Lisa Feldman Barrett

From time to time I have these moments where I assume those of you listening must just be think ​“What does THIS have to do with architecture”.……And as usual I can’t always give a direct and clear answer but I usually feel like I have a pretty clear hunch that it does.…and this case is no different.

Today we’re discussing how our emotions are made. As you’ll hear from Dr Lisa Feldman Barrett herself, emotions are not universal across all cultures and territories or even within individuals that share a culture. How we categorize, recognize and show emotions have changed across the centuries and it’s reasonable to assume they will continue to change going forward. 

As architects designing spaces that incorporate continually evolving materials, technologies and well…all forms of sensory inputs that define and construct our space, it only seems important to realize that these variables might do more than affect our existing emotions, they might very well play a role in shaping future ones. 

Dr Barrett was on a tight schedule so we only had the 30 min. Which of course means we didn’t discuss all of what I had hoped to. It’s funny, because I realize now that I’ve gotten into a rhythm of having these conversations for 45-60 min. Having to abbreviate this one into more of a Q and A may have given the talk a different feel. Who knows, you’ll have to be the judge, but I appreciate the time Dr Barrett was able to give.