On Generating Domestic Atmospheres Which Nurture Our Bodies and Moods

We must design houses that afford homes, cultivating atmospheres that sensually and emotionally nurture thriving individuals. Mood is the psychological and physiological medium of exchange between designers and dwellers. The ability to affect people’s moods, attuning them to the overall atmosphere, represents the ultimate timeless task of meaningful architecture. In this paper, we developed an analysis and design tool to systematically explore domestic atmospheres and investigate the primary generators available to architects. We crafted the ABODE (the Atmospheric BODy Experience) matrix, embedding the twelve generators of atmosphere articulated by Peter Zumthor on the y-axis and the six atmospheric senses synthesized by Juhani Pallasmaa on the x-axis. By combining architecture, phenomenology, and biology, the ABODE matrix promotes an affect-based approach and returns the body to the center of the design process. To test this tool, we selected the Hermitage cabin designed by llabb, a Genoa-based firm founded by Luca Scardulla and Federico Robbiano.