“Shifts in Perception through Tactile Sensations”

“Touch is the sensory mode which integrates our experiences of the world and ourselves.” – Juhani Pallasmaa

The bias that vision holds over the profession of architecture suppresses all of the other senses. In Greece, optical refinements were implemented to create the illusion that a structure was visually “perfect”. The hegemonic eye, with its ability to absorb information faster than any other sense, has allowed designers to create buildings that “look” good, but might not necessarily “feel” good. Pallasmaa once stated that “touch is a parent of our eyes, ears, nose and mouth.” Tactile sensations can affect a person’s social behavior, self-perception, enjoyment and comfort within a building. Three dimensional space can be deceiving through our lens of vision. However, the tactile and haptic sensations that we experience do not misguide us. It is important to explore how tactility can be leveraged to enhance our perception of space, while diminishing the ocular-centric bias that we hold today. How do these tactile sensations affect the way we behave in space? Does the materiality of objects within space evoke tactile responses that affect our behavior? The provocation of these questions would be produced by creating an environment where tactility is the driving force of design. The measurement of the users reactions would be documented via. video and audio recording. These responses (good or bad) could then influence how the space is reacting tactilly or haptically to new users in real time.