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  • Essay / Influence of Architectural Stimulation on Human Cognitive Response

    SUMMARYArchitectural design has always been interdependent with human psychology. All human beings are unique, as are their abilities to perceive and absorb their environment. Human psychology begins to develop from the moment a baby is conceived until its death and continues to evolve from birth to infancy, through childhood, adolescence, adulthood, old age and death. The same goes for human needs and, in turn, human behavior. An infant needs smaller architectural spaces, depending on its scale, while an adolescent will need intellectual but social spaces. However, the architectural design industry has transformed since its beginnings based on the personalized needs of users. effective spatial planning stimulates and is affected by human cognition. As small as light, color, texture, smell and as large as shapes, materials, built forms, open spaces, etc. can positively or negatively influence the human response to its environment. Similarly, human psychology, social circle, economic status and political environment can also modify natural or artificial architecture. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an original essayA human central nervous system meticulously processes all the small details to frame the larger picture in its entirety. Our brainstem is responsible for involuntary functions such as reflexes, breathing, heart function and relays information to and from the brain to the body. The nervous system depends on our senses for emotion formation, learning, memory, motivation, mood patterns, and response to various actions of built and unbuilt spaces. This article focuses on a myriad of psychosocial responses due to a diverse architectural vocabulary and vice versa. It highlights how psychological study can be effective in structuring architectural design elements and principles in order to demonstrate a model of physical and psychological well-being of humans. He explains how architecture can change the social model by making it more interactive or isolated, depressed or healthy. The scope of this article is limited to the use of the human sensory system in the experience of architecture. However, this article concludes with probable solutions and modifications that can boost the human cognitive response to its environment. INTRODUCTION Psychology is the science of human behavior and mind. It is influenced and developed by the environment of the human being. This environment can be domestic, social, economic, educational or work. And these environments serve as a backdrop to the human conscious, subconscious and unconscious mind. The architectural planning of built and unbuilt spaces, in all these settings, greatly shapes human psychology, either directly as a node of physical contact or indirectly as an influence. They are dominated by many simple and complex stimuli such as light, color, texture of materials, sound and noise, scents and odors, shapes of the built-not-built, etc. All of these factors, when deficient or present in excess, result in extreme behavioral responses. . For example, depression due to lack of natural light, irritability due to high noise level in a domestic or professional environment, calm and soothing atmosphere due tothe use of cool colors, high adrenaline hormone rush due to the presence of warm, vibrant colors such as red/orange. , lack of sufficient lighting leads to slower intellectual development of students. The use of color can actually make a built space appear larger or smaller than its actual physical dimensions and even through lighting or the presence of reflective surfaces. People unconsciously map all the cognitive elements present in their environment through their observations and also through perceptions developed since childhood, in turn framing their sense of safety, security, well-being and comfort in this natural environment or artificial. OF COGNITIVE RESPONSES A large number of psychologists & philosophers have modulated theories related to how man reacts, responds and evolves in various environments with respect to architectural values. Such theories have been adopted in various design styles of architects where they stimulate user needs. Evidence-based designs are prevalent in institutional, commercial, residential and hospitality sectors that play with human cognition. THEORY OF GESTALT PSYCHOLOGY: ACCORDING to Gestalt psychology or Gestaltism, the philosophy of mind given by the Berlin School of Experimental Psychology, whenever the human mind perceives an idea, image, form or form, the whole environment or form has a reality of its own, independent of its parts. This involves the human mind collecting information through all the senses and projecting a complete picture of its surroundings. POST-STRUCTURALISM: The theory of post-structuralism revolves around the interdependent relationship between humans, the environment and the process of interpreting meanings. Post-structuralism is closely related to the theory of structuralism, which asserts that the true character of all things (in this case, architecture and elements of the built environment) lies not in these things themselves, but rather in the relationships we build. between them and the meanings given to them (Nessbitt, 1996: 450). This explains that each human being has his own perception, generally dominated by his use or his requirements. PERCEPTION THEORY: Perception is the ability of every human being to interpret information received through various senses from their direct-indirect environment. Each perception is distinct and may be unreasonable but subjective. According to Van Kreij's philosophy, the sensory perception of architectural spaces consists of three major concepts: Hapticity: Sense of touch generally three-dimensional. The sensation of depth, perceived through the sense of sight, is verified by hapticity. Made in architecture through shapes, materials and textures. Kinesthesia: Concept of exploring the environment through visual or physical movement. In architecture, movement plays an extremely important role and is actively accomplished by fluid design patterns, for example in museums or exhibition galleries, circulation flow according to functions, for example in healthcare buildings in which the segregation of services is achieved, inspires interconnectivity between them, but at several levels. static flow, for example in reception buildings, etc. Synesthesia: It refers to the phenomenon that transfers sensory information from one sense to another. It is often seen as a combination of all the information coming from the senses into the mind. For example, the use of tactile flooring in visually impaired institutes makes them feel the difference in texture and transfers theirhaptic feedback to their nervous system. Van Kreij (2008) also goes so far as to conclude that the synesthetic characteristics of materials are more important in perception than the acts of seeing, hearing, tasting and touching.IMAGEABILITY BY KEVIN LYNCH:Kevin Lynch explored the urban environment through movements. . According to his theory, almost all senses are used through navigation in an architectural space. This theory is powerful in achieving a holistic experience achieved through multiple sensory stimulations. He defines it as: “…that quality of a physical object which gives it a high probability of evoking a strong image in any given observer. » (Lynch, 1960: 9) PHENOMENOLOGY AND EXISTENTIAL SPACES This theory of Norberg-Schulz given in Genius Loci - Towards a Phenomenology of Architecture, develops a methodology for the creation of places and proposes that the essential purpose of architectural spaces is to transform a site into a place. & to discover the meaning of this place. Architecture reinforces the existential experience, the feeling of being in the world, and it is essentially an enhanced experience of the self. (Norberg-Schulz, 1966: 41, 422). According to this theory, the human being orients himself accordingly according to the architectural space.SENSORY STIMULI AND ARCHITECTUREIn order to end the alienation of architecture and reintegrate the human being into the built environment, designers should striving to achieve greater awareness of multisensory cognitive perception in today's architectural world. By understanding how a human responds, architects will be able to stimulate the human mind to increase human productivity, elevate positive response, satisfy user needs, and improve the human-world interface. For a long time, the built-deconstructed architectural elements of the internal and external physical spaces of the human-environment interface have affected human cognition and behavior, in turn speculating on human responses, emotions, moods, and actions. This direct-indirect influence can be positive or negative. However, an architect creates an artificial environment and maintains or develops a natural environment in accordance with the needs of users. Thus, the surrounding physical environment and human responses are interdependent. All these physical elements invigorate the five senses of the human being, that is to say the visual influence via materials, color, light, illumination, bodily movements; Audio detection via sound or sound level; Olfactory sense through perfumes or smells; the sense of taste and the sense of touch through textures and tactile elements. The sensitivity of these increases as soon as there is a modification or transformation in one or the other, in turn influencing the cognitive response. The Gestalt School of Psychologists reveals the importance of relationships between human sense stimuli and the contextual environment. Human cognitive responses can be temporary, permanent, or sequential. For example, the childhood environment supports childhood memories, and that same human, as an adult, may wish to recreate the same architectural atmosphere at home using the same colors, the same interiors, the same open play spaces, the same scents of flowers in the neighborhood. And the same uncertain childhood can lead to a desire for enclosed, caged indoor spaces with dim, dim lighting. Therefore, the role of an architect is to balance the physical environment according to the user-oriented needs in order to improve their physical and psychological conditions. The five most common senses can be used to varying degrees and even unconsciously, such asexplained below. The Visual Sense The visual sense is the most stimulating sense, among others, to affect and shape human behavior in any architectural physical unit. It is through vision that a human being sees the nature of any space, its shapes, sizes, forms, mass, texture, colors and depth. LightThe different frequency of daylight (which includes sunlight and skylight) creates different physical stimuli. A human eye can see colors and objects located within the electromagnetic wavelength of the 400-700 nm light spectrum. Within this range, the human eye can differentiate one of the main properties of light: color. Recognition of colors from the light spectrum, due to its reflection, refraction, absorption or transmission through form or space, results in heterogeneous human responses and reactions such as irritability, happiness, joy, l love, hope, excitement, encouragement, frustration, anger, sadness, isolation, depression, agitation, etc. Objective and subjective images are created in the human mind by the play of light in our architectural environment. And our perceptual environment may not be a real space. The perception of spaces in their entirety is due to visual characteristics active only in the presence of light. Light influences the quality characteristics of architectural elements as well as their specifications. Any space full of light and shadow is rich in visual forces and is sensitive, both physically and visually. Light controls the physical properties of spaces such as their color, texture, depth, shape and strength. Optimal lighting in any architectural space balances the following: Human needs For example, the productivity of an office worker can be positively transformed by a combination of sufficient daylight and artificial lighting. Playful lighting in pediatric waiting areas can soothe children, while controlled lighting in wards leads to healing. Likewise, lack of optimal lighting in the operating room can have serious negative repercussions. In short, light can greatly contribute to a person's sense of well-being. Architectural Considerations The main purpose of lighting in any open and built spatial design can be inferred that it complements the presence of a myriad of shapes, sizes and colors. ColorColor is the result of physical influence. interaction between the light source and any space or object. It is the second most important stimulus that helps human cognition index events in the conscious or subconscious mind. It galvanizes human perception with regard to variables such as time, place, shades and shadows, materials and textures of surrounding elements of different characteristics. It controls emotions and regulates cognitive reactions. In the manifestation of the change of each color into another color, each color will display its essential darkness or brightness in relation to another color. Reversing this natural order will result in color mismatch. Each color has three variable characteristics: hue, luminance and saturation. Hue is the quality of colors that determines their place in a series of colors (from red to violet) equivalent to light of different wavelengths in the visible spectrum. Red, yellow, and blue are primary colors, and because they form the basis of other hues, they are also called primary colors. Secondary hues include orange, green and,, 1977: 33).