Post -781 –Gautam Shah.
Memories relate to mental processes of remembering, retaining and recollecting our experiences. These mental processes are sporadic and do not have any predictable order, logic, proportion or mix. The memories have no latent value, till these are used to relive experiences, traumas or pleasures. The purposes of knowing or visiting the past, largely remains obscure. Often, what is being recalled is of uncertain scale, spread, or character. Memories that animate locations, sites, objects, spaces, places, environments and intra personal relationships, are dominant, but not necessarily vivid. Memories that acutely involve spatial elements have strong context for recall, unlike the memories related to time.
Spatial memories are distinct from Temporal memories (time related). An event is a significant occurrence in a sequence of time. The occurrences of the past are distinguished by the relationship through time. In comparison, a happening (also an event) is a significant spatial reference of existential now.
Spatial memories reveal the state of relationships, between objects, people and environment. These offer relatable facets, at, one to one, one to many, and many to many levels. In contrast to this, the temporal recollections are randomly scattered. The sequences reflect the sensorial strength, personal relevance, altered perception due to cognition and the cause, why-how the memories are recalled. Temporal sequencing begins to be relevant in the context of spatial elements. Spatial setting indicates, location, position, orientation, movement and direction and the difference between objects and live beings. The relationships between objects, beings and environment in space, pose too many variants for any comprehensive consideration.
Spatial memories help form a transient layout with, edges. This offers a chance to imagine the missing clues. But in larger and complex spatial experiences, it is not easy to recall all the elements, and their organization. The variations due to the directional environment effect makes such recall all the more difficult. On a well-traveled road, the back way scene seems very different.
In narratives (descriptions, stories, poetry, elocution, recitation, films, drama), the time sequences are of different order, as arranged by the authors. Shakespearean plays are set in historically acknowledged (narrated and sometimes drawn or sculpted) spaces. These spaces are established with descriptive imageries within the play and sometimes from the versions that become popular. In architecture, the ‘style of the period’ gets adapted as the spatial image. The original scale, composition and the spatial character are reinforced with evolved motifs, images and symbols. The temporal character of the happening is enlivened by traversing through spatial marks like turns, twists, negotiable distances, hurdles, delays, diversions, etc.
Sensorial perceptions are of many types, and their spatial identities are even more varied. Once it was believed, the spatial character of any presences around us, was due to the duality of sensing nodes (two eyes, two ears), closeness of the related nodes (mouth for taste and nose for smell), or multiple sensing nodes for touch across the body. Later, it was believed, the cognition (process that assimilates the sensorial exposures) refashions the experiences. It is difficult to recreate events like music, touch food tastes, smells, due to their inadequate spatial identity. Though whatever is inadequate, is backed by the recall of the past exposures.
The spatial clues as a combine image emerge from elements like, the surface qualities, edges, form, size, scale, shape, emergence of patterns or arrangements, etc. These are easier to register as totality, but when there is distinct time scale to measure the individual or elemental changes, a scattering of memorable events and confusions occur.
Spatial memory is a form, necessary for recovery of information, conveying the comprehension of perceptions, and logical expression. Spatial memory is necessary for occupying and persisting in a space. The longer (time), one stays, the greater will be comprehension. Spatial memory can also be divided into egocentric (self-centric -one to many) and allocentric (relating to object and object -one to many) actions. Routes descriptions or acknowledgements are prone to errors, and depend on egocentric reference, whereas, formal maps and charts are accommodative to changes and reliable, depend on allocentric reference.
Interior Design Assist 