VIRTUAL Manchester Livable Cities
Abstract
Our proposal explores how emotional responses to architecture can be objectively measured and mobilized as a lever for designing more livable cities. It presents the EMOTION project, an interdisciplinary initiative aimed at developing tests using saliva samples that can quantify emotional states induced by built environments. Bringing together architects, a public architecture festival, a biological research laboratory, and an industrial partner, this unprecedented collaboration creates a unique interface between design, scientific measurement, and real-world application. While architectural and urban practices already integrate technical, social, environmental data, as well usage-related data, emotional data remains largely unexplored in its capacity to be objectively measured. Its integration would represent a major advancement, both for understanding lived environments and as a decision-support tool in design processes, especially as the built environment constitutes a shared, everyday condition. A proof of concept is conducted during the Festival des Architectures Vives in Montpellier, where contemporary installations are embedded within a historic urban fabric. This context generates rich multisensory experiences and strong emotional engagement among a diverse audience of approximately 16,000 visitors. Rapid, non-invasive salivary biomarker analyses make it possible to capture physiological responses in real-world conditions. By linking environmental parameters to physiological responses, the research contributes to the development of exposome-emotion models and to a quantitative understanding of architectural “atmospheres.” From a sociological perspective, this approach complements participatory processes with objective data on user experience; economically, it opens the way for new evaluation frameworks, including the creation of certification labels. This research positions the measurement of emotions as a transformative lever for future livable cities.
Laurence Molina is researcher at the CNRS and works in the fields of biotechnology and human health diagnosis. In recent years, she has led a project aimed at objectively assessing the emotions in response to a stimulus, by measuring specific molecules in saliva samples. The approach has been validated in different fields of sensory and emotional perception, such as olfaction and food, and will soon be applied to architecture. She is also responsible for a platform dedicated to the design of clinical trials (SHREC platform) and regularly organises immersive clinical studies.
Elodie Nourrigat is architect, PhD and professor at ENSA Montpellier. Her work bridges practice, research, teaching, and cultural mediation. In 2000, she founded NBJ Architectes, whose diverse production serves as a field of experimentation. Her international experience (Japan, United States, Canada) informs a cross-cultural approach. In 2006, she founded the Festival des Architectures Vives, fostering in-situ experimentation. Her research positions architectural design as a critical process, an exploratory tool of environments, and a driver of innovation in the creation of sensitive spaces.
Franck Molina is a CNRS research director and head of Sys2Diag, dedicated to modelling and engineering complex biological systems. His interdisciplinary background (biology, clinical science, physics, mathematics, computer science) has driven major advances in synthetic biology and diagnostics (liquid biopsies, saliva-based COVID and emotion tests). He has coordinated numerous projects and holds over 20 patents. Awarded the CNRS Innovation Medal in 2020, he also contributed to COVID crisis management and coordinates strategic research at the national level;
Victor Petit, Since graduating from engineering school, Victor Petit have been continuously involved in research and development activities, working at the interface between applied engineering and scientific research. V Petit have co-supervised several PhD projects, contributing primarily through technical expertise, system design, and experimental structuring rather than through disciplinary academic supervision. Victor Petit now serves as Deputy Director of a research laboratory, where his is involved in the strategic orientation of research activities, the coordination of projects, and the interface between academic research and industrial applications;