Study Architecture 
ProPEL 
Author(s): Emily Baker
There is far less opportunity for thought that is not in some way mediated than there once was, and often this is by design. Cognitive engineers ply vast resources to attract and retain our attention toward what are ultimately commercial ends. They use pervasive and spatially unbound mediating technologies to gain access to every space in our lives. In this information superabundance, the act of filtering desirable content induces such a cognitive load that we are left with noticeably altered brains—eroded attention spans, failing memories, diminished executive function and complex reasoning skills, etc. These lead to a host of issues relating to health and wellbeing including sleep deficiencies, social isolation, depression and anxiety. In light of the pressures of this new attention economy, what role does architecture have to play in the reclamation of thought-space and embodied experience in contemporary life, particularly in the home? This paper will present some preliminary design ideas for dwellings that address the attention economy, drawing boundaries around behavior-altering technologies in order to foster long-term desires for health, mental clarity, focus, restfulness, and social connection rather than the typical focus on immediate comfort. This is not a Luddite plea to leave these advancing technologies behind, but a humanist plea to find the boundaries in which we can thrive while using them.
https://doi.org/10.35483/ACSA.Intl.2018.61
Volume Editors
Ángela García de Paredes, Iñaqui Carnicero & Julio Salcedo-Fernandez
ISBN
978-1-944214-18-0
