Neurons Take Over

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studied Architecture at the Warsaw University of Technology, and then honed his skills at various architectural design studios in Poland and Switzerland. Łukasz is also an editor of “RZUT”, a quarterly architecture magazine.

How is it possible that architectural forms can convey particular emotions or moods, asked the Swiss art historian Heinrich Wölfflin. After almost 100 years, a Warsaw architect answers this question.

Encoded empathy

The story starts at the University of Parma some time around 1990. A group of Italian neurophysiologists are completely absorbed in the study of the cerebral cortex in rhesus macaques. Round electrodes in the animals’ heads send information to the computers about the performance of particular groups of neurons, while their owners are eagerly reaching for snacks carefully rationed by the scientists. At some point, the researchers notice something strange – the area of the brain usually activated when food is grabbed by a monkey goes crazy when a human watcher picks food up, too. What could this mean? The Italians formulate an unusual hypothesis: animals have mirror neurons that react to the actions of other individuals

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Łukasz Stępnik:

studied Architecture at the Warsaw University of Technology, and then honed his skills at various architectural design studios in Poland and Switzerland. Łukasz is also an editor of “RZUT”, a quarterly architecture magazine.

Translation: Anna Błasiak

Publish date: 06.12.2019

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Grzegorz Piątek:

An architecture critic and researcher, writer, and the spiritual child of Magda Gessler and Le Corbusier. His book about the rebuilding of Warsaw “Najlepsze miasto świata” [The Best City in the World] was published in February 2020.

A celebrity singer and a future celebrity architect together created an unusual hotel in the mountains. They named it for the glory of the homeland.

Krynica-Hawana bus stop. The beginning of autumn; the end of a long journey. A cold Sub-Carpathian night descends, but the fire burns on the exotic islands of dance halls: summer hits from the last 40 years are being blasted, dancing couples forget about their age. In sanatorium spa resorts, time gets curved in a weird way. It is ruled by a daily rhythm of meals, walks, treatments and dance parties. What day of the week, what year is it? Does it even matter?

Encoded empathy

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Patria in Need

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