Bartolomé, Jaime; (2018) Architectures of Joy: A theoretical and practical guide to the production of positive feelings in buildings. Doctoral thesis (Ph.D), UCL (University College London).

Abstract

This thesis examines design strategies in architecture related to the production of positive feelings by buildings, and speculates on how to operate explicitly with them in order to intensify such experiences. Based on Spinoza’s theory of affect, and supported by a varied body of contemporary science, this thesis explores the conceptual structure and the geometric, material, and biological bases of positive emotional interactions between architecture, and the human body, its organs of perception, and action patterns. The thesis focuses on biomechanical, thermodynamic, aerologic, luminic, biological, and tactile relations that substantiate specific architectural emotions, investigating the internal mechanisms and resources on which they are based. The intensification of these relationships has been tested through the design of seventeen digital prototypes. The resulting architectural manifolds are composed of deeply articulated technical systems that include novel entangled definitions of flooring, interior and exterior enclosure, openings, building systems, lighting and vegetation, among others. They relate to each other in structural, performative, and ornamental terms constituting buildings. The thesis outlines a possible design method that enhances positive emotions and feelings in buildings. This led to six building projects, two of which were built where these principles were applied, providing reliable objects of disquisition and further study. These projects constitute a repository for concrete disciplinary findings and innovations. In addition, this thesis offers a broad theoretical background as well as concrete ideas and specific criteria for the design of the different elements and systems that constitute building, and the way they relate to one another. It offers a new invigorating design paradigm for buildings – at the intersection of performance and aesthetics and beyond pervasive paradigms such as functionality, efficiency or comfort.

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