We are defined by the spaces we’re in. While our mental narratives may guide us, our feelings may drive us or our responsibilities may direct us, the spaces we are traveling through may have a stronger, though more silent effect.
That influence shouldn’t be ignored. Instead, it should be of primary importance in the formation of any build environment. Growing up in the city, I recognized the silent, energetic dialogue that can go on between the streetscape and us. This was in Boston’s Back Bay. These structures were so thoughtfully designed that they caught our attention. They spoke to us in their own language, through their proportions, rhythm, color and patterns. We felt strong connections to the spaces they created. When tuned in, we could sense how they spoke to us and how buildings spoke to each other.
I realized, then that buildings could also facilitate a deep interaction between people, thereby strengthening our sense of community. Through the creation of great spaces, we could form an intimate, personal conversation between us and the space we were in. Others around me might be simultaneously experiencing the same sentiment. The result of connectivity to a special space is can be both a intimate, private experience while also a very public, shared phenomenon. I understood then, that architecture has not only the power to relate to the history of itself and to speak to individuals, it can also create a strong community through shared appreciation for a space. They cultivated a public dialogue.
The Gothic architects and their patrons fully understood a building’s ability to impact and amplify a user’s sense of self, connection to others, and connection to the divine. They played with this force willingly, developing ponderously light-filled, airy, high spaces with building techniques that seemed to defy the natural strength of their materials. They would then apply an overlay of pattern, color and light of such complexity and originality that few architectural styles have since been able to duplicate this sophistication.
Under such circumstances, the spectator can easily become overwhelmed or feel dwarfed by the architecture. But the tone and scale of Gothic design established by medieval artisans was so nurturing and generous that those who traveled through these spaces did so with feelings of deep exultation and gratitude.