The three dynamics of urban ambiances

International audienceUrban space provides numerous ambiances to be felt with all the senses. Whether we think of a lively outdoor marketplace or a dull parking lot, an attractive historical center or a casual subway station, the very way we relate to those places is based on the sensory experience they involve. It is a matter of light and colour, sound, smell, touch and heat, and also the manner we walk and talk, move and look, relate and behave. Urban ambiances operate each time a subtle interweaving of synaesthesia and kinaesthesia occurs, as a complex mixture of sensation and movement