There is a new category or genre of music available on media these days - it's called 'Mash-up'. Well, actually the genre is old but the name given to it is rather new suiting the needs and attitude of the new generation - fast paced. Earlier the same thing was there and was sold under the name of 'melody' - a song that has different songs clubbed together in such a way that the listener gets the feel of every song in one. A similar 'feel' is created in a 'remix'. DJs around the world pick up many songs and create a wonderful melody or mash-up out of them by adding music and elements we fall for. I was reintroduced to this form of art recently when I visited the college. Few of my juniors gave a complimentary jam session and sang few melodies.
Later one day, Sahil - my partner in crime - randomly came up with a lyrical mix of songs. Lyrics of different songs stitched together on the common words. The transition from one song to another was so seamless that, on one go, it seemed to me 'one'.
What makes melody a successful design? What keeps us attached to the melody even when there are several songs combined in one? The Seamless Transitions, probably, is the answer! Places or notes or spaces where one can shift gear easily without creating chaos. In songs, particular notes which can stitch those two songs together - musicians will be able to put a better light on those technicalities.
Such seamless transitions, if given perfectly in architecture, can allow us to create multiple spaces in one space. Different microclimates under one common roof. The same has been attempted and achieved at several places. The best example I have visited is Jawahar Kala Kendra, designed by Correa Sir. The building complex in itself is a series of different experiences. Experiences which are totally different from each other. Another good example is the Indian Habitat Center in Delhi by Joseph Allen Stein.
These buildings or complexes allow you to have a series of experiences stitched together under one roof! So, learning about providing details is one thing... keeping those details together is another skill.
Thus keeping the value of such transitions in design could be an achievement in itself.
