5 principles of human-friendly facades

In cities, thousands of people walk around facades of many buildings daily. How we design them has a profound effect on human lives.

The principles of humane architecture are nothing new. You have probably heard about most of them and you have almost certainly seen them in number of older buildings. But what makes them more relevant today than ever before is the knowledge about human psychology. It shows that we need to return to these principles and create a new kind of architecture — modern, but human-centered. And designing good facades is one of the key parts of this process.

But first we need to talk about beauty. In the past century under the influence of philosophy and modern art, most of us have adopted the adage that “beauty is in the eyes of the beholder.” But even this belief is slowly falling apart thanks to science. Of course, there are differences in what we find beautiful. But research also shows that, in reality, we are much more similar in our perceptions of beauty. This is because beauty is not just an inexplicable and purely subjective concept. Beauty is also a feeling with which our brain responds to the environment and sensations which help us survive.

What we perceive as beautiful actually reflects the geometric and visual principles of living, healthy and friendly nature. However, architects are still trained to ignore them during their university studies. The same principles can be found in vernacular and traditional architecture around the world, regardless of the culture that lived there. It all changed only in the 20th century, when this perception of beauty receded into the background. And we should change that.

Fractals have been used in architecture for thousands of years and reflect the basic principles of natural beauty. Source: Unsplash / Mohamad Mahdi Abbasi

So what are the principles on which we should start designing beautiful and friendly facades for cities of the 21st century?

1. Symmetry

Symmetry in nature signals health. Prehistoric people have already appreciated the symmetry of objects so much that they made their stone tools symmetrical, even though they had no functional reason to do so. Symmetry has also been often used in traditional architecture. But it is not only the „global” symmetry that is important. Many traditional buildings were not symmetrical as a whole. We need to create „local” symmetries, manifesting themselves on a smaller scale. For example, in the design of windows, doors, gates or in the structure of ornaments.

Symmetry can be applied in architecture at both the global and the local level. Local symmetry in smaller scale is more important (Dunajská 38 in Bratislava). Source: Michal Matlon

2. Natural materials, colors and textures

Natural materials, such as wood, have a measurable positive effect on humans. The presence of wood with a visible texture can calm us down. Unpolished stone, which is left with its natural roughness or rough plaster with an irregular, imperfect texture, has the potential to create a more authentic and human atmosphere than synthetic materials or perfect and flat glass. Minimalism and white or grey color, so popular today, signal an inhospitable environment that would not provide us with good conditions for survival in nature.

The facade of Blumental project allows the eye to pause on a variety of tiles with a natural stone decor. The tiling looks solid and soothing even at the ground floor level. Source: Michal Matlon

Nová Mýtna combines a chaotic arrangement of windows with a smooth, one-color facade without texture or natural materials. Source: Michal Matlon

The facade of a residential building on Račianská 20/A is monotonous and minimalist, but makes a good impression thanks to a rough plaster. Source: Michal Matlon

3. Natural patterns

We have been evolving in nature for millions of years. There, certain visual principles prevail, because of how biological organisms grow. Our brain, for which a quick understanding and mapping of its surroundings was very important, developed a compatibility with the geometry of nature.

That is why spending time in nature has such a beneficial effect on us. It is an environment in which our brain can orient itself easily. When we visit a familiar place, it even switches itself to an another mode, of so-called “undirected attention”. During this, we can better regenerate our mental capacities. Whenn walking through a city, with all its pitfalls, such as car traffic and industrial, angular geometry, we must use our “focused attention” which exhausts our brain’s capacities.

It is therefore important that in architecture we try to get as close as possible to the geometrical organization of the natural environment. For example, when choosing patterns and textures to decorate facades of buildings. Such ornaments are by no means superfluous. They have an important emotional function. They are, so to speak, food for our brains.

The architecture of Sant Pau hospital in Barcelona is full of natural patterns, shapes and ornaments. Source: Michal Matlon

The hospital, which grew up next to the original Sant Pau in Barcelona in 2009, is almost indistinguishable from a logistics center. Its facade is confusing for our brain because it does not contain enough naturally organized information. Photo: santpau.es

4. Organized complexity and fractals

When we look at a tree, we see that it is visually very complex. It has a lot of small details, leaves and twigs. Nevertheless, we can quickly understand the principles of its growth. A twig grows, it is divided into two, then another two, and after a certain number of repetitions, the leaves appear at the end.

However, if we take a closer look at the structure of the leaves themselves, we will find that similar principles are repeated here again, only on a different scale. Natural geometry can be simply described by certain rules. And these rules have been reflected in architecture for hundreds and thousands of years. Organized complexity is one of them.

Over the last hundred years, architects have often sought to achieve visual extremes. They either built minimalist, functionalist buildings that provided insufficient visual stimulation and an inhospitable environment for the human brain, or they responded to such buildings with an extraordinary complexity that did not have these easy-to-understand geometric rules. Even today, the order of windows and loggias is often used to make the facade look less organized and boring. But if such an increase in complexity does not show understandable rules, it is as confusing to the brain as the lack of visual stimuli.

The traditional Amsterdam development is an excellent example of organized complexity. The height and width of the buildings are almost identical, the human scale is preserved, but the individual buildings have the opportunity for self-expression. Source: Unsplash / Isabella Jusková

5. Human scale and detail

Last but not least, it’s about the scale in which we build. From the point of view of urban planning, it is ideal to keep the buildings in a city at maximum of five floors. This is because it’s approximately the distance from which we can still recognize the faces of the people underneath and thus the connection with life around is not lost. Also, the longer it takes to come down to the ground floor, the more we perceive the transition to outside as a separate “event” and the less likely we are to make short, spontaneous visits to the public space where community is formed.

But it’s not just the scale of the building as such. The scale of the details is also very important. When we talk about the fact that the facade should have organic shapes, we are not talking about monumental, organic buildings, which you will only see in a photograph or from a helicopter. We are talking about details on a human scale — ornaments the size of a few of centimeters to a few millimeters. For example details on door handles or cornices.

The presence of small details is important for the human brain. The picture shows a new Berlin building Rosengärten from 2013. Source: Patzschke & Partner Architekten

In order to start building people-friendly buildings, we need to overcome many obstacles. We need to update architectural education with scientific knowledge about humans. We need to create new norms that will enable the creation of such buildings and public spaces. And we need to overcome the fear that often keeps developers and architects from designing well. In this case, however, we should not throw ourselves into artistic experiments. Architecture should become a craft that, based on scientific knowledge, will create a good environment for people’s well-being.

Originally published at https://www.michalmatlon.com on December 2, 2020.