Emotions in Contemporary Architecture

Can a building make us pause, breathe and feel? In contemporary architecture, this question is no longer merely rhetorical — it has become a deliberate pursuit. Today, architects are not just designing structures; they are creating emotional experiences. Spaces that invoke calm, inspiration or awe. Places that speak to us without words.

The intersection of emotional design and conceptual architecture is among the most significant trends of the 21st century. Architects are increasingly designing not just for vision — but for the heart.

The Steric Spes House / Gets Architects. Photographs: Mario Wibowo

1. Contemporary architecture as a

sensorial evolution

For decades, architecture emphasized function and efficiency. Yet the emergence of contemporary architecture reveals a growing awareness that unchecked functionality can feel hollow. Modern spaces aim to foster emotional connections with users, integrating nature, light and human-scale proportion.

Studies show that form, colour and texture directly influence mood and wellbeing. The goal is no longer only to inhabit a space — but to feel it. ResearchGate+1

Exterior courtyard at La Cuadra San Cristóbal. Image © Yannik Wegner, Courtesy of Fundación Fernando Romero. Architects: Luis Barragán

2. Emotional design: architecture you feel

Emotional design uses architectural elements — volume, light, texture, sequence — as instruments of emotional expression. Each choice has psychological impact:

• Light and shadow: Light can foster serenity, or invite introspection. Architect Peter Zumthor speaks of how light upon objects can feel almost spiritual. MDPI+1

• Shapes and lines: Curves are linked to comfort, fluidity and nature; rigid lines suggest discipline and control. Architizer

• Sequence and transition: A space of emotion is one experienced as a journey — moving from light to shadow, open to enclosed, familiar to novel.

• Materiality and tactility: Materials carry memories and sensations — wood evokes warmth, concrete permanence. Textures speak silently to our senses.

• Connection with nature: Integrating greenery, natural light and biophilic elements deepens emotional resonance. Dune Ceramics+1

These components don’t operate in isolation — in the realm of emotional design they are integrated, producing an experience that is coherent, memorable and alive.

The Steric Spes House / Gets Architects. Photographs: Mario Wibowo

3. Spaces that tell stories

Consider a reception hall: subtle overhead light, curved walls guiding your gaze, plants filtering soft daylight, a murmured sound of water in the background. That space might evoke quiet reflection, a kind of ritual transition into the heart of a building. Conversely, a room with high ceiling, expansive geometry, transparent materials and a view of the horizon may express freedom, openness, lightness.

Such contrasts — enclosure vs openness, muted vs expressive, dark vs bright — are the notes with which the architect composes the emotional language of space.

In many leading practices of conceptual architecture, emotion is not accidental—it is part of the brief. It conveys identity, belonging and purpose. For instance, some emotionally-focused designs deliberately place one wing to provoke tension, another to invite calm. ArchDaily+1

A building becomes a narrative-device: it speaks not with words, but with form, material, light and void.

National Congress / Oscar Niemeyer © gary yim / Shutterstock.com

4. The architect’s responsibility in emotional design

Designing for emotion is both a creative and ethical act. It demands deep consideration of how every decision influences human wellbeing.

An architect working with emotional intent must:

• Balance emotion with function — a space must still serve, perform and endure.

• Recognise that emotions are personal and cultural — what resonates in one context might not in another.

• Maintain narrative integrity — emotional touches are not mere ornamentation; they must emerge from coherent concept.

• Consider sustainability of experience — emotional impact shouldn’t exhaust; it should engage again and again.

Contemporary academic work frames this as part of a “cognitive-emotional design” approach in architecture. PMC At the urban scale, even façades and visual quality influence how users feel about a place. ScienceDirect In essence: the architect of today designs for the senses, not just the sight.

In a world saturated by digital immediacy and fleeting attention, contemporary architecture holds the opportunity to remind us of our humanity. Each wall, each volume, each shaft of light can become a subtle act of poetry.

The challenge of our time is not just to construct buildings, but to create atmospheres that move us. That is the essence of emotional design — where technique and sensitivity fuse.

“To design spaces that speak to the soul is architecture’s silent art.”

Julio Lau Borrayo

Studio BAS Architects