Why do we like some places over the other? What makes a place more intriguing and interesting than another?
I have the luxury of having West Texas at my disposal for this argument. If we compare the above image which was taken on the square where the Duomo is in Milan. Stripping all symbolic and semantic connotations and relationships from the situation....what are we left with?
The Romantic play of solid and void. In a holistic view, what we experience subconsciously at this place is the play between these two. The entrance into this shopping center appears to be a giant void pushed into this solid.
Upon entering the scale immediately changes:
The Proxemics of Edward T. Hall come into play in this discussion now. If we juxtapose either of these spaces with that of West Texas, what conclusion can we come to?
Well many conclusions, but only one is pertinent at this moment to this discussion. The ability for people to comprehend space.
The West Texas Plains are famous for stretching for forever and one being able to see someone coming from a great distance. This great expanse has reverberated itself in the built environment. Opposite of the image above, the bounding of space in the built environment does not happen. Because of this the conception of space is thrown out the window.
The Proxemics play into this discussion with the following: in order for us to measure something we have to have something to measure it off of. So in West Texas Intimate, Personal, Social and Public Space become extremely exaggerated. One of the methods to measure these spaces is the built environment. This dilation of space in West Texas leads to peoples conception of space becoming dilated.
Where there is no play between solid and void. Rather everyone caught in the void. And so these places which we visit where space becomes more constricted and compacted vibe differently with us. We begin then to get a conception of space.