Identities of the World by Eda Seyok
What does the self bring to the character of a place? There is a correlation between our existence and the places we inhabit. It is hard to recall a memory without associating it with a particular place. Certain smells, colours, sounds and feelings sometimes take us back to the places we have been before. Hence, these places can become meaningful through human association and memories. A house is just a house without lived experiences. Once it has been lived in, however, it becomes a home. Similarly, every memory we have coalesces to form our identity. If one asks: “Who are you?”, one will immediately think of the moments that have made their life meaningful. There is a bond between memory, place and people. It is often argued that today’s contemporary world is moving towards a point where we are faced with a severe loss of meaning and identity. Perhaps, it is due to our broken relationship with the natural and built environment.
Human beings are a part of the environment. We should not exist to dominate; we should be in harmony with our surroundings. Architecture becomes meaningful when there is an active process of engagement with the natural, built and behavioural environment. In other words, we should understand that we are part of a comprehensive totality. Architecture is a tool to represent our relationship with the physical environment. We can protect the diversity in the world and enhance the unique qualities in our environment and people. Unfortunately, I do not believe that today’s world allows us to have a meaningful relationship with our environment. The standardisation of houses, places, things and personas has led to human alienation. The questions ‘Who are you?’ and ‘Where do you belong?’ have never been harder to answer. Maybe we have never felt the need to respond to these questions because we never had the opportunity to stop and think about it. The speed of the modern world did not let us think. As the globalized world has provided virtual access to the tools of global communication, the rate of travel, trade and communication have also multiplied. On one hand, we have gained a deeper understanding and knowledge of the world; on the other hand, this process resulted in us becoming somewhat homogenous. Our desires and needs are grouped together under the consumer culture and the world has became a virtual museum for human beings.
If we change the way we behave and relate to our environment and towards each other, we can create a cohesive world where we celebrate diversity, empathise with others and enhance our environment. We can in turn regain our sense of belonging to the world and overcome the identity crisis. Architecture - the physical manifestation of people’s behaviours - has the opportunity to enhance this meaningful relationship between people and places. Perhaps the current COVID-19 pandemic will allow us to pause and force us to consider our priorities in life, as well as the consequences of our actions on the surrounding environment. How have we become detached from the places we live and the people around us? We suddenly find ourselves in a world where our carelessness can easily kill somebody, and the consequences of once trivial decisions are now directly visible. The solution to the problem of detachment and consequent identity crisis are similarly personal. Now that we are all shut indoors, we can see that the places we live in have a direct influence in our daily patterns. We are trying to find ways to enhance our daily activities in our unchanging habitats. We are buying plants, lighting candles and baking to make the places we live in feel like homes. Architecture should represent much more than the design of impersonal concrete boxes – instead, giving us the opportunity to create unique, individual experiences.
Eda Seyok was born in Kayseri, Turkey. She has recently graduated with an MArch degree from the University of Strathclyde. She previously completed her MA architecture degree at the University of Edinburgh. She is interested in revealing the uniqueness of a place, which has been shaped by its multi-dimensional character.