Tectonics of human well-being: describing architecture in terms of constructed spatial gestures and their impact

Understanding the long-term consequences of architecture on human well-being is essential to inform the underexposed social dimension of sustainability. In this context, architects are generally required to maximize the spatial capacities of architecture towards enhanced social quality and value. Consequently, we need to improve our methods for describing the impact of architecture across disciplines. It is our hypothesis, that tectonic theory provides a potential framework towards such interdisciplinary description by implying a critical discussion of the interrelations between architecture’s impact on people’s well-being by means of spatial gestures and the detailed prioritisation of resources in construction. As part of a research project investigating the social and socio-economic value of architecture by juxtaposing architectural, anthropological, and economic analysis, this paper investigates the anthropological dimension of those gestures. Using anthropological analysis, the paper critically evaluates whether and how the key intended spatial gestures identified by the architects (in our previous analysis of the architectural dimension) are experienced by the occupants of the building in the form of lived spatial gestures. Data collection involved 8 semi-structured interviews with the occupants of a mixed-use building complex in Denmark. In conclusion, the paper contributes to the understanding of architecture’s role and impact on human well-being, through the discussion of a tectonic framework describing the interaction between architecture and people as a spatial dialogue, in the form of constructed ‘gestures’ across the disciplines of architecture and anthropology. Hereby paving the way for positioning the question of human well-being related to the economic prioritisation of resources in construction.