Designing Atmospheres. The Role of Aesthetics in the Requalification of Space

The ecological movements of the seventies gave environmental questions the role of key issues in the artistic, architectural and philosophical debate. However, these questions have been mainly dealt with an ecological and scientific approach. It was seldom noticed that both natural and built spaces can be above all conceived of as felt spaces and, furthermore, that their aesthetic qualities are as important as toxicological factors. Although it focussed on the environmental protection and on the harmonious integration of built-up and natural areas, the architectural reflection considers beauty a subordinate factor rather than a prime concern. Although during the recent years it has come back to the themes of environment and landscape, even the philosophical culture is remained bound to a scientific stance that subordinates the beauty to physiological factors. This paper attempts to suggest an alternative to this view, by investigating the “theory of the atmospheres” of Gernot Böhme. The German philosopher develops an ecological aesthetics of nature that takes into account also the aesthetic qualities of the spaces in which we live. The notion of the atmosphere and the importance Böhme attributes to the body, to the way of perceiving the space and of perceiving the self in space constitutes a key by which aesthetics can interact with such disciplines as ecology and architecture, thus offering unusual points of view.