The jury and the public have had their say — feast your eyes on the winners of Architizer's 14th Annual A+Awards. Subscribe to our Awards Newsletter to receive future program updates.
Imagine entering into an architectural competition and seeing “Architecture +Emotion” listed alongside categories such as sustainability or housing. One measures carbon emission. Another tackles affordability. But emotion? How exactly does one judge whether a building makes someone feel awe, comfort or belonging?
Perhaps it is time to borrow some methods from another social science: psychology. When psychologists investigate emotions, they follow three very straightforward steps: they formulate hypotheses, identify environmental triggers and observe whether consistent responses emerge across individuals. They do not rely on that simple claim that “this building is welcoming.” Instead, they ask a ton of follow-up questions. What triggered the feeling? Could it happen again under similar conditions? Did all participants have more or less the same emotional response?
Architects, on the other hand, rarely become so rigorous in interrogating the emotional responses evoked by their designs. They express intent through their brief and then often leave it at that. A building is described as “welcoming,” “healing,” or “uplifting,” but the mechanisms behind those claims remain largely unexplored.
But what if we approached emotional architecture as a psychological experiment?
Hypothesis: Do We Care More About Buildings When They Respond to Us?
NTT Pavilion ～Architecture Draped in Emotion～ by NTT FACILITIES, INC., Osaka, Japan | Jury Winner, Architecture+ Emotion, 14th Architizer A+Awards
The Architectural Trigger: This might be the case in the NTT Pavilion. The space acts as a massive playground, made of architectural materials that become toys in the hands of the visitors. Two types of fabric drape the architecture. They are painted in various colors and interact consistently with light, wind and nature. Visitors can also manipulate them. They pluck carbon-fiber wires like strings, tie colored fabrics to express emotions and watch the building react to their presence. But the interaction does not stop there. Inside the pavilion, visitors’ emotions, such as surprise or joy, are analyzed by an AI system, causing the outer silver fabrics to vibrate as if projecting inner feelings outward. Frankly, the result feels less like entering a structure and more like entering a conversation.
If Psychologists Were Involved, They Would Ask:
- Did interacting with the pavilion change how attached you felt to it?
- Did the building feel more like a collaborator than an object?
- Would you have experienced the pavilion differently if you had only observed it from a distance?
What This Might Suggest: If visitors consistently claim that they felt a stronger emotional connection to the pavilion through their interaction, then perhaps emotional attachment to architecture does not emerge solely from admiration. In other words, we may care more about buildings when they allow us to leave traces of ourselves behind.
Hypothesis: Why Do Some Homes Make Us Slow Down?
No. 8 House in Dongnan Village by 氙建筑 xian architects, Beijing, China | Popular Choice Winner, Architecture +Emotion, 14th Architizer A+Awards
The Architectural Trigger: No. 8 House in Dongnan Village feels almost biophilic in the deepest sense – and this has nothing to do with the number of plants found in the property. The design manages to align domestic life with the surrounding nature: it shields the spaces from rain and sunlight, follows the seasonal cycles and establishes a connection with the horizon. Two round modern “sky-wells,” a Sundial Tower and a Book Tower, as well as a central courtyard, become organizational anchor points around which the rest of the spaces unfold. It is as if the house repeatedly positions inhabitants within relationships that extend beyond themselves, essentially expanding its small footprint into something that feels simultaneously intimate and boundless.
If Psychologists Were Involved, They Would Ask:
- Did the house make you more aware of changing weather conditions, daylight or the passing of time?
- Did the house feel more spacious than its actual footprint would suggest?
- Were there particular moments or spaces that encouraged reflection, stillness or mindfulness?
What This Might Suggest: If occupants felt a sense of slowness, expansiveness and connection, regardless of the house’s modest footprint, then emotional comfort may depend heavily on how architects frame our relationship with the natural world rather than simply designing spacious homes.
Hypothesis: Is Surprise Architecture’s Secret Weapon?
Portal 62 by Veinte Diezz Arquitectos, Merida, Mexico | Finalist, Architecture+ Emotion, 14th Architizer A+Awards
Architectural Trigger: Portal 62 wasn’t supposed to exist in its current form. During construction, the architects discovered a hidden cavern beneath the site and changed course entirely. Now the design is comprised of a series of compressed corridors, patios and descending staircases before arriving at a pool illuminated by a shaft of natural light. This profound circulation sequence raises an interesting question: do buildings become more memorable when they resist immediate understanding? The architects themselves wrote: “The house was never meant to impress. It was meant to be discovered.” If surprise truly is architecture’s secret weapon, Portal 62 suggests that its power lies less in shock and more in the slow choreography of discovery.
If Psychologists Were Involved, They Would Ask:
- Which space do you remember most vividly, and why?
- Did moments of uncertainty or curiosity enhance your engagement with the space?
- Would your experience of the house have been different if all of its spaces had been immediately visible upon entering?
What This Might Suggest: Portal 62 suggests that architecture can operate much like narrative. Rather than presenting everything at once, it unfolds gradually – much like a film or a book. The result is a building that is not simply occupied but discovered, often evoking a stronger sense of connection between the inhabitant and the space itself.
From Psychological Experiment to Physical Practice
Perhaps the real value of categories such as Architecture + Emotion lies not in proving that buildings can manufacture feelings with scientific precision. No architect can guarantee that everyone will cry in the same chapel, much like no composer can promise that their music will cause goosebumps. But what this category can do is encourage architects to create the conditions in which those reactions become more likely, and, just as importantly, articulate how they attempted to do so.
The jury and the public have had their say — feast your eyes on the winners of Architizer's 14th Annual A+Awards. Subscribe to our Awards Newsletter to receive future program updates.
Featured Image: NTT Pavilion ～Architecture Draped in Emotion～by NTT FACILITIES, INC., Osaka, Japan | Jury Winner, Architecture+ Emotion, 14th Architizer A+Awards
