Sunday, February 27, 2011

BP 7: Architecture of Happiness

Is there a such thing as Architecture of Happiness? I believe there is. Architecture of happiness, for me, means buildings or places that are not necessarily beautiful, but instead, make you feel happy. Is easy to find  buildings that are beautiful, but it seems to me that not every building is design to make people happy. For example, walking into a hospital can sometimes make you feel sad, no matter how beautiful the design and architecture is. In the other hand, if you walk into my grandma's house (which is not a beautiful house), I feel happy. Happiness, in my opinion can be related to two rules of architecture and design; strive for harmony and place man at the center. When designing a building or place for happiness one of the things designers must search for is harmony.
The building must show order and balance, if not then people in it might not feel comfortable. The most important rule is to always place man at the center of all things, to know their behaviors and make buildings according to people behaviors.

During class on Friday, students took a small trip around campus in search of a place or space of happiness. After walking for a couple of minutes and not having found a place or space I decided to go to my room and on the way there I realized I have found the right place. The place I chose was the lobby at the international dorm, Phillips Hawkins. I think that this place is one of the most happiest place on campus because it is a good place to meet students from different parts of the world. In addition, students use this place to study or simply have fun.

CIMG0147.jpg
Phillips Hawkins from the outside.We can clearly see stacks and columns coming together to for the outside porch of the building.
CIMG0149.jpg
Lower level of the lobby. 
CIMG0142.jpg
Top part of the lobby.
CIMG0148.jpg
Students playing pool.





1 comment:

  1. Great intro! What happened to your images? What about the place relates or is covered by your rules for happiness? Where is your space?

    ReplyDelete