Sensing Cities Word by Word: Examining the Motif of “description of cities” across Avadhi Sufi Romance Narratives in India

In this paper, I close-read descriptions of cities in Avadhi Sufi romance narratives in premodern India. Through this reading I show inter-textual relations in the image of the city portrayed by different poets. The corpus I discuss here comprises the four main texts of the Avadhi romance narrative genre - Maulānā Dāud’s Candāyan (1379 CE), Quṭban’s Mṛgāvatī (1503 CE), Jāyasi’s Padmāvat (1540 CE) and Mañjhan’s Madhumālatī (1545 CE). In conjunction with this text, I also bring into the conversation an “outlier” text, Jāyasi’s Kanhāvat (1540 CE) which interweaves the description of the city in its prologue. Where available I compare the word description with illustrations in manuscripts of these narratives. Through this presentation I position possible ways in which the relationship between the words used to describe the city (which is often a formulaic element in these poems) and the significance of the city in the narrative can be teased out. Keywords: cities, avadhi, sufi romance narratives, motif, illustration

Bettina Valeria Mondragón Ruiz (Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana, Mexico)

The Timelessness of Sensory Experience in the Architecture of Luis Barragán

The body, movement, and environment have always shared a relationship that was once overlooked but is now becoming clearer. When inhabiting certain types of buildings, our bodies experience complex, multidimensional sensations and emotions, which also have an evolutionary layer whose effects we share as a human species.This article aims to explore the question: What are the timeless aesthetic qualities in Luis Barragán's Emotional Architecture? To address this, a documental research study will be conducted, primarily from the perspective of Environmental Neuropsychology, alongside an observational correlational analysis examining Barragán’s architectural principles and the qualities of his works. The study identifies how Barragán creates a serene and rectilinear architecture, distinguished by his masterful handling of volume, generating sensations of compression and expansion. His work is also marked by an exceptional use of color and light, both essential elements in shaping emotional experiences. Beauty serves as the guiding principle of his architecture, reinforcing its timeless aesthetic quality. Through his approach, Barragán’s work reveals how the tangible and intangible intertwine, creating profound sensory and emotional experiences that continue to resonate across time.
Keywords: timelessness, aesthetics, architecture, emotional, Luis Barragán

Sarah Mohamed El Zoheiry (The American University in Cairo, Egypt)

Designing Atmospheres: A Phenomenological Framework for Sensory Embodiment in Architecture

This presentation explores the role of sensory engagement in architectural atmospheres, proposing a design framework grounded in phenomenology. Drawing from a case study of the Sultan Hassan Complex in Cairo, the presentation investigates how sensory attributes such as light, texture, and spatial scale contribute to an emotional and transcendental encounter.
By merging theory with practical application, this work offers architects and designers tools to create environments that resonate on a sensorial and emotional level. The findings aim to shift the perspective of design towards how people encounter atmospheres, to enrich the discourse on sensory-driven design that engages the body.
Attendees will gain insight into how the different spatial attributes unfold, reshaped and redefined according to people’s encounters and narratives. Thus, highlighting a phenomenological framework to rethink attributes from their lived depth, beyond mere scientific terminologies.
Keywords: Lived Body, Phenomenology, Atmosphere, Sensory Experience, Embodiment