Emotion and design critique: The tragic, the melancholy, the nostalgic, the ecstatic and the transcendental

Abstract

Criticism of the built environment based on emotion is a complex terrain, and for many, recourse to emotion can signal a loss of objectivity and rigour. The diminished place of emotions in the built environment underpins the poverty of critical responses which draw on the full spectrum of feelings. Juhani Pallasmaa (2001) points to how the extremes of emotion have been eliminated from out everyday environment, lacking 'the tragic, the melancholy, the nostalgic, as well as the ecstatic and transcendental tones of the spectrum of emotions.' An 'emotional turn' for criticism, like that experienced in geography (Smith et al, 2009), could signal a sea change. A return to the aesthetic conventions of the eighteenth century serves as a reminder of the emotional dimensions of relating to architecture and landscape. The Sublime, the Beautiful and the Picturesque were debated formalistically on one hand, but also in terms of emotion. Kant's Critique of Judgement, for example, traversed the area of melancholy, relating it to the ancient humoral traditions, which was founded on four temperaments - the sanguine, the phlegmatic, the choleric, and melancholy. The resuscitation of the emotional dimensions of critique promises to enrich understanding of the built environment, re-introducing the emotional extremes. Moreover the so-called negative emotions such as melancholy and nostalgia are potent and infuse criticism with richness and depth. Too often a judgement of the 'sucess' of a building or landscape is based n a one-dimensional emotional response such as delight. What of places which invoke sadness? Fear? This paper explores the capacity of emotional critique to amplify interpretations of the built environment, particularly landscape architecture. And through critique, lies the possibility of re-invigorating the emotional timbre of design.