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The Secret Life of Buildings talks about the problems of Architecture and how we can solve these problems by analyzing the key factors of design and its relationship with the environment and our minds.
At the start of the film, it talked about David Adjaye’s designs of using dark colors mainly using black with structures that make use of indirect sunlight. The narrator then critiqued this as a space that does not necessarily feel like a home due to its overthrow of perfection and cleanliness and the use of hard metallic furniture. He described Adjaye’s design to be more of a decorative space seen in cover magazines. In relation, The narrator pointed out that in interior design/architecture, people are more fascinated and attracted by how expensive a space looks rather than how it makes them feel comfortable. I strongly agree with what he said because it is still a design problem up till today despite this film being made in 2011. I agreed with the fact that cute trending spaces you see in social media usually focus more on aesthetics rather than comfort and functionality. And so far from what I learned in this Interior Design course is that we should find solutions to every possible problem as well as making sure that design is an even balance of aesthetics, functionality and comfort.
David Adjaye's Lost House in King's Cross, London. Photo From The Forbes (2020)
Photo by Metin Ozer @metinozer
Second, an experiment was conducted to see how windows create big impacts in a space. He covered all the windows with boards covering almost seventy percent of natural light. He did not only think of the mental aspect but the biological aspect by getting his glucose levels. As time progressed he started to feel more somber and his glucose increased. In conclusion, being in a darker space may trigger the symptoms of depression and immune and metabolic abnormalities. After hearing the results, I was shocked by the fact that a darker space can affect you negatively. What more to apply the lack of light in workspaces, and our comfort spaces alone? For me, I do enjoy a nice dark place to relax and to calm my head, but I didn’t know that the lack of sunlight may also affect my body subconsciously in a negative way. With this experiment’s results kept in mind, I will continue to use and prioritize big bright windows in my designs in order for the people living in it to be really happy and healthy !
Third, the house was not designed properly so the client had to suffer the consequences of being cramped/compressed in her home affecting how the client thinks. Subsequently, the narrator conducted another experiment in a university to research how a cramped space affects our mind. After the experiment, it has concluded that it may cause stress and the uncomfortable feeling of compression which I do agree because I relate. I am a big claustrophobe so I often think about my surroundings to see if I can move around freely.
With the topic of being cramped in mind, this leads us to the Fourth issue which talks about the importance of personal space and territory. An example that was given was an architect that designed an ergonomic, well designed urban townhouse. Personally, it did not really tackle the importance of personal space but what I learned from this part is that a space will be effective if it was designed beautifully and properly.
Harry Potter's Room
The beautiful ice bath versus the dark and eerie ice bath was an experiment that shocked me the most because the space influenced his mind and body to stay in the ice bath longer when staying in a beautiful environment. I think that experiment is a good example to determine the importance of interior design and how it affects a person’s wellbeing.
Fifth, it talked about the importance of proportion to a space, which tackled the use of Fibonacci’s Golden Ratio. With the use of the ratio, it created a beautiful and comfortable space and this can be found everywhere from body, architecture and nature. As a perfectionist, I will keep this in mind because I like the idea of a space being put together beautifully and purposefully.
Sixth, it talked about the importance of materials. Materials are supposed to be sustainable and to feel good and stable. Materials in architecture and interior design is important because it affects how we can experience a space. The example I can give to this part is the use of those ugly plastic cabinet drawers. I can say that using that is one of my biggest pet peeves as an interior designer because it is not sustainable even if it does the job of storage.
For my first meeting of Interior Design Theories class, I was tasked to make symbols or drawings that best represent or describe me as a persona, designer and consumer.
Persona
Persona
I would best describe myself as a friendly person. As I was raised to treat everything and everyone with kindness no matter what. With that I also was able to value my passions as well as value my spirituality. I drew a big heart with open arms just to represent that and the sun to represent my value for life.
Designer
Designer
As a designer, I would describe my approach to be simple, comfortable and sustainable. In this drawing, I wanted to portray the phenomenology you experience when being comfortable under a tree on a windy day. Unable to get up by how comfortable it is by being relaxed on something that was given by nature.
Ultimately, I value natural, raw and simple designs when it comes to creating spaces or pieces of art but as well as making sure that people feel comfortable in their spaces.
Consumer
Consumer
As a consumer on the other hand, I was taught how to live a simple, non- materialistic life. I often find myself wanting what I need than wanting what is trendy. This made me value the importance of sustainabilty and the value of money.
To conclude this reaction blog, I can say that I learned a lot from watching this film and relecting on myself creating symbols. Everything should be well thought of from the materials of nails to the proportions of rooms as well as its functionality. I do agree with the narrator that architects often create houses that are not up to the standards of great interior design. In addition, this film made me realize how Important and relevant my job is going to be in the real world and in the future and it made me appreciate what I do even better.
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