“I frequently felt depressed, I never wanted to go back home because my room, located right next to a slope, made me feel sick. I constantly had allergies, and just being in there for a few minutes would make me feel unwell. My workspace in a call center was worse. I spent the whole day in a cubicle painted brown and lit by huge incandescent lamps. I came to hate that color; just seeing it stresses me out. I do everything I can to come home only to sleep, and I often get drunk to sleep more deeply. However, in the morning I wake up feeling worse. I wonder what it is about these places that makes me feel so bad.

Have you ever carefully evaluated your personal space? What characteristics does it have in terms of shape, color, and lighting? Do you feel the desire to be there, or do you avoid it at all costs and only go there when it’s absolutely necessary? Does it make me feel sick, and when I wake up in the morning, do I feel tired and depressed? The cause of this might lie in the energy we exchange with it. Humans naturally tend to modify the space around them, and each one does so according to their personality. For example, extroverted people incorporate dynamic colors and textures into their spaces, while more introverted people prefer dark or neutral colors. A place where light is denied reflects personalities that avoid social contact and depressive behaviors, while personalities that integrate a lot of light into their personal spaces reflect joy, security, and a desire for socialization. But how important is the space we create around us? Can we be indifferent and overlook it? Can the characteristics of the space we inhabit determine our behavior?

Let’s analyze what Marcel Merleau-Ponty says:

Merleau-Ponty argues that space in a post-Euclidean world does not constitute a network of relationships between objects; it is not a scene contemplated from afar like a geometer. Rather, space starts from me as a zero point of spatiality. There is no world in front of me; it surrounds me, and I live in it, and therefore I am part of it. I live it from within, and I am immersed in it. I am part of the flesh of the world in which everything is intertwined. The world is made of the same substance as the body. The human body does not end with a layer of human organism (such as skin, for example); it extends into space. It does not only extend to where I can touch things, but also to where I can see them.

Marcel Merleau-Ponty, The Structure of Behavior (1942)

We move through the space we continually build. On an immediate sensory level, it determines how we move, but this perception goes far beyond sight, smell, and the like. The elements arranged in that space either repel or attract each other depending on their physical characteristics. We often experience that feeling of acceptance or rejection towards particular places. The cause of this may lie in the invisible forces that make up that space and which are only perceptible at the unconscious level, affecting us. Navarro Baldweg, a renowned Spanish architect, refers to this phenomenon as follows:

“Beyond referring to a space existing between things and people, it refers to the connections that bind them, such as the effects of gravity or the nuances caused by light, which could be imagined as invisible threads that unite them and lead us willingly along unsuspected paths, which are part of both the nature of things and human nature, which… even modifies the very notion of an object as something limited, redefining it in a geometry of intersections, escapes, and interpositions.” (Navarro, 1999, p. 37)

Thus, Baldweg highlights the presence of these conductive elements in space—solids and voids whose relationships determine our behavior within it. Just like the invisible forces in magnets, these elements that we integrate into our architecture have implications for our minds.

On the other hand, humans function with electricity, not only internally but externally. We need to exchange energy with our environment in a healthy and fluid way; otherwise, if this exchange is interrupted, it can affect us both physically and psychologically. The excessive use of certain construction materials, such as reinforced concrete or metal, can cause a blockage known as the Faraday cage effect. This effect rejects electromagnetic waves and interrupts our energetic exchange with the environment. However, some theorists now argue that the Faraday cage effect could be beneficial, as increasing solar storms produce radiation that could be harmful to us. In this sense, the creation of electromagnetic bunkers may be a factor to consider.

Characteristics of Space and Its Effect on Us

1. Colors: For example, earth tones (shades of brown, green, light blue, and terracotta) define personalities deeply connected to nature, highly sensitive personalities with an artistic inclination. Colors are not only perceived visually, but their wavelengths are also perceptible through the skin. It has been proven that blind people can learn to identify colors by simply touching them. In this sense, the colors that make up the spaces we inhabit affect us even when we are asleep. Colors like orange provoke anxiety, which is why fast-food companies use it a lot. Restaurants also commonly use orange tablecloths because they stimulate appetite. Light blue and light green are calming, ideal for an adult’s bedroom. Colors like dark blue, when used on walls, make the space feel smaller. On the other hand, off-white expands very small spaces perceptually. It has been discovered that people can associate ailments with colors in what is known in psychology as PTSD (Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder), such that when seeing that color again, they feel discomfort. For example, someone who was very ill in a yellow room will feel discomfort whenever they see that color again.

2. Light: According to Daniel Goleman in his book Emotional Intelligence, people prone to depression often seek out things and situations that depress them even more, such as sad songs, refusing to go out and socialize, and modifying their personal space according to this emotional state. They deny natural light and integrate neutral colors into their spaces (black, gray); this is often reflected even in their clothing. By instinct, we associate light with life, activity, wellbeing, and joy. The lack of light or darkness is associated with death, decay, and sadness. According to Goleman, when falling into depression, it is important to seek dynamic colors, spaces with abundant light and natural ventilation, and the versatility of the space’s components. The latter means the ability to change the spatial structure, for example, walls that can unfold or move, creating more integrated spaces if I feel more social or more closed spaces if I want more privacy.

3. Fragrances: They greatly influence how we perceive, accept, or reject things. It has been proven that spaces with bad odors, like bedrooms, promote nightmares, while pleasant scents help induce sleep and have pleasant dreams. In this sense, a poorly ventilated and poorly lit space that promotes mold and fungus growth could be the culprit behind those torturous nights. According to research, 80% of men and 90% of women have experienced strong emotions triggered simply by the evocation of a scent. A characteristic aroma perceived when viewing an image helps solidify it in the brain so that when seen again, the emotion caused by the scent is felt. Furthermore, scientists at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel concluded that, even in adults, the first time a scent is perceived, it leaves a deep mark in our brains associated with the object that emits the essence. The strength of these initial impressions is identical for both good and bad scents, involving the hippocampus and the amygdala to make this first encounter with a scent “special.”

Beyond Immediate Perception

Sight, hearing, smell, taste, and touch are the tools we depend on to perceive the world. But some people claim to perceive things beyond the reach of conventional senses through another channel for which there is no anatomical or neurological explanation. Scientists refer to these abilities as Extrasensory Perception (ESP), and many people call them the sixth sense. But what does this have to do with the spaces we inhabit? Research on this topic has shown that invisible forces emanate from our bodies and are detected by parts of our brain, even when there is no visual connection. Hunches, the feeling of being watched, and emotions could be perceived on an extrasensory level without the need to see facial expressions. However, this network of energy exchanges we have with others and the environment could be blocked or enhanced, as mentioned earlier, by the improper use of certain materials or by the very forms and arrangement in space.

Can Architecture Heal?

Given these considerations, it’s plausible that the spaces we inhabit are largely responsible for our depression, behavioral disorders, and work inefficiency. But can we turn the tables and use architecture to heal? An article from the Costa Rican newspaper La Nación, discussing the construction of a new hospital in Spain, mentions:

“Therapeutic architecture is conceived as the union of art and technique, and it must be able to provoke a sense of well-being and warmth in the patient through aesthetic resources, without forgetting something as important for a hospital as functionality. Before, recalls Alfonso Casares, hospitals were designed from a ‘more academic and intellectual’ perspective. The hospital, he says, was a building where the patient went to suffer. And that has changed. Now, architecture must also contemplate the best way to create synergies and make the most of technical resources.”

In this sense, architecture can become an ally of medicine by integrating more human spaces that encourage meeting and socialization.

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