# Space Feel

> Describe the experiential, phenomenological qualities of a space — compression and release, threshold, prospect and refuge, light, sound, temperature, materiality — in the register of Zumthor and Pallasmaa. Use when an architect wants to articulate how a space FEELS, not how it looks, for a brief, competition, client conversation, or their own clarity. Say "how does this space feel", "describe the atmosphere", "the experience of walking through". For a design argument aimed at an audience, use concept-narrative instead.

- Skill: `gaia-computer-technologies/space-feel` (Agent Skill)
- Install (CLI): `npx skillmds@latest add gaia-computer-technologies/space-feel`
- Raw SKILL.md: https://api.skillmd.com/api/skills/gaia-computer-technologies/space-feel/raw
- Safety review: pending
- Works with: Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex
- Category: Coding & Dev Tools
- Author: gaia-computer-technologies (https://skillmd.com/u/gaia-computer-technologies)
- Updated: 2026-09-17
- Page: https://skillmd.com/skills/gaia-computer-technologies/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?

2. **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

3. **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.

4. **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.