Within this ecosystem, ArCANE occupies a special place: an interdisciplinary research programme devoted to aesthetic and spatial cognition in architecture exhibitions, it serves as a testing ground for the critical hypotheses put forward by CIRCA.
ArCANE explores how the perception and representation of space contribute to the construction of meaning and aesthetic judgement.
Combining philosophy, cognitive science, architectural theory, and immersive technologies (VR/AR), the project explores the conditions of empathic experience in built space and in architectural design.
ArCANE is structured around several lines of inquiry :
– phenomenology and embodied cognition of spatial perception;
– architectural representation and meaning-making;
– aesthetic emotions and architectural empathy;
– immersive devices and design mediation.
Its goal is to develop an experimental philosophy of architectural cognition, bridging theoretical precision and sensory exploration.
While ArCANE serves as an experimental platform exploring perception, empathy, and spatial mediation, CIRCA provides its conceptual and reflective framework, linking empirical research to a broader philosophy of architectural cognition.