flexiblefullpage
billboard
interstitial1
catfish1
Currently Reading

Study suggests our brains prefer curvy architecture

Architects

Study suggests our brains prefer curvy architecture

Curvy buildings like ones by Frank Gehry and Zaha Hadid are tugging some primal strings in our brain.


By BD+C Staff | March 6, 2015
Study suggests our brains like curvy architecture

The Walt Disney Concert Hall, designed by Frank Gehry, home to the Los Angeles Philharmonic. Photo: Wikimedia Commons

A research team at the University of Toronto at Scarborough worked with several European designers to see what sort of spaces pleases our brains more.

Fast Company reports that the team, led by psychologist Oshin Vartanian, found that people are “far more likely to call a room beautiful when its design is round instead of linear.”

Hence, when Philip Johnson first visited the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, designed by the curve-master Frank Gehry, the tears he reportedly shed were caused by the building’s design tapping into some primordial human emotional network.

To conduct the study, the team slid people into a brain imaging machine and showed them pictures of rooms and buildings. They found that oblong couches, oval rugs, and looping floor patterns were universally seen as beautiful by all men and women who participated.

One of the many conclusions Vartanian and his team found was that human brains associate sharp lines (and sharp objects in general) with a threat, so curves signal a lack of threat, or safety.

Learn more about the research at Fast Company.

Related Stories

MFPRO+ News | Jul 22, 2024

6 multifamily WAFX 2024 Prize winners

Over 30 projects tackling global challenges such as climate change, public health, and social inequality have been named winners of the World Architecture Festival’s WAFX Awards.

Office Buildings | Jul 22, 2024

U.S. commercial foreclosures increased 48% in June from last year

The commercial building sector continues to be under financial pressure as foreclosures nationwide increased 48% in June compared to June 2023, according to ATTOM, a real estate data analysis firm.

Codes and Standards | Jul 22, 2024

Tennessee developers can now hire their own building safety inspectors

A new law in Tennessee allows developers to hire their own building inspectors to check for environmental, safety, and construction violations. The law is intended to streamline the building process, particularly in rapidly growing communities.

Codes and Standards | Jul 22, 2024

New FEMA rules include climate change impacts

FEMA’s new rules governing rebuilding after disasters will take into account the impacts of climate change on future flood risk. For decades, the agency has followed a 100-year floodplain standard—an area that has a 1% chance of flooding in a given year.

Construction Costs | Jul 18, 2024

Data center construction costs for 2024

Gordian’s data features more than 100 building models, including computer data centers. These localized models allow architects, engineers, and other preconstruction professionals to quickly and accurately create conceptual estimates for future builds. This table shows a five-year view of costs per square foot for one-story computer data centers. 

Sustainability | Jul 18, 2024

Grimshaw launches free online tool to help accelerate decarbonization of buildings

Minoro, an online platform to help accelerate the decarbonization of buildings, was recently launched by architecture firm Grimshaw, in collaboration with more than 20 supporting organizations including World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD), RIBA, Architecture 2030, the World Green Building Council (WorldGBC) and several national Green Building Councils from across the globe.

University Buildings | Jul 17, 2024

University of Louisville Student Success Building will be new heart of engineering program

A new Student Success Building will serve as the heart of the newly designed University of Louisville’s J.B. Speed School of Engineering. The 115,000-sf structure will greatly increase lab space and consolidate student services to one location.

Healthcare Facilities | Jul 16, 2024

Watch on-demand: Key Trends in the Healthcare Facilities Market for 2024-2025

Join the Building Design+Construction editorial team for this on-demand webinar on key trends, innovations, and opportunities in the $65 billion U.S. healthcare buildings market. A panel of healthcare design and construction experts present their latest projects, trends, innovations, opportunities, and data/research on key healthcare facilities sub-sectors. A 2024-2025 U.S. healthcare facilities market outlook is also presented.

K-12 Schools | Jul 15, 2024

A Cleveland suburb opens a $31.7 million new middle school and renovated high school

Accommodating 1,283 students in grades 6-12, the Warrensville, Ohio school complex features flexible learning environments and offers programs ranging from culinary arts and firefighting training to e-sports.

MFPRO+ News | Jul 15, 2024

More permits for ADUs than single-family homes issued in San Diego

Popularity of granny flats growing in California

boombox1
boombox2
native1

More In Category


Urban Planning

Bridging the gap: How early architect involvement can revolutionize a city’s capital improvement plans

Capital Improvement Plans (CIPs) typically span three to five years and outline future city projects and their costs. While they set the stage, the design and construction of these projects often extend beyond the CIP window, leading to a disconnect between the initial budget and evolving project scope. This can result in financial shortfalls, forcing cities to cut back on critical project features.



Libraries

Reasons to reinvent the Midcentury academic library

DLR Group's Interior Design Leader Gretchen Holy, Assoc. IIDA, shares the idea that a designer's responsibility to embrace a library’s history, respect its past, and create an environment that will serve student populations for the next 100 years.

halfpage1

Most Popular Content

  1. 2021 Giants 400 Report
  2. Top 150 Architecture Firms for 2019
  3. 13 projects that represent the future of affordable housing
  4. Sagrada Familia completion date pushed back due to coronavirus
  5. Top 160 Architecture Firms 2021