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A=ƒ(O,G,F,E,T,C)
A - Architecture helps humans to exist, provides security and intimacy, proclaims a social status, solidifies power, halts time, and turns it into memory. Form and space, created for a particular place, climate, culture, and the body, become the place, climate, and culture where the self is formed. Designing is a form of research. The animate body is the primary instrument of spatial perception and the ultimate measure. A building’s geographical location, its natural and urban framework, external form, interior space, and the entirety of its decorative details are experienced through the senses of the body. Through perception and recognition, architecture modulates emotions—joy, tranquility, discomfort, tension, fear, or affect—even when we are unaware of the cause of the emotion.
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Site and context analysis encompasses the geographical, historical, and cultural characteristics of the architectural object's physical location. A human journey through space is a sequence of impressions. The continuous renewal of visual scenes shapes one's experience and the legibility of a place. Architectural structures must be analyzed not as isolated visions, but as a whole—spanning from immediate views to the most distant vistas that a person captures while moving through space. Visual perspectives help to understand how an object commands and influences the visible environment. The attractiveness of a site to people, its ability to foster social interaction, a sense of community, and the experience of meaning, is the intersection of architecture as aesthetics and the environment as psychology. The social connection to a site is inseparable from how that environment is visually and functionally organized. Place identity and place attachment are formed when people build a connection with a location not only due to the aesthetic qualities of the object, but also due to the social experiences the site represents—which most commonly manifests as security.
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Area and volume are the fundamental geometric elements of architecture, whose relationship dictates both functionality and the visual harmony of form and space. This implies that architecture does not merely satisfy practical and technical requirements, but harmonizes volume and area through principles of proportion, thereby conditioning perception and recognition at the exact moment of experience. Proportions are geometrically expressed relationships manifested through a visual rhythm that influences how the human mind processes visible form and experienced space. Geometric parameters have traditionally been, and remain, a construct bridging mathematical relations and human experience. Proportions shape the aesthetic impact through harmony, fluent perceptual processing, and an assured structural logic. Objects are differentiated by the ease with which the brain can process them. The acceleration or emphasis of perception is driven by a selective hierarchy of an element's proportion within the whole. Area, volume, and proportion are not merely formal parameters; they exert a profound influence on our emotions and physiology. Architectural stimuli—the elements of geometric form—actively impact human behavior, health, and psychological well-being. Environmental perception is an active process involving the reception, organization, and neural interpretation of sensory input (visual, auditory, and otherwise) to construct an individual image of reality. Through immediate sensations, a subjective interpretation of the world is generated, contingent upon personal experience, expectations, cultural context, and emotional state. Consequently, the same object or landscape can be interpreted differently by different observers. Psychological tension can be triggered as much by an insufficient spatial area per person as by an echo in an overly vast hall. The size and placement of a window within an enclosure can induce either confusion or delight. Similarly, a building's scale and mirror symmetry can be deeply bound to themes of power. An observer perceives environmental information as a unified whole, filtering out the noise of secondary details to select only the most subjectively relevant stimuli.
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An architectural spatial configuration is an abstract spatial model that defines the arrangement of rooms, their connections, and circulation paths within a building or complex. It is not merely a technical map, but the primary organizational element through which an architect determines how spaces function individually and collectively, what connections are required for optimal activity, and how space affects the user and their experience. The configuration scheme outlines the primary circulation corridors (the connection of one space to others), the gradation of intimacy zones (from public to private spaces), and an optimized spatial sequence that aligns with operational needs. Properly planned connections ensure easily accessible workspaces, a distinction between restful and active zones, and a sense of community within communal spaces. The functional structure defines the intended purposes of spaces (working, resting, socializing, etc.). The planning of such a structure serves not only a technical purpose but also has a psychological impact on the user. The layout structure is conceived not only based on the functions performed within it, but also on how spatial characteristics—such as the emotional contrast of volumetric compression and expansion, and length-to-width proportions—affect human senses and behavior. The architectural experience encompasses an emotional response and the mental mapping of space. This approach helps to understand that a spatial configuration functions not only operationally but also psychologically, inducing a sense of comfort, spatial appeal or fascination, and stimulating or calming the user.
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Within the field of architectural aesthetics, a clear distinction can be drawn between a building's exterior and interior. Even when architects apply a philosophy centered on dissolving the boundaries between the interior and exterior—positing that the interior and exterior must create a unified experience—the fundamental distinction does not vanish.
The aesthetics of a building’s exterior are expressed through its relationship with the urban and natural framework, the articulation of form, and the detailing of the facade, which establish a perceived dialogue between the object and its environment. Aesthetic experiences are not purely subjective; they also encompass universal perceptual structures: the physics of vision and cultural context, which together shape aesthetic judgments and reactions to buildings. Form denotes the three-dimensional existence of a building and the configuration of its elements, whereas its appearance dictates how the object occupies space, and how its contours and volumes are visually revealed to the observer. Form is one of the primary elements that human vision, operating as a sense that acts at a distance, perceives first. Facade elements influence human interest and spatial orientation; what we perceive first dictates our emotional response.
Meanwhile, interior aesthetics are oriented toward immediate human experience, bound to the evaluation of emotions and somatic sensations. Distances collapse, and vision is no longer dominant. Aesthetic preference arises not only from spatial scale, the forms of bounding surfaces, and ergonomic calculations, but also from the exposure of materials, and the relationship between details, textures, and contextual properties. Floors resonate as they are walked upon; their surface affects the feet. Structurally and visually organized ensembles of elements, filled with light and temperature, orchestrate scenes, complement the frameworks of elemental compositions, and create harmony and contrast...
Authenticity is cultivated through craftsmanship, an attuned ear to the history and culture of the site, and the knowledge and skills of artisans and artists working with traditional building materials and techniques. It addresses what will be authentic and sustainable, what natural materials are readily accessible nearby, what can be reused, recycled, and preserved, and who those local artisans and artists are who can collaborate.
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In architecture, technical and structural solutions encompass the selection of building systems and materials, ensuring reliability, safety, and longevity, while serving performance requirements, integration with engineering systems, and technological innovations. Technical decisions are not limited to a merely practical function; the exposed structure itself is endowed with value, contributing to the perceived character of the space. This technical solution—exposed structural elements—becomes a message that actively evokes user experience and an emotional connection to the site. In this case, it is not only the object's function and geometry that matter; the materials of the structure and other engineering elements are equally vital, as are their exposed surfaces for passive tactile impact, which can either stimulate or suppress the senses. Integrating technical solutions with aesthetics and psychology means directly influencing human emotions, evaluating the structure as an aesthetic message within the context of the dominant culture. The structure is an essential component of the volumetric-spatial composition, standing as a material testament to the period of its design and construction.Fone: "The Railway Gazette", 09.06.1935, [supplement page v] 27, cropped image.
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Traditionally, 'architectural costs' are understood as the deployment of material resources, labor, time, and financial means for the design and construction of a building. However, the concept of cost as a form of value in architecture is not limited solely to financial and material parameters. Aesthetics, psychological experience, and the impact of space on emotions and behavior are also 'costs'—or investments—that can have a long-term impact on user health, well-being, and social cohesion. This encompasses physical comfort (light, ventilation, and spatial proportions), psychological convenience (hominess, coherence, and color harmony), emotional response (a state of fascination, arousal, or valence), social engagement, and human experience within the space. The architectural experience is a multi-layered structure comprising aesthetic, emotional, and cognitive aspects that dictate how space is perceived and evaluated. While the user maintains a subjective aesthetic and emotional connection with the object, every biological body is universal; thus, spatial characteristics predict levels of comfort and satisfaction. Architectural costs should encompass not only financial expenditures but also investments in human well-being and experience, which yield psychological, social, and cultural value, alongside aspects of human welfare. Spatial gestures, the object's structure, and its aesthetics interact with human experience, and this can be evaluated within the context of the total sum of cost and value. Cost in architecture does not necessarily imply financial outlay alone; aesthetics and psychology are an inseparable part of the return on investment.Fone: "The Railway Gazette", 09.06.1935, [unidentified page nr.], cropped image.
Martynas Martisius | architect
An architectural practice rooted in space psychology research and the forecasting of human spiritual perception. Aligning bespoke spatial sequences, geometry and functional relationships towards emotional comfort, security and authentic experience. A methodology integrating somatic senses into spatial maps within architectural geometry. Here, technical solutions are crafted as an investment in eudaimonia — the deeply sought-after sense of human well-being and belonging.