Between ambiance and perception: Heritage decoding

The aim of the study is to grasp and analyse the intangible process taking place between ambiance and perception. In this regard, ambiance should be understood as a state or aura, as opposed to perception, assumed as a process. The transition of sensorial immersion from ambiance to perception requires the process of decoding. Decoding might be explained as the process running between ambiance and perception and, furthermore, leading to understanding. Therefore, the outcome of the overall process is of cognitive characteristics. Furthermore, it draws research into a relationship between what is projected and actually experienced, between the tangible and the intangible and reveals the process of decoding ambiances where heritage plays a dominant role. The paper discusses the two concepts in the context of the post-industrial heritage in Łódź, Poland. The set of reflections evokes numerous questions: are we into the heritage as it was, or as it is at present, or rather to its projection, tuned to current socio-cultural standards? Does carefully planned and created ambiance give a clear unambiguous sense of a place? Or, it is not ambiance but the processes of decoding and perception that result in various interpretations of the same experience of atmosphere?