الفهرس 
The Study of Multi-Sensory ExperienceOnly 14 pages are availabe for public view
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Abstract
Architecture has long focused on the visual sense with the neglect of the other human
senses. However, due to the influence of phenomenological writings, there is now a
growing recognition that our perception of place and of the world around us is actually
multi-sensory in nature, involving all our senses. Consequently, there are more calls for the
need for a multi-sensory approach to architectural design. Emerging research appears to
confirm that multi-sensory environments provide users with a more holistic and richer
experience of place during the experience and a memorable vivid one. This thesis aims to
contribute to a better understanding of the multi-sensory nature of experience in the
perception of place and thus contributing to the knowledge needed for a multi-sensory
design approach. Because the process of perception plays a more important role in the
experience of new places where the senses tend to be more alert than in the experience of
familiar places, hence the thesis is focusing more particularly on the experience of newly
visited places.
The thesis relies on a phenomenological research approach. Two phenomenological
studies are conducted to explore the lived experiences for newly visited places approaching
different types of users in different types of settings. The aim is to contribute to a better
understanding of the relationship between spatial qualities and the multi-sensorial
perception of the built environment. Due to the fact that vivid experiences are more likely
to occur when different senses are stimulated hence, the first study objective explores
accounts with vivid experiences. Through the exploration of such vivid environmental
experiences, the study intends to determine the multi-sensorial spatial qualities of the built
environment that can induce an unforgettable experience. Since the visually impaired and
blind rely on their other senses which makes them appreciate other spatial qualities. The
objective of the second study is to understand how they experience and perceive the built
environment through their compensatory senses. More specifically, the study is intending
to determine the spatial qualities that can enrich the multisensory experience in the built
environment. Through the exploration of such capabilities, the study extracts multisensorial
spatial
qualities
that
cater
for
such
capabilities.
The vivid experiences are documented through personal diaries. To complement
information obtained from the diaries, in-depth semi-structured interviews were conducted.
While for the second study it relied on two different types of narratives. First, the
autobiography of Taha Hussein “The Days” as a past experience of a blind person is
selected. Second, in-depth semi-structured interviews and guided tours with ten visually
impaired and blind informants are conducted. For each of the studies, a phenomenological
interpretive explicitation of the collected data is carried out to identify the main themes
related to the multi-sensory nature of the experience for the perception of place. Through
inter-subjectivity that synthesizes the general essence of the phenomenon, the
phenomenological interpretation permitted to identify four themes that describe the holistic
multisensory experience. The findings show that sensory perception of physical
characteristics such as volumetric configuration, geometric configuration, opening
(size/location)/building orientation, detecting obstacles, and finishing materials acted as a
dominant theme helping in cognitive processes such as constructing mental imagery/ cognitive maps, and operating in the built environment. Untimely such a
cognitive process provided an emotional affect or meaning and role in capturing an
ambience or set of ambiences that is associated to the whole multisensory experience.
Among those ambiences are tenseness, vibrant, ambiguity, attractiveness, tranquility, and predictability