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or taste. The smoothness of floorings or the surfaces of furni-
ture possesses not just a tactile quality, but also a dynamic as-
pect, so that one perhaps senses a certain coolness, or has the
impression of hearing a hard sound. The first instance pro-
duces a characteristically pink, lukewarm, soft-sweet atmos-
phere that corresponds to particular intended uses, such as a
boudoir or a pastry shop. In the other instance, the smooth,
dynamic or hard mixture generates an atmosphere of prac-
ticality and austerity. Opening itself up – in one case with
a point of departure in a colour sensation, and in the other
with a haptic impression – are complexes of further sensa-
tions, all of them tending in the same direction. Common to
the elements of each complex is a shared mode of experience,
which shapes the entire > atmosphere of the respective situ-
ation, without any one individual sensory impression being
controlling or decisive: each may stand in for the others. In
one case, a clattering sound may stand for extreme coldness
and a harsh bluish light; in another, a toneless rumbling for an
airless environment and dull brownish coloration; and finally,
a gentle rustling of a curtain for the smooth relief structure of
a surface and for weak shimmering light.
To be sure, the individual sensory impressions can be
linked to one another by association as well, for example red-
orange with pronounced > warmth, suggesting fire. But their
synergy rests primarily on a shared experiential quality that
shapes the atmospheric character of the situation, and which
rests on bodily experience of congruent sensations. But the
way in which atmosphere is actually experienced is only evi-
dent in concrete instances, and cannot be predicted by means
of stereotypical correspondences between material qualities
and temperature sensations: wood is not always experienced
as warm, nor is steel invariably associated with cold. Every
constellation is different; experiences often depend upon de-
tails, and change according to context. The conventional idea
normally linked to the colour pink on the one hand and the
materiality of granite on the other tend to misfire when are