality of external surroundings, internal reflections, tasks, orientation, climatic conditions, illumination conditions, need for protection and privacy, etc.

The visual makeup also depends on the position of the viewer.

● Visual scope and depth of openings: A viewer deep inside, away from the opening, gets a nominal straight or horizontal view. But as one comes closer, the scope of vision increases. The visual makeup is surmounted by architectural elements like overhangs, horizontal fins, the sill height, height of the opening in comparison to eye level (in supine-sitting-or standing position) and depth of opening.

● Visual scope for clerestory openings:For a person positioned close to the plane of opening, if the sill level is above eye level, the range of visual scope is small. This scope becomes larger as one moves away from the plane of opening.

● Visual scope and the datum of floor: Tall buildings (multi-storeyed) have several floors, each of which offers different vistas. For a person positioned, approximately as deep as the internal height of the floor, the visual-scape is nearly horizontal. So at lower floor one sees street and surrounding activities, from mid floors the view consists of horizon consisting of tree or building tops, but on upper floors the view is of the horizon. In the second and third categories, at night additional flickering brightness from bottom up sources is very distractive, such as from the head light beams of moving vehicles, street lights, road-light signals, illumination or glow from hoardings and neighbouring buildings. These reflections fall on the ceilings and sometimes on the wall, but distort the interior visual effects.

● Surrounds of the openings, all four sides, jambs, sills, or bottom of the door-heads, alter the inward and outward vision scope. The sloped surfaces due to chamferring on the outward or inward faces, enlarged the perceptive size of the opening. It however made the perception depth ambiguous due to the foreshortening.

● Thedividers or sub elements of openings, such as traceries, mullions, muntins, are primarily used as mid support in the frame or sash, and divide the glazing into smaller units. Early age glazing units were small but had fuzzy transparency and wavy patterns of making. These crude smaller units, however divided the view and made it bearable.

● Openings in moving vehicles offer dynamic scenery, where the objects could be both, stationary as well as moving. Uniformly shaped and sized objects, in nearby visual range seem more dynamic, but variegated objects in distance, seem to be less moving. These two fields when viewed through separated horizontal sections of an opening, pose distinctly different scenes. Such experiences are more common in carriages with additional windows at higher level.

● Stratification is very important issue with openings of fixed glazing and shop front windows, both of which serve the function of a picture window that frames a scene or to displayed items.

● Fixed glazing windows show a scene consisting of several layers depending on the point of observation and floor datum. These layers, typically at lower section consist of ground level shrubs and movement of people and vehicles. At mid level the scene consists of mid-portion of trees (effects of breeze-wind) and perhaps deeper vista. At higher level, (the top lite) mainly sky and upper sections of very tall buildings (becoming impersonal due to greater inclination-distance) are seen. Of the three, the change is more pronounced at the lower section, and often curtained of with ‘parlour curtains’.

Shop front windows reflect the opposite side scene, in mainly two distinct strata. Upper part, if shadowed by solar inclination or overhang, has little reflection, but lower section has strong reflection (called ‘bounce-back’). Reflections at lower section do not allow view inside, unless interior portions have additional illumination.

This is the II article (of intended 15) in series ‘Space Perception’ that will form a course of One semester.