Why am I afraid of this building?
Buildings inspire many emotions, like awe, serenity or even dread. CrowdScience listener Siobhan was struck by this as she passed a huge apartment block with tiny windows; it reminded her of a prison. So, she asked us to investigate the feelings that buildings can trigger.\n \nArchitects have long considered how the effect of buildings on their occupants or passersby: asking whether certain features elicit feelings of wonder or joy... or sadness and fear. And now modern neuroscience has started to interrogate these very questions, too.\n \nHow much of the way we feel about a building is to do with its intrinsic design, and how much is due to our individual brain chemistry and life experiences? Presenter Caroline Steel talks to designer Thomas Heatherwick about his ideas for improving public spaces; enters a virtual reality simulation in Denmark to learn about the emerging field of \u2018neuroarchitecture\u2019; and finds out why people just can\u2019t agree what makes a \u2018good\u2019 or \u2018bad\u2019 building.
Contributors:\nThomas Heatherwick, Heatherwick Studios, London\nProfessor Zakaria Djeberra, University of Aalborg\nProfessor Lars Fich, University of Aalborg\nProfessor Edward Vessel, City College of New York\n \nPresenter: Caroline Steel\nProducer: Richard Walker\nEditor: Cathy Edwards\nProduction Coordinator: Ishmael Soriano\nStudio Manager: Duncan Hannant
(Image: Rear view of woman surrounded by old traditional residential buildings and lost in city, Hong Kong, China. Credit: d3sign via Getty Images)