Sensorium

"Nothing has changed the nature of Man so much as the loss of silence"
-Max Picard

You are not currently aware of the feeling of your shirt on your shoulders. At least, not until you focused on it. Nor are you aware that your room is not actually quiet. By focusing just then, you likely heard the hum of your HVAC system or computer.

So why is this? These senses are always there, but your brain filters them out of your experience altogether. Your brain undergoes an instantaneous and constant process called 'Sensory Gating,' which is responsible for creating what we call "Experience." Think of this like a sensory filter, deciding which sensations are relevant enough to be allowed to immediately impact the individual.

This process does not value any individual stimuli; it values change.

Change is the most significant factor in impacting human experience. A slight breeze on a calm day, a loud noise in a quiet room, a splash of blue flowers in front of a red brick wall. If change is the most significant factor in curating the human experience, then the method and the context of introducing sensations is as important (if not more-so) than the sensations themselves.

For the Architect, this shows that the relationship of subsequent spaces has a massive impact on how each individual space is experienced, almost more so than the sensory elements in the space.

If all we experience is change, then what greater change can be experienced than from nothing to everything? From complete deprivation to a curated immersion?

That is what this project aims to display. The role of Sensory Deprivation in emphasizing curated sensory experiences. All stairwells are designed as sensory deprivation spaces through noise absorptive surfaces, minimal color or textural changes, hidden light sources, and compressible rubber to minimize footfall. This is done not for the experience of deprivation, but to enhance the experience of subsequent spaces, by providing the occupant with a clean sensory slate. Each proximal space focuses on the enhancement of a singular sense (Taste and Smell, Sound, Touch, and Sight).