Place Identity

   I have never heard of the Environmental psychology field before the first session of the class. But when I found out what it is, I realized that I was familiar with that before unconsciously. Somehow I was thinking about all its issues  in everyday life.

  To explain it in the layman’s words it’s a field which study the relation between environment and how that affects its inhabitants. It tries to find problems that affect all members of the society.

 

    Fig 1. Interior-design-Sheikh- Lotfollah-  Mosque-Isfahan-Iran

   I am really interested in the concept of place identity that we talked about in the class. It is a sub-structure of the self identity.

 What gives a place its identity?This is a question that occupied my mind for many years. There are so many places in the world that are considered holy. What gives them such identity? Is it history or it is people’s imagination and fantasizing of a place? Is it possible that just because of that given identity people have a special feeling there? Do people have spiritual feeling in the mosques or churches

because they think they are supposed to be like that?

                                          Fig 2. Wedding saloon

Is it possible that redecorating or re purposing a place change its identity?

For instance I have been always thinking of what will happen if we suddenly  change a mosque to a wedding saloon in which people go and listen to loud music, drink and dance? What will be  people’s reaction toward it?

References

Fig 1. Retrieved from http://beautifulmosques.com

Fig 2. Retrieved from http://www.sala-nunti.ro/en-Orange-Wedding-Saloon