Brandon R Ro
Assistant Professor Brandon Ro, AIA, NCARB, ICAA is co-founder of the new professional degree in architecture at Utah Valley University (UVU) and has been instrumental in developing new curricula for nearly half of the core coursework. He teaches architectural history and theory, three-dimensional representation, and design. He received post-professional Master of Architectural Studies degree from The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. and his professional Bachelor of Architecture degree from California State Polytechnic University Pomona.
Prof. Ro is also an award-winning design professional with over +20 years of A/E/C industry experience. As a licensed architect, his design and research projects have been published, presented, and exhibited nationally and abroad. He has a proven record of projects have been recognized with numerous awards and honors (+80) from organizations such as the U.S. Green Building Council, Walt Disney Imagineering, American Institute of Architects, Alliance to Save Energy, American Planning Association, California Higher Education Energy Efficiency Partnership Program, and Designer’s Lighting Forum among others. Over the years his design philosophy has been influenced by observing the built environment through a phenomenological lens on multiple continents and studying under internationally recognized architects, such as Juhani Pallasmaa and Alberto Campo Baeza.
As a believer of Winston Churchill's saying, "We shape our buildings; thereafter they shape us," Prof. Ro is a strong advocate of design and research that improves the interconnectivity between architecture, culture, spirituality, ecology, and human experience. At the Catholic University of America, for instance, he was awarded the Magi Endowment for the Liturgical Arts to advance his research on the phenomenological experience of sacred architecture through evidence-based design. Prof. Ro helps bridge the gap between theory and practice through his theoretical creative works and research that have been published in Arquitecturas del Sur (Chile), In_Bo (Italy), Carbon-Neutral Architectural Design, Architectural Research Centers Consortium, Márgenes Arquitectura (Spain), Ambiances Network (France), Religions, Environmental Design Research Association, and in the Journal of Comparative Theology at Harvard Divinity School.
Prof. Ro is also an award-winning design professional with over +20 years of A/E/C industry experience. As a licensed architect, his design and research projects have been published, presented, and exhibited nationally and abroad. He has a proven record of projects have been recognized with numerous awards and honors (+80) from organizations such as the U.S. Green Building Council, Walt Disney Imagineering, American Institute of Architects, Alliance to Save Energy, American Planning Association, California Higher Education Energy Efficiency Partnership Program, and Designer’s Lighting Forum among others. Over the years his design philosophy has been influenced by observing the built environment through a phenomenological lens on multiple continents and studying under internationally recognized architects, such as Juhani Pallasmaa and Alberto Campo Baeza.
As a believer of Winston Churchill's saying, "We shape our buildings; thereafter they shape us," Prof. Ro is a strong advocate of design and research that improves the interconnectivity between architecture, culture, spirituality, ecology, and human experience. At the Catholic University of America, for instance, he was awarded the Magi Endowment for the Liturgical Arts to advance his research on the phenomenological experience of sacred architecture through evidence-based design. Prof. Ro helps bridge the gap between theory and practice through his theoretical creative works and research that have been published in Arquitecturas del Sur (Chile), In_Bo (Italy), Carbon-Neutral Architectural Design, Architectural Research Centers Consortium, Márgenes Arquitectura (Spain), Ambiances Network (France), Religions, Environmental Design Research Association, and in the Journal of Comparative Theology at Harvard Divinity School.
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Papers (Sacred Space, Temple Studies) by Brandon R Ro
Citation: Ro, Brandon R. 2022. "The Sacred and Profane: Thoughts on Architectural Education and Pedagogy." IN_BO. Ricerche E Progetti Per Il Territorio, La Città E l’architettura 13 (17):74-95. https://doi.org/10.6092/issn.2036-1602/14765.
Beauty and transcendence are inextricably linked to the sacred. Looking to the past, Alberto Perez-Gomez reminds us that Renaissance cosmology believed that “number and geometry were a…link between the human and the divine.” Others influenced by Newtonian transcendental thought argued that by observing the “immutable, mathematical laws…of natural phenomena” architects would be able to design with beauty and thereby approach divinity. The latest neuroscience research is likewise confirming our tendency to seek the beautiful or spiritual in order to fulfill the human need of nourishing our emotional brain. Applying these lessons to the secular age we ask: how can architects attempt to transcend the mundane and ordinary through beauty? Can the domain of the sacred be revealed through beauty? How might these principles be taught to the next generation of architects? I seek to answer these difficult questions by examining four ideals that might help us address beauty and transcendence in architecture. These can be summarized as follows: 1) design with beauty, 2) defend the authentic, 3) build for time, and 4) inspire the spirit. I conclude by sharing lessons learned from applying these ideals to architectural education in the secular age.
Purpose: The purpose of this project is to test the conclusions of a larger historical paper aimed at identifying the theatrical and spatial modes of presenting the endowment ritual in temples constructed by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The current project analyzes the ritual spaces of six Latter-day Saint temples through the use of eye-tracking emulation software.
Method: Measuring the unconscious visual responses of Latter-day Saint ritual spaces is achieved through an eye-tracking emulation procedure. This study uses 3M’s Visual Attention Software which simulates human eye movement to understand how people will respond to various visual stimuli.
Results: The color-coded probability heatmaps reveal important differences between the various endowment spatial configurations and identify architectural features that help the human eye to focus, wander, or linger.
Conclusion: This study illustrates the importance and value of rich visual stimuli for ritual spaces, such as those found in Latter-day Saint temples. The findings suggest that temples containing three or five room spatial sequences with at least one room containing murals are more likely to capture the pre-attentive processing of initiates. Whereas temples with a two-room endowment sequence will tend to lead to passivity through a lack of attraction to visual elements.
VIDEO PRESENTATION: Watch the conference presentation online here: https://youtu.be/_ktwfMeC54c
CITATION: Ro, Brandon R. 2022. "Blending the Subjective and Objective Realms of Sacred Architecture at the Pantheon: Creating a Comparative Framework for Evaluating Transformative Experiences in Ritual Contexts" Religions 13, no. 1: 75. https://doi.org/10.3390/rel13010075
https://www.mdpi.com/2077-1444/13/1/75
In the following study, however, survey research is proving to be a viable method for: 1) testing the relevance and public reaction to conceptual models and theories of sacred architecture, 2) providing empirical and quantitative data documenting sacred architecture’s effect on human understanding and perception, and 3) producing an idealized morphology or set of design strategies that can guide architects and religious specialists in the planning phases of new projects. Overall, the study reports data gathered from over a hundred survey respondents from a convenience sampling (n=112) and serves as a preliminary attempt at bringing research into ‘sharper focus’ by surveying the public perception of sacred architecture.
KEYWORDS: perception, survey research, sacred space, design process, phenomenology
Full abstract can be found at the PDF link on pages 740-741
ABSTRACT: One social construct that is sometimes overlooked in the study of sacred architecture involves how the binary symbolism of gender (i.e., feminine and masculine) is mapped or “encoded in built form.” What are the meanings associated with placing women or a bride on the left (north) side of a church and the men or groom opposite on the right (south)? This paper seeks to explore the social construct of gendered sacred space for the Christian tradition and its multivalent perspectives that have lasted nearly 1,700 years. In particular, the paper advances a claim to improve the impoverished, neglected, and underappreciated understanding that gender separation in sacred architecture was not always a demeaning practice but one that celebrated the complementary nature of men and women.
ABSTRACT: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints continues to grow beyond its headquarters in the mountain west and dot temples around the globe. A diachronic study of the architectural history and development of Zion and her temples reveals shifts in ritual-architectural priorities over time. The stylistic changes in architectural form or unified appearance from standardization help to not only illustrate priority shifts but also historical periods of isolation and integration. Following the theoretical framework of retrenchment and assimilation for Latter-day Saint history outlined by Armand Mauss, this paper provides historical insights of how the concept of Zion and its physical manifestation through architectural form have changed over time. The following questions will guide these efforts: Why do the fortress-like castellated pioneer temples suggest a period of isolation and retrenchment while the modern design for the Alberta Canada Temple reads as an effort to assimilate back into mainstream society? Why did architectural standardization for temple plans or sites with high visibility help regain a unique sense of identity and legitimacy for the Church? How do recent efforts to blend into foreign contexts by imitating traditional or indigenous architectural styles suggest another shift back into a period of assimilation? As ritual-architectual priorities shift back and forth, they demonstrate the ongoing tensions between periods of isolation and integration. New historical insights for periods of isolation and integration emerge by reading the temple as a text and by considering the varying religio-political messages that are communicated through architectural means to insiders and outsiders.
Papers (Aesthetics, Architectural Experience) by Brandon R Ro
To test this hypothesis and build off a previous pilot study, this project seeks to analyze two neighboring U.S. courthouse buildings in Salt Lake City, Utah. The newer courthouse has a simple cube-like form and a glass and steel façade. This case study will be viewed as a building that illustrates why less is a bore. The adjacent and older neoclassical courthouse will serve as the counterexample of how beauty can be found within its complex and ordered design.
Using biometric tools and eye-tracking emulation technology, such as Visual Attention Software (VAS) by 3M, researchers can track and measure how people will react to images of different buildings at first glance before conscious vision factors from gender, age, and culture come into play. The VAS software can help architects by producing fixation-point heatmaps, probability scores for areas of interest, and gaze sequence insight reports. This study will use these tools to compare the first glance visual experience of the two courthouse buildings. This study concludes by presenting the unconscious visual fixation-points of where viewers' eyes focus for the two courthouse case studies. This data helps reveal which building does a better job at captivating its viewers.
Previous studies have used biometric eye tracking software to understand how different styles of architecture engage the human eye on the unconscious first glance phase of visual processing. It has been found that specific styles of architecture gain more interest than others. While other styles are completely ignored. Thus, this software has proven to be useful to determine how well a design might engage human observers. This study will not only serve to test repeatability of these previous findings, but it will compare the results of the biometric software to the results of a public opinion survey given to residents of transitional housing facilities.
To achieve these results, the methodology of this study will be as follows. First, images of different interiors will be modeled in 3D software & rendered for the study. 3D modeling was chosen to strictly control which variables of interior design will be tested. The variables that will be tested in this study are presence of windows, natural wall covering, density of floral wallpaper, and density of abstract wallpaper. All these variables will be applied to the same typical transitional housing unit. After these images are created, they will be placed in a survey where residents of current transitional housing facilities in Utah will be able to rate them based on personal preference. Each resident will rate the interior on a scale of one to five. The interiors will be rated on how desirable that room is to the resident. Then biometric software (3M’s Visual Attention Software) will be used to analyze each image. After each image is processed, the simulated eye-tracking results will be compared to the results of the survey. This will be done to see if there is any correlation between eye engagement and interior ratings by residents. We hypothesize that interiors that capture more interest from the eye will be rated higher than those with less eye-engagement.
In the end, the results of this study will be limited to the variables tested. In this case, wall finishes. As well as the transitional building type. Like many similar facilities this building type tends to focus on function and economy rather than the wellness of the end user. It is our hope that these findings will help create transitional housing facilities that are loved by their residents.
In conclusion, this study shows that windows and wall coverings have a visual impact on how guests experience a room. Windows serve as an important focal point of a typical transitional housing unit. Without windows guests would not know what to focus on. In addition to windows, wall finish is important because it can help distribute the attention of guests more evenly around the space. This can be useful when units do not have desirable views. Instead, wall finishes can provide a beautiful alternative to whatever view might be outside their window.
Of the wall finishes tested, medium to low-density floral patterns and high-density abstract patterns were the most successful at distributing the attention around the room. Further study should be done to identify why these patterns were more successful. Suggestions for variables to study further are scale, contrast, color, and geometry within patterns. These additional variables may help researchers better understand what affects visual interest within a room. In addition to visual interest, researchers should also focus on the emotional response to these wall patterns. For, the 3M VAS software can only study interest and not what impact that interest may have on a person. This in turn will help interior designers to better understand how their designs will impact their users.
Purpose: The categorization of beauty used to be solely subjective or "in the eye of the beholder," but now through modern technology beauty can be measured in aesthetic experiences. For instance, scientists can quantify beauty via MRI scans by measuring the brain activity in the medial prefrontal cortex when a person is viewing something deemed beautiful. This technology allows us to look into the brain and see the human aesthetic experience when viewing the world around them.
Method: This current project studies ten buildings in Hungary, a country known for its high level of architectural ornament and "beauty," in order to investigate the perception of beauty in architecture. The methodology for this study follows the human perceptual sequence of perception, apprehension, and comprehension. Images of the buildings are first ranked on a beauty scale of 1-10 from an initial perception analysis by the authors. Lower numbers in this first phase of the research are considered background buildings and are deemed less beautiful, while higher numbers are both beautiful and iconic foreground buildings. The second phase of the project runs the images through an eye-tracking emulation application by 3M known as Visual Attention Software (VAS). This procedure tracks and measures how a person would react to that image of the building. This second part records the apprehension and comprehension phases in the perceptual sequence. The third and final phase, will evaluate the image heat maps of the buildings and compare them with initial ratings on the beauty scale.
Results: The results of the images demonstrate fixation points in the buildings and strengthens the argument of whether ornament captivates viewers or not. This alludes to the high brain activity that occurs when viewing building designs that are beautiful. After the images were run through the software and analyzed, it was discovered that each building that had architectural ornament was more prone to capture attention. Meanwhile, those with less ornament were not as interesting and did not capture viewer's attention. The buildings with no ornament had the lowest levels of visual engagement according to the VAS software results.
Conclusion: Through this research, it has been determined that architectural ornament on Hungarian buildings not only makes them beautiful but it captures the attention of onlookers. Buildings with architectural ornament add to the built environment around us. One limitation to this study is that the images analyzed were taken from a considerable distance from the buildings themselves. As a result, additional studies could be made using the same buildings by testing photos that are taken closer up to determine if fractal scaling and the beauty scale continue the closer you get to the building. Hypothetically, some of the buildings will most likely lose interest and be deemed less beautiful as the subject gets closer to them. This project concludes that buildings designed without architectural ornament could be deemed a crime from their negative affect on visual perception.
Purpose: Given that hospitals are meant to be places of healing, they are notoriously cold and un-welcoming buildings. The better healthcare architects can understand the role the built environment plays in promoting healing and wellbeing, the more hospitals can aid in the healing process. This study builds on previous research from healthcare architects and other neuroscientists.
Method: Through the use of 3M's Visual Attention Software (VAS), this project seeks to identify what features in patient rooms capture unconscious visual responses of people. This will be accomplished by looking at several scenarios. First, this study compares patient rooms decorated with wall art of various styles against rooms without art. Second, the study compares rooms with a view of nature against rooms with a view of plain buildings or cityscapes. These analyses will be instructive in understanding how art can draw in the visual attention of patients in healthcare settings. The third step of this project involves using the same sets of comparative images in a public opinion survey to confirm the artificial intelligence biometric eye-tracking simulations. Do people prefer viewing different types of artwork over others? Which artwork or window views feel the most relaxing? The results from all three steps will be compared to determine whether a correlation exists between how art draws in the eye and its potential relaxation effects.
Results: The VAS analysis show that art tends to draw the attention of a rooms occupant. In particular, modern art styles tend to demand the focus of those that see it. However, when this data is compared to the results of the survey, these art styles tend to be more stress inducing. On the other hand, scenes of nature draw attention more gently, but tended to induce a more calming effect. Interestingly, art that displays people also catches the eye, especially faces, but it either has a neutral effect on the viewer, or only a mild stress reducing or inducing effect.
Conclusion: The results of the VAS analysis compared with the survey, show a clear pattern emerging supporting the theory that quality art and views can aid in relaxation and healing within healthcare facilities. In particular, views of nature, or art depicting nature helped to draw the attention of the patients and visitors away from the hospital and help calm individuals. Healthcare designers and interior decorators should take care to understand how the art and views that are selected will affect the patients viewing them. Through understanding these results, a hospital can be not only a place of treatment, but become a place of healing
Purpose: The purpose of the current study is to test the Harris Poll survey results by running the same images of federal buildings through eye-tracking emulation software. Our hypothesis is that after running the experiments on the images of federal architecture from the earlier survey, the visual stimuli from traditional or classical buildings will hold the attention of viewers more than those of modern buildings. Since these experiments simulate the first glance response before "gender, age, culture, and viewer tasks impact the viewer's attention," [6] they will provide a further confirmation of the original survey results and suggest a much broader application than originally expected.
Method: Using the original results, images, and survey data of the National Civic Art Society, our research examined the same images of both modern and traditional federal buildings by using 3M's Visual Attention Software (VAS) [7]. This artificial intelligence software application replicates eye-tracking biometric data and helps identify commonalities of where the human eye will focus, wander, and linger. Industry professionals and researchers have used these methods to identify cognitive benefits of architectural proportions and fractal geometry.
Results: Our experiment using VAS confirmed the earlier survey results of human preference towards traditional design. Data and graphic depictions confirmed a cognitive preference in traditional design. This is illustrated in the focal point probability heatmaps and fixation point sequence reports. It is clear from the VAS reports that a pattern of cognitive preference can be seen favoring most traditional federal buildings versus the modern buildings due to the amount of uniform "blue glow" and the gaze sequence.
Conclusion: The results of this study show a subliminal preference for traditional architectural elements and composition. These preferences capture pre-attentive stimuli of the human cognition, making them preferable compared to their more modern counterparts. One limitation to this study is that it does not include a deeper dive into the specifics of the fractal patterns, ornamentation, or proportion on each specific building. Yet, on a general application level we conclude that traditional and classical federal architecture are more likely to visually engage people on a higher level than modernist buildings.
Cite as: Ro, Brandon R. "Technological Modes of Making Architecture." In Proceedings of the 2020 Intermountain Engineering, Technology and Computing (IETC) Conference, pp. 82-87. Orem, UT: IEEE, 2020.
Citation:
Ro, Brandon and Julio Bermudez. 2015. “Understanding Extraordinary Architectural
Experiences through Content Analysis of Written Narratives .” Enquiry 12 (1): 17-34.
http://dx.doi.org/10.17831/enq:arcc.v12i1.390
Citation: Ro, Brandon R. 2022. "The Sacred and Profane: Thoughts on Architectural Education and Pedagogy." IN_BO. Ricerche E Progetti Per Il Territorio, La Città E l’architettura 13 (17):74-95. https://doi.org/10.6092/issn.2036-1602/14765.
Beauty and transcendence are inextricably linked to the sacred. Looking to the past, Alberto Perez-Gomez reminds us that Renaissance cosmology believed that “number and geometry were a…link between the human and the divine.” Others influenced by Newtonian transcendental thought argued that by observing the “immutable, mathematical laws…of natural phenomena” architects would be able to design with beauty and thereby approach divinity. The latest neuroscience research is likewise confirming our tendency to seek the beautiful or spiritual in order to fulfill the human need of nourishing our emotional brain. Applying these lessons to the secular age we ask: how can architects attempt to transcend the mundane and ordinary through beauty? Can the domain of the sacred be revealed through beauty? How might these principles be taught to the next generation of architects? I seek to answer these difficult questions by examining four ideals that might help us address beauty and transcendence in architecture. These can be summarized as follows: 1) design with beauty, 2) defend the authentic, 3) build for time, and 4) inspire the spirit. I conclude by sharing lessons learned from applying these ideals to architectural education in the secular age.
Purpose: The purpose of this project is to test the conclusions of a larger historical paper aimed at identifying the theatrical and spatial modes of presenting the endowment ritual in temples constructed by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The current project analyzes the ritual spaces of six Latter-day Saint temples through the use of eye-tracking emulation software.
Method: Measuring the unconscious visual responses of Latter-day Saint ritual spaces is achieved through an eye-tracking emulation procedure. This study uses 3M’s Visual Attention Software which simulates human eye movement to understand how people will respond to various visual stimuli.
Results: The color-coded probability heatmaps reveal important differences between the various endowment spatial configurations and identify architectural features that help the human eye to focus, wander, or linger.
Conclusion: This study illustrates the importance and value of rich visual stimuli for ritual spaces, such as those found in Latter-day Saint temples. The findings suggest that temples containing three or five room spatial sequences with at least one room containing murals are more likely to capture the pre-attentive processing of initiates. Whereas temples with a two-room endowment sequence will tend to lead to passivity through a lack of attraction to visual elements.
VIDEO PRESENTATION: Watch the conference presentation online here: https://youtu.be/_ktwfMeC54c
CITATION: Ro, Brandon R. 2022. "Blending the Subjective and Objective Realms of Sacred Architecture at the Pantheon: Creating a Comparative Framework for Evaluating Transformative Experiences in Ritual Contexts" Religions 13, no. 1: 75. https://doi.org/10.3390/rel13010075
https://www.mdpi.com/2077-1444/13/1/75
In the following study, however, survey research is proving to be a viable method for: 1) testing the relevance and public reaction to conceptual models and theories of sacred architecture, 2) providing empirical and quantitative data documenting sacred architecture’s effect on human understanding and perception, and 3) producing an idealized morphology or set of design strategies that can guide architects and religious specialists in the planning phases of new projects. Overall, the study reports data gathered from over a hundred survey respondents from a convenience sampling (n=112) and serves as a preliminary attempt at bringing research into ‘sharper focus’ by surveying the public perception of sacred architecture.
KEYWORDS: perception, survey research, sacred space, design process, phenomenology
Full abstract can be found at the PDF link on pages 740-741
ABSTRACT: One social construct that is sometimes overlooked in the study of sacred architecture involves how the binary symbolism of gender (i.e., feminine and masculine) is mapped or “encoded in built form.” What are the meanings associated with placing women or a bride on the left (north) side of a church and the men or groom opposite on the right (south)? This paper seeks to explore the social construct of gendered sacred space for the Christian tradition and its multivalent perspectives that have lasted nearly 1,700 years. In particular, the paper advances a claim to improve the impoverished, neglected, and underappreciated understanding that gender separation in sacred architecture was not always a demeaning practice but one that celebrated the complementary nature of men and women.
ABSTRACT: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints continues to grow beyond its headquarters in the mountain west and dot temples around the globe. A diachronic study of the architectural history and development of Zion and her temples reveals shifts in ritual-architectural priorities over time. The stylistic changes in architectural form or unified appearance from standardization help to not only illustrate priority shifts but also historical periods of isolation and integration. Following the theoretical framework of retrenchment and assimilation for Latter-day Saint history outlined by Armand Mauss, this paper provides historical insights of how the concept of Zion and its physical manifestation through architectural form have changed over time. The following questions will guide these efforts: Why do the fortress-like castellated pioneer temples suggest a period of isolation and retrenchment while the modern design for the Alberta Canada Temple reads as an effort to assimilate back into mainstream society? Why did architectural standardization for temple plans or sites with high visibility help regain a unique sense of identity and legitimacy for the Church? How do recent efforts to blend into foreign contexts by imitating traditional or indigenous architectural styles suggest another shift back into a period of assimilation? As ritual-architectual priorities shift back and forth, they demonstrate the ongoing tensions between periods of isolation and integration. New historical insights for periods of isolation and integration emerge by reading the temple as a text and by considering the varying religio-political messages that are communicated through architectural means to insiders and outsiders.
To test this hypothesis and build off a previous pilot study, this project seeks to analyze two neighboring U.S. courthouse buildings in Salt Lake City, Utah. The newer courthouse has a simple cube-like form and a glass and steel façade. This case study will be viewed as a building that illustrates why less is a bore. The adjacent and older neoclassical courthouse will serve as the counterexample of how beauty can be found within its complex and ordered design.
Using biometric tools and eye-tracking emulation technology, such as Visual Attention Software (VAS) by 3M, researchers can track and measure how people will react to images of different buildings at first glance before conscious vision factors from gender, age, and culture come into play. The VAS software can help architects by producing fixation-point heatmaps, probability scores for areas of interest, and gaze sequence insight reports. This study will use these tools to compare the first glance visual experience of the two courthouse buildings. This study concludes by presenting the unconscious visual fixation-points of where viewers' eyes focus for the two courthouse case studies. This data helps reveal which building does a better job at captivating its viewers.
Previous studies have used biometric eye tracking software to understand how different styles of architecture engage the human eye on the unconscious first glance phase of visual processing. It has been found that specific styles of architecture gain more interest than others. While other styles are completely ignored. Thus, this software has proven to be useful to determine how well a design might engage human observers. This study will not only serve to test repeatability of these previous findings, but it will compare the results of the biometric software to the results of a public opinion survey given to residents of transitional housing facilities.
To achieve these results, the methodology of this study will be as follows. First, images of different interiors will be modeled in 3D software & rendered for the study. 3D modeling was chosen to strictly control which variables of interior design will be tested. The variables that will be tested in this study are presence of windows, natural wall covering, density of floral wallpaper, and density of abstract wallpaper. All these variables will be applied to the same typical transitional housing unit. After these images are created, they will be placed in a survey where residents of current transitional housing facilities in Utah will be able to rate them based on personal preference. Each resident will rate the interior on a scale of one to five. The interiors will be rated on how desirable that room is to the resident. Then biometric software (3M’s Visual Attention Software) will be used to analyze each image. After each image is processed, the simulated eye-tracking results will be compared to the results of the survey. This will be done to see if there is any correlation between eye engagement and interior ratings by residents. We hypothesize that interiors that capture more interest from the eye will be rated higher than those with less eye-engagement.
In the end, the results of this study will be limited to the variables tested. In this case, wall finishes. As well as the transitional building type. Like many similar facilities this building type tends to focus on function and economy rather than the wellness of the end user. It is our hope that these findings will help create transitional housing facilities that are loved by their residents.
In conclusion, this study shows that windows and wall coverings have a visual impact on how guests experience a room. Windows serve as an important focal point of a typical transitional housing unit. Without windows guests would not know what to focus on. In addition to windows, wall finish is important because it can help distribute the attention of guests more evenly around the space. This can be useful when units do not have desirable views. Instead, wall finishes can provide a beautiful alternative to whatever view might be outside their window.
Of the wall finishes tested, medium to low-density floral patterns and high-density abstract patterns were the most successful at distributing the attention around the room. Further study should be done to identify why these patterns were more successful. Suggestions for variables to study further are scale, contrast, color, and geometry within patterns. These additional variables may help researchers better understand what affects visual interest within a room. In addition to visual interest, researchers should also focus on the emotional response to these wall patterns. For, the 3M VAS software can only study interest and not what impact that interest may have on a person. This in turn will help interior designers to better understand how their designs will impact their users.
Purpose: The categorization of beauty used to be solely subjective or "in the eye of the beholder," but now through modern technology beauty can be measured in aesthetic experiences. For instance, scientists can quantify beauty via MRI scans by measuring the brain activity in the medial prefrontal cortex when a person is viewing something deemed beautiful. This technology allows us to look into the brain and see the human aesthetic experience when viewing the world around them.
Method: This current project studies ten buildings in Hungary, a country known for its high level of architectural ornament and "beauty," in order to investigate the perception of beauty in architecture. The methodology for this study follows the human perceptual sequence of perception, apprehension, and comprehension. Images of the buildings are first ranked on a beauty scale of 1-10 from an initial perception analysis by the authors. Lower numbers in this first phase of the research are considered background buildings and are deemed less beautiful, while higher numbers are both beautiful and iconic foreground buildings. The second phase of the project runs the images through an eye-tracking emulation application by 3M known as Visual Attention Software (VAS). This procedure tracks and measures how a person would react to that image of the building. This second part records the apprehension and comprehension phases in the perceptual sequence. The third and final phase, will evaluate the image heat maps of the buildings and compare them with initial ratings on the beauty scale.
Results: The results of the images demonstrate fixation points in the buildings and strengthens the argument of whether ornament captivates viewers or not. This alludes to the high brain activity that occurs when viewing building designs that are beautiful. After the images were run through the software and analyzed, it was discovered that each building that had architectural ornament was more prone to capture attention. Meanwhile, those with less ornament were not as interesting and did not capture viewer's attention. The buildings with no ornament had the lowest levels of visual engagement according to the VAS software results.
Conclusion: Through this research, it has been determined that architectural ornament on Hungarian buildings not only makes them beautiful but it captures the attention of onlookers. Buildings with architectural ornament add to the built environment around us. One limitation to this study is that the images analyzed were taken from a considerable distance from the buildings themselves. As a result, additional studies could be made using the same buildings by testing photos that are taken closer up to determine if fractal scaling and the beauty scale continue the closer you get to the building. Hypothetically, some of the buildings will most likely lose interest and be deemed less beautiful as the subject gets closer to them. This project concludes that buildings designed without architectural ornament could be deemed a crime from their negative affect on visual perception.
Purpose: Given that hospitals are meant to be places of healing, they are notoriously cold and un-welcoming buildings. The better healthcare architects can understand the role the built environment plays in promoting healing and wellbeing, the more hospitals can aid in the healing process. This study builds on previous research from healthcare architects and other neuroscientists.
Method: Through the use of 3M's Visual Attention Software (VAS), this project seeks to identify what features in patient rooms capture unconscious visual responses of people. This will be accomplished by looking at several scenarios. First, this study compares patient rooms decorated with wall art of various styles against rooms without art. Second, the study compares rooms with a view of nature against rooms with a view of plain buildings or cityscapes. These analyses will be instructive in understanding how art can draw in the visual attention of patients in healthcare settings. The third step of this project involves using the same sets of comparative images in a public opinion survey to confirm the artificial intelligence biometric eye-tracking simulations. Do people prefer viewing different types of artwork over others? Which artwork or window views feel the most relaxing? The results from all three steps will be compared to determine whether a correlation exists between how art draws in the eye and its potential relaxation effects.
Results: The VAS analysis show that art tends to draw the attention of a rooms occupant. In particular, modern art styles tend to demand the focus of those that see it. However, when this data is compared to the results of the survey, these art styles tend to be more stress inducing. On the other hand, scenes of nature draw attention more gently, but tended to induce a more calming effect. Interestingly, art that displays people also catches the eye, especially faces, but it either has a neutral effect on the viewer, or only a mild stress reducing or inducing effect.
Conclusion: The results of the VAS analysis compared with the survey, show a clear pattern emerging supporting the theory that quality art and views can aid in relaxation and healing within healthcare facilities. In particular, views of nature, or art depicting nature helped to draw the attention of the patients and visitors away from the hospital and help calm individuals. Healthcare designers and interior decorators should take care to understand how the art and views that are selected will affect the patients viewing them. Through understanding these results, a hospital can be not only a place of treatment, but become a place of healing
Purpose: The purpose of the current study is to test the Harris Poll survey results by running the same images of federal buildings through eye-tracking emulation software. Our hypothesis is that after running the experiments on the images of federal architecture from the earlier survey, the visual stimuli from traditional or classical buildings will hold the attention of viewers more than those of modern buildings. Since these experiments simulate the first glance response before "gender, age, culture, and viewer tasks impact the viewer's attention," [6] they will provide a further confirmation of the original survey results and suggest a much broader application than originally expected.
Method: Using the original results, images, and survey data of the National Civic Art Society, our research examined the same images of both modern and traditional federal buildings by using 3M's Visual Attention Software (VAS) [7]. This artificial intelligence software application replicates eye-tracking biometric data and helps identify commonalities of where the human eye will focus, wander, and linger. Industry professionals and researchers have used these methods to identify cognitive benefits of architectural proportions and fractal geometry.
Results: Our experiment using VAS confirmed the earlier survey results of human preference towards traditional design. Data and graphic depictions confirmed a cognitive preference in traditional design. This is illustrated in the focal point probability heatmaps and fixation point sequence reports. It is clear from the VAS reports that a pattern of cognitive preference can be seen favoring most traditional federal buildings versus the modern buildings due to the amount of uniform "blue glow" and the gaze sequence.
Conclusion: The results of this study show a subliminal preference for traditional architectural elements and composition. These preferences capture pre-attentive stimuli of the human cognition, making them preferable compared to their more modern counterparts. One limitation to this study is that it does not include a deeper dive into the specifics of the fractal patterns, ornamentation, or proportion on each specific building. Yet, on a general application level we conclude that traditional and classical federal architecture are more likely to visually engage people on a higher level than modernist buildings.
Cite as: Ro, Brandon R. "Technological Modes of Making Architecture." In Proceedings of the 2020 Intermountain Engineering, Technology and Computing (IETC) Conference, pp. 82-87. Orem, UT: IEEE, 2020.
Citation:
Ro, Brandon and Julio Bermudez. 2015. “Understanding Extraordinary Architectural
Experiences through Content Analysis of Written Narratives .” Enquiry 12 (1): 17-34.
http://dx.doi.org/10.17831/enq:arcc.v12i1.390
This survey is just the beginning. These results, in combination with our plans to take this study further, have wide-ranging implications far beyond the museum field, informing practice across disciplines at organizations that rely on the interaction of physical space and ritual performance -- such as churches, schools, and other place-based entities. This documents is the full report of those findings.
1) Student perspectives of the learning experience
2) Teacher perspectives of the instructional experience
3) Student and teacher perspectives of the classroom environment
4) Parental perspectives of their child’s academic performance
In the end, this study illustrates some of the impacts the classroom environment has on human perceptions to learn or teach. The results of the survey are relevant for designers, architects, educators, administrators, and policy makers who are concerned with improving academic performance through better educational design. Better school design leads to better learning environments.
In order to assess how the learning environment was performing from the building users’ perspective at Odyssey Elementary School, a POE survey was conducted during the Spring of 2015. The short one-month survey gathered a total of 275 responses that were comprised of students, teachers, administrators, maintenance personnel, and parents. The survey was designed to capture several different aspects of environmental quality. The present study focuses on four main areas of the survey and includes:
1) Student perspectives of the learning experience
2) Teacher perspectives of the instructional experience
3) Student and teacher perspectives of the classroom environment
4) Parental perspectives of their child’s academic performance
Major findings from the survey suggest that a flexible classroom environment has a positive and direct impact on the perceptions of students, teachers, and parents.
• The survey revealed that the overall student learning experience was enhanced. Students also felt the layout of the school and classrooms fostered collaboration and made it easy to work in groups. Students largely believed the open and flexible layout improved student-teacher interactions. The design also helped students to pay more attention in class.
• Teachers had similar responses. They felt student attention span increased and student-teacher interactions were improved. The design also enhanced their instructional experience and facilitated different teaching techniques. A large majority of teachers were not only satisfied with the design of the building, but they felt it provided quality learning experiences for their students.
• Parents equally had positive responses. A majority of parents felt the school was preparing their child for the next academic year, and many had witnessed improvements in their child’s academic performance. Parents also reported that the design of the school was enhancing their child’s ability to learn. Nearly half of parents felt that the classroom design in particular was a key factor affecting their child’s learning experience and academic performance.
In the end, this study illustrates some of the impacts the classroom environment has on human perceptions to learn or teach. The results of the survey are relevant for designers, architects, educators, administrators, and policy makers who are concerned with improving academic performance through better educational design.
What is the Box City experience?
With scissors and glue in hand, 4th and 5th grade students in 10 classrooms transformed cereal boxes, paper towel rolls, and construction paper into bright cities Each classroom designed important places that make our cities wonderful to live in. Ranging from a dog park to a movie theater or a houseboat to highrise apartments, each element plays an important role in the city.
Nearly 300 students explored the world of design and city planning with 34 young architects and University of Utah architecture students. Box City took place over a period of twelve weeks during 2015 through the Educating Elementary Children Through Architecture (EECTA) program.
Architectural volunteers taught children about scale, space, structure, rhythm, building types, planning, and presentation skills. After the students explored design basics, they collaborated in groups to make important decisions about what to build, what materials to use, and how urban infrastructure should be organized – such as roads, parks, or sidewalks. Along the way, students learned about being part of a team, in the same way as buildings on a block are a part of a neighborhood in the city.
The Box City Experience is a book documenting the experience and design process of Ms. Jennifer Gannuscio’s 5th grade students at Uintah Elementary School in Salt Lake City. The book is a result of the Educating Elementary Students Through Architecture (EECTA) program put on by the Utah Center for Architecture and serves as a published archive of student work.
The EECTA program was created in 2004 by the AIA Utah Young Architects Forum and was approved by the State for teaching core curriculum subjects. EECTA is now underwritten by the Utah Center for Architecture and local architectural firms generously donate staff time and/or materials.
EECTA’s 2015 Box City exhibition was on display at the City Library in Salt Lake City from April 20-24 as part of Architecture Week for the Utah Center for Architecture.
Port of L.A. Visions is a book documenting the interdisciplinary design process and solutions to re-envision how the port of Los Angeles and waterfront can be reclaimed through bioremediation and new development. The book is a result of the Bobby Brooks memorial interdisciplinary design studio - a collaboration between Cal Poly Pomona's College of Environmental Design and Walt Disney Imagineering - and serves as a published archive of student work.
Edited by Leonardo Micolta, Irma Ramirez, Brandon Ro
Book Layout by Leonardo Micolta and Brandon Ro
and provides an occasion for discovering multi-dimensional avenues of
spirituality. I have chosen to explore the concept of contemporary sacred
space in the context of designing a temple for The Church of Jesus Christ
of Latter-day Saints, also referred to as the Mormon Church.
The explosive growth of the Church establishes the need for an in
depth study of the Mormon temple typology. In particular, the cultural
politics of the Church present a rare opportunity in Church history that
is favorable to design innovations. While the design of Mormon temples
has been highly criticized by architects, historians, and educators,
the topic is typically poorly understood and regularly neglected in
architectural discourse. There are many opportunities to shed light
on misunderstandings. This paper conducts a comparative analysis of
Mormon sacred architecture by looking specifi cally at the historical
interconnectivity between morphology and typology.
Ultimately, the purpose of this research is to strengthen my design
proposal for a Mormon temple in Rome, Italy. While there are certainly
social, political, and religious challenges associated with such a proposal,
my research seeks to prove that it is a rare and promising design
venture. It presents an exciting opportunity for architecture to act as
an ambassador of the Mormon religion, express the true essence of its
principles, and to display aesthetic sensitivity to Romes rich cultural
history while simultaneously representing the identity of the Mormon
Church. It also presents an opportunity to open a new chapter in the
history of the Churchs temple designs, to break recent stereotypes, and
to engage unexplored avenues within its own tradition. This research
helps to establish the interrelationships between architecture (form),
religion (ideals), ritual (function), and culture (environment). Ultimately,
the fi nal design is a demonstration of the ritual architectural design
process that makes possible the (re)interpretation of the Latter-day Saint
temple morphology.
Design professionals and religious specialists can improve the experience of sacred architecture by incorporating Jones’ conceptual model within the evidence-based design process. A preliminary survey tool, designed using Jones’ categories, was tested against a non-probability sample of respondents (N=112). In general, the survey can be replicated case by case to identify which categories of sacred space are important for different user groups – an essential part of programming and pre-design. As top design priorities are identified and converted into research questions, information and evidence are collected. Evidence of people’s actual (i.e., real, lived) “subjective” experiences that occur within specific cases of Catholic sacred architecture are derived from Julio Bermudez’s large survey database (N=2,872) of “extraordinary architectural experiences.” In addition, graphical analysis and interpretation of the “objective” built conditions are conducted for the Pantheon, Chartres Cathedral, and the chapel at Ronchamp. The empirical data for both “subjective” and “objective” conditions are then compared in order to test Jones’ conceptual model. For example, does a sacred space built with “XYZ” category actually result in “XYZ” experience?
The study concludes that built environments possessing a higher presence and quality of Jones’ “morphology of ritual-architectural priorities” in the “objective” built conditions are more likely to be perceived as sacred, produce extraordinary experiences, and transform human understanding. Meanwhile, the opposite is also plausible. Evidence-based design for sacred architecture and transformative human experience demand more attention from scholarly inquiry.