Editorial: Architecture as a Communicative Medium

Environmental psychology categorizes “physical environment” as “typically neutral,” only coming into selfconscious awareness when individuals form stable and enduring representations of it [1]. We see this manifest in the real world when the steeple of a church is able to communicate that it is a place for reflection and religious gathering; the bricks and ivy of Harvard Yard signifies years of scholarly research and education; the solid grey walls of a prison conjures up images of torture and punishment; and the bright colors of a playground indicates play and joyfulness. In our relationship with architecture, we are able to construct an understanding of our environment because we pick up such clues and cues from parts of our environment and then construct a formulation of the whole based on our memories and knowledge. Thus, we are able to communicate with the places we live in and the places we live in are able to act as interfaces for information interchange.