Understanding Placemaking – A Sensorial Approach to Exploring a Space

Objective: To experience a place through different senses i.e. by listening to the sounds of the place, by observing all the living species and inanimate objects, feeling/touching the textures of the space through a sensory walk.

Outcome: Students will understand placemaking and suggest design changes that they anticipate to see in that place keeping in mind the well-being of all species.

Prerequisites: Instructional notes to be given to participants before they go for the walk. 

(Instructional Notes : The sensory aspect of the walks seeks to bring in diverse ways of understanding places, rooted in embodied engagement. Students will walk and pay attention, through all the senses, to practise a more wholesome way of noticing the interconnected nature of our places i.e. the intersections between formal and informal spaces, the interrelationship between species, etc.

1. Explore your listening sense and capture different sounds
2. Observe the different living and nonliving species in the place and its state of being
3. Feel the texture of walls, floors and different objects in the space too.
4. Explore the smell of the space- You could explore the literal smells and also get a feel of the overall sense of how the space is?)

Activity:

Step 1- Take the students on a walk to the intended space to be explored-  (could be formal and/or informal space or intersection of both) (45 minutes to 1 hour- time period is subject to change depending on the size of the space). A minimum of 45 minutes of walk would be good to feel immersive in the space and observe with keenness. 

Step 2- Students create a rough sketch of the map of the space explored. Facilitator to encourage the participants to pay attention to all species thriving in the space Participants are encouraged to experience the place with a sense of empathy as well. (The facilitator encourages them to express themselves freely, students are encouraged to explore drawing as a medium as well.)

Step 3 – After having made sense of the place with all senses, students are now invited to add imagination layers to this map that they wish to see in this space. They can add/subtract layers/objects to existing spaces and suggest transformations and/or design new spaces that they feel will add value to the space by being more welcoming and inclusive of human and non-human species. 

Step 4- Reflection- Students share how they felt both about the walk and also the changes they would like to see from a designer’s perspective.  

Reference

https://futurearchitectureplatform.org/projects/82c3d9d3-3b70-4798-a210-b4dc7143a3a9/