Hagia Sophia

Neon lights flashing, screams and laughter whipping through the air, sweet and savory smells all around. Most people grow up experiencing their local fair or amusement park. It’s a building block in many American’s childhoods, and memories from it are often full of nostalgia. But how come people across a fairly large nation can resonate with the description of a generic theme park or fair? It’s not as though every theme park is exactly the same, but more they all have key factors that set up a certain atmosphere.  

 Recent art historical scholarship can help us understand the long-lasting impact of sensory experiences ranging from carnivals to cathedrals. The following quote is taken from the article Hagia Sophia and Multisensory Aesthetics, written by Bissera V. Pentcheva. The article is about how the Hagia Sophia, a church built in  Constantinople, uses multisensory aesthetics to create a certain atmosphere: 

 “Aesthetic phenomenology, with its focus on the way an object appears and the effect this produces on the spectator, offers a new direction of analysis. Moving away from treating the image as static and monolithic, this alternative approach uncovers and explores the polymorphic and its impact on the human imagination”  

 This quote references how when certain pieces of art, like the Hagia Sophia, are combined with “polymorphic” lightings, sounds, and smells it affects how people experience the space. The creators of the Hagia Sophia had this in mind when building the church. They built it not only so it would look beautiful, but also so it created a certain experience. Now amusement parks and local fairs are very different from the Hagia Sophia, but their creators also had the same idea in mind. Fairs and amusement parks are built to be immersive, and they too use multisensory techniques to accomplish this. 

 For example, places like Universal and Disney world are highly immersive. If someone is in the lost continent part of Universal’s Island of Adventure, they are going to smell spiced sweetmeats, hear exotic music. Dine in warm lit rooms, full of warm color schemes. But if they head over to Marvel Superhero Island they’ll smell hot dogs and burgers, hear action music and fighting. The colors are neon and character themed. Universal is using more than just the rides to make it feel like people stepped into a comic book or adventure story.  

 Even on a smaller scale, local fairs accomplish this. They sell strong and good smelling foods like barbecued meats, fried dough, and kettle corn.  The rides light up neon and play songs. Fairs are often open evenings to later at night so that the rides light up brighter.  

 It’s all these things that immerse people into the experience. A combination of sounds and smells, and sight. Whether that experience is the Hagia Sophia or the local fair. The senses change how people perceive everything in the world.