Remote work, VOD-dimensioned culture, learning from home... Before the coronavirus pandemic began, people in materially developed societies spent 90% of their time in the built environment. In the current situation, we can assume that this percentage has only increased. It's no great discovery that our environment affects our health and well-being. And how does our brain respond to space?
neuroarchitecture
For years there has been growing interest in the intersection of neuroscience and architectural psychology. We actually have a huge influence on the development of diseases in the modern world, and space design is one of the most tangible (and close to us) methods of prevention. Especially nowadays, when the hours spent within four walls have been further multiplied, we can feel how architecture and space affect our mental health. Lighting, acoustics, color and aesthetics play a huge role in human behavioral psychology. Things like materials used in construction, furniture for use and displays, together create an atmosphere that will affect your psychology and the way you work or react to events around you. Architects must do their best to learn about the client's requirements for the space, the colors they are comfortable with, the styles of furniture that fit into their lives and other things that can help meet the client's psychological needs. This creates a clear link between architecture and the psychology of the individual.
mapping brain knowledge
For years, designers and researchers have attempted to discuss neuroscientific applications in architecture (I particularly recommend Mallgrave's publication Architecture and Embodiment: The Implications of the New Sciences and Humanities for Design, 2013). The topic of heated discussions among designers revolves between neuroscience and architecture(Alex Coburn, Vartanian and Chatterjee, 2017). There is much talk about a kind of mapping of brain knowledge onto the practice of architecture. Such "maps" provide valuable information. In the simplified dimension with which we are familiar, such maps are used when designing buildings and spaces for people with whom the designer cannot establish a common language. Among other things, the design of kindergartens, nurseries, therapeutic centers, or spaces for the deaf are not the result of mere intuition (or at least in most cases), but of legitimate research and observation. Which ones? How can these ideas actually be tested?
research, research, more research
As an example of experimental neuroarchitecture, a study has recently been published that presents findings on psychological and neuronal responses to architectural interiors - that is, it literally answers the question: how does our brain respond to interiors?(Coburn et al., 2020).
"We started with 200 photographs of architectural interiors. These interiors differed in three basic features - high or low ceilings, curvilinear or rectilinear forms, and closed or open enclosures. The same images were used in an earlier study in which we showed that people's experience of the beauty of these interiors was correlated with neural activity in the medial prefrontal cortex. At the time, this finding was important for demonstrating that the aesthetic experience of architectural interiors relies on the same reward systems that are associated with the pleasure of looking at beautiful faces and satisfying primal appetites such as food and sex." - Alexander Coburn writes in a summary of the study.
The study asked nearly 800 people to rate their experience of the images of these 200 interiors in terms of various psychological factors. The survey showed that most responses (90 percent) were characterized by three terms - coherence, fascination and familiarity. Coherence refers to the degree of organization of the space, its harmony and orderliness, fascination to the curiosity it arouses and the richness of the interior, and familiarity to the sense of comfort and security. The survey was repeated, thus confirming that these three terms, cohesion, fascination and familiarity, describe most people's reactions to architectural interiors.
Instagram |interiorspsychology ©
subconscious
All the information we encounter leaves traces in our brains, more or less stimulating neurons in certain parts of the brain, thus affecting our feelings. The study is, of course, a large generalization, and one might suspect that the results would differ in other cultures around the world. However, for comparison with the American results, a study conducted in Tenerife, Spain, was put together. There, participants were additionally asked two questions when they looked at images of interiors: Did they think the rooms were beautiful and did they want to enter the place?
The study showed that regardless of the question, the degree of fascination is related to the activity of neurons on the right side of the occipital lobe, meanwhile judging beauty - the left, lower part. Familiarity, that is, deciding whether they want to enter this space stimulated neurons in a completely different, deeper and independent part. That is, our brain without our consciousness in a very specific way responds to the given features of the interior, causing neuronal activity, which affects our emotions and long-distance mental health too.
application of
Our brain reacts to architecture and interiors largely completely subconsciously. Our acquired tastes (favorite color, concrete finish, wooden planks) have little effect on how we simply perceive a space. Of course, the more aesthetically sensitive will notice and the smallest details, but our brain will "on its own" decide whether it is an interior that is "good for us", coherent, that is interesting and gives a sense of comfort. Even if there are people who claim that architecture and design is completely indifferent to them, they will feel mentally better in a well-designed interior (with access to daylight, bright, cozy, arranged). A perfect example is young children, who will not express a constructive opinion about the design of a new kindergarten, but the brightness, the colors, the safety provided by the place - all this will determine their feeling of a given space and may be conducive (or not) to their development. When designing, but also staying in spaces, it's good to think decently about what and how it affects the activity of our neurons, and thus our health and well-being. Especially when we happen to design a space intended for people with whom we have no clear communication. Not every designer can get into the skin of a child, imagine how a blind person feels a space, or look at colors and light through the eyes of someone affected by mental illness.
Instagram | neuroom_rooms_for_children©
Thepsychology of architecture and neuroarchitecture is still a rapidly developing branch of science that is worth giving a name to, especially when planning such projects, but also when designing the space around you.
Is the space you are in today interesting? Does it seem cohesive and put together? Do you feel comfortable and safe in it?
