Recently, the municipality of Aarhus initiated a campaign called “Taste of Aarhus” (Smag på Aarhus).

The aim of the campaign is to re-introduce the green spaces of the urban city and let the locals of Aarhus benefit from the qualities within. It is the vision that the inhabitants of Aarhus should be able to plant, pick, taste, and enjoy the sight of food.

With point of departure in the “Taste of Aarhus” campaign, the semester project of the fall 2015 will focus on designing a market hall at a central location in the city centre of Aarhus. The market hall will serve as a facilitator for the urban green “farmers” from where different activities will take place regularly.

This being selling, buying, exchanging, networking etc. locally produced foods from the region.

In other words, the market hall will become a centre of activity in relation to rethinking the green spaces of Aarhus.

Generally speaking, a person can perceive things with its five senses.

Seeing with your eyes.

Smelling with your nose.

Touching with your skin.

Hearing with your ears.

Tasting with your tongue.

Which ever sense is being used, an input is received by receptors, processed by chemical reactions and transported to different parts of the brain, from where an output is generated.

To perceive:

Input -> receive/translate -> output/perception.

When perceiving a space, the sense of sight registers light vs. darkness, tones, colours, distances, open vs. closed, density. All these factors are being seen and processed and an output is generated. Whether you desire what you see or not, depends on your mental perception - but physically, the sense of sight observes the objective visible factors.

Furthermore, when perceiving a space, the sense of hearing is translating the acoustics, resonance, noise, silence, etc. into outputs in the brain and a perception is made. Again an objective observation is made along with a subjective translation of the perceived.

Sound can become a disturbing factor when perceiving detailed constellations where other senses must be in focus. Having too much sound and noise can blur and distort perception, leaving the outcome of the experience unsatisfying.

But on the other hand, some experiences are best perceived in a situation with lots of sounds and buzzing generating a certain feeling that enhances the things being perceived.

How can an architectural proposal alter the perception of inputs received?

Setting the scenario to have light as an input, the translator can be numerous constellations.

Light can be translated differently meeting opaque material, transparent material, liquefied material, coloured material, warped material, etc. The openings in which the light input enters, can be the translator, as well. Here, the positioning, angle, etc. is of importance, and the variation in the constellations can change the output and perception.

Sun light -> material -> light inside.

Furthermore, a scenario where sound is an input, the translator will change character through out the market hall.

Sound can be translated differently meeting dense material, perforated material, liquefied material, light material, etc. This change of constellation or system will adapt through out the building accommodating a specific condition.

Sound -> material -> sound inside.