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Volume 32, Number 3, pages 361-390 (2021)
https://doi.org/10.26830/symmetry_2021_3_361
THE SPATIAL EXPERIENCE MATRIX: A FRAMEWORK TO STUDY HOW DESIGNERS THINK ABOUT THE EXPERIENTIAL QUALITY OF ARCHITECTURAL SETTINGS
Anna Losonczi1*, Levente Gulyás2, Attila Kurucz3, Sonit Bafna4, Andrea Dúll5
1 Ginkgo Architects, 11 David Ferenc utca, Budapest H-1113, Hungary.
E-mail: losonczi@ginkgoarchitects.com
2 1 Ginkgo Architects, 11 David Ferenc utca, Budapest H-1113, Hungary.
E-mail: leventejanos.gulyas@gmail.com
3 Doctoral School of Psychology / Institute of Psychology, ELTE Eötvös Loránd University, 46 Izabella utca, Budapest H-1064, Hungary.
Institute of People–Environment Transaction, ELTE Eötvös Loránd University Budapest, 23-27 Kazinczy utca, Budapest, H-1075, Hungary.
E-mail: kurucz.attila@ppk.elte.hu
Web: https://www.ppk.elte.hu/en/staff/attila-kurucz
4 School of Architecture, Georgia Institute of Technology, North Avenue, Atlanta, GA 30332, USA
E-mail: sonit.bafna@design.gatech.edu
Web: https://arch.gatech.edu/people/sonit-bafna
5 Institute of People–Environment Transaction, ELTE Eötvös Loránd University Budapest, 23-27 Kazinczy utca, Budapest H-1075, Hungary.
Department of Sociology and Communication, Budapest University of Technology and Economics, 1 Egry József utca, Budapest H-1111, Hungary.
E-mail: dull.andrea@ppk.elte.hu
Web: https://www.ppk.elte.hu/en/staff/andrea-dull
* corresponding author
Abstract: Using systematic appraisals of four architects’ self-reported critical explorations of an architectural setting—through exposure to a sequence of photographs—we developed a qualitative method to help untangle the complex mix of cognitive, perceptual and emotive activity that constitutes architects’ framing of visitors’ experiences of buildings. To keep the exploration tractable, the appraisals focus on sudden shifts in the phenomenal character of the setting reported by the participants as they imagine themselves moving through the given setting. A matrix-like framework which maps individual design features of the setting to six psychological dimensions is created to generate insights for further empirical studies of affective response to buildings.
Keywords: architectural experience, aesthetics, design research, perception, qualitative research methods.
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