The coastal environment as a laboratory: Architecture and embodied experiences

The long-stretched shadow of my body touches the footprints in the sand in front of me. It is a cold winter afternoon and the sun is already setting. I hear the rhythm of water pulling back and passing under another wave of water. The beach is full of people many of whom presumably visit this place for the same reason as I: “uitwaaien”. While walking in the wind, I empty my mind of thoughts which have been floating around in my head that day. I find comfort in being together with the wind, the sand, the sea. “Uitwaaien” is a Dutch word that is not directly translatable to another language. It involves an activity, yet also a feeling, an experience, a change in mood. What intrigues me as an architect is that this shows that an environment has such strong influence on a person’s well-being. Architects are constructors of environments and therefore I believe that by researching and using the coastal environment as a laboratory, architects can learn to better understand how to design an environment that results in positively affecting its users. To explore the topic, the coastal environment around the harbour of Scheveningen becomes the laboratory. Around Scheveningen harbour, few buildings are left which remind me of the fishing industry which used to be the occupation for most of Scheveningen’s inhabitants. Fish is still one of the most important industries around the harbour, yet the labour has moved inside large box-like warehouses and factory-like ships. Now that the fishing industry is taking less space in the harbour, new offices, apartment blocks and warehouses are starting to appear. These new developments are a reflection of what is happening on a national level and global level. In the case of The Netherlands, the political and economic structures are creating a commercial environment in which housing developers start new building developments at a fast pace and with low budgets. The lack of action by the state in developing houses and the large housing shortage in most cities adds to this problem (Hulsman, 2021; Hulsman & de Voogt, 2020; Ministerie van Binnenlandse Zaken en Koninkrijksrelaties, 2020). Designs, therefore, are often reduced to the minimum standard of living as set by the building codes. The result is distanced and generalised architecture without thoughts on how these environments could positively affect the user’s well-being (Hannema, 2019) (Pallasmaa, 2012, p. 34,37). In words of Juhani Pallasmaa: “homogenisation of space weakens the experience of being, and wipes away the sense of place” (Pallasmaa, 2012, p. 50). So, the new buildings in the harbour stand in a strong contrast to the spatial characteristics of the coastal environment which provide many positive effects. How can architects make sure that also the buildings have a positive influence on people’s well-being? How can buildings, instead of weakening, enhance the characteristics of the area? How can a building be specific for the Scheveningen and reconnect people with the sense of place?Architecture, Urbanism and Building Sciences | Explorela