As I studied architecture at the Helsinki University of Technology in the early 1960s, my professor, Aulis Blomstedt (1906-79), used to teach us: 'The talent of imagining human situations is more important for an architect than the gift of fantasising spaces.' The conscious interest of architects in those years was directed to formal, visually aesthetic and compositional qualities of design, and I did not quite grasp the importance of the statement. Through my own design work and studies in the philosophical essences of architecture, I have gradually come to appreciate the significance of this view; qualities of physical space, behaviour and our mental tuning are interrelated, and when designing physical spaces we are also designing mental spaces. Architectural space is not a mere lifeless frame for our activities, as it guides, choreographs and stimulates our actions, interests and moods. Even more importantly, it gives our experiences of being specific contents and meanings. Every space, place and situation is tuned in a special way, and they project specific atmospheres.
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