Laura Miller
Degen and Rose (2012:3) state in their article titled “The Sensory Experiencing of Urban Design: The Role of Walking and Perceptual Memory” that “senses are part of people’s everyday experiencing and these sensory experiences are central to the design of urban built environments.” Therefore, it is important for town planners and architects to acknowledge that when buildings and urban spaces are being constructed and designed, one’s sensory experience needs to be considered. Thus, Degen and Rose (2012:5) stress the significance of how urban spaces are experienced through multiple sensory modalities and not solely through the visual or through sight. Similarly, Borer (2013:966) recognizes the importance of the senses for making connections between individuals and their environments by referring to places as “sensescapes.”
The piazza has a variety of walking practices owing to the different types of walk-ways within the area. The inner section contains several corridors that channel students to walk in a hurriedly manner and to follow a certain path. Degen and Rose (2012:13) stipulate that it is through such "habitual practices and routine engagements that one is able to attach particular experiences and memories to places." Ophelia's (2017) image below for displays her experience of walking through the corridors and reveals the dark, dinginess of the avenues while Savanna comments on walking through this area and her feeling of "claustrophobia" (Savanna 2017). Degen and Rose (2012:14) mention that this type of space creates a tendency for it to be like a two way street and forms streams of traffic whereby people walking in this confined space are almost on "autopilot." Additionally, Savanna (2017) mentions that she frequently attended the piazza in her first two years of study but no longer visits this space; thereby linking to the concept of memory and how students have fond memories of their younger days whilst sitting or socializing under the trees. Therefore, this space is viewed differently to that of someone whom may be experiencing the piazza for the first time as "there are no perceptions without recollections" (Degen & Rose 2012:18).
On the contrary, the walking practices in the open space of the piazza are more free flow and in a "spidery-like movement" as the area is bigger and allows for many pathways and directions to 'stroll' through (Degen & Rose 2012:16). There is a lack of uniformity in this environment except for the flow of students walking directly through the piazza from one entrance to another, following the straight path. Loretta (2017) describes walking through the piazza as her "fly through" of which Molly (2017) agrees with this as these students prefer to quickly pass through the area owing to the feeling of being watched or judged by onlookers or even viewed by surveillance. Other students, however, do not merely "fly through" this area to get to another destination but optionally choose to spend time in the piazza so to interact with friends or work on group projects together. JP's (2017) image reveals how this space produces a multiplicity of patterns of walk which, in turn, results in individuals reacting differently to forms of sensory stimulation (Degen & Rose 2012:16). It is the body and the space that come together through the process of walking.
The piazza can be considered in terms of a "touchscape" and a "smellscape" in which the space can be assessed through the sensuous experiences and the accompanying meanings embedded (Borer 2013:969). One of the positive experiences students had with the piazza, in terms of a touchscape, is the various grass areas and the feeling of the lush grass under one's feet or hands whilst being able to sit and enjoy the tranquility under the trees (Molly 2017). Molly (2017) further infers that while the grass areas are clean and relaxing, students refrain from touching any other aspects of the space as it appears "grubby."
These sensory engagements with the grass areas are also mediated by memories of other places that contain grass in which comparisons were made between the piazza grass area and the Engineering grass patch. Borer (2013:977) infers that "touch is more than the action of the fingers feeling the texture of surfaces, in this case the grass, as it involves the entire body reaching out to certain items and those items in the environment coming into contact with the body." This is evident in the circular podium that protrudes out and causes the body to come into contact with this environment and connects individuals to the larger spatial whole (Borer 2013:977). Jane (2017) states that this is one of her favourite features in the piazza as she finds the design and symmetry of the bricks aesthetically pleasing; linking to Degen and Rose's thoughts of how the "design of a certain area should enrich people's experiences." The circular podium is thus synonymous with the piazza space.
The "smellscape" can be considered the most prominent sensuous experience of the piazza as every student commented on how the smell deters them away from the area. According to Borer (2013:972), smell is a "dissociating sense that creates divisions and distinctions between classes, cultural groups, races and even practices like smoking." Memory plays a key role within smellscape as many students remembered and recalled the space according to the overwhelming stench of hubbly bubbly and cigarette smoke as seen in Loretta's image.
Not only is there an overpowering smell of smoke but also the various smells of food cooking and being prepared. Linking to the above quote, smell evidently creates divisions as one is able to divide the space according to the smokers and various cultural groups that are sitting and eating, or waiting in the ques to purchase food (Borer 2013:972). Thus, smells are connected to certain places and particular types of people. This is evident in the cafeteria space as it has an extremely distinctive smell. Additionally, owing to so many people residing in this area, the bins are often overflowing which causes a stench of garbage and creates a lot of litter, ultimately resulting in a "disregard for others and the environment" (Louise 2017) . Thus, the smells associated with the piazza are almost entirely negative and will result in an odorous identity. It is apparent that students predominantly experience the piazza in terms of a smell, sensory engagement.
This project is extremely relevant as it places emphasis on the importance of analyzing urban spaces according to walking practices, memory, touch and smell: the sensory experiences. I found the nature and value of the project meaningful as it enabled and encouraged me to experience the space through a multi-sensory process and not primarily through sight which, in turn, created an awareness of my surroundings and how I interact with the environment. By fully immersing myself into the multi-sensory process I found new insights, likes and dislikes, and aspects of the space that enlightened my overall view of the piazza as well as building on my previous memories or perceptions that mediated my experience. I became aware of the process of walking, my awareness of presence and touch, as well as the odorous impressions. I found the photo documentation and elicitation effective as both methods capture the essence of what one aims to convey: the atmosphere and sensorial qualities. I enjoyed using these methodologies and implementing them into a group, visual archiving project on a new platform: Scalar.
Therefore, from the above essay it is clear that students at The University of Pretoria do indeed experience the piazza space in terms of their senses: namely walking practices, the role of memory, touch and smell. It is furthermore clear from the inputs of the theorists Degen and Rose (2012) and Borer (2013) that urban spaces do allow for multisensorial experiences which ultimately enhance one's encounter with the space, its environment and its design features. Thus, the UP piazza contains an experiential dimension.
BIBLIOGRAPHY:
Borer, M. 2013. Being in the City: The sociology of urban experiences. Sociology Compass 7(11)
:965-983.
Degen, M & Rose, G. 2012. The sensory experiencing of urban design: the role of walking and
perceptual memory.Urban Studies 49(15):3271-3287.
