COMFORT IN THE CITY

“What does comfort entail in public spaces? Where does this sense of comfort come from?” These were questions that came to mind the more I considered the idea of comfort in the public realm.

To study this further, I recently went on a few walks, hoping to capture the ways in which comfort manifests within the humans of Singapore. In the beginning, I kept looking out for tangible signs of comfort-things like resting on a bench, seeking relief from the hot sun under shelter. But, as with the limited scope of view, my observations turned out limited too.

When we think of the word “comfort’: particularly its adjective “comfortable’: we instinctively connect it with a tangible, physical ease, like a deep bench that allows one to curl up in it and read a book. However, it is important to remember that comfort comes in the intangiblepsychologically, in the way that one’s mind is in a state of relaxation, and they feel safe and happy. This was precisely what I had forgotten, and it was a fact that became clearer to me over the course of my study.

I hope that my observations can help prompt some thoughts regarding what it means for someone to be comfortable, and how this is affected by the degree of privacy available within the setting.

Comfort in the public sphere comes to most of us in the simplest, most “everyday” of ways, but it is often subconscious-we do not actively realise it.

It is important to keep in mind that not everyone has the privilege of enjoying both psychological and physical comfort at home. With that being said, how could architects and urban planners deliver such comfort in the design of public spaces, so that they become inclusive “comfort zones” for everyone?

Shix Wang

3rd Year Bsc (Hons) Architecture