Da Experiência Sensível: Encontros entre Corpo e Cidade

Abstract

This dissertation aims to deepen the notion of the body's experience in the city. In order to understand the interdependence between the human way of being, the conformation of architecture and the atmosphere of city spaces, it explores the sensitive domain of experience, the way in which space has the capacity to shape those who occupy it by stimulating the senses and provoking emotions. The integration of perspectives from authors of various disciplinary fields - namely neuroscience, psychology, history, music, visual arts, urbanism, and architecture - proves to be fundamental to expand thought about architectural space, promoting a broader understanding of human perception and a questioning about how it can shape and condition the experience of urban space. Firstly, the deepening of perception allows us to understand how the senses and the mind articulate to assimilate information from the surrounding environment, also recognising the role that individual circumstances play in this recognition. Secondly, understanding the influence of the city's conformation on the urban experience, through sensory stimulation and the orientation of the body's movement, also highlights the importance of architecture in designing places that manifest meaning to those who walk through them. The possibility that the experience of the city, lived while walking through its public spaces and determined by the perception of urban information, may be meaningful should encourage reflection on architecture's ability to promote distinctive urban atmospheres and shape places that participate in the construction of personal identity and foster feelings of belonging in the world. It is believed that by understanding how urban spaces and the people who inhabit them shape one another, it becomes possible to work towards the humanisation of the city.