Sensory Architecture: The art of designing for all senses

By Juliana Duarte Neves

Originally released in 2017, the book "Sensory Architecture – The Art of Designing for All Senses" by Juliana Duarte Neves receives a second edition in 2024, revised and expanded.

Over the past six years, there have been numerous advancements in the study of sensory architecture and many initiatives focused on emotionally engaging the visitor, using the principles of sensory architecture, which has become a gateway to new fields of research. This second edition brings a refinement of the design methodology proposed in the original book and current examples that make its understanding and applicability clearer. And the new chapter "Unfolding of Sensory Architecture" presents two examples of more recent areas of study.

"This new edition broadens horizons with the inclusion of two fundamental contributions to the consolidation of the field of sensory architecture studies in Brazil: the excellent reflections made by Lorí Crízel in the text 'The intertwining of sensory architecture with neuroarchitecture: a synesthetic exploration'; and the very personal contribution of Ana Paula Chacur, architect, researcher, and mother of two autistic children – enriches the content with her unique perspective on 'Autism Spectrum Disorder and sensory architecture'," points out Juliana. It is crucial that architecture collaborates so that individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) feel safe and balanced.

• Language: English
• Publisher: mapa lab
• Release date: May 2, 2024
• ISBN: 9786586367768

Book preview

Sensory architecture: the art of designing for all sensesImagem

The Rio de Janeiro City Hall, through the Municipal Secretary of Culture, cares for one of Brazil’s greatest assets: Carioca culture.

There are over 50 facilities spread throughout the city, including theaters, arenas, museums, libraries, reading rooms and cultural centers. It is one of the largest municipal networks of cultural facilities in Latin America.

We invest over R% 200 million per year in approximately 1,200 projects conceived, produced and starred by the Carioca cultural scene. This results in thousands of jobs being created and a significant financial contribution to the city.

Established in 2013, the Municipal Law of Cultural Incentive of the City of Rio de Janeiro (ISS Law) is the largest municipal incentive mechanism in the country in terms of resources and aims to encourage the intersection between cultural productions and the population. We believe that culture is an essential vector for economic and social development and for promoting diversity, democracy and our identity.

SPONSORED BY

CONTENTS

THINGS, SPACES AND EMOTIONAL CONNECTIONS

A JOURNEY THROUGH THE SENSES

01 THE JOURNEY: FROM THE EXPERIENCES TO THE SENSES

Product or experience?

Building the ephemeral

From the body of architecture to the architecture of the body

02 ABOUT THE SENSES: A DESIGN APPROACH

A history of pleasure and distrust

The senses as a filter

Perceptual systems: redefining the senses

For a design methodology

The taste-smell system

Taste

The haptic system

The basic orientation system

The auditory system

The visual system

03 CONSTRUCTIONS FOR ALL THE SENSES

Thermal baths

Blur building

Jewish Museum Berlin

Disorienting the senses

Starbucks reserve roastery

04 THE SENSES IN PRACTICE

Integrating theory into professional daily life

Natura

Vila diverkids

Awmallev

Mini joe

UV.Line

Motu fancy food

Alphabeto

Souvenir store of the Rio de Janeiro Marine Aquarium Aquario

Outer.Shoes

JoanaJoão

Visitors Center of Paineiras, Tijuca National Park

Designing experiences

05 UNFOLDINGS OF SENSORY ARCHITECTURE

The Intertwining of Sensory Architecture with Neuroarchitecture: a synesthetic exploration

Challenges and future opportunities

Autism spectrum disorder and sensory architecture

CONCLUSION

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

BIBLIOGRAPHY

IMAGE CREDITS

CREDITS

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

THINGS, SPACES AND EMOTIONAL CONNECTIONS

Caves, chipped stones, flutes, lighthouses, hooks, harpoons, guitars, cauldrons, coat of arms, castles, compasses, swords, medals, mills, wines, bells, cathedrals, perfumes, dishes, public squares, thermometers, spectrometers, elevators, smokers, blankets, computers, lamps, restaurants, clocks, shops, books, gardens... Our inventions have accompanied us since the cradle of our existence and illustrate our remarkable ability to create, use, and attribute meanings to things.

We are bound to the things and spaces we invent to meet our needs, from the simple and basic to the most complex and transcendental. Much more than enabling our survival or making it more comfortable, they actively participate in everyday life.

The more we live, the more things and spaces become part of our stories. It is hard to imagine objects, places, services, or any of our inventions as emotionally neutral because, at some point, almost everything around us is related to moments in our lives.

Our daily experiences are mediated by the material environment and its shapes, sounds, aromas, textures, colors, flavors... The things and spaces that surround us are spectators, supporting characters, and often protagonists of our daily actions. They make themselves known through all our senses and end up becoming a brand for those who choose them and cultural codes through which we present ourselves, identify ourselves, singularize ourselves, and relate to others. The spaces and things around us establish meanings for ourselves.

Sometimes, the shirt matches the pants, but not the restaurant we are in, or our state of mind. The sofa matches the curtains but clashes with the floor, wall colors, and our way of being. The car matches the shoes but doesn’t go with the watch, perfume, or our social status.

In addition to being ancient and vital, our relationship with spaces, things, and their meanings is revealing and, not surprisingly, gaining increasing relevance in the investigation of social phenomena in various fields of study. They are inseparable from who we are, and embody goals, manifest abilities, and give shapes, sounds, aromas, textures, colors, and flavors to our identity.

It is easy to agree on the importance of studies on people’s emotional connections to their physical surroundings. It is difficult to find someone who does not have an emotional connection to some space or thing and does not hold it in their memory.

But with what spaces do we establish emotional connections? With those that witnessed our childhood, adolescence, or maturity? With those where we interacted with our friends and family or where we were alone with our better half? With those where we celebrated special events such as birthdays, weddings, births, trips, and vacations, or where we experienced routine actions such as reading, sleeping, waking up, working, studying, having lunch, resting, dating, buying vegetables, chairs, medicines, empanadas, sunglasses?

Is our emotional connection more intense with spaces that shelter us habitually, occasionally, or rarely? With spaces to converse, meditate, have fun, learn, dance, or eat? With spaces that connect us with ourselves, with others, or with what transcends us? With practical and functional spaces or magical and engaging ones?

The answer is: all the above. We establish emotional connections with what reflects our singularities, highlights our qualities, and strengthens our identity in all its dimensions. We establish emotional connections with what strengthens our bonds with ourselves, with society, and the universe; with what makes us feel necessary, important, unique, and part of a whole; and with what promotes experiences of all kinds.

What emotionally connects us to the constructed environment is, above all else, the quality of the experiences it promotes.

That’s why childhood memories taste like porridge and feel like flannel pajamas. The holidays on the farm have the sound of the rooster’s morning song and the freshness of the breeze on the veranda. The first kiss on the park bench has the flavor of jasmine flowers. The walk on the beach has the smell of sea breeze and the taste of ice cream.

And that is how the experience of reading Sensory Architecture: The Art of Designing for All Senses by the vibrant and colorful Juliana Neves will take on the shapes, sounds, aromas, textures, colors, and flavors of the space in which whoever is reading it now, is in.

Six years after the release of the first edition, this book continues to be the main source that I recommend as a teacher and researcher in the field of design. And to have guided the dedicated, courageous, and successful study that gave origin to it, will always be one of the greatest prides and gifts that academic life has brought me.

VERA DAMAZIO

Trained in Industrial Design and Visual Communication at the Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro (PUC-Rio), with a master’s degree in Graphic Design from Boston University (USA), and a doctorate in Social Sciences from the State University of Rio de Janeiro (UERJ), where she defended the thesis Memory artifacts of everyday life: an interdisciplinary look at things that does us well to remember. She is a professor at PUC-Rio in the undergraduate and graduate design programs. She coordinates the Design, Memory, and Emotion Laboratory (LABMEMO) and also the PUC-Rio Plus 50 Program, designed for individuals over 50 years old. She is the author of various texts and lectures on social design, emotional design, affective memory, and quality longevity.

A JOURNEY THROUGH THE SENSES

Kube Arquitetura, the company I founded almost 20 years ago, specializes in strategic architecture for retail spaces (stores, bars, and restaurants). When I say that we use the methodology of sensory architecture to emotionally connect the customer to the brand through physical space, people assume that we help choose the characteristic scent of the brand, the soundtrack for each collection, the chocolate that will be served with coffee... In retail (and also in other areas), there is some confusion between so-called sensory marketing, which deals with, among other things, symbols that convey the brand’s personality (music, language, images, and other elements), and the work of the architect, which consists of creating an environment that sensorially transports the visitor to the brand’s world and connects them to its values. The effects that physical space has on a person – that first impression we have when entering a place and the emotion we feel in that space – are part of sensory architecture, the professional scope of the architecture that we at Kube like to practice.

Instagram: @kubearquitetura

Linkedin: Kube Arquitetura

Therefore, our challenge is to create an environment that the visitor emotionally connects to through sensory systems, having a remarkable positive experience. The goal is for the person to feel good in that place and want to return. Although it is not always possible to perceive at a conscious level, what surrounds us when we enter a space is not only what we see but also the feelings it arouses, the emotions it brings, and the degree of connection we experience to that physical space. The lasting first impression is not merely visual but sensory: the temperature, the aroma, the air humidity, the intensity of light, the sounds of the environment, the way the floor reacts to our steps - all these elements, and a multitude of situations—influence the way we feel in a particular place.

From an execution standpoint, there are many choices to make. If we are going to use wood, for example, we can sand it to make it smooth, leave it raw, cut it into tiny pieces to form a mosaic, or keep the trunks intact. However, there must be unity and coherence in the use of materials and in the construction of environments so that the client receives sensory inputs in line with what is relevant to the project’s concept. We want to work with materials and their properties as they are. For example, what’s the point of using a porcelain tile floor that mimics wood but, when touched by bare feet, feels cold and conveys an ambiguous message?

In our daily lives, various examples illustrate the importance of sensory architecture, such as the case of fitting rooms in clothing stores. Since this is where a customer has the most intimate contact with the brand — where, consequently, 67% of the purchasing decision takes place, according to the Wall Street Journal¹— we must pay special attention to fitting rooms and assess all elements so that the experience is the best one possible.

We have to evaluate the floor on which the customer stands barefoot; the place where they place their belongings while trying on clothes; where they hang the pieces, separating those they like from those they do not intend to keep; how the door or curtain closes, preserving their privacy; the mirror and lighting, which can flatten or elongate their body, revealing or masking imperfections; the air conditioning temperature; and various other elements that positively or negatively impact this moment. Everything has to be designed to enhance the visitor’s experience and facilitate (or at least not hinder) their purchasing decision. And this doesn’t always happen, as we could attest from the report by O Globo newspaper in 2017, where we evaluated fitting rooms in 15 clothing stores in Rio de Janeiro.²²

In a bikini or lingerie store, for example, where the customer undresses completely to try on the product, or in a unisex clothing store, privacy should be a fundamental concern when designing the fitting room door. The customer needs to feel secure and protected. Controlling the temperature in the fitting rooms is also an important factor to consider in the design, since an unpleasant user experience, due to cold or heat, will likely be as brief as possible. We know that the time a customer spends in a store is directly proportional to sales results. Therefore, our challenge as architects is to consider all these variables to enhance the feeling of comfort, consequently increasing the time spent in the environments and contact with the products.

Ideally, each fitting room would have its own temperature control, as comfort in these cases is an individual matter. Unfortunately, we still encounter limitations because most retailers and air conditioning suppliers are not interested in executing non-conventional projects and deliver the same service to their clients without differentiation – meaning the same temperature for all environments. In addition, some shopping malls have cooling systems with old pipelines, making more ambitious projects unfeasible. Practical obstacles will need to be gradually overcome.

There are so many examples of the importance of these elements in our daily lives that we often don’t even realize – unless our perception and senses are aligned with reason, which doesn’t always happen. When I began to realize this, I started my research on sensory architecture.

I have been fascinated by architecture since I started working with it at the age of 16, still in school, and I haven’t stopped since. Initially,