Skip to main content Accessibility help

We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.

Close cookie message
×
Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-xbtfd Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-19T05:15:11.404Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

7 - The Creation and Aesthetic Appreciation of Architecture

from Part II - Creativity in the Traditional Arts

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 September 2017

By
Oshin Vartanian
Edited by
James C. Kaufman ,
Vlad P. Glăveanu  and
John Baer
James C. Kaufman
Affiliation:
University of Connecticut
Vlad P. Glăveanu
Affiliation:
Universitetet i Bergen, Norway
John Baer
Affiliation:
Rider University, New Jersey
Get access

Summary

Abstract

Psychologists have historically been interested in architecture as an important domain within which to study creativity. Classic studies highlighted the role of personality variables, while at the same time downplaying the contributions of some cognitive abilities (e.g., intelligence) to individual differences in architectural creativity. Recently, research in this domain has been informed by novel findings from psychology, neuropsychology, and neuroscience. Specifically, architectural creativity has been linked to the flexible interplay between associative and inferential processes, the neural systems for which are dissociable in the brain. In addition, evidence suggests that high-level creativity in architecture could in part be driven by ordinary thought processes working on exceptionally rich content. In turn, neuroimaging studies have begun to also shed light on the neural bases of our aesthetic appreciation of various basic features of architectural design such as contour, ceiling height, and perceived enclosure. Together, these various strands of research are increasing our understanding of creativity and aesthetic appreciation in the domain of architecture.

Type
Chapter
Information
The Cambridge Handbook of Creativity across Domains , pp. 110 - 122
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2017

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Aguirre, G. K., Detre, J. A., Alsop, D. C., & D’Esposito, M. (1996). The parahippocampus subserves topographical learning in man. Cerebral Cortex, 6, 823–829.Google Scholar
Appleton, J. (1975). The experience of landscape. New York: John Wiley and Sons.Google Scholar
Baird, J. C., Cassidy, B., & Kurr, J. (1978). Room preference as a function of architectural features and user activities. Journal of Applied Psychology, 63, 719–727.Google Scholar
Bar, M., & Neta, M. (2006). Humans prefer curved visual objects. Psychological Science, 17, 645–648.Google Scholar
Bar, M., & Neta, M. (2007). Visual elements of subjective preference modulate amygdala activation. Neuropsychologia, 45, 2191–2200.Google Scholar
Barrett, L. F., Mesquita, B., Ochsner, K. N., & Gross, J. J. (2007). The experience of emotion. Annual Review of Psychology, 58, 373–403.Google Scholar
Barrett, L. F., & Wager, T. (2006). The structure of emotion: Evidence from the neuroimaging of emotion. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 15, 79–85.Google Scholar
Brown, S., Gao, X., Tisdelle, L., Eickhoff, S. B., & Liotti, M. (2011). Naturalizing aesthetics: Brain areas for aesthetic appraisal across sensory modalities. Neuroimage, 58, 250–258.Google Scholar
Campbell, D. P. (1971). Handbook for the strong vocational interest blank. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.Google Scholar
Cavanna, A. E., & Trimble, M. R. (2006). The precuneus: A review of its functional anatomy and behavioural correlates. Brain, 129, 564–583.Google Scholar
Chatterjee, A., & Vartanian, O. (2014). Neuroaesthetics. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 18, 370–375.Google Scholar
Epstein, R., & Kanwisher, N. (1998). A cortical representation of the local visual environment. Nature, 392, 598–601.Google Scholar
Ericsson, K. A., & Simon, H. A. (1993). Protocol analysis: Verbal reports as data. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press.Google Scholar
Fich, L. B., Jönsson, P., Kirkegaard, P. H., Wallergård, , Garde, A. H., & Hansen, Å. (2014). Can architectural design alter the physiological reaction to psychosocial stress? A virtual TSST experiment. Physiology & Behavior, 135, 91–97.Google Scholar
Gazzaniga, M. S. (1998). The mind’s past. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.Google Scholar
Gazzaniga, M. S. (2000). Cerebral specialization and interhemispheric communication: does the corpus callosum enable the human condition? Brain, 123, 1293–1326.Google Scholar
Gilbert, S. J., Zamenopoulos, T., Alexiou, K., & Johnson, J. H. (2009). Involvement of right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex in ill-structured design cognition: An fMRI study. Brain Research, 1312, 79–88.Google Scholar
Gilhooly, K. J., Fiortou, E., Anthony, S. H., & Wynn, V. (2007). Divergent thinking: Strategies and executive involvement in generating novel uses for familiar objects. British Journal of Psychology, 98, 611–625.Google Scholar
Goel, V. (1995). Sketches of thought. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.Google Scholar
Goel, V. (2014). Creative brains: Designing in the real world. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 8, Article 241.Google Scholar
Goel, V., & Grafman, J. (2000). The role of the right prefrontal cortex in ill-structured problem solving. Cognitive Neuropsychology, 17, 415–436.Google Scholar
Goel, V., & Vartanian, O. (2005). Dissociating the roles of right ventral lateral and dorsal lateral prefrontal cortex in generation and maintenance of hypotheses in set-shift problems. Cerebral Cortex, 15, 1170–1177.Google Scholar
Goldberg, E., Podell, K., & Lovell, M. (1994). Lateralization of frontal lobe functions and cognitive novelty. Journal of Neuropsychiatry, 6, 371–378.Google Scholar
Gough, H. A. (1956). California Psychological Inventory. Palo Alto, CA: Consulting Psychologists Press.Google Scholar
Hall, W. B., & MacKinnon, D. W. (1969). Personality inventory correlates of creativity among architects. Journal of Applied Psychology, 53, 322–326.Google Scholar
Helson, R. (1999). Institute of Personality Assessment and Research. In Runco, M. A. & Pritzker, S. R. (Eds.), Encyclopedia of creativity (pp. 71–79). San Diego, CA: Academic Press.Google Scholar
Kirsch, C., Lubart, T., & Houssemand, C. (2016). Creativity in student architects: Multivariate approach. In Corazza, G. E. & Agnoli, S. (Eds.), Multidisciplinary contributions to the science of creative thinking (pp. 175–194). Singapore: Springer.Google Scholar
Klepeis, N. E., Nelson, W. C., Ott, W. R., Robinson, J. P. Tsang, A. M., Switzer, P., Behar, J. W., Hern, S. C., & Engelmann, W. H. (2001). The National Human Activity Pattern Survey (NHAPS): A resource for assessing exposure to environmental pollutants. Journal of Exposure Analysis and Environmental Epidemiology, 11, 231–252.Google Scholar
Kravitz, D. J., Saleem, K. S., Baker, C. I., & Mishkin, M. (2011). A new neural framework for visuospatial processing. Nature Reviews Neuroscience, 12, 217–230.Google Scholar
MacKinnon, D. W. (1962). The nature and nurture of creative talent. American Psychologist, 17, 484–495.Google Scholar
MacKinnon, D. W. (1965). Personality and the realization of creative potential. American Psychologist, 20, 273–281.Google Scholar
MacKinnon, D. W. (1978). In search of human effectiveness. Buffalo, NY: Bearly.Google Scholar
Mishkin, M., Ungerleider, L. G., & Macko, K. (1983). Object vision and spatial vision. Trends in Neurosciences, 6, 414–417.Google Scholar
Nobre, A. C., Sebestyen, G. N., Gitelman, D. R., Mesulam, M. M., Frackowiak, R. S. J., & Frith, C. D. (1997). Functional localization of the system form visuospatial attention using positron emission tomography. Brain, 120, 515–533.Google Scholar
Nusbaum, E. C., & Silvia, P. J. (2011). Are intelligence and creativity really so different?: Fluid intelligence, executive processes, and strategy use in divergent thinking. Intelligence, 39, 36–45.Google Scholar
Ott, W. R. (1989). Human activity patterns: A review of the literature for estimating time spent indoors, outdoors, and in transit. Proceedings of the Research Planning Conference on Human Activity Patterns, EPA National Exposure Research Laboratory, EPA/600/4–89/004: Las Vegas, NV.Google Scholar
Poldrack, R. (2006). Can cognitive processes be inferred from neuroimaging data? Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 10, 59–63.Google Scholar
Rutherford, H. J. V., & Lindell, A. K. (2011). Thriving and surviving: Approach and avoidance motivation and lateralization. Emotion Review, 3, 333–343.Google Scholar
Silvia, P. J., & Barona, C. M. (2009). Do people prefer curved objects? Angularity, expertise, and aesthetic preference. Empirical Studies of the Arts, 27, 25–42.Google Scholar
Silvia, P. J., Winterstein, B. P., Willse, J. T., Barona, C. M., Cram, J. T., Hess, K. I., Martinez, J. L., & Richard, C. A. (2008). Assessing creativity with divergent thinking tasks: Exploring the reliability and validity of new subjective scoring methods. Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts, 2, 68–85.Google Scholar
Sternberg, R. J. (Ed.). (1999). Handbook of creativity. Cambridge, MA: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Terman, L. M. (1956). Concept mastery test, form T manual. New York: Psychological Corporation.Google Scholar
Ungerleider, L. G., & Mishkin, M. (1982). Two cortical visual systems. In Ingle, D. J., Goodale, M. A., & Mansfield, R. J. W. (Eds.), Analysis of visual behavior (pp. 549–586). Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.Google Scholar
Urban, K. K., & Jellen, H. G. (1996). TCT-DP: Test for creative thinking-drawing production. Lisse, Netherlands: Swets and Zeitlinger.Google Scholar
Vartanian, O., & Goel, V. (2005). Task constraints modulate activation in right ventral lateral prefrontal cortex. Neuroimage, 27, 927–933.Google Scholar
Vartanian, O., Navarrete, G., Chatterjee, A., Fich, L. B., Gonzalez-Mora, J. L., Leder, H., Modroño, C., Nadal, M., Rostrup, N., & Skov, M. (2015). Architectural design and the brain: Effects of ceiling height and perceived enclosure on beauty judgments and approach-avoidance decisions. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 41, 10–18.Google Scholar
Vartanian, O., Navarrete, G., Chatterjee, A., Fich, L. B., Leder, H., Modroño, C., Nadal, M., Rostrup, N., & Skov, M. (2013). Impact of contour on aesthetic judgments and approach-avoidance decisions in architecture. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA, 110 (Suppl. 2), 10446–10453.Google Scholar
Vartanian, O., Vartanian, A., Beaty, R. E., Nusbaum, E. C., Silvia, P. J., Blackler, K., Lam, Q, & Peele, E. (2014). Revered today, loved tomorrow: Expert creativity ratings predict popularity of architects 50 years later. In Kozbelt, A. (Ed.), Proceedings of the Twenty-third Biennial Congress of the International Association of Empirical Aesthetics (pp. 47–51).Google Scholar
Watson, C. E., Cardillo, E. R., Ianni, G. R., & Chatterjee, A. (2013). Action concepts in the brain: An activation likelihood estimation meta-analysis. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 25, 1191–1205.Google Scholar
Weisberg, R. W. (2011). Frank Lloyd Wright’s Fallingwater: A case study in inside-the-box creativity. Creativity Research Journal, 23, 296–311.Google Scholar

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure [email protected] is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×