Excerpt published by Politecnico Di Torino
November 5, 2024
The influence that architectural space exerts on subjects is a fact that has always been known and investigated.
There are several disciplines that study the interaction between humans and architecture. architectural psychology for example studies how the environment affects behavior
and the mind, but also conversely how individuals tend to modify space. The
broader field of Environmental Psychology, on the other hand, studies the interaction between the environment (understood in all its forms) and individuals. A third discipline that touches on the themes just
mentioned is the Phenomenology of Perception, which deals with the relationship between humans and the world
that surrounds them.
Much more recent, however, is the field of study that involves the collaboration of architecture with neuroscience. This disciplinary contamination gives rise to
studies on the processing of the impulses the brain receives when the body makes contact
with a space. Neuroscience also provides the scientific tools and technologies useful in studying the relationship between humans and the built environment.
In the specific collaboration with architecture, neuroscience is concerned with understanding how the brain is modified by the environment (architectural and otherwise), which
factors affect it most and how, and consequently how the
behavior and emotions of individuals who come into contact with it change.
On the other hand, the main purpose of architectural practice is to ensure
spaces that fully meet and support the functions for which they were designed, so that they are pleasant and comfortable.
Architects such as Neutra and Zumthor, Pallasmaa and Lehmbruck have directed their
work toward “immaterial” themes such as psychology and atmosphere. Today these topics are being evaluated with increasing attention internationally. Following the synthetic exploration of the theoretical topics that undoubtedly formed the basis of the knowledge gained during this period on the topics addressed, an experimental part was then structured. The experiment, set in an exhibition room
and organized around some simple elements that compose it, aims
to test the influence of some simple spatial variables in relation to subjective parameters. The importance and significance to be attached to the experiment conducted,
depends on the interpretation that can be made of the data, and certainly constitutes only the
first step in a very complex investigation.
