How to Cite: Ariza Parrado, Lucas, Camilo Isaak and Ana Mombiedro. "Perceptual Phenomena: Six Architectural Experiences". Dearq 44 (2026): 98-142. https://doi.org/10.18389/dearq44.2026.10
How to Cite: Ariza Parrado, Lucas, Camilo Isaak and Ana Mombiedro. "Perceptual Phenomena: Six Architectural Experiences". Dearq 44 (2026): 98-142. https://doi.org/10.18389/dearq44.2026.10
Lucas Ariza Parrado
Universidad de los Andes, Colombia
Camilo Isaak
Universidad de los Andes, Colombia
Ana Mombiedro
Universidad de Alicante, Spain
The collection of projects presented in this section is of vital importance to this issue. Although themes such as body, perception, and movement are usually explored through theoretical, philosophical, or historical approaches to architecture, the projects gathered here offer a genuine contribution to architectural research. They bring to the forefront other dimensions—equally fundamental to the discipline—that extend beyond those traditional lines of inquiry. There is an urgent need to conceive architecture through these lenses, so that they lie at the root of the proposals we formulate and the spaces we design.
Initially, as editors, we intended to assemble groups of projects that corresponded to each of the three concepts in this issue's title: one in which the body served as the central protagonist; another in which perception—with all or some of its nuances—played a defining role in the conception of space; and a final group in which movement was the fundamental driving force.
Upon reviewing these projects, we realized that they manage to address all three concepts. For that reason, it no longer made sense to propose separate groupings; instead, we encourage a transversal reading that seeks to identify and interpret the three concepts within each project.
Accordingly, the following pages present a diverse set of projects that differ in their conception, scale, location, materiality, duration, program, and, of course, form. These factors span a broad spectrum—from a perfume bottle to a territorial intervention—because body, perception, and movement are unmistakably present in all of these architectural variables and dualities.
Another element that connects and relates these six proposals is the implicit investigative process that makes each one unique. In all of them, the architectural project becomes an uncertain terrain through which to learn, relate, explore, and question, thereby suggesting ways of inhabiting in which the body, its movement, and its modes of perception remain latent and present.
With this in mind, it is interesting that Antonio Maciá's proposal—which, in addition to developing buildings, also incorporates perfumes associated with them—appears immediately before a territorial proposal by Connatural in which memory takes shape through architectural elements. Despite their very different processes and materials, both proposals pursue comparable associations and relationships.
It is also noteworthy that a system of scaffolding—designed to grant access to places where no one was ever meant to go, allowing the inhabitation of what was initially uninhabitable—precedes a research center whose very core lies in its central void and the path that encircles it. Only through the body, its perception, and its movement can the profound connection between these two projects be fully discerned.
It is equally valuable to observe how the applied research carried out through a user-oriented prototype can resonate with the decisions and explorations involved in envisioning how a house can be inhabited within a given landscape, with all its transitions and intentions.
In all six projects, the body is key—not because it is the main actor of the architecture, but because it is one of the agents that affects, activates, and transforms the projected space, infusing it with different tensions and qualities through its presence and actions. It is then that perception renders the scenarios presented here distinctive, as they carry implications that make particular conditions of inhabiting possible. Both body and perception depend on movement in order to register and understand space. In some cases, this movement involves displacement, travel, discovery, and rediscovery, gradually building memory and experience; in others, it emerges from stillness, where the slightest gesture can fill an inhabited space with meaning and give rise to a unique way of doing.
Authors: World of Holistic Architecture
Year: 2025
Location: Elche, Alicante, Spain
Architecture has evolved as a discipline perceived primarily through sight and has not always placed its focus on the people who inhabit it. User-centered architecture, however, is closely linked to the design of multisensory spaces—environments that stimulate all the senses: sight, hearing, touch, and of course, smell. Even taste can be included, if we follow psychologist James J. Gibson's concept of the olfactory-gustatory system. Aromas form an integral part of the relationship between space and person, helping to define and enrich it. Olfactory information, captured by the nasal receptors, travels directly to the limbic system and is therefore deeply connected to memory. As a result, a carefully composed fragrance can evoke and even reconstruct architectural spaces stored in our minds. Following this line of inquiry, the architectural collective World of Holistic Architecture developed the WOHA Parfums project.
The project unfolds along two parallel paths. On the one hand, the architect conceives a design taking into account a wide range of social, cultural, functional, technical, and economic factors, and develops it following the path of architecture. On the other hand, the perfumer, faced with the same set of parameters established in the architectural project, follows the path of perfumery. The result of the architect's process may be a building, an urban space, or an object; the perfumer's result, an aromatic composition. Both paths lead to different outcomes, yet they remain closely linked, as they share the same point of origin. They are two different ways of interpreting the same situation. Ultimately, the project seeks to bring these two paths together in sensory cartographies that merge the outcomes of architecture and perfumery.
The project takes shape through a collection of objects that contain the olfactory compositions. This series, titled "Liquid Architecture," is conceived according to architecture principles such as proportion, harmony, materiality, and balance. To deepen the relationship between space and perception, the concept of movement is introduced as a design variable. The motion of bodies—whether by carrying the aromatic composition on the skin or by remaining fixed at a point in space—creates air currents that facilitate the diffusion of scent in the space.
As of 2025, the "Liquid Architecture" collection consists of six objects that interpret three architectural projects by World of Holistic Architecture through scent. The first, Calahorra, is based on a café located within a vertical garden attached to the party wall of the Calahorra Tower, an Arab-origin structure in Elche, Spain. The second, Los ojos de tu piel, refers to a series of office spaces located in an industrial warehouse in the coastal town of Santa Pola. The third, Om Ah Uhm, reimagines a private residence transformed into a meditation space, also located in Elche.
Author: MACh + Connatural
MaCH Design: Arq. Fernando Maculan, Arq. Mariza Machado Coelho
Connatural Design: Arq. Edgar Mazo, Arq. Sebastián Mejía
Visual Artist: Máximo Soalheiro, Diego Cano
Development: Arq. Santiago Hurtado Gaviria, Arq. Santiago Restrepo Velásquez, Arq. Juan Manuel Bernal, Arq. Érica Martínez, Arq. Natalia Villada, Arq. Daniela Suárez, Arq. Paula Palacio, Arq. Milena Ruiz, Arq. Ricardo Lobato, Arq. Cassio López, Arq. Marina Vilela, Est. Susana Franco, Est. Julián Giraldo
Landscape: FLP Paisagismo, Felipe Fontes
Electric Design: Atiaia Lighting Design
Graphic Design: Hardy
Sustainability: Inovativo Soluções sustentáveis
Year: 2020
Location: Brumadinho, Minas Gerais, Brazil
Beyond this argument, another, even more elusive and suggestive hypothesis quietly emerges. The parallel between human history and the history of the Earth raises a question: Could it not be imagined that, just as human language has developed through history, a kind of language has also formed within the Earth itself—one shaped by its own chronology, inscribed by the events and forces that have defined its geodynamic and geomechanical laws? Might this be a sort of story-code of primordial forms, now laid bare before us in the visible contours of the landscape? (Pardo 1991).
Following the 2019 catastrophe in Brumadinho, Minas Gerais, Brazil—caused by the rupture of a dam containing mining waste—Territorio Memorial project was conceived. Its purpose is to create a commemorative space that honors the memory of the 272 victims of the disaster while inviting reflection on the causes and consequences of mining as a practice that has culturally transformed the landscape.
The project consists of a series of territorial interventions grounded in a direct understanding of the site's specific conditions: its pre-existing vegetation, the slopes of its terrain, and its unique soil composition.
A sequence of spaces, each with distinct characteristics, unfolds along a ceremonial path that constructs a narrative rooted in the territory itself. This narrative articulates the evolving relationship between humans and nature—historically, culturally, and environmentally—establishing a dialogue between memory and landscape.
Memorial Plaza: A succession of courtyards of varying sizes is designed to be inhabited by sunlight and reflections of water, transforming their perimeters into the starting point of the visitors' journey.
Firefly Forest: A series of walkways gently weave through a forest of pre-existing native trees, inviting an intimate encounter with the ecosystem that existed before the onset of mining. At night, the forest comes alive with swarms of fireflies.
Garden of the Absent: Subtle geomorphological interventions in the terrain focus on eradicating the pastures—remnants of livestock farming—to initiate a process of forest regeneration. Along an excavated path, 272 selected native trees are planted, accompanying this transformation. The space is further enriched by a sound installation of 272 metal tubes, crafted from non-ferrous alloys of copper and bronze reminiscent of the church bells of Minas Gerais, as a tribute to each victim. These tubes mark the resting places of cinerary urns within a cemetery park, and their varying lengths and diameters produce distinct tones, giving a unique voice to every lost life.
Wall of Offerings: The final element of the project takes the form of an 80-meter-long wall—a house, room, dam, containment, bridge, and threshold all at once—pierced by the erratic movement of multiple bodies, offering glimpses of near and distant landscapes. Built from a mixture of mining tailings, concrete, and metallic household objects donated by local residents, the wall stands as a lasting testimony to a transformed territory. Both the objects and the wall embody the abstraction and transformation carried out by the culture of the territory, expressed through the making of utilitarian objects.
Design and Construction: Antonio Yemail
Artistic concept for Lugares Comunes: Tatzu Nishi
Artistic concept for Maqueta para el Dante: José Alejandro Restrepo
Year: 2009 and 2014
Location: Bogotá, Colombia
Between Heaven and Hell: Architecture and Memory
The following works took place in Bogotá five years apart, yet reveal parallelisms that allow us to analyze them as complementary manifestations: temporary installations in heritage buildings involving a deliberate transgression of conventional routes, inviting a bodily re-signification of space and its memory.
Lugares Comunes (2009), promoted by the District Secretariat of Culture, intervened in the San Francisco Church (1557), located on the emblematic corner where El Bogotazo erupted following the assassination of political leader Jorge Eliécer Gaitán in 1948. The artist Tatzu Nishi (Japan, 1960) proposed the construction of a lookout house suspended thirty meters above ground, allowing visitors to get closer to the church's cross. The interior recreated a traditional domestic space that decontextualized visitors and diluted the presence of the cross. As the building is a national heritage site, the installation could not rest directly on the church structure; instead, it was supported by structural scaffolding that held a cantilevered metal platform counterbalanced on the church tower.
Maqueta para el Dante (2014), conceived by José Alejandro Restrepo (Colombia, 1959), intervened in the Monument to the Heroes, designed in 1952 by fascist architect Angiolo Mazzoni (Italy, 1984) to commemorate those who fell in the wars of Independence and Korea (1950-1953). However, its final version (1963) lost this original connection and became a receptacle of silenced memory. The installation, which recreates Dante's descent into hell, proposed an inverted route: ascending in order to descend through the "infernal circles," moving among shadows, sound pieces, and video installations that revealed the hidden geometric logic of this concrete structure—a vestige of fascist architecture in Colombia.
The scaffolding—painted blue in the first case and dematerialized through white linear lighting in the second—functioned as a critical device that opened new dialogues with the existing buildings. Both interventions were notably well received, with 6,000 and 10,000 visitors respectively, and in both, the bodily dimension was fundamental: visitors physically experienced a new relationship with these spaces through proximity, touch, and vertigo.
These works demonstrate that activating transgressive mechanisms between time and space invites a corporeal engagement with memory, in which visitors, through their movement, contribute to reinterpreting the social meaning and questioning the "monumental" nature of these emblematic spaces.
They offered a unique opportunity for thousands of citizens to experience an architecture of ascent that, in its transience, made the abstraction of historical memory tangible and democratized the experience of heritage beyond passive contemplation. The scaffolding not only subverted the traditional monumentality but also revealed that the deepest understanding of our symbolic constructions can emerge precisely when the established condition of space is momentarily altered, and when we are invited to traverse what once seemed inaccessible.
Authors: Pezo von Ellrichshausen
Year: 2021
Location: Concepción, Chile
We were told that when resources are scarce, intensity compensates for high performance—perhaps because there seems to be a profound gap between ingenuity and intelligence. We also understood, of course, that every project is ultimately a response to its circumstances.
This seemingly simple, stable, and regular building conceals an unexpected and expansive interior. It embodies the world of innovation: a continuous, fluid, and open space that both conceptually and physically reflects the creative processes of academic practice, the sequential development of formal research or the reversible, multidimensional nature of informal knowledge.
The design recognizes the need to polarize the time of innovation in at least two distinct moments: one rooted in a social, collective, and integrated creative experience, and another that is individual, intimate, and solitary.
The spatial structure of the building is organized around these two clearly differentiated conditions. On one side there is an open core composed of vertically interconnected halls, with a circular void that gradually narrows as it rises. On the other, private workspaces are positioned at the corners of each floor, shaped as quarter circles whose centers pivots around the edges, expanding in inverse proportion to the central voids. Departing from the traditional system of columns arranged in an uniform, non-hierarchical grid, the floor plan incorporates dedicated areas for exhibitions, workshops, and meetings, visually and acoustically controlled by the curved walls that serve as opaque screens.
The resulting spatial character and diversity encourage a dynamic, non-categorized mode of work—one that accommodates shifting relationships among professors, students, researchers, entrepreneurs, and local communities.
Authors: Upali Nanda / HKS Architects
Year: 2017
Location: Chicago, USA
Neurodiverse and neurodivergent populations often process sensory stimuli in unique ways. Our senses include sight, hearing, touch, smell, taste, vestibular movement, and proprioception. Atypical sensory processing is often described in terms of hypo- and hypersensitivities. Hyposensitivity involves a higher threshold for registering stimuli, which can lead to missed cues or delayed responses. In contrast, hypersensitivity involves a lower threshold, causing overstimulation. Individuals may experience hypo- or hypersensitivity in certain senses but not in others. These sensory responses are classified by a passive versus active response into four quadrants: low registration, sensory seeking, sensitivity, and avoiding (Brown et al. 2001). School environments, in particular, are rich in sensory input, which can significantly affect those with sensory processing differences, including autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Helping users build tolerance to sensory stimuli by minimizing baseline stimulation and gradually increasing stimuli can be key to fostering connections between neurodiverse populations and mainstream environments.
The Sensory Wellbeing Hub was installed in 2017 at a Chicago public high school to support students with developmental disabilities. It comprises three zones—Respite, Active, and Cocoon—each designed for a specific sensory function: sensory de-escalation, sensory engagement, and sensory seclusion, respectively. The Cocoon microstructure provides a user-controlled microenvironment in which a hammock faces interactive, user-selected nature videos. In addition to curated visual and auditory nature stimuli, most students enjoyed the hammock's compressive movement, which incorporated both vestibular (sense of balance and movement) and proprioceptive (sense of one's position in space) sensory therapies. The Hub functions as a flexible, pop-up sensory room: it is cost-effective, scalable, and requires no permanent construction, with easily modifiable features.
Research using surveys and observations conducted after installation revealed that sensory interventions emphasizing compression, proprioception, and tactility were particularly well utilized. The beanbag with a weighted blanket (compression), the sensory cocoon (visual and auditory separation) with tensile fabric (compression), and media wall (visual, auditory, proprioceptive, and tactile features) were among the most frequently used and most positively rated elements. Compression, as well as visual and auditory features, were engaged passively, whereas tactile and proprioceptive elements encouraged active participation. Musical instruments on the active wall (visual, auditory, and tactile) and the trampoline (vestibular) were also rated positively. The interactive features of the nature video were underutilized due to the acuity of the students' disabilities. Students with severe cognitive impairments preferred tactile interventions, while others visual features. Notably, one feature was dismantled by a student with obsessive–compulsive disorder because he could not stand a peeling corner on a panel, illustrating how even minor imperfections can potentially irritate neurodiverse students.
Key takeaways highlight the importance of incorporating spaces for respite, offering a range of sensory affordances, and ensuring durability—alongside programs that allow for regular use— so that sensory coping strategies can be developed by design and integrated into the fabric of mainstream environments.
Authors: CAPA Arquitectura. Juan Pablo Ramos & Catalina Patiño
Year: 2016 — 2018
Location: Envigado, Antioquia, Colombia
Living Around the Fire
Located in the mountains surrounding Medellín, at an altitude of 2,600 meters, Casa LO is conceived as an architectural act that invites the body to explore and experience it through movement. Every movement—every passage between space, room, and courtyard—becomes a sensory experience in which the body, in its natural human scale, establishes an intimate relationship with the architecture. Movement enlarges, narrows, reveals, and constantly opens the gaze to the landscape, from the very first moment of entry to the last inhabited corner.
The house is an interplay of thresholds and bridges connecting its main spaces, encouraging a passive and conscious form of dwelling—one that allows itself to be affected by what it sees, touches, and hears. Here, the body encounters a setting that does not impose but rather invites: to walk, to pause, to contemplate. The central courtyard, the heart of the house, organizes, breathes, and gathers. Like a circle around the fire, the surrounding spaces open to the possibility of encounter, intimacy, and silent connection.
This arrangement not only fulfills the functional needs of living but also awakens a deeper perception: that of everyday life as an expanded, open, and flexible experience. It is an architecture that does not limit uses but rather amplifies them by establishing common ground.
We find in fire—in the oven, the bonfire, the internal heat—an ancestral gesture that summons us. We do not approach it as visitors; fire is an essential part of the act of living. It gathers us, enlightens us, and nourishes us. Through it, the body not only moves through architecture—it inhabits it, listens to it, remembers it.
Casa LO is not merely a home; it is an extended body—one that moves to the rhythm of those who inhabit it, that breathes with them and embraces them. It is a space that returns the human being to their essential experience: that of touch, of hearing, of the intimate gaze. A place where perception is sharpened, and movement becomes a profound gesture of presence.