The atmosphere of a building is created by the building itself, the materials, the sound, the temperature, the objects around it, the sedation and induction, the tension between interior and exterior, the closeness, the light. For me, the atmosphere of a building is a specific physical field, a momentary or lasting reverberation in the human heart of each of the parts that make up the building, the materials, the construction, the sounds, the temperatures, the objects, all the things that make up the building that Zumthor mentioned earlier.
We always say that architecture is about creating space. For me, this space, a man-made sky and earth, is made up of ceilings and floors, and on a material level, architecture is also a material field – a place. Nature uses different flowers, trees and mountains to create spaces where people can stay, and architects use materials, constructions and objects to create places where workers can experience.
And the most important thing in the architectural atmosphere, the author says, is that the heart is touched. I was inspired when he talked about the sound of the space, I had previously been concentrating on materials and expressions, how the walls were set up and how to make the construction of the space more interesting, and had neglected the language of the building itself. As the text says, the sound from the building is quiet, the noise is something added to the environment, and the sound of the building is closely related to the unique shape of the room composition, the material surface of the room composition and the application of the material, we need to give the building a quiet space first, and see how the fusion of the material and the form by itself will be, whether it gives a spicy and lively feeling like an electronic piano, or an ancient piano or a distant, ethereal feeling.
It’s as if our design values are rational, our methodology is rational, our problem-solving ideas are rational, but we must never forget that what we present to the public must be emotional, and what really moves people is never a rational concept or a rational value or a rational methodology. What is it, says Ponto, is the atmosphere, or more directly, a feeling of the whole, that we love the building because we like the feeling of the place. I don’t think professionals are in a position to demand of the lay public that they understand this and that, because true beauty is direct, intense, beyond theory, and elegant.