Sense of a Place

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We cannot find just one single definition to explain the "Sense of a place". It depends on the field or discipline we study that we will find the definition we are looking for. We might say that we bring with us a whole set of cultural prerequisites for the places we live in that help us reshape the place so that it fits there.

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In geography, Topophilia as defined by Yi-Fu Tuan is "the affective bond between people and place or setting." Such ties vary in intensity, subtlety and manner of expression. In this case, the attachment to the environment can be aesthetic, tactile or emotional. When it comes to history, landscape and architecture, a "Sense of a place" develops over time, and it is a result of habits and customs linked to the place. Sociologists, for example, focus on the social and cultural side that connects us to a place, a specific place, in other words community connection.

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Sola approaches  environmental psychology, focusing on the particular experience of a person, in this case oneself, in a specific setting (one feels stimulated, excited, happy, expansive, and so on). The paintings are not a direct transfer of the landscape, but rather the inner reaction, the emotional impression and the recording of the mental state at this time.

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