Perception is Reality

Perception is reality.

This is perhaps the missing ingredient in architectural design, which can often be very literal in how it perceives space. It disregards the human desire to embellish reality, enhance perception and heighten experience.

Instagram filters, airbrushing, Photoshop or even augmented reality may be products of the digital age, but they have very strong and established analog roots:

Whether it has been through cosmetics, or ornaments or hallucinogens, reality has always been curated and designed to improve how people presented themselves and how they experienced the world.

Even with the digital age and its concomitant technological leaps, many consumer brands still lay heavy on analog to create exquisite consumer experiences.

Fashion does it. This is why some cuts are more flattering to certain body types because they hide perceived imperfections, and some colours accentuate the best features, and some material combinations show the best side. Fashion also relies on accessories.

So can property do it?

Well, space already does this in theatre. Whether through lighting design, or through forced perspectives, or through mediated geometry, or through false depth or through spaces that challenge perception and hack the unconscious, theatre creates mesmerising worlds.

If property is reframed as a consumer commodity, then it can be designed accordingly to create an unparalleled consumer experience.