STEP 1 : the experience of the environment
Right now, I’m situated in Tabarca, which is a little isle next to the city from where I am, I’ve
chosen this place as somewhere where I feel comfortable as it’s a very familiar place for me
due to the lack of time that I’ve spent here with my family and friends during my life, it just
brings me many beautiful memories. What makes me be at ease in this isle is its calmness, it’s
a very small isle, so there’s not many people living here, the houses are small and very simple,
which accords to the scent of the isle, it doesn’t have any big building, it’s all very small and
aesthetic; also what gives this isle its calmness is its beautiful beaches and its calmed sea, it’s
very relaxing to just sit down and listen to the sound of the waves banging against its coast, it
just makes you be in peace and very relaxed.
Due to its size, not many people live here, that’s why there’s also not many noises and also
there are no vehicles here, it’s so small you can reach any edge of the isle walking, so there
aren’t any cars or motorcycles making noise, you can only hear the boats early in the morning
when they go to fish. I personally think that I wouldn’t be able to feel the same way as now in
any other place, not even on another beach or on another isle, Tabarca is very unique, its small
size and calmness is what makes you escape from your problems and just relax.
The particular conditions of this place influence its occupants, as people who live here are
people who are looking for a calmed and relaxing place, so it’s obvious that everyone who
wants to live in a house here comes with the same intention, which are to have a harmonious
life without any disruptions .
I think that the isle is perfect as it is, as if we would change it, it wouldn’t have the same scent,
although the houses, church and restaurants are starting to give several problems for its
oldness and maybe should be redesigned to also maybe give the isle a more modern vibe and
also by changing the restaurant it may approach more visitors and provide them with more
money.
Step 2. The experience through the texts
This text from Peter Zumthor it’s about buildings, it compares buildings as an architecture body, referring to its many complements which all resume to a whole body. The author talks about all of these compliments to achieve the whole architecture body and covers many different aspects about
the subject, as for example the importance of light, shadows, intimacy, noise, tension between
interior and exterior…
It starts talking about its mysteriousness, you never know how something you think you are
sure about is going to end up looking like; it highlights the importance of sound inside the
building, as its size or shape can make it have more or less noise; the buildings temperature depends on the materials used to build it and there are material which can even keep a building warm in winter and cool in summer; the importance of objects which surround, it can describe in detail a person; it talks about trying to achieve seduction, use patterns and a good composure to enjoy the surrounding; the interesting tension between the interior and exterior, when you see a building you enjoy just the outside, but you will always stay with the desire to know how is its interior as it isn’t the same; it highlights its great intimacy, as when you design a building you are able to chose how much you want to see the outside and how much you want to let see you from the outside, so you decide your level of privacy and exposion; light has also an important role, as natural light is better than artificial light, its important to pay attention to how much light will enter into the interior of the building and also the shadows that will produce; creating a building won’t just affect the clients, but also the people who surround it and walk by it, as the building will affect the essence of the area where it is; coherence is needed for also focus the design of the building to the necesities of the client and its future use; and the last point is its beautiful form, creating a building is easy, but to make it a good building you have to take time a design it with a beautiful structure, pattern …
One of the atmospheres which I’ve experienced during a trip and liked the most is in
Andorra, when you enter Andorra, you can see how all these big houses are up on the
mountains and how all of them are very dark and big. The best part of this
environment is when it snows, which is very common there and it just fits perfect, the
mixture of the colors and everything just seems to fit it in very well, I really enjoy the
vibe of winter and coziness that it projects, it makes you want to live there and be
surrounded by mountains and snow while you are inside these beautiful houses warm.
Also, the relaxation and calmness that projects its massive and makes you want to live
there forever and be on a continuous winter.