We should all take example on architects. Indeed, the architect’s eye doesn’t judge a building by its façade or appearance but experiences it as an entity. Trying to understand the complexity of each composition, the five senses are all involved in the journey. 

In Chapter 1 of “Experiencing Architecture”, Rasmussen is offering us a taste of architecture’s essence.

The architect is a theatrical producer, an orchestra conductor providing order, harmony and cohesion with the time and space parameters. Therefore, these design symphonies cannot be detached from their context.

Everything fits, coincides, belongs to its position. Nature is actually the only viable comparison to the architect game. Details are codependent and are thought for the future use of its inhabitants. Like a lion couldn’t reign in the jungle, a medieval castle on Gran Via, Madrid would be meaningless.

Moreover, architecture is mainly about solving practical problems, a mix between philosophy and math, the poetry of physics. Plans, sections or renderings are only tools at the service of the sensorial experience.

However, to some extent creation is also part of the discipline. Indeed, architects have the exceptional responsibility to experiment on humanity’s way of living. Always thinking ahead of their time, they adapt their knowledge to unforeseen improvisations.  

Between comparisons to cinema, sculpture or landscape gardening, architecture seems to remain “The Art of Organization” to Rasmussen, making the notion of “shelter” a harmonious order for humans.

This whole is really hard to convey by words. It’s a matter of sensations, perceptions and especially memories. We smell the materials, feel the textures, hear the space, taste the colors and touch the different weights. Every simple object is brought to life by its precise use in its environment.

Finally, the famous Danish architect is using basic observations of iconic buildings or simple daily facts to portray architecture as the rhythm of our lives.