Sensuous atmospheres of landscape and memory

Abstract

The sensuous qualities of atmospheres are intimately tied to the landscape’s potency as a place of memory. More than any other design discipline, landscape architecture is bound to place, and the place-specificity of atmospheres is a critical component of the experiential landscape. In contrast to its close ally, architecture, landscape is spatially and temporally fluid. Landscape architecture is rooted to the ground, it is highly responsive to light, moisture, climate, and the intangibilities of memory. Atmospheres have special potency in relation to the emotional experience of landscape, and this relates to how landscape might be inflected in ways which support reflections on memory. The connections between remembering, emotion, and atmospheres are illustrated in examples where affective spaces embrace the collective emotional experiences of grief and commemoration (Sumartojo 2015). This paper steps through the relationships between atmospheres and each of the realms of sensuousness, memory, and landscape architecture, in turn. These three threads are then drawn together in the question of whether atmospheres can be designed, and how this could be done. Finally, two case studies of designed landscapes that manifest atmospheres in relation to sensory and emotional experiences of memory are presented.