Arqura

Biophilic Design and the Conditions for Thought

The association between nature and calm is now widely accepted. Time spent in natural environments has been shown to lower cortisol, improve mood, restore attention and reduce rumination. Yet much of this knowledge has been reduced to surface gestures in design: vertical gardens, plant walls, timber accents. The term biophilic

Designing for Health Through Stillness: A Salutogenic Approach

The concept of salutogenesis, introduced by Aaron Antonovsky, reoriented the study of health away from illness and toward the conditions that support well-being. In architecture and spatial design, this shift has opened up new questions: not only how to reduce environmental stressors, but how to create settings that actively support

Peter Zumthor and the Felt Weight of Atmosphere

When architects speak about atmosphere, the term often slips into the abstract. It resists measurement, avoids reduction and tends to be described in metaphors. In Atmospheres, a short book adapted from a 2003 lecture, Peter Zumthor doesn’t try to define the term in technical language. Instead, he circles it

The Resting Mind: How Silent Spaces Engage the Brain’s Default Mode Network

When we stop focusing on the outside world, the brain doesn’t shut down, it switches modes. In the absence of directed tasks or external stimuli, a different system comes online: the Default Mode Network (DMN). Often misunderstood as a passive state, the DMN is in fact one of the

Why Certain Spaces Feel Right: Neuroaesthetics and the Architecture of Perception

We’ve all felt it. The moment of entering a space that just feels right. Nothing announces itself, and nothing needs to. There’s a coherence to the environment that settles the body before the mind even catches up. In recent years, researchers have begun to explore this experience not

The Quiet Room: Designing for Withdrawal in Everyday Life

Not every home needs a meditation room. But every home, and every workplace, hotel, clinic or school needs somewhere to withdraw. Somewhere unprogrammed, quiet and psychologically off-limits to interruption. In architectural terms, we often call this a "quiet room," but the principle is broader: how do we design