The Inner Studio - Riverside Architectural Press

PART TWO | THE CREATIVE INSTINCT
We can learn about ourselves by watching what happens to us
when we are moved. It can be as simple as becoming aware of
being moved in response to sense impressions. When we are open
to something we can learn to watch the act of receiving and allow
it to naturally shift into feeling. Becoming mindful of the many
different “yes” and “no” moments–and perhaps even the “I don’t
know” moments–that accompany us throughout our experience of
the world offers the designer a rich inventory of inner design experience.
For a designer, this is where “knowing” comes from. While
some would argue that the world is too busy for these subtle levels
of sensitivity, the advertising industry has long understood them
and played with their power. We have to fortify our capacity to be
sensitive in the world, as it exists and as we have made it, so that
we can learn from the reality of our responses. Our job is to sustain
awareness in the act of being moved across as many sensing vehicles
as possible. We want to allow ourselves to register the
impressions of the world in ourselves and let the expressions of
ourselves be represented in the world. This dual movement gives
us a tangible connection between the world and the psyche.
This inner/outer connection points to the value of getting to
know what moves us: it strengthens our capacity to express the same
in our built work. Bringing our feelings to what we design can seem
daunting, but we expect the same in musicians and writers. We are
willing to work at adapting new approaches when it comes to technology–why
not the same with bringing our feelings into design?
At the end of a term, I asked a group of architecture students to
name the project that most inspired them, and the range was
predictably wide. The works were drawn from every possible
culture and every possible time period. Naturally, each person will
be moved by something different. Yet when I asked them to tell me
how these diverse projects made them feel, what the inspiration
felt like, their responses were very similar. Not only is the experience
of being moved universal, but the actual sensation is very
similar from person to person. We all search–and probably
hope–for a connection with the feeling of being moved because the
resulting ecstasy and, certainly, joy feeds our souls. Designers who
recognize this in themselves have the greatest opportunity to bring
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