Exploring the buildings that shape how we live

Arts Week with Judy Murphy

They may not be aware of it, but small children who make a cubby house are simply shaping their environment by creating a space they can relate to.

And when you strip away all its fancy plans and terms, that’s the fundamental point of architecture, says Kate Goodwin, Head of Architecture at the UK’s Royal Academy of Arts. “It’s something we use to shape our environment.”

Kate will be in Galway this weekend to give a free public talk on architecture and its influence on our lives. That talk is at the city’s Nuns Island Arts Centre this Friday from 7-9pm. She will also present a workshop on Saturday in the same venue for architects and people working in arts and community organisations.

The workshop will be facilitated by architect and visual artist Blaithín Quinn.

These events are part of an Arts Council series called Extending Architecture, aimed at exploring the cultural and artistic value of architecture, and demystifying an often complex subject.

Plain-talking Australian Kate Goodwin is the perfect candidate to present this talk and training session. This is a woman who can explain in simple terms how people respond physically and emotionally to spaces and buildings around them.

“There’s a perception that if you don’t have a qualification and you can’t read plans, you don’t know about architecture,” she says. “But people do have an understanding.”

Architecture is not something abstract, she adds.  It’s about how we engage, relate to and have an interest in the places around us.

“it shapes our everyday experiences. The design of a buildings can change the dynamics of how a school, hospital or business works.”

She gives an example of how the design of a school, for instance, can create a space that allows students of different ages to integrate, while ensuring there are no hidden places where bullying can take place.

“You can create a community between different ages, and an involved space where learning can take place, a very nourishing space.”

The quality of light in a building is very important and has an impact on people’s sense of wellbeing, she adds.

“Bringing light in from above is psychologically very powerful – it’s tuning into nature and bringing nature in.”

A company she admires in this regard is Grafton Architects in Dublin, which has designed public buildings, including schools, in urban centres from Rome to Ballinasloe (Ardscoil Mhuire).

For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.