NuArch: How Architecture Shapes Emotions Through Neuroscience

The NuArch project, a collaboration between the TUNED laboratory directed by architect Davide Ruzzon at Lombardini22 and the CNR Institute of Neuroscience in Parma, has been investigating the relationship between spatial form and brain representations of body and affect since 2019. The research team includes Giovanni Vecchiato (scientific director), Fausto Caruana, Pietro Avanzini, Paolo Presti, and Giacomo Rizzolatti. Using virtual reality, they study how architectural elements influence emotional states by presenting decontextualized spaces without furniture, allowing them to isolate the effect of architectural components. Preliminary experiments show that subjects correctly recognize levels of bodily activation in avatars, and that architecture modulates this perception: avatars were perceived as less aroused when presented within high-arousal architecture. The team distinguishes between personal, peripersonal, and extrapersonal space, emphasizing that space is represented in the brain through action possibilities. Future steps include recording electroencephalographic signals to study neurophysiological correlates of these mechanisms, combining VR with brain activity measurement to implicitly and in real-time assess the effect of architecture.