Playing Seriously: An Introduction to Corporeal Architecture, Neuroscience, and Performance Art

Editorial Summary With a focus on experiential qualities Maria da Piedade Ferreira distinguishes her research object from classical (rather technical) quantities such as load-bearing capacities. In her text she illustrates how she employs methods, techniques, and instruments from performance art and neurosciences to investigate the effects of spatial conditions on the human body. In doing so, she explores a mix of qualitative and quantitative approaches, namely by experimenting with emotion measurement: Qualitative research, by including methodologies which attribute measurable values to the felt experience, might help us better understand the effects of the built environment in the human body during the design process itself, and after building. Accordingly, her aim is to integrate art and science methodologies that allow us to design spaces as intelligent extensions of the human body and positively impact how this feels and acts in the world. [Ferdinand Ludwig]