Insight; Heritage representation in public spaces

Abstract

Heritage in urban public spaces is often mediated through static monuments, which can struggle to engage contemporary audiences and convey meaningful experiences. This master’s thesis investigates heritage as a lived and experiential phenomenon, examining how memory, atmosphere, and perception intersect in the representation of cultural and historical values. The work integrates phenomenological perspectives on sensory and atmospheric experience with a visual narrative approach that operates as both an interpretive and expressive medium. The research approaches heritage not only as a historical subject, but as a spatial and sensory condition encountered within the urban environment. Through thematic analysis and comparative investigation of memorial and heritage spaces, the thesis explores how spatial design, atmosphere, and contextual conditions influence the ways in which visitors perceive, inhabit, and emotionally engage with sites of cultural significance. Particular attention is given to the role of bodily perception, environmental qualities, and experiential engagement in shaping moments of reflection and remembrance. Alongside this analytical inquiry, the project develops a photobook-based visual narrative that trans lates the theoretical concerns of the thesis into an experiential form. Through the sequencing of images and text, the work explores how heritage may be encountered beyond fixed representation, allowing meaning to emerge through perception, atmosphere, and association rather than through direct symbolic communication alone. The outcome of the thesis is twofold. Academically, it proposes a framework for understanding heritage as an experiential and relational condition linking architecture, perception, and cultural memory. Creatively, the photobook functions as a design-oriented artefact through which these ideas are explored and communicated experientially. Together, these components offer insight into context-sensitive approaches to heritage representation, demonstrating how contemporary urban spaces may mediate cultural meaning and human experience beyond conventional monumentality.