ABSTRACT
Performative architecture considers the poetics of form as the essence of the space as a web of intertwined actions, events, and effects on users, by using Le Corbusier’s dictum that “a house is a machine for living in” as a springboard for the analysis.
A building can be looked at as a web of systems and components planned and constructed to address certain functionalities and yet which may combine to convey impressions, feelings, and aesthetic qualities. Performative architecture is about a process that simultaneously gives form and expression, while addressing performativity in terms of architectural space, cultural efficacy, organizational efficiency, and technological effectiveness depending on parameters determined by designers.
This chapter explores, briefly, how neuroscience in design and architecture is beginning to form part of a broader effort to appreciate both the process of performative design, including its poetics, and the impact of such design on users.
