PHENOMENOLOGY
This has to do with how one experiences a space and how it is represented in our conscious mind. Phenomenology is influenced by our moods and individual preferences. For instance, most people will feel more comfortable in a room with wooden walls, a carpeted floor and a warm bed during the winter. On the other hand, if you are in a house made of glass and that has steel furniture, the sense of warmth needed for the winter cannot be felt. Therefore you may be uncomfortable. This same thing applies to all buildings the materials used in building it and the design of each structure affects it greatly. The age of the structure also influences how our body feels in it. When I visited the church I felt constrained and felt like someone was watching so I had to be well behaved. Even taking pictures in the church looked inappropriate. This sense is felt because the environment is very quiet. Even the chairs have an effect on a person. They are wooden chairs are not very comfortable; they look like chairs meant for an important meeting. The colours are dark and there is a restricted lightening access to the church (it is not very bright), which gives it a sacred feeling.
“Light has the capacity to move us emotionally” (Millet, 1996, p.33). Holl (2007, p.7 4).
Natural materials are used such as stained glass and stonewalls to further display the sacredness of the space. The space goes on to affect the mood of the person. When I travelled to Benin republic and went to a place called ‘the gate of no return’ where slaves where transported and I saw the chains and al l the other elements in the space I felt a sense of pity of how the human race was cruel at that time. In conclusion, everything in a building affects how it is experienced and we should try to observe the effect of different environments and materials.