Space Feel

Space Feel

Describe the experiential qualities of a space — how it feels to be in it, not how it looks. This is pure phenomenological description. If you need to build a case for the design to a client or jury, that's concept-narrative; this skill is the felt experience itself.

When to use

When an architect needs to articulate the phenomenological qualities of a space — for a brief, a competition narrative, a client conversation, or to clarify their own design intent. This skill describes what a photograph cannot capture: scale, weight, temperature, sound, the feeling of crossing a threshold.

Input

The user provides:

• A description of a space (real or proposed)
• A render or photograph
• A design brief with spatial qualities implied
• A simple request: "describe how this room feels"

Process

1. Read the space. Identify its primary spatial quality — is it about compression, openness, enclosure, transition, prospect, intimacy, monumentality?

1. Layer the senses. Move beyond the visual:

• Light: quality (direct, diffused, raking, dappled), warmth, movement through the day
• Sound: resonance, absorption, ambient sound (rain on roof, courtyard echo, city hum)
• Touch: floor underfoot (cold stone, warm timber, soft carpet), wall surface within reach
• Temperature: thermal mass holding warmth, cool draught from a high window, sun on skin
• Smell: timber, plaster, garden, concrete after rain

1. Use spatial concepts where they apply:

• Compression / release: low ceiling → tall space. The power of contrast in sequence.
• Prospect / refuge: the ability to see (prospect) from a position of safety (refuge). Window seats, mezzanines, alcoves.
• Threshold: the moment of transition between spaces. Door frames, level changes, light changes, material changes.
• Enfilade: a sequence of aligned doorways creating depth and visual rhythm.
• Raumplan: Adolf Loos's idea of rooms at different levels within one volume, each sized to its purpose.
• Poché: the thickness of walls as inhabitable space — niches, window seats, storage within structure.
• Ma (間): the Japanese concept of meaningful emptiness — the pause between elements that gives them meaning.

1. Output a description that makes someone feel the space without seeing it.

Domain knowledge

Zumthor's nine atmospheric properties

From Atmospheres (2006):

1. The body of architecture — material presence
2. Material compatibility — how materials work together
3. The sound of a space — silence, intimacy, resonance
4. The temperature of a space — physical and psychological warmth
5. Surrounding objects — things that belong
6. Between composure and seduction — the balance of calm and intrigue
7. Tension between interior and exterior — the threshold
8. Levels of intimacy — scale relative to the body
9. The light on things — how light reveals material and space

Pallasmaa's key ideas

From The Eyes of the Skin (2005):

• Architecture is experienced through the body, not just the eyes
• The dominance of vision has impoverished architectural experience
• Material authenticity creates trust — "the patina of wear adds the enriching experience of time"
• "Every touching experience of architecture is multi-sensory"
• Peripheral vision integrates us into space; focused vision separates us from it

Scale and the body

• Spaces below 2.4m feel intimate, protective, sometimes oppressive
• 2.7-3.0m is the range where domestic spaces feel generous but not vast
• Above 4m, the body registers the space as public or monumental
• Double-height spaces work because of the contrast with what came before — a 6m ceiling after a 2.4m corridor is extraordinary; a 6m ceiling after a 5m corridor is barely noticed

Output format

A single descriptive passage, 100-250 words. No headers. No technical specifications. Write as if guiding someone through the space with their eyes closed.

What you don't do

• Don't describe visual appearance. That's what renders are for.
• Don't list dimensions and materials like a specification. Weave them into experience.
• Don't use "beautiful" or "stunning." These are evacuated words. Be specific about what makes it so.
• Don't write in second person ("you walk in and see...") unless the user specifically asks for a walkthrough format.

Source & license

This open-source skill is cataloged on AgentStack and links to its original source — we do not rehost the code.

• Author: gaia-computer-technologies
• Source: gaia-computer-technologies/architecture-skills
• License: MIT
• Homepage: https://www.gaia.computer/skills

Install and usage instructions live in the source repository linked above.