Cinematic atmospheres

Western culture has given predominance to the visual dimension over all other aspects of experience. The culture has evolved to accommodate fast and instantaneous imagery, capturing and freezing the whole of our world into a collection of convenient snapshots. This thesis critiques architecture as primarily representation for printed media, influenced by this ‘instant’ culture that is designed to be viewed at an arm’s length. Architecture’s prioritisation of purely visual media alienates the body from the design process and therefore confounds the consideration of designing for the body. However, architecture is unavoidably sensual in nature and buildings cannot be reduced to vehicles for the scenographic conveyance of abstract architecture ideas. Architectural quality is often equated with having a beautiful form, yet this is only one aspect. Often overlooked is the lived experience of space; the qualities of space that move people; the architectural atmosphere. It is the reciprocal exchange between individuals and the architectural environment that can create an architectural atmosphere. Individuals engage with the architectural environment, and in turn, the built space shapes their emotions and experiences. Architectural atmosphere can also be cinematically experienced, through movement, between or around spaces. Particularly through oppositional dualities such as the interplay between composure and seduction; or the tension between interior and exterior. Consequently, this thesis explores the proposition that the cinematic experience may amplify architectural atmosphere. In order to investigate further, a design-as-research methodology was implemented across three scales: An installation, mid-scale and public scale. This methodology conducted iterative design experiments that examined the cinematic experience’s effect on how architectural atmospheres may be experienced. The first design scale explored how a cinematic experience can be created through a reciprocal exchange between individuals and light. The following project applied an architectural programme. It looked at how the duality between the exterior can amplify the interior. The final scale was to design a co-housing community that explored the layers of privacy between the public, community and private realms. Movement between these realms can be cinematically experienced. In summary, the architectural outcomes and iterative design inquiries underscore the ability of the cinematic experience to amplify architectural atmospheres.