Architecture, Volume 5, Issue 4 (December 2025) – 7 articles

One of the sometimes-neglected fields is the landscape design of hospital premises. This study focuses on the perception and preferences of responders regarding hospital site design. The objective was to determine if people are aware of the benefits of restorative contact with nature and if there were preferences for any specific landscape type. The online questionnaire with color figures was distributed using emails and social media from 4th May to 2nd August 2024. Some 110 respondents returned the questionnaire. Most of the respondents were women under 25. Most respondents declared that the surroundings of the healthcare building influence the health and well-being of patients (96%) and health personnel (86%). The results confirmed the awareness of the importance of contact with nature (89%). Moreover, this study demonstrated a preference for calm garden compositions, stimulating physical and mental recovery with trees, flowers, and water features, as well as stabilized paths and sheltered sitting places. The results confirm previous studies and demonstrate the importance of landscape architecture design of hospital premises for the well-being of patients. The findings may influence urban landscape planning and the design of hospital sites. Full article

Signs of the passage of time can come as an unwelcome reminder of our own eventual passing. Historically, many cultures have sought refuge from the march of time in the notion of a timeless present. More recently, studies have shown that presence achieved through meditation lowers stress. This essay explores how the built environments where we spend most of our lives might help us to be more fully present. Rather presenting a comprehensive theory of the present in architecture, its intent is to make a series of design suggestions. Full article

Urban planning in post-industrial cities is often limited by stakeholders’ understanding of the potential for intensifying mixed industrial and cultural uses, and the benefits to each of their co-location. In Brussels, differences in language and governance pose additional challenges to actors trying to bring together diverse stakeholders to cooperatively plan for urban regeneration. As part of a wider action research project on regeneration of the city, five co-design workshops were held across Brussels in 2017–2019 and interviews with participants were conducted. Later, in 2023, the researchers returned to the city to assess the practical outcomes of the project. This paper explores the role of the workshops in harnessing the untapped potential for integrating and expanding mixed industrial and cultural uses, and highlights the factors required to inspire and motivate diverse stakeholders to drive sustainable innovation and growth. Full article

This systematic literature review investigates the factors influencing indoor environmental satisfaction in vernacular architecture, with particular attention to sustainability and sociocultural contexts. Drawing on 105 peer-reviewed studies published over the past two decades, the analysis employed thematic synthesis and cluster analysis to identify key design features, theoretical underpinnings, and variables affecting occupant satisfaction. Five major theories emerged, with Sustainability Theory, Bioclimatic Architecture Theory, and Ecological Systems Theory most frequently applied. Cluster analysis of 62 variables produced eight thematic categories, offering a structured basis for hypothesis development and integrative model formulation. The review further identified critical research gaps, including limited empirical validation, methodological inconsistencies, and underutilization of theory in explaining outcomes. Findings reveal that vernacular design features such as courtyards, shading devices, and materiality strongly contribute to SIEQ, while contemporary transitions risk diminishing comfort. This review highlights critical research gaps, particularly evaluation voids and theoretical underuse, and proposes integrative directions for architects and policymakers. Full article

Virtual Reality (VR), particularly when integrated with Building Information Modeling (BIM), is transforming architectural practice in developed economies. However, its adoption in developing countries remains limited due to infrastructural, economic, and organizational challenges. This study addresses this gap by empirically evaluating VR readiness among emerging architectural professionals in Oman through a novel integrated framework. This framework combines the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT), which focuses on functional drivers like usefulness, with Presence Theory, which captures experiential drivers like immersion. Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) was employed to analyze the survey data and assess VR readiness. The analysis revealed that prior VR exposure significantly predicts adoption intention, a relationship that is partially mediated by perceived usefulness. Organizational support emerged as a key moderator, effectively mitigating the impact of technical barriers on adoption decisions. The model explained the variance in adoption intention, highlighting that experiential familiarity, functional evaluation, and institutional support were critical for advancing digital transformation. The findings provide actionable insights for educational institutions, policymakers, and industry stakeholders aiming to prepare the next generation of architects in Oman and similar economies for VR adoption. By validating a dual-pathway adoption framework, this research contributes both theoretically and practically to understanding immersive technology assimilation in resource-constrained professional contexts. Full article

ADHD and misophonia are developmental neurological disorders that are currently increasing in prevalence due to excessive acoustic and visual pollution. ADHD, which is characterized by a lack of attention and excessive impulsive hyperactivity, and misophonia, which is hypersensitivity to sounds accompanied by a severe emotional and psychological reaction, are both affected by the user’s spatial environment to a great extent. Spatial design can contribute to increasing or decreasing these unfavorable sensory triggers that affect individuals with ADHD and/or Misophonia. However, the role of architectural spatial design as a therapeutic approach to alleviate the symptoms of Misophonia and ADHD has never been proposed before in the literature, despite its accumulative and chronic effects on the user’s experience in everyday life in terms of well-being and productivity. Therefore, the current work discusses this problem of neglecting the potential effect of architectural spatial design on alleviating Misophonia and ADHD. Thus, the objective of the current work is to propose customized architectural spatial design as a therapeutic approach to alleviate Misophonia and ADHD through adopting the compatible architectural trends of minimal and metaphysical architecture. The methodology of the current work includes a theoretical proposal of this customized architectural spatial design for alleviating these two special neurological conditions. This includes introducing and analyzing these two neurological conditions and their relation to and interaction with architectural spatial design, analyzing minimal and metaphysical architectural trends employed in the proposed therapeutic architectural design, and then proposing augmented and virtual reality as auxiliary add-ons to the architectural spatial design to boost its therapeutic effect. Minimal architecture achieves the “no emotion” criteria through reduced forms, patterns, and colors and adopts simple geometry and natural materials to reduce sensory stressors or stimuli, in order to alleviate the loss of attention and distraction prevalent in those with ADHD, as well as allowing the employment of acoustic materials to achieve acoustic comfort and noise blockage for Misophonia relief. Metaphysical architecture leads the hierarchy of sensory experience through the symbolistic, dynamic, and enigmatic composition of forms and colors, which enhance the spatial analysis and cognitive capacities of the inhabitants. Meanwhile, the use of customized virtual and augmented reality environments is an effective add-on to minimal and metaphysical architectural spaces thanks to its proven therapeutic effect in alleviating various neurological disorders and injuries. At this level of intervention, VR/AR can be used as an add-on to minimal-architecture design, to simulate varied scenarios, as minimal design offers a clean canvas for simulating these varied virtual environments. The other option is to build these customized VR/AR scenarios around a specific architectural element as an add-on metaphysical architecture design to lead the sensory experience and enable the user to detach from the physical constraints of the space. AI-generated designs were used as a proof of concept for the proposed customized architectural spatial design following minimal and metaphysical architecture, as well as to provide AR and VR scenarios as add-on architecture to enhance the therapeutic effect of these architectural spaces for Misophonia and ADHD patients. Furthermore, the validity of VR/AR as a therapeutic approach, alongside the customized architectural design, was discussed, and it was concluded that this study proves the need for extended clinical studies on its efficiency in the long run, which will be conducted in the future. Full article