Wright, Wonder and Embodied Walks
“Walking inside the Guggenheim Museum this time I suddenly felt an immediate, visceral shift in my body. The spiral ramp beneath my feet was gently pulling me upward on an infinite mobius strip of discovery…
The soft resonance of footsteps orchestrated a harmonious symphony that reverberated through my body, quietly amplifying my sense of anticipation. The subtle scent of the materials, artworks and people grounded me in the extraordinary moment.
As I ascended, the autumn light streaming through the circular skylight danced playfully around the white curving walls and kissed my skin with a warm, sensual touch making every step feel like a walk through a dream with the cold, smooth handrail holding my hand as a reassuring guide. Every few steps revealed new vistas of the space and the art, blurring their boundaries.
I felt the harsh boundary between myself and the world momentarily become permeable, opening up a window to experience a deeper communion with the space, others, and something larger than myself. A window of contemplation through which I experienced my being with a special sensitivity and insight.
The architectural elements of the museum were alive and breathing. They emanated a collective “aura” that was palpable. They all had a voice and wanted to nudge me to engage in an intimate conversation.
I viscerally sensed that Frank Llyod Wright was speaking to me.”
- Sarika’s journal entry.
Guggenheim Museum, 5th Avenue, New York
October 8, 2016
Spiral ramp pulling me on an infinite mobius strip of discovery...Guggenheim Museum, NYC. Photo: Daniel, Unsplash
Tuning into the Resonant Frequency of Spaces
I had been living in New York City since 2002 right after completing my graduate studies in architecture at the University of Pennsylvania. I had spent many afternoons and evenings at the Guggenheim Museum marveling at the architecture, enjoying the art, and trying to understand the essence of Wright’s masterpiece and his creative genius.
However, I had never had this kind of visceral embodied experience at the Guggenheim Museum before.
Why? What was so different about that day?
At first I thought it was just a one-time “aha moment”.
But then, I realized that I was somehow able to tune into the right Guggenheim “resonant frequency” that day!
In physics, resonant frequency refers to the natural frequency at which a system oscillates with the greatest amplitude and energy when driven by an external driving force matching this frequency.
What is the “driving force” through which we can intentionally tap into the resonant frequency of not just great architecture but maybe everyday good or even blah architecture? Be able to deeply feel the fully embodied experience of a space much more often?
It is WONDER.
Wonder as the driving force for resonant frequency
Wonder? Yes! How does that work?
We didn’t need to ask that question when we were kids, did we? The inanimate world – our stuffed animals, trees, toy trucks, paints, books – were our friends and confidantes. They were alive and had a voice and our conversations with them they gave us joy, serenity and excitement! They were tactile instruments in our growth as human beings.
As a mother of a very spirited two and a half year old toddler, I am learning from her every day how to break through the veneer of “the ordinary” and touch the “the extraordinary” with wonder. As designers, we need to bring that kind of unconditional wonder to our engagement with the built world.
Only by doing so can we begin to live within a reciprocal relationship with the built environment where the touch of a stone wall, light streaming through a window, the palpable atmosphere of place… feeds our multisensory, embodied self at the same resonant frequency.
Juhani Pallasmaa has beautifully encapsulated this interdependent relationship of embodied experience in his essay “The Aura of the Sacred”:
“The experience of art is not the encounter of an object outside of ourselves, but an intertwining of the object and consciousness.
The experiencing is a kind of an exchange; we project our emotions and intentions to the object, whereas the object lends us its authority, its “aura” that entices unique associations and feelings in us.
A powerful artistic experience is, before all, an intense encounter with oneself.”
Training in Awareness as designers
o wonder is key. To get to wonder, however, we must begin with awareness.
Neuroscientist Dr. Richard Davidson and his colleagues at University of Wisconsin-Madison have defined awareness as:
“A heightened and flexible attentiveness to perceptual impressions in one’s environment and internal cues, such as bodily sensations, thoughts, and emotions.”
Their scientific studies have shown awareness as one of the four core dimensions of the training-based framework for the cultivation of human flourishing.
Measurable benefits arise from training in awareness, including increased cognitive control and reduced mind-wandering and stress, all of which are linked to changes in central executive and salience networks in the brain.
Awareness is the rich soil in which wonder can be cultivated! Several contemplative practices are valuable tools for honing awareness. However, how can we as architects and designers train in awareness in a way that is directly relevant to our training and professional experience and will get us to Pallasmaa’s exchange more frequently?
Why not try a “Wonder Walk”?
Which wonder conversations with the built world are you moved to engage in? Photo credits: Juliet Ellis
Practicing Wonder Walks as situated and embodied experiences
Over the next few days find a few moments during your daily life to mindfully practice the steps below that I have outlined for “Wonder Walks” in your everyday built environments and the sites of your current design projects.
As designers, this is a fundamental practice (although we have never been taught this in design school) that we have to intentionally train in. This is a practice of deep listening with child-like sensitivity and empathy to the built world that surrounds us recognizing that the inanimate is not inert but alive, has a voice, and we can have a conversation with it.
This practice has helped me become more attuned to my design instincts and reflexes and given me an agile sense of my authentic design voice.
Walking with this way for me has truly transformed the daily ordinary into the daily extraordinary !
Here is a simple set of guidelines to get you on the path to enhanced awareness, greater wonder, and everyday embodied architectural experiences:
Set an intention: to be fully open, present, curious and playfully surrender to the living context of built world that surrounds you. Make sure you are not in a rush and can walk at a slower pace. No smartphones please!
Begin with mindfulness: as you start walking, take a few breaths and bring your attention to the different sensations in your body and your feet hitting the ground tuning into the rhythm of your steps. Be fully present in your body.
Encounter with a beginner’s mind: the design attributes, details, scale and proportion, quality of light and shadow, colors, materiality, textures, patterns etc, as if engaging with them for the very first time.
Sense and feel deeply: the multiple senses (not just visual) and emotions the above evoke. Tune into the aura of the space and how it feels in your body. Receive openly without judgment or analysis.
Be playful with child-like exploration: imbuing the design elements and spaces with personality, presence, emotions, history, knowledge and distinct voices.
Listen empathically: to what the voices are saying. Which intimate conversations are you moved to engage in? Follow the visceral, intuitive and spontaneous feelings that draw you to them.
Reflect thoughtfully on:
What’s something “new” you learned about your everyday environments and project sites through engaging in these Wonder Walks?
How might listening to the built world around you like this with presence and wonder influence how you approach your design projects?
How were you transformed as a designer through this embodied walk?
Since I opened with a Pallasmaa quote, I have to end with one too.
“Every touching experience of architecture is multi-sensory; qualities of space, matter and scale are measured equally by the eye, ear, nose, skin, tongue, skeleton, and muscle.
Architecture strengthens the existential experience, one’s sense of being in the world, and this is essentially a strengthened experience of self.”
- Juhani Pallasmaa, The Eyes of the Skin
Practice these Wonder Walks for a few minutes in your everyday environments and project sites a and let me know how it goes. I would LOVE to hear from you!
Simply reply to this email at sarika@contemplativedesigner.com !
with gratitude,
Sarika Bajoria
Founder, Contemplative Designer