Falling Into Memories: The Evocation of Emotions and Recollection of Memories through Architectural Design

Abstract

A forest floor is illuminated by streams of light passing through the intricate lattice of leaves and branches of its inhabitants. This space between the canopy and the brush is one of the first forms of shelter utilized by man. Nature is able to maintain its well-being by visually communicating emotions in order to foster an unspoken, compassionate relationship with man. However, our own architecture rarely seems to pay attention to the mental well-being of its inhabitants like the natural world is apt to. Driven by aesthetics, flexibility, and financial return, it often lacks the necessary characteristics and qualities for humans to develop this intimate relationship. The purpose of this project is to use human psychological sciences to develop an architectural design with the aim of eliciting memories by means of visual psychological triggers and emotionally driven dialogue between visitors and their built environment. This involves the investigation of memory formation, memory recognition, and an in-depth look at human emotions and their relationship to human perception. Research reveals that memory is strongly correlated to the way one perceives, senses, interacts and emotionally feels within their environment. Nevertheless, memory recollection only occurs with an individual’s perception of their current setting in comparison to a threshold of characteristics of past events.1 This project will also examine the six universally evident emotions and their incorporation in built and natural settings in order for them to be applicable to all users. With the implementation of these concepts to architecture, the Memory Recollection Center will exhibit architecture’s ability to have a profound effect on human perception.