Perception is central to the theory of ambience. Far from being one of many fields of research, perception is present throughout work inspired by ambience-oriented thinking. What models of intelligibility of perception can be used to pinpoint and clarify the notion of ambience ? Alternatively, in what respects do architectural and urban ambiences prompt us to adopt new ways of addressing the problematic of ordinary perception ? The aim of this paper is to highlight the close relation between ambience and perception. We seek to demonstrate that one of the issues for the notion of ambience is a reappraisal of the situated, sensory and practical character of perception. Three basic arguments are developed : ambience can be characterized as the quality of the situation, as a motor solicitation and as a sensory background.