We do not live in separate material and mental worlds; these experiential dimensions are fully intertwined. We live in mental worlds in which the actually experienced, remembered and imagined, as well as the past, present and future are fused. The modes of experiencing architecture and cinema are very similar considering this mental space that meanders without fixed boundaries. The obvious difference that images of architecture are eternalized in matter where as cinematic images are fleeting illusions projected on the screen, does not pose a decisive experiential difference. Both are experientially real and become integrated with our existential sense. There are hardly any films that do not contain images of architecture, because already the framing of a cinematic image, or the definition of scale or illumination, implies establishing of a distinct place. On the other hand, defining a place is the most fundamental of architectural acts.
Lived space is not uniform, neutral or valueless space. One and the same cinematic event – a kiss or murder, for instance – is experientially a completely different story depending on the space and situation where it takes place. Filmmakers, poets, painters, and writers are equally sensitive to this interplay of place, situation and feeling.
Juhani U. Pallasmaa unterrichtete weltweit an namhaften Universitäten Architektur. Er war Direktor des Finnischen Architekturmuseums. Seine Bücher wurden in mehr als 30 Sprachen übersetzt.