Wearable Architecture: Designing the Highline, New York 2003

Wearable Architecture: Designing the Highline, New York 2003

Wearing clothing means putting a barrier between our bodies and the outside world. We protect ourselves from the weather but also from others' sight. At the same time wearing particular kinds of clothing shows the exterior world who we are or, to be precise, what kind of person we want other people to think we are. It expresses in what kind of mood we are or to what kind of “group” we belong.

Once, in the NYC subway, I saw an unusual-looking guy. He was wearing black leather pants, a black T-shirt, black lipstick, and a white foundation; he was pierced all over his ears, on his lips, and nose. Suddenly another guy, who looked exactly the same, entered the train and scanned the car. Without saying a word he went up to the first man and gave him an invitation to a party and then went immediately to the next car. They didn't have to speak: their clothes were speaking for them.

Entering a designed space is similar to the experience of wearing clothing. Architecture is able to change our mood; it's able to make us feel melancholic or ebullient, energetic, or relaxed. Architecture is a strong sensorial experience, one where colors, smell, and temperature drive our minds to particular places. Ideally, we would use architecture as our wardrobe, going to a particular place or another depending on our mood - looking for a specific sensorial relation to the environment depending on our individual needs.