Discomfort
A man in a bed, being attended to by three men. Engraving
Welcome collection. Attribution 4.0 International (cc by 4.0)
When the Editorial Board first started working on this feature, we had in mind the more traditional definitions of discomfort: “a slight pain” (OED), “mental or physical uneasiness” or “annoyance” (Merriam-Webster), “hardship” (Dictionary.com), “a feeling of worry” (Collins English Dictionary), or obviously, “anything that…interferes with comfort” (Wordreference.com).
Most of these discomforts represent temporary states, and for each, there is a remedy – a comfort – that can restore the balance. Comfort: “A state of physical ease and freedom from pain or constraint” (OED again).
Architects are skilled at alleviating discomfort by making our lives more livable. They correct what’s wrong in our environment, satisfy our spatial needs and desires, and anticipate what kind of surroundings we might need or desire in the future.
Discomfort is an unusual state: as much as we itch to have our discomforts soothed, we often need discomfort or, at the very least, benefit from it. Whether it’s the inconvenience of landscape obstacles, the extra challenge of irregular surfaces, the thought-provoking (that is, jarring) presence of “confrontational” architecture, or the adrenalin-pumping imminent danger of thrill rides and extreme sports, our experiences are often enriched by discomfort.
A U.S. soldier with the 7th Special Forces Group (Airborne), runs down a 40- foot rappelling wall at the training tower at Eglin Base Air Force Base, FL USA. PHOTO: SPC. STEVEN YOUNG, 2013, PUBLIC DOMAIN PHOTOGRAPH FROM DEFENSE IMAGERY MIL.
Less beneficial discomforts include the unsettling attempts of architects to challenge public taste, when what’s really needed is sympathy and comfort. There are many examples of structures that fit into this category: first reviled, later becoming beloved icons (I.M.Pei’s Louvre Pyramid, Toronto’s City Hall, FLW’s Guggenheim), or have at least grown on us (Centre Pompidou, OCADU Sharp Centre).
The Roman writer/orator Horace, who had a way with words, made an observation that is true for many forms of discomfort, including some works of architecture, as well as pandemics:
…durum, sed levius fit patientia quidquid corrigere est nefas.
(…it’s hard, but patience makes more tolerable that which it is impossible to correct.)
– (Horace, Odes, 1. 24, Ode to Quintilius, publ. 23 BCE)