Architectural Aspects of Space

Abstract

The changing appearance of the environment and changing subjective responsiveness go hand in hand. Physiologists differentiate between two models of perception that cooperate in reacting to the environment, a stimulus-response model and a “look-up” model. Christoph Schierz of the ETH Zurich (2005) explains as follows, “With stimulus-response, an external stimulus is directed or controlled by a network of ‘interior switches’ and triggers a response. With ‘look-up’ perception, mental concepts of possible environmental designs are already available as ‘visual experience.’”