Approaching heritage sites atmospherically

Abstract

This article proposes an atmospheric approach to heritage sites, one that speaks to how spatial, temporal, affective, imagined, and discursive qualities might come together in how they feel and become meaningful to the people who visit them. It proposes an agenda for architectural research on heritage sites that an orientation to atmospheres can open up, tracing the relevance of theories of atmospheres for understanding heritage, and pairing the concepts of attunement and attentionality to propose a methodology for atmospheric research. The paper argues that our individual inclinations are important in shaping how we respond to encounters with heritage sites, locating heritage as much in processes of sensory and affective meaning-making as in materiality, spatiality, or discourse. The paper’s arguments are discussed in relation to ethics, possibility, and futurity, and call for further architectural research that attends specifically to atmospheres.