Mohammad Hasan Sohaib

Advisor: Neil Minuk 

The collage centers on an orange cassette labeled "AESTHETICS URDU MIXTAPE," surrounded by abstract patterns, a rose, and a marketplace scene. Handwritten Urdu text and architectural elements enhance its layered design.
Memory, Emotions and Urdu Poetry
The image features a monochromatic street scene with figures and a text block discussing spatial ambiguity in architecture. It explores how architecture evokes emotions, drawing parallels to Urdu poetry.
Unlocked Memories
The image shows an abstract geometric composition with translucent shapes and intersecting yellow lines. A text block titled "Unveiling Layers" discusses movement and memory.
Planes of Uncertainty
The image showcases vibrant overlapping geometric shapes, creating a dynamic 3D effect. Transparent rectangles and triangles intersect, outlined by fine lines on a light gray background.
The image "Layers of Memory II" features horizontal stripes in muted yellow and gray with vertical columns on the right. A silhouette holding an object stands against a marbled background, blending soft textures and bold lines.
Layers of Memory l | Gelatine Painting
The image shows a wrought iron structure with three arches, a central dome, and vertical bars. Potted plants line the base, set against a textured blue background for depth.
Layers of Memory ll | Gelatine Painting
The image pairs text about a 3D-printed house model submerged in resin, symbolizing memory, with an abstract visual of translucent resin cubes capturing house elements. Shadows and light interplay against a soft yellow and brown background.
Fragmented Memory
The image shows a minimalist cityscape of stacked beige, grey, and cream blocks with textured details. A gradient background and varied block heights add depth and dimension.
Memories in a Timeless Medium

Designing Emotion: The Role of Spatial Ambiguity in Architecture 

Ambiguity in architecture can be seen as the intentional or unintentional use of designed spaces to interpret a space differently. Ambiguity in a space is often achieved by layered visuals, spatial and functional elements. Aimai (ambiguity) is a well-known concept in Japanese culture. In Japanese cultures Yohaku is about empty space, while ma refers to the gaps or voids between things, creating a sense of ambiguity.

We enjoy remembering everything based on how it makes us feel. However, emotions are not something we can recall. We therefore often associate them with something else that evokes similar emotions in us. A harmony of direct and indirect sensations influences how we experience a space, and our attachment to it is not solely based on what we see or hear. Hence my thesis question is - How can architectural design evoke and enhance an individual's emotional connection and perception of space through spatial ambiguity?

Creating ambiguity allows inhabitants to interpret and feel a space in various ways based on its materiality, form, volumetric perception, scale, and texture as these elements combined evoke a multi-sensory experience. Our relationship to space is impacted when an architectural space appeals to all of our senses.

The thesis will focus on the important relationship between phenomenology and ambiguity in architecture, highlighting its ability to evoke personalized responses through subjective and fluid perceptions of space.

Urdu poetry, which is known to affect people's emotions, allows for a variety of interpretations depending on our individual experiences and memory. The layered meanings, symbolism and sensory engagement are what make Urdu poetry ambiguous. The thesis will also focus on exploring Urdu poetry as a tool for exploring emotions and ambiguity and translating them into an architectural space. As in Urdu poetry, a poet layers different meanings into a single sentence, similarly, architecture can be used as a blank canvas for different narratives layered into a space.