Neuroarchitecture and Synaesthesia- An Architecture of Atmpospheres at Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport

Architecture has an ability to shape us and focus on forms and efficiency yet frequently ignores relationships between the form and cognition. This negligence creates lost opportunities for creating a link between action and perception, embodiment and aesthetics, imagination and empathy. Architecture is frequently not empathetic, lacking meaning to far too many people. Considering the application of neuroscience in architecture to nurture psychological and physiological response to architecture may be key to fostering healthy and positive relationships with space. Another connection that comes up in neuro-scientific research is how creativity plays into design and the understanding of design. Often, creativity is accompanied by metaphor, and neuroscientist Ramachandran is particularly interested in this. A curious phenomenon he has focused on is synaesthesia, Synaesthesia is a Greek-based word, syn meaning joined and aisthesis meaning sensation. It occurs when "Stimulation of one sensory modality automatically triggers perception in a second modality in the absence of any direct stimulation to this modality." Further, the study and application of synaesthetic properties can help achieve this goal. Through the application of neuro-scientific research directed towards architecture, "Neuroarchitecture" is a possible tool that can create architecture that invokes positive responses in occupants. Through the consideration of building elements, natural forces, equal understanding, and synaesthesia, "neuroarchitecture" can be successful. Thus, with the consideration of neuroscience and synaesthesia there is a possibility of understanding what creates the certain emotions that one experiences in a space, and why people like certain places more than others. In a lecture covering this topic at Arizona State University's Design School, designer Ellen Lupton showed graphic visualizations of musical synaesthesia. Bird calls were translated into exceptionally fluid ribbons of moving color that ebbed and crashed with the rise and fall of the bird call. If these experiences can be expressed through digital art, then there may be a way to express them through architecture. The project takes focus on the architecture of flux, limbo, and threshold, within the specific context of the airport. The airport is a one of a kind architecture. There is little to no other architecture that serves as a threshold from one city, state, and country to another, that is full of people from all parts of the world, and is a space of limbo. In the flux of the airport, the individual feels a multitude of emotions, joys, sadness, frustration, and stresses. Studying circulation, movement of both the inhabitant and the architecture of the airport, the project will rigorously question if architecture can be scientifically formulated to create mental effects or if they are a result of atmospheric qualities.