A Philosophical Enquiry into the Origin of Our Ideas of the Sublime and Beautiful

The Clockwork Muse: The Predictability of Artistic Change.

Neuroarchitecture uses neuroscientific tools to better understand architectural design and its impact on human perception and subjective experience The form or shape of the built environment is fundamental to architectural design, but not many studies have shown the impact of different forms on the inhabitants' emotions This study investigated the neurophysiological correlates of different interior forms on the perceivers' affective state and the accompanying brain activity To understand the impact of naturalistic three-dimensional (3D) architectural forms, it is essential to perceive forms from different perspectives We computed clusters of form features extracted from pictures of residential interiors and constructed exemplary 3D room models based on and representing different formal clusters To investigate human brain activity during 3D perception of architectural spaces, we used a mobile brain/body imaging (MoBI) approach recording the electroencephalogram (EEG) of participants while they naturally walk through different interior forms in virtual reality (VR) The results revealed a strong impact of curvature geometries on activity in the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) Theta band activity in ACC correlated with specific feature types (rs (14) = 0525, p = 0037) and geometry (rs (14) = -0579, p = 0019), providing evidence for a role of this structure in processing architectural features beyond their emotional impact The posterior cingulate cortex and the occipital lobe were involved in the perception of different room perspectives during the stroll through the rooms This study sheds new light on the use of mobile EEG and VR in architectural studies and provides the opportunity to study human brain dynamics in participants that actively explore and realistically experience architectural spaces

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Walking through Architectural Spaces: The Impact of Interior Forms on Human Brain Dynamics.

Psychological responses to natural patterns in architecture

https://biblio.ugent.be/publication/8699089/file/8699091.pdf

The neuroscience of positive emotions and affect: Implications for cultivating happiness and wellbeing.

A burgeoning interest in the intersection of neuroscience and architecture promises to offer biologically inspired insights into the design of spaces. The goal of such interdisciplinary approaches to architecture is to motivate construction of environments that would contribute to peoples' flourishing in behavior, health, and well-being. We suggest that this nascent field of neuroarchitecture is at a pivotal point in which neuroscience and architecture are poised to extend to a neuroscience of architecture. In such a research program, architectural experiences themselves are the target of neuroscientific inquiry. Here, we draw lessons from recent developments in neuroaesthetics to suggest how neuroarchitecture might mature into an experimental science. We review the extant literature and offer an initial framework from which to contextualize such research. Finally, we outline theoretical and technical challenges that lie ahead.

/pdf/buildings-beauty-and-the-brain-a-neuroscience-of-4gqlnjqc3h.pdf

Buildings, Beauty, and the Brain: A Neuroscience of Architectural Experience

People in developed countries spend over 90% of their time in built environments. Yet, we know little about its pervasive and often hidden effects on our mental state and our brain. Despite growing interest in the neuroscience of architecture, much of this scholarship has been descriptive. The typical approach is to map knowledge of the brain onto constructs important to architecture. For a programmatic line of research, how might descriptive neuroarchitecture be transformed into an experimental science? We review the literature outlining how one might consider experimental architecture first by examining the role of natural features in architectural settings. We then turn to the human experience of occupants, and hypothesized that aesthetic responses to architectural interiors reduce to key psychological dimensions. Conducting Psychometric Network Analysis (PNA) and Principal Components Analysis (PCA) on responses to curated images, we identified three components: coherence (ease of organizing and comprehending a scene), fascination (informational richness and generated interest), and hominess (personal ease and comfort). Coherence and fascination are well-established dimensions for natural scenes. Hominess was a new dimension related to architectural interiors. Central to all three communities in the PNA was emotional valence. We also reanalyzed data from an earlier fMRI study in which participants made beauty and approach-avoidance decisions while viewing the same images. Regardless of task, the degree of fascination covaried with neural activity in the right lingual gyrus. In contrast, coherence covaried with neural activity in the left inferior occipital gyrus only when participants judged beauty, and hominess covaried with neural activity in the left cuneus only when they made approach-avoidance decisions. The visual brain harbours hidden sensitivities to architectural interiors that are captured by the dimensions of coherence, fascination, and hominess. These findings represent first steps towards an experimental neuroarchitecture.

https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s10339-021-01043-4.pdf

Alex Coburn

Papers

Buildings, Beauty, and the Brain: A Neuroscience of Architectural Experience

The neuroaesthetics of architectural spaces