Introduction

Do you know poetry and design are interconnected? To your surprise, they are. Verses of poetry are everywhere. There’s a term called poetic design which many of you aren’t familiar with. Poetic design is nothing but a design process that responds to our familiarity with existing things, forming a deep yet subtle emotional and philosophical connection that is so valuable. Verses of poetry are everywhere.

When can we say space is poetic or musical? When a designer/ Architect creates meaningful spaces and does not design just for the design’s sake. When light and nature are part of the design and not just added elements as an afterthought. Such spaces speak a lot to the user. One of the great architect’s FL Wright once said, “Every great architect is – necessarily – a great poet.”     

Verses of poetry are everywhere

Poetry is in all buildings, spaces that one walks past. It can be a Supermart situated right in the center of your mohalla/locality. It can be in every corner. Every brick and stone, and every door and window of your building/space is waiting to unravel a story. And that’s the reason it’s usually said that architecture and poetry are deep-rooted disciplines of our culture. Poetry indeed is infused in all buildings and spaces that we inhabit or visit then or now.

Stanzas, commas, pauses

When one talks about poetry, one talks about stanzas, verses, sighs, exclamation marks, commas, and pauses. In some poems, there may or may not be a rhyming scheme, some may be short or some may be longer depending upon the poet. 

When one talks about poetry, one also talks about rhythm, proportion, structure, and balance. And these are also the design principles in architecture. While designing, the proportion is something that permeates feelings of depth and grandness, warmth and comfort. Rhythm is the path that the viewer’s eyes take as they are moved through a design. 

Our structures have a correct structure, a specific balance, and a union between areas of contrast and areas of harmony.

Appearance

Poems can have a pretty complex appearance/form. Poetic form is the physical structure of the piece, how a poem sounds and looks like. Appearance as we all know, is vital when it comes to designing something, whether it can be a space, a pavilion, museum, etc. Architectural design is dictated by appearance or form.

Architecture is a response to the environment and so is design. We walk through locations and poetry. Many architects/designers are poets and writers as well and on the other hand, many poets are hugely inspired by architecture. Both architecture and poetry are the outcomes of our perceptions, our tastes, and insights. And all of these are then converted into a museum, hotel, theater, prose, or poem perhaps.    

If space is poetic, it can say a lot many things. It can express architects, designers, and even users’ feelings. An American architect named Philip Johnson has quoted – All architecture is shelter, all great architecture is the design of space that contains, cuddles, exalts or stimulates the person in that space.   

Author: Harshpreet Kaur