ABSTRACT
The task of buildings is usually seen solely in terms of functional performance, physical comfort, and aesthetic values. The sensory and mental impoverishment of contemporary, retinal-biased environments has made it clear that profound architecture is a multi-sensory art form; buildings need to address our senses of hearing, touch, smell, and even taste, as much as pleasing the eye. One of the tasks of art and architecture is to safeguard the authenticity and reality of the human experience. The characteristically human mode of existence takes place in worlds of possibilities, molded by our capacities of memory, fantasy, and imagination. Existential space is structured by meanings, intentions, and values reflected upon it by an individual or a group, either consciously or unconsciously; existential space is a unique quality interpreted through human memory and experience. Besides articulating space, man-made structures concretize the passage of time, represent cultural hierarchies, and give a visible presence to human institutions.
