Non-verbal Communication
SUBMITTED BY JRM1 DATE 01 - 28 - 2010

Italy was the first country we entered where the language barrier was really starting to effect us. Most people on the trip have taken either Spanish or French courses in high school or college, but Italian was the first language none of us had really been exposed to. Luckily we could still recognize the letters of the Italian alphabet, but as of the first day in Italy we have begun finding new ways of communicating with locals. On our last night in Rome, several of us attended the Symphony performance at Renzo Piano's Auditorium. That night I was really struck by the power of non-verbal communication. Throughout the performance, there was not a single word spoken. Over 1000 people--Italians, Americans, French, Japanese, and people from any other lingual background--were all able to equally understand and be entertained by the musical performance. The mutual understanding and comprehension was not the result of globalization, it was the result of non-verbal communication. I believe architectural communication is equally powerful. Unlike music, it uses the built environment as its medium to indiscriminately influence its users. The designers are able to communicate ideas spatially, which transcends all language barriers. As the lights dimmed and the stage was illuminated, everyone in the audience knew that it was time for the performance to begin, and responded accordingly by ending their conversations. After entering the auditorium from the cold and rainy outdoors, I imagined that the incredible and billowing wooden ceiling was creating just as warm of a space for everyone else as it was for me. Emotions, feelings, sensations, and phenomena can all be created and experienced trans-culturally. The music was powerful enough to bring audience members from every culture to a roaring applause immediately following the performance, and the spatial design clearly communicated to all audience members how to enter, conduct oneself, and depart the auditorium.