Designing for experience : spaces that engage

Abstract

How different would our environment be if architectural spaces were really designed with the intention of creating an experience for its users? While experience is often a stated feature in various designs, It is difficult to know if it is actually realized when the final product is a small scale model. The ultimate goal of this project is to create a full size installation to experientially engage passer-bys in an existing space. In an effort to realize this goal, many additional questions emerge for example: What is an experience? How do you “create” an experience? What guidelines determine the form of the installation? And when a space is designed purely for the experience of its users is it still architecture of does it become sculpture? The process of reaching some answers is quite diverse and the resulting dialogue is varied and interesting. Every design project is an opportunity to create a space that interacts with its users. Architects have the opportunity to engage people with an environment that is not just the background to their experiences, but a part of them.