idk if anyone remembers this but um, im an architect!!!! my posts usually focus on my search for self reliance and emotional self-awareness (and the hustle never stops), but i want to give more space for archines → the architect, the designer, the urbanist.
im fascinated with the built world and its psychological and emotional implications.
ive always been hyper aware of my surroundings. im so conscious of my physical space and how its inhabited, which makes me confident that i belong in the realm of architecture and design.
the last few months ive split my time between three cities: Miami, New York City, and Sao Paulo. while i may not be ready to give up the nomadic life just yet, ive been keeping my archines eyes wide open in effort to imagine a future home. ive been observing what aspects of these cities make me feel in my element, aka in my best headspace!
when choosing permanence, no city is perfect. just looking at MIA, NYC, and SP you get complex, multi-layered cities of their own that provide such different experiences of life. what might work for someone, could definitely not work for someone else.
thats both the blessing and the curse: life is full of inexhaustible variety.
i want to live a magnificent life. do more, see more and feel more. theres always more. but also, i want to come home. to some that may mean a physical home, a family/partner, or just a really great asado (ok maybe a little biased there…)
it takes guts to decide this is where i want to be. theres guilt in the privilege of knowing the world is so open to you, so shouldnt you be taking advantage of it? but its ok. i know my next rental agreement wont define the rest of my life. ultimately, nothing lasts forever. but if you take care of things, they last. you have to choose consistency. you have to choose to create physical roots and make them yours. just as you have to choose to put time into your friendships. just as you have to choose to love your partner the best you can everyday. if you dont choose consistency, things more easily fade away. it takes guts.
life comes in waves, and while i squeeze all i can out of this time of flexibility, the phase will end at some point. the nomadic life has given me variety and thrill, but the appeal for permanence grows. i miss the familiarity of place. until this wave passes i must observe the world around me, taking notes for when the time comes to choose consistency in my home.
so ok archines, what u got? observe all you want, what draws you in?
There is something unshakeable about spatial comfort at the urban level.
Some cities are more user friendly than others and it all has to do with human scale → “the design of physical elements to illicit the best response from human users.” So… what responses do MIA, NYC, and SP elicit?
You will notice LA is not on my list of potential suitors (at least in this stage of life.) Sure, you get large, open spaces with grand views framed by mountains… but in day to day life, the scale of the city ain’t it. Take Miracle Mile → its developer A.W. Ross “explicitly designed its storefronts to be viewed at 30mph, creating in the process an entirely different experience of the city and its streets.” The city was built for cars. The pedestrian’s experience? Secondary. There is a lack of detail aimed at the individual. The scale of it all doesn’t sit right with me.
“In the old metropolis, everything was made to a suitable size for a person, but after the introduction of modernism and the automobile, the importance of this scale was forgotten. We went from having architecture suited to the travel speed of 5 kilometers per hour, to entire cities of 60 kilometers per hour, which meant wider streets, bigger advertisements, higher buildings, where we weren’t able to see anything in detail as we moved so fast.”
Consider Venice: a walking city made for people, not for cars. The scale makes it walkable, allowing personality at the human eye level. Public space is interesting and intimate. Beyond just scale, there is comfort in materiality: brick, stone, wood. Compare that to Dubai… “a city for dinosaurs, not for human beings.” There is something anxiety inducing about its large, impersonal spaces.
Architecture and cities are the physical frameworks through which our lives are experienced.
A city’s physical elements influence the way we spend our time and therefore shape our behavior. They do more than comfort us, they define our lifestyles. What city can provide the physical framework for me to be authentic, content, yet curious to continue discovering its mysteries? Which framework will continue to surprise me, while also make me feel relaxed, safe, comforted?
I look at what MIA/NYC/SP offer and ask myself: where can i find spatial comfort?
Think about that concept of “spatial comfort”→ when the scale is right.. it feels right. Bedrooms, bathrooms, hallways go unnoticed when their scale is correct. But when the scale is wrong, its unavoidable. You can’t shake the feeling that something is off. (if you know me, you know ill walk into any room and point out every detail lol). The rules of spatial comfort are literally the standards that guide my everyday work. Why do you think all stairs must have a 7 inch rise and an 11 inch run and all doorways are a minimum 80 inches? It is based on the defined spatial comfort of the “average” person.
“Bad architecture is in the end as much a failure of psychology as of design. It is an example which in other domains will lead us to marry the wrong people, choose inappropriate jobs and book unsuccessful holidays: the tendency not to understand who we are and what will satisfy us.”
― Alain de Botton, The Architecture of Happiness
These same feelings apply to the cities we inhabit at the urban level. We must know who we are to know what will satisfy us. Our histories, cultural identities, family backgrounds, and character can all affect our personal spatial comfort standards.
So, which city’s framework gives me the opportunity to be in my best headspace?
From what I’ve learned about myself, I’m drawn to the intimacy of the barrio.
MIA/NYC/SP provide different feelings of spatial comfort. (my observations deserve a whole other post! so much more to discuss!)
The fav moments in Sao Paulo were made up of my walks to the coffee shop around the corner where the barista knows my name and i sit amongst the tree-lined sidewalks, brick buildings, and human scale landscape. Sure its a massive city and you need a car, but the spaces themselves i inhabit aren’t large, open spaces, but the smaller, more intimate human scale. everything i need exists within a 15min walking radius.
its a potential comfort NYC has. its an intimacy I never got in LA and a material palette im struggling to find in MIA amongst the high rise glass cladded buildings and lackluster wynwood warehouses. archines barely takes pictures of architecture in miami. (mainly just sunsets). is that a sign?
Is the weather and comfortability in lifestyle enough to keep me in Miami? Life could be “harder” and more stressful in NYC or SP.. but at the same time will i find an inner harmony in living in my preferred human scale?
“In fact, we barely see most of the architecture that surrounds us, as it becomes a kind of background hum, to be noticed only when it is exceptionally big, exceptionally ugly, or exceptionally beautiful.”
The space I inhabit is more than the limitations of my apartment... so maybe I’m not looking for a home, I’m looking for my barrio. I want to feel in tune with my surroundings. To some that may be in skyscrapers, or suburban homes, or tucked away in a cabin in the mountains. For me, i crave human scale. I crave togetherness. The comforting, heart-warming background city hum that supports me, aligns me, but does not overpower me.
I know that I have time. I am not perfect, no city is perfect. I will find my barrio. I will find my synchronicity.
Some suggested reading if any of this interests you!
currently channeling:
