Technological and social changes shape our environment and are part of our everyday lives. Work environments and consumer habits are changing, lifestyles are evolving, virtual spaces and environments are emerging. Complex issues and challenges can no longer be addressed by single disciplines or from one-dimensional perspectives. What does this mean for spaces where people live, come together, work and engage with these issues?
Narrative spaces
Spaces can create memorable experiences, tell stories, support activities, or even influence perception and behaviour. But this requires sustainable and participatory design. Where complex requirements meet multi-layered demands, individual solutions are required. “The CAS in Atmospheric Design transcends the boundaries of traditional interior architecture and conventional interior design and brings together different aspects of space, perception, emotion, psychology and function,” says Professor Michael Krohn, head of the CAS (Certificate of Advanced Studies) in Atmospheric Design, one of ZHdK’s continuing education programmes. Establishing the programme has created a new category: the purposeful designing of spatial atmospheres that enable experiencing the sensory, emotional and narrative qualities of a space.
To achieve this goal, atmospheric designers draw on a wide range of skills and abilities: from analysing target groups and understanding user needs to a knowledge of materials and the targeted use of technologies. Cleverly employed physical and sensory elements such as colour, lighting, textures, plants, smells or sounds make a decisive contribution to creating the desired atmosphere. “Holistic and interdisciplinary work and thinking will become increasingly important in the future,” adds Carina Fischer, the teaching assistant at the CAS in Atmospheric Design.
Image spread: “Being: A sensual journey through life” (2023) by Larissa Koster, Lorena Berry and Nadine Odermatt focuses on life and its transience. In various rooms, visitors embark on an inspiring journey through life: Arriving. Moving forward. Searching. Pausing. Walking.
Multifaceted practice
Because atmospheric design influences how people feel, interact and experience spaces, it also influences the quality of life. It can be consciously deployed: to tell stories, to convey specific qualities and characteristics, or to deliberately guide actions. Thus, atmospheric design has manifold uses. This range of creative and aesthetic solutions for living, working, exhibiting or experiencing spaces is reflected in the final projects: these range from designing a creative space with an adjacent pop-up zone through examining the atmospheric effect of the weather to hosting a therapy festival in an empty mountain hotel or designing a retail launch. “Our students interpret the term ‘atmosphere’ broadly and thus begin to dissolve established boundaries,” says Michael Krohn. “The resulting spatial atmospheres extend far beyond function and style and are designed so that it is actually the atmosphere and no longer the furnishings that is the principal feature.”