Space Is the Now; Now Is the Time!

Space is the Now; Now is the Time!

by Shokofeh Darbari M.Arch, Pennsylvania State University (2017)

Submitted to the Department of Architecture in partial fulﬁllment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Architecture Studies at the MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY June 2019 ©2019 Shokofeh Darbari. All rights reserved.

The author hereby grants to MIT permission to reproduce and to distribute publicly paper and electronic copies of this thesis document in whole or in part in any medium now known or hereafter created.

Author...... Shokofeh Darbari May 23, 2019

Certiﬁedby...... Terry Knight Professor of Design and Computation Thesis Advisor

Acceptedby...... Nasser Rabbat Aga Khan Professor Chair of the Department Committee on Graduate Students

Thesis Committee

Terry Knight Professor of Design and Computation, Department of Architecture Thesis Advisor

George Stiny Professor of Design and Computation, Department of Architecture Thesis Reader

Marc Wittmann Research Fellow, Institute for Frontier Areas of Psychology and Mental Health Thesis Reader Space is the Now; Now is the Time! by Shokofeh Darbari

Submitted to the Department of Architecture on May 23, 2019, in partial fulﬁllment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Architecture Studies

Abstract

Architecture is the matter through which we domesticate the boundless spatial extent and embrace ourselves from the indeﬁnite temporal progress of existence. Through architecture, not only do we mark our spatial boundaries, but we also indicate our temporal becoming and existence. However, historically, the temporality of space has only been studied through the lens of history and the temporality of the present moment and now-time is typically ignored in architectural studies. This thesis is an attempt to evoke the importance of temporality of space in architectural design process and is an effort to bridge the gap between spatial features and their neglected temporal aspects. The criteria for architectural design should not only be limited to spatial features; but also, should echo the temporality of spatial features in perceptual scales such as minutes and hours. Throughout this research, I initiate an interdisciplinary investigation of different models of temporality and temporal perception. I also run a series of pilot studies in which the perception of time is assessed in relation to non-geometric and geometric spatial features. I demonstrate the effects of lighting as a fundamental non-geometric spatial feature and shape as a basic geometric spatial feature on the temporality of space. The initial results suggest that brightness of light as a non-geometric spatial feature and shape of a room as a fundamental spatial feature alter the perception of time within a space and affect the duration judgment.

Thesis Supervisor: Terry Knight Title: Professor of Design and Computation 5

Acknowledgments

Thank you Professor Terry Knight, Professor George Stiny and Dr. Marc Wittmann for your guidance, feedback and inspiring conversations. Professor Knight: Thank you for your insightful guidance and continued support throughout the past two years. Thank you for the questions that were just right and critical, and your imaginative ideas. Thank you for teaching me the value of not knowing and wanting to learn. Professor Stiny: Thank you for opening my mind to the value of multiplicity of views through Shape Grammar. Thank you for teaching me to see, to value, to forget and to see again. Dr. Marc Wittmann: Thank you for stepping in and immediately offering critical questions and guidance through long hours of Skype. This thesis question and my life-changing experience at MIT would not be the same without each of you. Thank you to amazing people at Self-Assembly Lab: Professor Sky- lar Tibbits, Jared, Schendy and Björn for an inspiring research culture and insightful conversations. Thank you to Professor Patrick Winston for encouraging me to tell my story and insightful class discussions in 6xxx. Thank you to my Design and Computation friends especially — Jackie, Kate, Paloma, Athina, Diego, Alex, Cagri, and Moa — for support, feedback and occasional breaks. Thank you MIT Department of Architecture, and everyone at Archi- tecture Headquarters especially Cynthia and Inala for continuous help throughout the past two years. Thank you Sahar, Zeinab, Oumaima and Huma for your continued friendship, support and long FaceTime calls. Thank you to my parents, Mohammad Hassan and Zahra, and my kind sister, Maryam, for your unconditional support, love and patient. I could not be here if it was not for your support, encouragement and love. And Finally, to my husband, Siavash: Thank you for being by my side on this not easy adventure. Thank you for your inspiring unconditional love, support, encouragement and dedication throughout these years. You are the reason that I am here. I want to dedicate this thesis to my husband, to my parents and to my greatest loss — my best friend, Dr. Maryam Gharibdoost — who waited for a long time and made us wait forever.

Contents

Introduction 11

Time and Us 13 Philosophy: What is Time? 14 Now as a Temporally Extended Window 14 Now as a Discrete Instant 15 Summary 16 Neuroscience: How do Humans Perceive Time? 16 The Dedicated Neural Mechanism for Temporal Processing 17 The Intrinsic Models of Temporal Processing 18 Summary 18 Psychology: How do Humans Perceive Time? 19 Prospective Timing 20 Attentional Gate Model (AGM) for Prospective Timing 21 Scale of Timing in Prospective Timing 22 Discussion and Limitation in Prospective Timing 23 Retrospective Timing 23 Contextual Change Model for Retrospective Timing 24 Scale of Timing in Retrospective Timing 25 How Are Prospective and Retrospective Timings Related? 25 Discussion of Retrospective Timing 25 Summary 26

Design: Temporality of Space 29 Introduction 30 8

Non-Geometric Spatial Features and Temporality 30 Method 31 Participants and Procedure 31 The Waiting Period 32 Results 32 Discussion 32 Geometric Spatial Features and Temporality 34 Method 35 Participants and Procedure 35 The Waiting Period 36 Results 36 Discussion 36 Summary 37

Contribution and Future Works 39 Contributions 40 Future Works 40

Appendix 41 List of Figures

1 “Space is the Now; Now is the Time!” by the author. 13 2 The central idea behind the specious Present theory is that human perception is presented by a temporally extended window of events instead of just a single snapshot of the world at the time. Diagram by the author. 15 3 In contrast with the theory of specious present which defines the present time as a durational window of time, there is another view in philosophy which defines the present time as a duration-less discrete instant. In this view which supported by philosopher Thomas Reid, the flow of time is divided into past and future by the instantaneous present as the meeting point. Diagram by the author. 16 4 Two ends of the spectrum in the conceptualization of time. At one end, the present time is defined as a temporally extended window which has some duration and at the other end, the present time is defined as a discrete instantaneous phenomenon which is duration-less.Diagram by the author. 16 5 The dedicated model of temporal processing assumes that there is a specific mechanism in the brain that represent the temporal relationship between events. Diagram by the author. 18 6 The non-dedicated neural mechanism model assumes that timing and representation for temporal information are inherent in neural dynamics and are modality-specific mechanisms. Diagram by the author. 18 7 There are two main models which describe the neural temporal processing. The first one (top diagram) is the dedicated neural mechanism such as central clock in the brain and the second (bottom diagram) is the non-dedicated neural mechanism which assumes each sensory modality is responsible for its temporal processing. Diagram by the author. 19 8 Schematic of the main methods used in the study of timing and time perception adapted from Grondin 2010. 20 9 The Thomas and Cantor’ Functional equation diagram adapted from Block and Zakay, 1996. 21 10

10 The Attentional Gate Model of prospective duration timing adapted from Block and Zakay, 1996. 22 11 Schematic of the main methods used in the study of timing and time perception adapted from Grondin 2010. 23 12 The Contextual Change Model of retrospective duration timing adapted from Block and Zakay, 1996. 24 13 The Contextual Change Model of retrospective duration timing adapted from Block and Zakay, 1996. 25 14 I hypothesize that spatial features within the space, either geometric or non-geometric, affect our temporal aspects of perception through environmental context information. This diagram is the proposed hypothesis based on the Contextual Change Model of retrospective timing. The Contextual Change Model is adapted from Block and Zakay, 1996. 26

15 Reported duration in experimental room with white color lighting and two different brightness levels. 33 16 Reported duration in experimental room with white color lighting and two different brightness levels. 34 17 Experimental rooms designed and modeled in VR environment. Left: Rectilinear design, Right: Curvilinear design. Diagram by the author. 35 18 Duration judgment in the rectilinear VR room compared to the curvilinear VR room. 37 19 Experimental rooms designed and modeled in VR environment. Left: Rectilinear design, Right: Curvilinear design. 38 Introduction

Architecture is the matter through which we domesticate the boundless spatial extent and embrace ourselves from the indefinite temporal progress of existence. “We identify ourselves with this space, this place, this moment, and these dimensions become ingredients of our very existence” (Pallasmaa 2000)1. 1 Pallasmaa, J., 2000. Hapticity Traditionally, architecture has been only considered as an ordering and time. Architectural Review, 207(1), pp.78-84. of spatial extension and the temporal progress of becoming has been neglected. Historically, the temporality of space has only been studied through the lens of history; for example how buildings age throughout the years or centuries, but the temporality of space in the present moment and now-time is typically ignored. Is it possible to think of an architecture that is about time as much as it is about space? Is it possible to think of an architecture not only as “dimensional extension but movement and duration?” (Sola-Morales 1998)2. 2 Sola-Morales, I.D., 1998. These questions form the backbone of my research. In particular, Liquid architecture. Anyhow, pp.36-43. this thesis argues that to enhance the experience of people within a space, the temporal aspects of experience should be considered in architectural design process. Therefore, the temporality of spacial features within the space, either geometric or non-geometric, should be studied through the lens of design. To my knowledge, the temporality of spatial features within the space has not been studied before. Due to the absence of temporal models in architectural studies, in the next chapter, Time and Us, I be- gin with an interdisciplinary investigation on how the concepts of the present moment and now-time have been defined in philosophy, and how neuroscientists and psychologists define the perception of time. Then, in the following chapter, Design: Temporality of Space, based on one of the dominant temporal models in psychology, i.e Retrospective Timing, I develop a series of pilot studies to study effects of spatial features, either geometric or non-geometric, on the temporality of space in the present moment and now-time. Finally, I conclude by proposing a new measurement for spatial quality and offering advanced criteria in design thinking and architectural design decision-making process.

Time and Us

Figure 1: “Space is the Now; Now is the Time!” by the author.

“People like us, who believe in physics, know that the distinction between past, present, and future is only a stubbornly persistent illusion.” – Albert Einstein (Block and Gruber 2014)3 3 Block, R.A. and Gruber, R.P., 2014. Time perception, attention, and memory: a selective review. Acta Psychologica, 149, pp.129-133. 14 space is the now, now is the time!

Philosophy: What is Time?

Our time consciousness is one of the most important distinguishing features of humankind. Time is an absolute entity that we refer to it through its embodiment in other phenomena such as motion and change. What we refer to when we generally speak of time is a measurement of time and not the time definition by itself. Many philosophers, physicists, psychologists, and neuroscientists have tried to define and analyze time. There are two main approaches toward the conceptualization of time. The first one is that time exists outside of the human mind and has an objective definition. The second one defines time as a mind-dependent subjective phenomenon. Sir Isaac Newton defined time as an objective, absolute entity that exists independent of the human mind. Albert Einstein defined time based on the theory of relativity in which time is an objective phenomenon independent of the human mind. On the other hand, Aris- totle, David Hume, John Locke, Rene Descartes, Bergson, and Kant are among many other thinkers who define time as a subjective, mind- dependent phenomenon (Bunnag 2017)4. 4 Bunnag, A., 2017. The con- The are many schools of thoughts within philosophy that focus cept of time in philosophy: A comparative study between on conceptualization and definition of time and the present moment. Theravada Buddhist and Henri Here, I refer to two very different conceptualizations which I consider Bergson’s concept of time from as the two ends of spectrum in regards to definition of now-time. One Thai philosophers’ perspec- considers the present as a temporarily extended window which has tives.Kasetsart Journal of Social Sciences. some duration, and the other defines the present as a duration-less point with no extension that relates past to future. Below, I outline these two perspectives in more detail.

Now as a Temporally Extended Window

William James in Principle of Psychology offered several arguments to specify that human perception is required to span over a duration of time. He then referred to this certain duration as “specious present” and wrote that humans “are constantly conscious of a certain duration — the specious present — varying in length from a few seconds to probably not more than a minute, and that this duration (with its content perceived as one part earlier and the other part later) is the origin intuition of time” (James 1890)5. 5 James, W., 2013. The principles The main idea behind the specious present argument is that human of psychology (Vol. 1). Read Books Ltd. perception is presented with a temporally extended window of events instead of a single snapshot of the world at the time. Based on the theory of specious present, the ﬂow of time contains three regions. ﬁrst is the specious present window that spans over recent past and the real present. the second region is the past and the third region is the future. However, there are accounts in which the near future also is considered as part of the window of the specious time and us 15

present (Kelly 2005)6. 6 Kelly, S.D., 2005. The puzzle of temporal experience.Cognition and the brain: The philosophy and neuroscience movement, 208238.

Figure 2: The central idea behind the specious Present theory is that human perception is presented by a temporally extended window of events instead of just a single snapshot of the world at the time. Diagram by the author. This argument is aligned with the ﬁndings in neuroscience in which scientists showed that there is a break in human temporal perception about every 3 seconds. Pöppel offered this estimation of duration based on temporal differences in the appearance of the Necker cube gestalt shifts (Pöppel 1978)7. The start and end of this temporal 7 Pöppel, E., 1978. Time percep- regions could indicate how human minds differentiate between past tion. In Perception (pp. 713-729). Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. and future. Block and Gruber interpreted this regions as “an interval during which the closed mind opens up for new information from the environment — an interval during which the brain can differentiate future from past” (Block and Gruber 2014)8. 8 Block, R.A. and Gruber, R.P., 2014. Time perception, attention, and memory: a selective review. Acta Psychologica, 149, Now as a Discrete Instant pp.129-133.

In contrast with the theory of specious present which defines the present time as a durational window of time, there is a view in philosophy where the present time is defined as a duration-less discrete instant. Thomas Reid is one of the philosophers who supported the idea that the present-time is a point with no extension in which past meets future, and wrote “Philosophers give the name of the present to that indivisible point of time, which divides the future from the past: but the vulgar find it more convenient in the affairs of life, to give the name of present to a portion of time, which extends more or less, according to circumstances, into the past or the future” (Reid 1858)9. 9 Reid, T. and Stewart, D., 1858. According to Reid, the span of human perception is zero (Andersen The Works of Thomas Reid, DD, 10 Now Fully Collected, with Se- 2014) and what we experience as a continuous present moment is, in lections from His Unpublished reality, segmented. However, due to our limited temporal resolution, Letters. Maclachlan and Stewart. we are unaware of this fact, and have the false belief that time is a continuous phenomenon. 10 Andersen, H., 2014. The De- It might be possible one day that we become able to increase the velopment of the ”Specious Present” and James’s Views on resolution of our temporal faculty and invent a temporal enhancer Temporal Experience. Subjective through which we could perceive time through its unity, but till then I Time: the philosophy, psychology, leave the judgment of argument to the readers. and neuroscience of temporality, pp.25-42. In this theory, which I consider as the other end of the spectrum, the flow of time is segmented into past and future by an instantaneous present as the meeting point. 16 space is the now, now is the time!

Figure 3: In contrast with the theory of specious present which defines the present time as a durational window of time, there is another view in philosophy which defines the present time as a duration-less discrete instant. In this view which supported by philosopher Thomas Reid, the flow of time is divided into past and future by Summary the instantaneous present as the meeting point. Diagram by the Time is a familiar stranger. We all understand time without knowing author. its core definition. The objective of this section was to show how an everyday concept, that we cannot live and function without, could be multifarious. In this section, I reviewed two existing schools of thoughts on the concept of time and definition of now-time. There are many other different approaches toward the conceptualization of time and temporal perception that are beyond the scope of this thesis. Here, I rendered the two ends of the spectrum in the conceptualization of time. In one end, the present time is defined as a temporally extended window which has some duration and at the other end, the present time is defined as a discrete instantaneous phenomenon which is duration-less.

Figure 4: Two ends of the spectrum in the conceptualization of time. At one end, the present time is deﬁned as a temporally extended window which has some duration and at the other end, the present time is deﬁned as a discrete instantaneous phenomenon which is duration-less.Diagram by the author.

Neuroscience: How do Humans Perceive Time?

Time is an essential concept in deﬁning human life, perception, and behavior. Despite its importance, the brain mechanisms related to temporal perception is not clear yet. In this section, I review existing models of temporal perception within the realm of neuroscience. Temporal processing mechanisms can be found for any type of activities within the brain and these temporal processing mechanisms have various as- time and us 17

pects; these mechanisms involves different cognitive and perceptual processes (Block and Gruber 2014)11. Therefore, understanding and 11 Block, R.A. and Gruber, R.P., modeling of temporal processing is a difﬁcult task. 2014. Time perception, attention, and memory: a selective Time and temporal processing embrace different phenomena such review. Acta Psychologica, 149, as simultaneity, temporal order and the duration perception (Meck pp.129-133. 2005)12. Discussion of simultaneity and temporal order are beyond 12 Meck, W.H., 2005. Neuropsy- the scope of this thesis. However, in this section, I focus mainly on chology of timing and time perception. Brain and cognition, the dominant models of temporal processing and how neuroscientists 58(1), pp.1-8. address the perception of duration. A critical aspect of temporal processing is that time perception includes many different scales. Time perception in the range of what neuroscientists called “the direct sensation” ranges from 100 milliseconds to seconds which suggests that short intervals can be directly perceived by sensory mechanisms. By contrast, the “cognitive” range refers to a longer interval in the range of seconds and minutes which involves attentional and working memory processes (Eagleman 2008)13, 13 Eagleman, D.M., 2008. Hu- Ivry and Schlerf 200814. man time perception and its illusions. Current opinion in There are two main models which describe neural temporal pro- neurobiology, 18(2), pp.131-136. cessing: the dedicated the non-dedicated neural mechanisms. The un- 14 Ivry, R.B. and Schlerf, J.E., derlying phenomenon in both models is that both are dealing with 2008. Dedicated and intrinsic the shorter range of intervals from 100 milliseconds up to a couple of models of time perception. Trends in cognitive sciences, 12(7), seconds. The essential difference is that one model claims that du- pp.273-280. ration judgment is dependent on the operation of a dedicated neural mechanism, whereas the other model suggests that duration judgment emerges from the dynamics of non-dedicated neural mechanism (Ivry and Schlerf 2008)15. In the following sections, I illustrate these two 15 Ivry, R.B. and Schlerf, J.E., models in more detail. 2008. Dedicated and intrinsic models of time perception. Trends in cognitive sciences, 12(7), pp.273-280. The Dedicated Neural Mechanism for Temporal Processing

The first model, the dedicated model of temporal processing, assums that there is a specific mechanism in the brain that represents the temporal relationship between events. The pacemaker counter model is one example of this temporal model where a unique particular neural structure is responsible for providing and distributing functional tempo pulses between different task domains (Ivry and Schlerf 2008)16. Although many studies support the existence of a specific 16 Ivry, R.B. and Schlerf, J.E., region in the brain for temporal perception and duration judgment, 2008. Dedicated and intrinsic models of time perception. there is no one particular region that all scientists agree on. Trends in cognitive sciences, 12(7), Many studies identify the cerebellum as a dedicated region for tem- pp.273-280. poral processing. The reason for this argument is that whenever a specific task requires timing or representation of temporal information, 17 Ivry, R.B., Spencer, R.M., Ze- the cerebullam is accessed. Similar cases have been made for other laznik, H.N. and Diedrichsen, regions within the brain such as the basal ganglia, and the prefrontal J., 2002. The cerebellum and event timing. Annals of the new cortex (Ivry, Spencer, et al. 2002)17. York Academy of Sciences, 978(1), pp.302-317. 18 space is the now, now is the time!

Figure 5: The dedicated model of temporal processing assumes that there is a speciﬁc mechanism in the brain that represent the temporal relationship between events. Diagram by the author.

The Intrinsic Models of Temporal Processing

The intrinsic model assumes that there is no specialized brain system for timing. The non-dedicated neural mechanism model suggests that timing and representation for temporal information are inherent in neural dynamics and are modality-speciﬁc mechanisms. For example, duration judgment of visual stimuli is part of the dynamics of neurons in the visual region, whereas an auditory duration judgment is part of the dynamics of neurons in the auditory region (Ivry, Spencer, et al. 2002)18. 18 Ivry, R.B., Spencer, R.M., Ze- laznik, H.N. and Diedrichsen, J., 2002. The cerebellum and event timing. Annals of the new York Academy of Sciences, 978(1), pp.302-317. Figure 6: The non-dedicated neural mechanism model assumes that timing and representation for temporal information are inherent in neural dynamics and are modality- speciﬁc mechanisms. Diagram by the author.

Summary

One of the main major concerns of neuroscientists is the perception and production of temporal patterns in the scale of hundreds of milliseconds to seconds. These temporal patterns are vital to sensory and motor processing. However, up to this day, there is no one model which all scientists agree on. The main question is that whether the perception and production of time is a dedicated task of a specific part of the brain, or is a property local to each region. In this section, I explained the two dominant temporal models within the realm of neuroscience: the dedicated and the intrinsic neural mechanism. The dedicated neural mechanism suggests that there is a specific region which acts as a central clock in the brain. The other model, the non-dedicated neural model assumes that each specific region within the brain keeps time according to its functionality and neural activity. time and us 19

Figure 7: There are two main models which describe the neural temporal processing. The ﬁrst one (top diagram) is the dedicated neural mechanism such as central clock in the brain and the second (bottom diagram) is the non-dedicated neural mechanism which assumes each sensory modality is responsible for its temporal processing. Diagram by the author.

Psychology: How do Humans Perceive Time?

Why does the second hand of a clock appear to stop the second you look at the clock? Is there any explanation why time slows down during an accident? Time is an experience. In our everyday experience, we all encounter situations in which our sense of time is experienced differently than when we calculate the actual passage of time. Objective time pro- gresses linearly and in constant units such as seconds, minutes, days, or years. However, our subjective experience of time is affected by external stimuli, cognitive states of mind, personality, moods, and emo- tions (Wittmann 2016)19. 19 Wittmann, M., 2016. Felt time: Although the definition of time is ambiguous, as I showed in the The psychology of how we perceive time. MIT Press. Philosophy section, the importance of its reflection in our everyday experiences in terms of flow of time and duration is not in dispute (Zakay 2014)20. Consider a situation in which you are waiting by 20 Zakay, D., 2014. Psycholog- yourself at your doctor’s office for your name to be called. Fifteen ical time as information: the case of boredom. Frontiers in minutes waiting time could feel like an hour until you get distracted. psychology, 5, p.917. Either by an engaging conversation with a stranger next to you, or as a result of an attentive stream of day dreaming. All of a sudden time flies, and the next thing you hear is your name. In this section, I review the existing psychological models of temporal perception which explain how humans experience time subjec- tively. Psychologists have taken two different approaches toward modeling temporal perception: the prospective method and the retrospective method. The prospective method and the retrospective method are based on information collected through experiments with human subjects. The underlying phenomenon in both methods is that now-time is considered as a temporally extend window, however, The essential difference between these two paradigms is the way in which the extends of this window is defined. Therefore, participants in psychological experi- 20 space is the now, now is the time!

ments make temporal estimations under two different instructions. In the prospective method, participants are aware of the need to report time estimation afterward, whereas, in the retrospective method participants become aware of the need to judge the duration of time only after the duration is ended. In the following sections, I review the key components of each method, and the psychological models resulting from these two paradigms.

Prospective Timing

In the prospective method, participants are aware of the need to report time estimation afterward. Therefore, the reported duration of an ongoing interval which is presently experienced considered as prospective timing (Block and Zakay 199621,Zakay 201422,Jokic, Zakay, and 21 Block, R.A. and Zakay, D., Wittmann 201823). 1996. Models of psychological time revisited. Time and mind, There are two dominant approaches in the prospective method to 33, pp.171-195. report time estimation. The inherent phenomenon in both approaches 22 Zakay, D., 2014. Psychological is that participants are aware of the need to report time before starting time as information: the case of the experiment. However, the procedure in which participants report boredom. Frontiers in psychology, 5, p.917. time differs. In one approach, participants make a verbal estimation of 23 Jokic, T., Zakay, D. and a previously presented duration of time using temporal units such as Wittmann, M., 2018. Individual seconds or minutes. In the other approach, participants (re)/produce differences in self-rated impulsivity modulate the estimation the duration of a previously presented stimulus (Grondin 2010)24. of time in a real waiting situation. Timing & Time Perception, 6(1), pp.71-89. 24 Grondin, S., 2010. Timing and time perception: a review of recent behavioral and neuroscience ﬁndings and theoretical directions. Attention, Percep- tion, & Psychophysics, 72 (3), pp.561-582.

, Figure 8: Schematic of the main methods used in the study of timing and time perception Time estimation is an attention demanding process. Psychologists adapted from Grondin 2010. believe that when people are aware of the need to judge a duration of time, experienced duration depends on attention to temporal information which competes with attention to non-temporal information (Za- kay and Block 2004)25. This theory stems from a mathematical model 25 Zakay, D. and Block, R.A., on attentional resources in 1975 by Thomas and Cantor in which time 2004. Prospective and retrospective duration judgments: an estimation has been deﬁned through the allocation of attentional re- executive-control perspective. 26 sources (Block and Zakay 1996) . Acta neurobiologiae experimen- According to this dual-task condition model, perceived duration is talis, 64 (3), pp.319-328. a weighted average of a temporal information processer and a non- 26 Block, R.A. and Zakay, D., temporal information processer. This weighted average optimizes the 1996. Models of psychological time revisited. Time and mind, amount of information that each processer encoded at the time. If 33, pp.171-195. more non-temporal information occurs, then less attention is allocated time and us 21

to the temporal information processer and, as a result, the estimation of time is less than the actual time. For example, listening and attending to music as an external non-temporal stimulus shortens the estimation of time intervals (Rai 197327,Schäfer, Fachner, and Smukalla 27 Rai, S.N., 1973. Comparison of 201328). time-estimation of music, noise, light-ﬁlled and unﬁlled intervals. Indian Journal of Psychology, 48 (DEC), pp.37-43. 28 Schafer, T., Fachner, J. and Smukalla, M., 2013. Changes in the representation of space and time while listening to music. Frontiers in psychology, 4, p.508.

Figure 9: The Thomas and Cantor’ Functional equation diagram adapted from Block and Zakay, 1996.

The Thomas and Cantor’s model later became the basis for the At- tentional Gate Model (AGM) proposed by Block and Zakay in 1996. In the Attentional Gate Model, pacemaker component is responsible for providing and distributing tempo pulses. In this model timing, duration estimation is equal to the number of transmitted tempo pulses that reach Cognitive Counter component. In the following section, I lay out the components of AGM in more detail.

Attentional Gate Model (AGM) for Prospective Timing

The Attentional Gate Model (AGM) proposed by Block and Zakay in 1996 is one of the major models in explaining the prospective timing. The duration estimation of an ongoing interval in this model is the number of transmitted tempo pulses that reach cognitive counter. This number, which is stored in working memory, is affected by general, specific arousal, and cognitive state. In this model, pacemaker produces stream of pulses based on general and specific arousal conditions. The number and frequency of pulses produced by pacemaker differ based on the number and frequency of arousal conditions. A general arousal condition refers mainly to circadian whereas a specific arousal condition refers to (temporal) external stimulus events (Block and Zakay 1996)29. Through gate, a 29 Block, R.A. and Zakay, D., stream of pulses is transmitted toward the cognitive counter. How- 1996. Models of psychological time revisited. Time and mind, ever, the frequency and width of the gate’s opening affect the number 33, pp.171-195. of pulses transmitted toward the cognitive counter. The frequency and width of gate’s opening are influenced by the amount of attention allocated to time. The switch which is fed with Start signal is the indicator 22 space is the now, now is the time!

Figure 10: The Attentional Gate Model of prospective duration timing adapted from Block and Zakay, 1996.

that the task of time estimation has been started. As a result, the final number of pulses that reaches the cognitive counter is considered as an estimation of duration. This number re- flects the general and specific arousal stimuli as well as the amount of attention allocated to time. Based on this model, if a person pays more attention to temporal information, the gate opens up and a greater number of pulses is transmitted toward the cognitive counter and as a result, the perceived duration of time increases. This is the proverbial watched-pot phe- 30 Cahoon, D. and Edmonds, nomenon which interestingly has been supported by empirical find- E.M., 1980. The watched pot ings by Cahoon and Edmonds in 1980. In this study, two groups of still wonâA˘ Zt´ boil: Expectancy people were asked to signal when the water in a pot began to boil. as a variable in estimating the The group who were attending to a boiling pot while waiting overes- passage of time. Bulletin of the Psychonomic Society, 16(2), timates the time relative to the other group who waited for the same pp.115-116.

duration without attending to a boiling pot (Cahoon and Edmonds 31 30 Zakay, D. and Block, R.A., 1980) . Another prediction of this model is that if more attentive ex- 2004. Prospective and retro- ternal stimuli occurs during the period of time, the perceived duration spective duration judgments: an decreases (Zakay and Block 2004)31. For example, if the difﬁculty of executive-control perspective. Acta neurobiologiae experimen- the task experienced during an interval increases, more attentional re- talis, 64 (3), pp.319-328. source is required to complete the task and less attentional resources 32 Grondin, S., 2010. Timing and are dedicated to temporal information. As a result, the prospective time perception: a review of duration of time decreases. recent behavioral and neuroscience ﬁndings and theoretical directions. Attention, Perception, Scale of Timing in Prospective Timing Psychophysics, 72 (3), pp.561-582.

The Attentional Gate Model is the dominant cognitive model for de- 33 32 Jokic, T., Zakay, D. and scribing prospective time perception (Grondin 2010 ,Jokic, Zakay, and Wittmann, M., 2018. Individual Wittmann 201833). However, prospective duration judgement is only differences in self-rated impul- conceivable over a shorter time range where participants attend to time sivity modulate the estimation of time in a real waiting situa- for a period of milliseconds up to several seconds (Jokic, Zakay, and tion. Timing & Time Perception, 6(1), pp.71-89. time and us 23

Wittmann 2018)34. As a result of this restriction, research in the time 34 Jokic, T., Zakay, D. and range greater than seconds is often employed through the retrospective Wittmann, M., 2018. Individual differences in self-rated impul- method. sivity modulate the estimation of time in a real waiting situation. Timing & Time Perception, Discussion and Limitation in Prospective Timing 6(1), pp.71-89.

There are two main limitations with the prospective method. First, in the prospective method, participants are aware of the need to report or (re)/produce time estimation, therefore, this awareness could cause attentional biases toward time. Second, the result of this method is beneﬁcial only for tasks that require short intervals in range of milliseconds up to several seconds. Therefore, to offer a model for temporal perception in ranges greater than several seconds, psychologists propose the retrospective method, which I explain in more detail in the next section.

Retrospective Timing

The retrospective method is the other approach for modeling temporal perception in psychology. In the retrospective method, participants become aware of the need to judge the duration of time only after the duration is ended (Block and Zakay 1996)35. Therefore, the du- 35 Block, R.A. and Zakay, D., ration that has already elapsed is estimated based on the amount of 1996. Models of psychological 36 time revisited. Time and mind, processed and stored content of memory (Wittmann 2009) . Due to 33, pp.171-195. the involvement of memory in this method, the duration judgment 36 Wittmann, M., 2009. The inner could span from a few seconds, which relates to short term memory, experience of time. Philosophical to a whole lifetime, which relates to long term memory (Wittmann and Transactions of the Royal Society 37 B: Biological Sciences, 364(1525), Lehnhoff 2005) . pp.1955-1967. There are two dominant approaches in the retrospective method to 37 Wittmann, M. and Lehnhoff, report time estimation. The inherent phenomenon in both approaches S., 2005. Age effects in perception of time. Psychological is that participants become aware of the need to report time only after reports, 97(3), pp.921-935. the experiment. However, the procedure in which participants report time differs. In one approach, participants make a verbal estimation of a duration of time using temporal units such as seconds or minutes. In the other approach, participants reproduce the duration of a stimulus (Grondin 2010)38. 38 Grondin, S., 2010. Timing and time perception: a review of recent behavioral and neuroscience ﬁndings and theoretical directions. Attention, Percep- tion, & Psychophysics, 72 (3), pp.561-582.

Figure 11: Schematic of the main methods used in the study of timing and time perception adapted from Grondin 2010. 24 space is the now, now is the time!

The retrospective method is a memory demanding process. There- fore, it depends more on non-temporal contextual information rather than temporal contextual information. The contextual information includes environmental, emotional, and process information (Block and Zakay 1996)39. Due to the effects of contextual information, Block and 39 Block, R.A. and Zakay, D., Zakay offered the Contextual Change Model based off of the Atten- 1996. Models of psychological time revisited. Time and mind, tional Gate Model for the retrospective method of duration judgment. 33, pp.171-195. In this model, some of the components of the Attentional Gate Model such as pacemaker and cognitive timer are re-labeled to reﬂect the external contextual and emotional stimulus events.

Figure 12: The Contextual Change Model of retrospective duration timing adapted from Block and Zakay, 1996.

In contextual change model, duration judgment is based on contextual information which is determined in association with events information. In the following section, I explain the components of the Contextual Change Model in more detail.

Contextual Change Model for Retrospective Timing

The Contextual Change Model proposed by Block and Zakay in 1996 is one of the major models for explaining the retrospective timing. Du- ration judgment in this method is affected by various temporal and non- temporal contextual information. However, the effects of temporal contextual information in comparison with non-temporal contextual information are very minimal and negligible. The non-temporal contextual and emotional information, which is determined in association with events information, includes environmental, emotional, and process information (Block and Zakay 1996)40. 40 Block, R.A. and Zakay, D., Block and Zakay hypothesized that because retrospective timing is 1996. Models of psychological time revisited. Time and mind, a memory-based model, the remembered duration of an interval is a 33, pp.171-195. function of the number of contextual changes stored in memory and available to be retrieved at the time of the judgment. Therefore, the main focus is “on associations formed as a subject attends to events (internal or external)” (Block and Zakay 1996)41. 41 Block, R.A. and Zakay, D., In this model, some of the components of the Attentional Gate 1996. Models of psychological time revisited. Time and mind, Model such as pacemaker and cognitive timer are re-labeled to reﬂect 33, pp.171-195. the contextual and external stimulus events. Also, due to the nature of time and us 25

Figure 13: The Contextual Change Model of retrospective duration timing adapted from Block and Zakay, 1996.

retrospective timing and the fact that participants are not aware of the purpose of the experiment, there is no Start signal embedded in the model.

Scale of Timing in Retrospective Timing

The retrospective method is a memory-based model. Due to the involvement of memory in this method, duration judgment could span from a few seconds, which relates to short term memory, to a whole lifetime, which relates to long term memory (Wittmann and Lehnhoff 2005)42. 42 Wittmann, M. and Lehnhoff, S., 2005. Age effects in perception of time. Psychological How Are Prospective and Retrospective Timings Related? reports, 97(3), pp.921-935.

There is a dissociation in the two types of discussed duration judgment. In the prospective method, during the uneventful period, when time is not filled with attentive events, time seems to slow down since there is more attention focused on the time itself. However, when asked about the same duration some time afterward, in retrospect, people would claim that not much time has elapsed since there are no memories established and associated with that duration of time. In contrast, filling the duration with eventful stimuli causes the impression that time flies prospectively since attention is diverted to events rather than time itself. However, during the same period, many memories are processed, established and associated with the duration, and as a result in retrospect, it feels like more time has elapsed than the actual physical time.

Discussion of Retrospective Timing

The Retrospective method of timing enables us to understand the perception of time over a longer duration, which is more adaptable to other disciplines such as architectural studies. Moreover, the retro- 26 space is the now, now is the time!

spective method takes contextual information like environmental factors into consideration as an active agent in temporal perception. I believe that architectural studies could contribute to the speciﬁca- tion of environmental factors and could employ the phenomenon of retrospective timing into the design process. Knowing that the environment around us affects not only our spatial perception but also our temporal perception, I believe that it is necessary to study the effects of spatial features, either geometric or non-geometric, on temporal perception. Therefore, I hypothesize here that spatial features within a space, either geometric or non-geometric, affect not only the spatial aspects of our perception but also, the temporal aspects of perception. I dis- cuss my hypothesis and support argument in more detail in the next chapter, Design: Temporality of Space.

Figure 14: I hypothesize that spatial features within the space, either geometric or non- geometric, affect our temporal aspects of perception through environmental context information. This diagram is the proposed hypothesis based on the Contextual Change Model of retrospective timing. The Contextual Change Model is adapted from Block and Zakay, 1996.

Summary

Human time estimation depends on external stimuli and the internal cognitive states of mind. Based on these factors, the perception of time can be distorted, and the subjective sense of time can be under- estimated or overestimated in different situations. For example, during life-threatening situations, many people report that events happen very slowly as if time slowed down (Stetson, Fiesta, and Eagleman 2007)43. 43 Stetson, C., Fiesta, M.P. and In this section, I discussed the two main approaches toward tempo- Eagleman, D.M., 2007. Does time really slow down during ral perception within the realm of psychology: the retrospective and a frightening event?. PloS one, the prospective method. 2(12), p.e1295. I explained the phenomena underlying each method and evaluated the difference between the two approaches. The fundamental differences between the two approaches is that the prospective method time and us 27

concerns how time is presently experienced, whereas the retrospective method concerns how time is remembered while related information is still accessible in memory. As a result of this difference, the scale of time that is the subject of the two models is different. In the prospective method, the tested duration ranges from milliseconds up to minute but not beyond (Jokic, Zakay, and Wittmann 2018)44 44 Jokic, T., Zakay, D. and - arguably 3 seconds (Block and Gruber 201445,Wittmann 201646), Wittmann, M., 2018. Individual differences in self-rated impul- whereas the duration of the retrospective experiment is from 3 sec- sivity modulate the estimation onds up to a couple of minutes and even longer. of time in a real waiting situa- The range of timing in the Retrospective method enables us to un- tion. Timing & Time Perception, 6(1), pp.71-89. derstand the perception of time over a longer duration, which is more 45 Block, R.A. and Gruber, R.P., adaptable to other disciplines such as architectural studies and de- 2014. Time perception, atten- sign. I believe findings in this model could be very beneficial in in- tion, and memory: a selective creasing the quality of people’s experiences within spaces, specifically, review. Acta Psychologica, 149, pp.129-133. spaces that are designed for the conscious experience of time like wait- 46 Wittmann, M., 2016. Felt time: ing rooms settings. Due to the uncertainty of the waiting and sense The psychology of how we perceive of waste, waiting situations are usually paired with negative feelings time. MIT Press. (Osuna 1985)47. Jokic et al., demonstrated that negatively affected 47 Osuna, E.E., 1985. The psy- duration results in the feeling of a slower passage of time and overes- chological cost of waiting. Jour- 48 nal of Mathematical Psychology, timation of the passage of time (Jokic, Zakay, and Wittmann 2018) . 29(1), pp.82-105. In the following chapter, Design: Temporality of Space, I borrow 48 Jokic, T., Zakay, D. and the retrospective temporal modeling from psychology to propose a Wittmann, M., 2018. Individual new measurement for spatial quality and offer an advanced criteria in differences in self-rated impulsivity modulate the estimation design thinking and architectural decisions process. of time in a real waiting situation. Timing & Time Perception, 6(1), pp.71-89.

Design: Temporality of Space

“All of humanity’s problems stem from man’s inability to sit quietly in a room alone.” – Blaise Pascal (Jokic, Zakay, and Wittmann 2018)49 49 Jokic, T., Zakay, D. and Wittmann, M., 2018. Individual differences in self-rated impulsivity modulate the estimation of time in a real waiting situation. Timing & Time Perception, 6(1), pp.71-89. 30 space is the now, now is the time!

Introduction

Is it possible to think of an architecture that is about time as much as it is about space? Is it possible to think of an architecture not only as “dimensional extension but movement and duration?” (Sola-Morales 1998)50. 50 Sola-Morales, I.D., 1998. In architectural studies too much emphasis has been placed on spa- Liquid architecture. Anyhow, pp.36-43. tial aspect of architecture, shaping and re-ordering spatial experiences, but often human’s relation “with the fleeting element of time” and temporal experiences have been neglected (Pallasmaa 1998)51. 51 - Pallasmaa, J., 1998. The Architecture is a medium through which we identify our spatial and space of time. Oz, 20(1), p.13. temporal existence. However, dissociation of design process with temporal experiences caused architectural experiences to only evoke the experience of flattened temporality and only capture a single moment of time and ignore the becoming of humans. In this section, I design and implement two pilot studies to examine the relation of spatial features, geometric and non-geometric, and the temporal aspect of experience within a space. These two pilot studies are based on Retrospective Timing method in psychology. In both pilot studies, a waiting situation is simulated without acknowledging waiting explicitly. In first study I study the relation of lighting — as a fundamental non-geometric spatial feature — and duration judgment. In the second pilot study, effects of shape — as a basic geometrical spatial feature — on duration judgment and temporality of a space is the subject of the study. In the following sections, I will review the procedure and results of these two studies.

Non-Geometric Spatial Features and Temporality

The objective of this study is to assess whether the temporal aspect of perception is affected by non-geometrical spatial features within a space. To examine this question, lighting is chosen as one of the fundamental and inseparable non-geometric spatial features within a space. The study is designed such that it simulates a waiting situation without acknowledging waiting explicitly. Historically, change of light has been a manifestation of the passage of time. It has indicated the passage of days and years even before the existence of early clocks. In architectural design, lighting is an inseparable, fundamental spatial feature that creates mood, changes the ambience, emphasizes the functionality of a space, and manipu- lates the performance of a space. Spaces with lower light intensity are mostly perceived as relaxed environments, whereas, higher light intensity tends to be used for more attentive spaces. Therefore, here I choose to examine the relation between lighting as a non-geometric spatial feature and the temporality of space. I use the retrospective method to collect data on the experience of time within the space. In design: temporality of space 31

the retrospective method, participants get engaged in the experiment without the knowledge that the main objective of the experiment is to report the time afterward. Therefore, the main challenge in the process is to mimic a waiting situation without the participants knowing that in advance. To evaluate the effects of different lighting conditions on the temporal aspect of perception, two different situations are provided. In one scenario, the room is lit by a white color and 100% brightness while in the second scenario, the room is lit by the same white color but with 20% brightness. My hypothesis is that differences in lighting conditions affect the temporality of space. I consider the brighter space as more attentive and therefore I hypothesize that the subjective report of time in the first situation, white color light with 100% brightness, should be lesser than the subjective report of time in the second situation, white color light with 20% brightness. The reason behind my hypothesis is series of studies in psychology and neuroscience which showed that changes in light brightness regulate human attention and have positive effects on human executive function in educational setting and work environments (Okamoto and Nakagawa 201552,Barkmann, Wessolowski, and 52 Okamoto, Y. and Nakagawa, Schulte-Markwort 201253,Soler et al. 201854). S., 2015. Effects of daytime light exposure on cognitive brain activity as measured by the ERP P300. Physiology and behavior, Method 138, pp.313-318. 53 Barkmann, C., Wessolowski, Participants and Procedure N. and Schulte-Markwort, M., 2012. Applicability and efficacy 10 individuals (5 women and 5 men), with an age range between 18 of variable light in schools. Physiology and behavior, 105(3), and 35 years, participated in this study. The experimental space was pp.621-627. a room in the MIT Building Technology headquarters equipped with 54 Soler, J.E., Robison, A.J., a Philips Hue LEDs lighting system. This specific lighting system al- Nunez, A.A. and Yan, L., 2018. Light modulates hippocampal lowed me to control the color and brightness of the lighting in the function and spatial learning room via a Hue Application on my phone. A chair was placed in the in a diurnal rodent species: a middle of the room, facing a blank white wall. Ethical approval for study using male Nile grass conducting the study was obtained from the Committee on the Use of rat (Arvicanthis niloticus). Hip- pocampus, 28(3), pp.189-200. Humans as Experimental Subjects (COUHES) at MIT. All participants reported good health and without any known neu- rological or psychiatric problems. Prior to obtaining the data, I informed all participants that their participation was voluntary and anonymous, and that the data related to their performance would be kept confidential. Participants were told that they could withdraw from the study for any reason at any point during the study. Through the consent procedure, participants were also informed that the study would not take more than 20 minutes. More importantly, due to the objective of the study, the participants were not aware of the fact that they would need to report time afterward. Participants were told that the task of the study was to do a coloring activity and they would fill out a questionnaire afterward. 32 space is the now, now is the time!

After ﬁlling out the consent forms in the experimental space, all participants were told to take a seat on the provided chair while the instructor goes to bring the coloring activity to them. The participants were left in the experimental room for 12 minutes. Half of the subjects spent the 12 minutes waiting time in the room with a white color light and 100% brightness and the other half spent the 12 minutes waiting time in the same room with same white color light but 20% brightness. The experimental space was 300 × 150 in size with a temperature of 21C. There was no clock in the room.

The Waiting Period

Each participant spent exactly 12 minutes alone in the experimental space. To avoid distraction or any indication of time, participants were asked to leave all of their belongings outside the experimental room. After signing the consent forms, participants were asked to sit on the chair and wait for the instructor to come back with the coloring activity. After exactly 12 minutes, I returned to the room with a questionnaire. However, before handing over the questionnaire, I directly asked the participants to report their subjective impression of the duration of waiting period and to ﬁll the questionnaire. The questionnaire is available in the appendix section.

Results

Participants in lighting condition with white color light and 100% brightness reported that the duration of waiting period lasted 7 minutes in average, whereas participants in lighting condition with same white color light but 20% brightness reported that the duration of waiting time lasted 10.6 minutes in average. The median of reported duration in white color light and 100% brightness was 5 with a minimum duration of 5 minutes, whereas in the white color light and 20% brightness the median of reported duration was 10 with a minimum duration of 8 minutes.

Discussion

The results in this pilot study confirm my hypothesis that differences in lighting conditions can alter the temporality of space. Moreover, the duration judgment in the 100% brightness situation is shorter than the 20% brightness situation. To my knowledge, the relation between temporal aspects of perception and spatial features of space, either geometric or non-geometric, has not been studied before through the perspective of designers. The results presented above shed light on the possible relation between non-geometrical features within a space, specifically lighting condition and temporality of space. Although no final conclusion can be design: temporality of space 33

Figure 15: Reported duration in experimental room with white color lighting and two different brightness levels.

drawn from this pilot study due to the limited number of participants, this study may open new ways of understanding and design in architectural studies. The results of this study align with findings in neuroscience which show the relation between light illumination, attention and human cognitive function. Okamoto and Nakagawa in 2015 concluded that changes in light brightness regulate human attention and affect human executive function in cognitive processing (Okamoto and Naka- gawa 2015)55. 55 Okamoto, Y. and Nakagawa, Moreover, research on the relation of human performance and light- S., 2015. Effects of daytime light exposure on cognitive brain ing conditions supports the results of this pilot study. For example, activity as measured by the ERP studies on the performance of students in class show that brighter illu- P300. Physiology and behavior, mination in a classroom enhances the overall performance of students, 138, pp.313-318. for example, by decreasing the error rates on standardized tests and improving the reading speed in class (Barkmann, Wessolowski, and Schulte-Markwort 2012)56. Furthermore, a study on the performance 56 Barkmann, C., Wessolowski, of adults in work environments that shows by manifesting that bright N. and Schulte-Markwort, M., 2012. Applicability and efficacy office lighting improves adult performances supports the findings of of variable light in schools. this pilot study (Soler et al. 2018)57. Physiology and behavior, 105(3), To my knowledge, the analysis of space through the lens of tempo- pp.621-627. 57 Soler, J.E., Robison, A.J., rality has not been studied before. Moreover, the temporal aspect of Nunez, A.A. and Yan, L., 2018. perception in the range of minutes to hours has not been part of the Light modulates hippocampal decision-making process in architectural designs. The results of this function and spatial learning pilot study suggest a new factor toward analysis and reflection of tem- in a diurnal rodent species: a study using male Nile grass poral aspects of perception in spaces. However, findings of the current rat (Arvicanthis niloticus). Hip- study are limited and more experiments and data are required to draw pocampus, 28(3), pp.189-200. stronger conclusions. 34 space is the now, now is the time!

Figure 16: Reported duration in experimental room with white color lighting and two different brightness levels.

Geometric Spatial Features and Temporality

The objective of this study is to assess whether the temporal aspect of experience is affected by geometrical spatial features within a space. To examine this question, the shape of a space is chosen as a fundamental geometric spatial feature. Similar to the previous study, this study is also designed in a way to simulate a waiting situation in two differently shaped, without acknowledging waiting explicitly. I again use the retrospective method to collect data on the temporal aspect of perception within the space. In the retrospective method, participants engaged in the experiment without the knowledge that the main objective of the experiment is to report time afterwards. Therefore, the main challenge in the process is to mimic a waiting situation without revealing this to participants in advance. Because the objective of the experiment is to evaluate only the effects of shape on temporality of space, two rooms that are identical in every aspects but shape is required. Due to this requirement, two different rooms were modeled in virtual reality - one room in the shape of a rectangle, and the other room in the shape of a cylinder (Figure 19). Except for the shape, both rooms had identical geometric spatial features such as size and ceiling height and non-geometric factors such as lighting, color and material. I hypothesize that differences in the shape of the rooms affect the temporality of the space and the temporal aspect of perception. Specif- ically I hypothesize that the sense of time duration in the curvilinear room should be shorter than the rectilinear room. The reasoning behind my hypothesis is that according to Contextual Change Model58 58 Refer to section 3.3. (How do in psychology, emotional and environmental stimuli affect how people Human Perceive Time) for more information. perceive time. A series of research in psychology showed that curvi- design: temporality of space 35

Figure 17: Experimental rooms designed and modeled in VR environment. Left: Rectilinear design, Right: Curvilinear design. Diagram by the author.

linear forms are perceived as softer, more pleasant and more beautiful, whereas, rectilinear forms are experienced as harder, more harsh and less pleasant (Kastl and Child 196859,Vartanian et al. 201360). As a 59 Kastl, A.J. and Child, I.L., result of these findings, I then hypothesize that the change of spa- 1968. Emotional meaning of four typographical variables. tial form as an external stimulus affects both the environmental factor Journal of Applied Psychology, and the emotional factor in temporal perception, and couples the pos- 52(6p1), p.440. itive feeling with curvilinear room as compared to the rectilinear one. 60 Vartanian, O., Navarrete, G., Chatterjee, A., Fich, L.B., Leder, Therefore, the subjective sense of time should be less in the curvilinear H., ModroÃ´so,C., Nadal, room than the rectilinear room. M., Rostrup, N. and Skov, M., 2013. Impact of contour Method on aesthetic judgments and approach-avoidance decisions Participants and Procedure in architecture. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 110(Supplement 2), pp.10446- 16 individuals (6 women and 10 men), within the age range of 18 and 10453. 35 years participated in this study. The location of the study was the MIT Virtual Reality Lab. Two different rooms were modeled with the same geometric and non-geometric properties except for the shape of the room. One of the rooms was designed in the shape of a cylinder, and the other room was designed in the form of a rectangle. A chair was placed at the Virtual Reality Lab such that inside the virtual environment, it was in the center of the room facing a blank white wall. Ethical approval for conducting the study was obtained from the Com- mittee on the Use of Humans as Experimental Subjects (COUHES) at MIT. Prior to obtaining the data, I informed all participants that their participation was voluntary and anonymous and that the data related to their performance would be kept confidential. Participants were told that they could withdraw from the study for any reason at any point during the study. Through the consent procedure, participants were informed that the study would not take more than 15 minutes. More importantly, due to the objective of the study, the participants were not aware of the fact that they would need to report the time afterward. After filling out the 36 space is the now, now is the time!

consent forms at the Virtual Reality Lab, all participants were told to take a seat on the provided chair and wear the VR headset. I explained to the participants that as wearing the headset, they would be in a VR room, and their task is to count the number of red stars that appear all at once on the wall in front of them in the VR environment after a while, and report the number afterwards. Half of the subjects spent 7 minutes and 30 seconds waiting time in the rectilinear room while the other half spent 7.5 minutes waiting time in the curvilinear room. The area for each modeled room in VR was 150 × 150 in size with a temperature of 21C. There was no clock or indication of time in the room.

The Waiting Period

Each participant spent exactly 7 minutes and 30 seconds alone in the VR room. To avoid distraction or any indication of time, participants were asked to leave all of their belongings outside the Virtual Reality Lab. After signing the consent forms, participants were asked to sit on the chair and count the red stars on the wall in front of them as they appeared. After exactly 7.5 minutes, I asked Participants to remove the headset. Before handing over the questionnaire, I directly asked the participants to report their subjective impression of the duration of their waiting time and to ﬁll the questionnaire. The questionnaire is available in the appendix section.

Results

Participants in the rectilinear VR room reported that the duration of waiting time lasted on average 7.5 minutes, whereas, participants in the curvilinear VR room reported that the duration of waiting time lasted on average 7 minutes. The median of reported duration in rectilinear VR room was 7.5 with a minimum duration of 4 minutes, whereas in the curvilinear VR room the median of reported duration was 6.5 with a minimum duration of 3 minutes.

Discussion

Although, the results of this pilot study do not show signiﬁcant differences on average in subjective time perception in the two different shaped rooms. The number of shorter durations in the curvilinear VR room outweigh the number of shorter durations in the rectilinear VR room. Therefore, these results show the tendency toward my hypothesis that shape as a geometrical spatial feature can alter the perception of time within the space. Also, the curvilinear form in compare to rectilinear form causes a shorter duration judgment. This pilot study opens up a new way of thinking and evaluating in design: temporality of space 37

Figure 18: Duration judgment in the rectilinear VR room compared to the curvilinear VR room.

architectural design. The temporality of space could be used as a measurement in evaluating the architectural spaces. To my knowledge, the relation between temporal aspects of perception and spatial features of space, either geometric or non-geometric, has not been studied before through the lens of design. The results of this pilot study shed light on the possible relation between geometrical features of a space and the subjective perception of time. As shown above, different shapes can alternate the perception of time even within the range of minutes. Although to better understand this relation, more experiments with a larger number of participants is required.

Summary

Architecture not only domesticates limitless space, but it also relates us to time; it mediates our perception of space and time constantly. Ar- chitecture relates us to the environment around us; how we perceive, occupy and experience space matters in architecture. However, the sig- niﬁcance of the temporal aspect of our experiences has been neglected for a long time in architectural studies (Pallasmaa 2000)61. 61 Pallasmaa, J., 2000. Hapticity In this section, I described two different pilot studies which were and time. Architectural Review, 207(1), pp.78-84. designed to evaluate the relation between fundamental geometric and non-geometric spatial features and the temporality of the space. The temporal aspect of perception is a neglected part of architectural studies. However, as I showed in the previous section62, there is evidence 62 Refer to Section 3.3. (How do that environmental and emotional stimuli affect the temporal aspect Human Perceive Time?) of perception. I believe that architecture directly affects the emotional and environmental aspects of our temporal perception. Therefore, it is necessary to understand and consider the temporality of space in the design process. The results of the two pilot studies showed that spatial features, either geometric or non-geometric, can alter the perception of time 38 space is the now, now is the time!

Figure 19: Experimental rooms designed and modeled in VR environment. Left: Rectilinear design, Right: Curvilinear design.

even over a very short period of time within the space, however, due to the limitations of the experiments, more data is required to draw stronger conclusions. This way of thinking toward design could enhance the experience of people within a space — speciﬁcally those who are dealing with the conscious experience of time on a daily basis. Waiting, as a conscious experience of time in a medical environment, is causing many patients to give up their course of treatment 63. I believe that design has the 63 Donnelly, L. (2018). 400,000 power to enhance the spatial and the temporal aspects of our expe- patients give up over A&E delays. [online] Tele- rience and as a result, signiﬁcantly improve the overall experience of graph.co.uk. Available at: people within a space. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/ news/health/heal-our- hospitals/7840038/400000- patients-give-up-over-AandE- delays.html [Accessed 30 Nov. 2018]. Contribution and Future Works

“We want to make good time [on a motorcycle trip], but for us now this is measured with emphasis on good rather than time and when you make that kind of shift in emphasis the whole approach changes.” – Robert M. Pirsig (Block and Gruber 2014)64 64 Block, R.A. and Gruber, R.P., 2014. Time perception, attention, and memory: a selective review. Acta Psychologica, 149, pp.129-133. 40 space is the now, now is the time!

Contributions

The question of the intertwined relation between space and time is not a new topic of research. Thinkers and scientists in philosophy, physics, psychology, neuroscience are among many other disciplines who have tried to solve this mystery. Throughout this thesis, I emphasized how important is that architects to consider this intertwined relation, and to reflect the temporality of spatial features in the architectural design process. This research question suggests a new perspective toward the relation of space and time through the lens of design in architectural studies. In order to better understand the significance of temporality in architecture, I demonstrated that spatial features, either geometric or non-geometric, can alter the perception of time and temporality of space even over a very short period of time, a matter of minutes. This way of thinking toward design could enhance the experience of people within a space. More specifically, people who are dealing with the conscious experience of time on a daily basis, and spaces that are dedicated to the conscious experience of time (e.g. waiting rooms in healthcare setting) could benefit the most from the application of this research. Hence, I argue that the temporality of spatial features could also be used as a qualitative assessment of spaces in order to enhance the experience of spaces.

Future Works

In this research, I have shown that light — as a non-geometric spatial feature — and shape — as a geometric spatial feature — could alter the temporality of space and sense of time within the space. How- ever, to better understand this relation, more experiments to include various architectural features, and a larger number of participants are required. Here, lighting conditions and shape of spaces are chosen as the key non-geometric and geometric spatial features. However, to achieve a more comprehensive conclusion, more studies should be conducted on other spatial features such as ceiling height, size, color, the ratio between a person and space, occupancy number, etc. This research is the start of a new approach toward design, and the ﬁrst step would be to identify the temporality of spatial features independently, which will eventually lead to understanding of their relation as a whole unit. Appendix Pilot Study 1 _ Questionnaire

1. How much time do you think you spent in the room from start to finish?

------Minutes

2. Which of the following statements best describe your state of mind while you were in the room? Please select all that apply.

o I felt bored o I felt relax o I had my own thoughts o I was not thinking about anything o I was waiting o I had no specific feeling o Others:

3. What information did you use to make your time estimate?

4. Overall, from your experience, how would you rate the passage of time while you were in the room?

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Very Very Slow Fast

5. Do you feel you are a good judge of time, in general?

o Yes o No

6. How would you describe the room?

7. If there was one element within the room that you paid attention to, what was that? Pilot Study 2 _ Questionnaire

1. How much time do you think you spent in the room from start to finish?

------Minutes

2. which of the following statements best describe your state of mind while you were in the room? Please select all that apply.

o I felt bored o I felt relax o I had my thoughts o I was not thinking about anything o I was waiting o I had no specific feeling o Others:

3. How fast did time pass for you?

4. What information did you use to make your time estimate?

5. Do you feel you are a good judge of time, in general?

o Yes o No 6. How extensively did you experience the space around you for most of the time?

7. How much boredom did you experience most of the time?

Bibliography

Andersen, Holly (2014). “The Development of the Specious Present and James’s Views on Temporal Experience”. In: Subjective Time: the philosophy, psychology, and neuroscience of temporality, pp. 25–42. Barkmann, Claus, Nino Wessolowski, and Michael Schulte-Markwort (2012). “Applicability and efﬁcacy of variable light in schools”. In: Physiology & behavior 105.3, pp. 621–627. Block, Richard A and Ronald P Gruber (2014). “Time perception, attention, and memory: a selective review”. In: Acta Psychologica 149, pp. 129–133. Block, Richard A and Dan Zakay (1996). “Models of psychological time revisited”. In: Time and mind 33, pp. 171–195. Bunnag, Anawat (2017). “The concept of time in philosophy: A comparative study between Theravada Buddhist and Henri Bergson’s concept of time from Thai philosophers’ perspectives”. In: Kasetsart Journal of Social Sciences. issn: 2452-3151. Cahoon, Delwin and Ed M Edmonds (1980). “The watched pot still won’t boil: Expectancy as a variable in estimating the passage of time”. In: Bulletin of the Psychonomic Society 16.2, pp. 115–116. Eagleman, David M (2008). “Human time perception and its illusions”. In: Current opinion in neurobiology 18.2, pp. 131–136. Grondin, Simon (2010). “Timing and time perception: a review of recent behavioral and neuroscience ﬁndings and theoretical directions”. In: Attention, Perception, & Psychophysics 72.3, pp. 561–582. Ivry, Richard B and John E Schlerf (2008). “Dedicated and intrinsic models of time perception”. In: Trends in cognitive sciences 12.7, pp. 273– 280. Ivry, Richard B, Rebecca M Spencer, et al. (2002). “The cerebellum and event timing”. In: Annals of the new York Academy of Sciences 978.1, pp. 302–317. James, William (1890). “The principles of”. In: Psychology 2, p. 94. Jokic, Tijana, Dan Zakay, and Marc Wittmann (2018). “Individual differences in self-rated impulsivity modulate the estimation of time in a real waiting situation”. In: Timing & Time Perception 6.1, pp. 71–89. Kastl, Albert J and Irvin L Child (1968). “Emotional meaning of four typographical variables.” In: Journal of Applied Psychology 52.6p1, p. 440. 48 space is the now, now is the time!

Kelly, Sean D (2005). “The puzzle of temporal experience”. In: Cogni- tion and the brain: The philosophy and neuroscience movement 208238. Meck, Warren H (2005). “Neuropsychology of timing and time perception”. In: Brain and cognition 58.1, pp. 1–8. Okamoto, Yosuke and Seiji Nakagawa (2015). “Effects of daytime light exposure on cognitive brain activity as measured by the ERP P300”. In: Physiology & behavior 138, pp. 313–318. Osuna, Edgar Elias (1985). “The psychological cost of waiting”. In: Journal of Mathematical Psychology 29.1, pp. 82–105. Pallasmaa, Juhani (1998). “The space of time”. In: Oz 20.1, p. 13. –(2000). “Hapticity and time”. In: Architectural Review 207.1, pp. 78– 84. Pöppel, Ernst (1978). “Time perception”. In: Perception. Springer, pp. 713– 729. Rai, SN (1973). “Comparison of time-esitmation of music, noise, light- filled and unifilled intervals”. In: Indian Journal of Psychology 48.DEC, pp. 37–43. Reid, Thomas (1858). The Works of Thomas Reid... Now Fully Collected, with Selections from His Unpublished Letters. Preface, Notes, and Supple- mentary Dissertations, by Sir W. Hamilton... Prefixed, Stewart’s Account of the Life and Writings of Reid, with Notes by the Editor. Vol. 1. Schäfer, Thomas, Jörg Fachner, and Mario Smukalla (2013). “Changes in the representation of space and time while listening to music”. In: Frontiers in psychology 4, p. 508. Sola-Morales, Ignasi de (1998). “Liquid architecture”. In: Anyhow, pp. 36– 43. Soler, Joel E et al. (2018). “Light modulates hippocampal function and spatial learning in a diurnal rodent species: a study using male Nile grass rat (Arvicanthis niloticus)”. In: Hippocampus 28.3, pp. 189–200. Stetson, Chess, Matthew P Fiesta, and David M Eagleman (2007). “Does time really slow down during a frightening event?” In: PloS one 2.12, e1295. Vartanian, Oshin et al. (2013). “Impact of contour on aesthetic judgments and approach-avoidance decisions in architecture”. In: Pro- ceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 110.Supplement 2, pp. 10446– 10453. Wittmann, Marc (2009). “The inner experience of time”. In: Philosoph- ical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 364.1525, pp. 1955–1967. –(2016). Felt time: The psychology of how we perceive time. Mit Press. Wittmann, Marc and Sandra Lehnhoff (2005). “Age effects in perception of time”. In: Psychological reports 97.3, pp. 921–935. Zakay, Dan (2014). “Psychological time as information: the case of boredom”. In: Frontiers in psychology 5, p. 917. bibliography 49

Zakay, Dan and Richard A Block (2004). “Prospective and retrospective duration judgments: an executive-control perspective”. In: Acta neurobiologiae experimentalis 64.3, pp. 319–328.