What is an Environmental Filter?
The statement “Environmental Filter” should be broken down, I will start with environmental. According to the New Oxford American Dictionary (2011) the word environmental means:
1. relating to the natural world and the impact of human activity on its condition.
2. relating to or arising from a person's surroundings: environmental noise.
From this we are able to see that it relates to the natural world; trees, grass, air, land etc. Environmental can also be related to the impact that we humans have on our surroundings. I understand environmental to be my surroundings and the impacts I have on them; particularly but not exclusively to do with nature.
Now I will consider the meaning of the term filter. The New Oxford American Dictionary (2011) states the meaning of filter to be:
1. pass (a liquid, gas, light, or sound) through a device to remove unwanted material.
This seems a little off track when compared to architecture; but I will try to take from it what I can. So lets take the term device and swap it for house. The item being “passed” would be the environment and the stuff to be removed could be the surroundings. The meaning now relating to our topic is:
Pass the environment through a house to remove unwanted surroundings.
It is now easy to see that the house becomes a means of blocking all surrounding environmental changes. I somehow find this quite naive, it is relevant but I am under the impression that you would not want to totally remove all surroundings. I instead have the idea that a building allows the opportunity to block parts of an environment but more importantly allow particular parts into the spaces created within. So lets suggest that a filter can change its density. For example a wall may be a very fine filter stopping everything that surrounds, where as a window with a curtain may be a more passable filter, open that window up and the filter is now even wider; sounds start to radiate through the building but I am still sheltered from the outdoors. Than we step onto the veranda or balcony we are protected by the overlapping roof or walls to the side, but in this space the boundaries are blurred; are we inside the filter or not?
In my following research I will be looking into the ways a house can filter the surrounding environments. How a well designed dwelling is a direct result to the surrounding environment. I will also be looking at how a house may have been designed to allow certain environmental factors in and how filtering the surroundings can benefit a design.
What is a Container of Human Activities?
I need to interpret the meaning of “Container of Human Activities.” Lets find out the technical meaning of “Container,” appearing in the New Oxford American Dictionary (2011) the word means:
1. an object that can be used to hold or transport something.
That is easily understandable, the container is the house; a place that holds people and their belongings. Now we must understand the meaning of “Activities” a quick search in the New Oxford American Dictionary (2011) displays these results:
1. the condition in which things are happening or being done.
2. a thing that a person or group does or has done.
3. the degree to which something displays its characteristic property or behavior.
I can see from this that it pretty much mean things being done, so it may be the way that humans act inside an environment. I take it that different houses may allow for different types of activities and different occupiers will result in different activities. Basically a house allows human activities.
In my research to come I will be looking at how a house allows human activities, and in particular different spaces within that allow different types of activities. How different design techniques allow the individual to experience a place in different ways.
What is a Delightful Experience?
Finally we will be looking at the meaning of a “Delightful Experience.” I will start by breaking down the term “Delightful,” in the New Oxford American Dictionary (2011):
1. causing delight; charming : a delightful secluded garden.
This term is quite easy to understand and is seen as someone feeling good when in the presence of an object they find pleasing. It does however mean that a person or being must be part of the scenario. In architecture I understand this to be a building/place/space that makes someone feel good. I also understand that the response is not always good; buildings can make people feel bad or uncomfortable as well. However I am only looking at how a house can be delightful. It is now time to investigate the word “Experience:”
1. an event or occurrence that leaves an impression on someone.
I now understand “Experience” to be something memorable. It cannot just be how you feel, it should be a significant event. However I also see the term in present tense when an experience may be good right now.
When bringing these two together I now see a “Delightful Experience” to be basically a good memorable experience for a being. Something that you will remember in a good way. It could even relate to the hear and now and at this time you feel great for being in the presence of something.
