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Architecture Narratives – The Storytelling of Design

If a building can’t speak, can it really tell a story?…

If a building can’t speak, can it really tell a story?

Buildings, paintings, cities, or any other well designed object for that matter – tell stories in all kinds of ways, from their form to their materials to their referencing of history. They don’t do this by themselves, of course; it’s the job of the designer to ‘write’ and express this story, otherwise known as the narrative.

This article explains in detail what an architectural narrative means, with plenty of concrete examples of why and how it might be generated. We offer some tips for improving your skills in producing architectural narratives, and look at strategies for presenting them.

Are you sitting comfortably? Then we’ll begin. Once upon a time…

What is a narrative?

In short, a narrative is just a story – a description of a sequence of events, involving characters and usually some underlying messages or themes. The word is commonly used to discuss novels and plays, but also features strongly in the field of design.

What is ‘architectural narrative’?

An architectural narrative is the story that a building tells about its users and/or its patrons. A great example is the Institut du Monde Arabe (1987) in Paris by Architecture-Studio and Jean Nouvel, which combines elements of Western and Islamic architecture in order to illustrate and nurture the relationship between France and the Arab world.

It is a building that can be ‘read’, almost like a book (and for this reason will be mentioned as an example throughout this article).

What about ‘design narrative’ and ‘spatial narrative’?

The terms architectural narrative, design narrative and spatial narrative are often used interchangeably, though there are subtle differences. Since most fields of design (industrial, graphic, fashion, and so on) use storytelling as part of their process, ‘design narrative’ has a broader application than ‘architectural narrative’.

On the other hand, ‘spatial narrative’ applies principally to architecture and landscape design, since space is less of a factor when designing a poster or a pair of jeans.

Architectural narratives

Why should architecture tell a story.

During the design process, generating an architectural narrative serves a multitude of functions.

It ensures that the client, architect and broader team are on, and stay on, the same page; it acts as a motivator, since stories remind us why we are doing something; and it works as a unifying factor to create aesthetic harmony throughout the building.

When the building is in use, a strong architectural narrative adds interest for users of the building and attracts outside visitors, as well as strengthening the identity of a particular community.

One story told by the Institut du Monde Arabe , for example, is that French Muslims belong in France; an enormous building in the capital city so influenced by Islamic traditions can hardly mean anything else.

How can architecture tell a story?

Research by Gensler found that architecture and literature share four key storytelling elements, namely characters, image, backstory and theme.

In a building, the characters are the people who are connected with the site, whether patrons, users or visitors; the image is the physical appearance of the building and the impression it creates; the backstory is the rootedness of a place in its historical context; and the theme is the underlying belief or principle that the architect wants to communicate.

The section below (‘How do architects actually create narrative?’) expands on this idea.

The same research also identified situations in which architecture fails to tell a story. One of these is when economic constraints force buildings to be erected as quickly and cheaply as possible, producing ‘McBuildings’ that appear banal and unconnected to their surroundings.

Another is when architects communicate just one thread of a story, or try to communicate a complex story through just one part of a building, instead of conceiving the building and its narrative as an interrelated and multi-faceted whole.

How do architects actually create narrative?

There are three main ways in which architects generate narrative.

The first is by using forms, materials, scale, light, heat, and sound in particular ways, especially in ways that enhance practicality by linking form to function. Consider the brise-soleil (a feature commonly found in tropical architecture, which keeps buildings cool by deflecting sunlight) at the Institut du Monde Arabe .

Though Paris is far from tropical, the architects included a photo-sensitive brise-soleil with motor-controlled apertures. The resultant filtered light not only evokes the mishrabiya in Islamic architecture, but also protects the delicate objects in the museum.

The second way architects create narrative is by attending to the location and physical properties of a building’s site, and working with rather than against them.

This tendency is exemplified by so-called critical regionist architects such as Tadao Ando , whose stepped Rokko housing development (1981-1998) is built into a mountain near Kobe, Japan.

Every house has an outside space inseparable from ‘nature’, and the architect used concrete so the natural form of the mountain and geometric form of the apartments could be pleasingly contrasted.

The third and final way narrative is generated is by reference to history, ensuring continuity of architectural form and meaning.

For example, Alvar Aalto’s Summer House (1953) in Muuratsalo, which served for many years as his experimental space, was inspired by a Roman atrium but opens onto a courtyard like traditional Finnish farmhouses.

Architectural narrative and the design brief

It is common complaint that design briefs, whether for buildings or other products, are full of overused and broadly meaningless words such as ‘user-friendly’. (Who wants a school or hospital that isn’t friendly to its users?) Creating an architectural narrative is one way to get around such generalizations.

By putting themselves in the shoes of a ‘character’ – which is to say a typical user or another person likely to be affected by the building – and imagining their ‘story’, architects should be able to design spaces that are appropriate for the largest number of people.

For example, when designing a family home, it makes sense to undertake a virtual walk-through as each member of that family, may not have the same needs and preferences.

When designing a building that occupies a public space (or indeed designing public space itself), it may be helpful to imagine the responses of those living and working nearby such as older people concerned about an increase in anti-social behavior or parents worried about the loss of green spaces for their children to use.

Discussing architectural narratives

Architectural narratives can feel somewhat intangible, and when presenting them it’s all too easy to confuse them or to ramble. The following three-stage process should help you stay on track:

1. Give a very brief introduction

Though your introduction should be brief, the process of coming up with it may not be! In just one or two sentences, you should try to explain exactly what you’re about to present, for example, ‘This is an antenatal clinic that makes expectant parents feel welcome and reassured’.

It’s not always easy to condense everything you’re thinking into so few words, but your audience really need to hear a succinct description upfront. Make sure the words you choose are meaningful and precise.

2. Outline your specific approach to the project

There are probably as many ways to create a welcoming and reassuring environment as there are expectant parents, so make plain to your client what your particular understanding of those terms is.

Will the clinic reassure with the clarity and consistency of its design, with its form and color, with the privacy and comfort of its spaces, or with something else?

3. Offer examples in 2D & 3D

Once you’ve clarified your approach, give the client some specific examples of how you will manifest it using sketches , plans , and models . Don’t wander off track; illustrate only the approach you described in step two.

Include enough examples to convince your audience that you’ve given the building thorough consideration, but not so many that they blend into one and create confusion.

Key tips and strategies

In sum, here are eight tips and strategies to bear in mind when creating an architectural narrative.

1. Location, location, location

The location of the building will be the starting point for many narratives. Returning to the Institut du Monde Arabe, the building’s river facade follows the curve of the road (dictated by the river itself), while the opposite facade – the one with the motor-controlled brise-soleil – overlooks a public square.

One ‘reading’ of this might be that the institute, and therefore by extension Arab culture, can fit harmoniously into the Parisian context without losing itself.

2. Keep people at the center of your story

Narratives are all about people; no great works of literature describe only scenery and objects. Though these things can be important to architects, most of the buildings we design will be for human use. It follows, then, that the way to make them better is to think like the humans who will move through and around them.

3. Create a ‘journey’ through the building

On the topic of movement, it might help to think of your architectural narrative in terms of a journey through the building, articulated by horizontal and vertical spaces of varying size, brightness and warmth. How do you want someone to feel as they approach the building, and as they experience each of its areas? How can you make this happen?

4. Do your research

Your research should go beyond finding out what the building’s users will need (though of course this is essential). Read up on the ethos and history of your patrons, as well as the historical context of the site where the building will be located. Can you incorporate your findings into the building?

An oft-derided example of this is the use of porthole windows and other nautical motifs at waterside apartment complexes, but thorough research will allow you to address this aspect of storytelling with much greater subtlety.

5. Take scale into account

Remember that your building will tell a different story depending on where someone is located in relation to it. Make sure you consider the narrative from a considerable distance, from the middle distance, close-up, and from the inside.

To think about this more clearly, consider brutalist estates of the 1960s that can today appear foreboding as one approaches on foot, but whose spacious flats with their extensive views were generally popular with initial tenants.

6. Every element matters

Architectural narrative is not about making grand gestures that tell a story all at once. It works best when every element of a building, from materials to sound qualities, work together to reveal what it’s all about. Take care not to produce the design equivalent of a soundbite.

7. External representation of an unseen reality

Architecture, at its best, can be an embodiment of something that is otherwise hard to articulate. Think of an awe-inspiring, heaven-scratching church or mosque, or the cosy cottage that feels like home even before you’ve moved in.

These kinds of feelings don’t happen by accident; an architect has considered how to induce them with physical form. Get used to making notes of your emotional responses to buildings, and interrogate the reasons for them.

8. Avoid wishful thinking and after-stories

In spite of its connection with storytelling, an architectural narrative should not represent what you’d like to build in an ideal world. It should articulate what you can realistically achieve. Similarly, don’t be tempted to design first and create a narrative later.

Tacked-on stories never ring true, and the building will feel much less satisfying for it. Let the narrative truly drive what you’re creating.

Examples of architectural narrative

As well as the Institut du Monde Arabe which has been mentioned more than once in this article, you might like to spend time reading about the following buildings which have a strong architectural narrative. There are, of course, thousands if not millions more.

An architectural narrative is the story told by a building through its form and feel. It is not superfluous, to be added after the ‘real business’ of design, but should guide the design.

It keeps project teams on the same page and immeasurably improves users’ experience of the building; compare an identikit branch of Starbucks and Uruguay’s Café Brasilero , with its nooks and wooden walls, and this becomes immediately apparent!

The key to creating better architectural narratives is to center the people who will use, and/or who have commissioned, the building. This involves thinking like an author, and putting yourself in someone else’s shoes so they can . . . live happily ever after!

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Architectural Narrative Shapes Brain Activities Underlying Approach-Avoidance Response: A Case Study of the Stadium

Weixia zhang.

1 Department of Physical Education, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi’an, China

Hongyang Wei

2 Graduate Department, Xi’an Physical Education University, Xi’an, China

Xiaowen Chen

3 Graduate Department, Shanghai University of Sports, Shanghai, China

Yujie Zhang

4 School of Sports Training, Xi’an Physical Education University, Xi’an, China

Associated Data

The original contributions presented in the study are included in the article/ Supplementary Material , further inquiries can be directed to the corresponding author/s.

Each great architecture tells a story to make its space meaningful. What the stadium tells matters how the individual interacts with it. The potent influence of narrative in shaping our cognitive processing has been revealed and widely used. This influence, however, has not been the focus of researchers in stadium operations. The present study aimed at investigating the influence of the stadium narrative on approach-avoidance responses and the corresponding neural correlates. Participants were presented with a sequence of pictures expressing a story congruent or incongruent with the general profile of the stadium, and were required to make an enter or exit response. Results showed larger amplitudes of N400 for incongruent trials than congruent trials at the end of the narrative, indicating the feasibility of continuity editing procedure for the study of narratives. Moreover, larger amplitudes of LPP were observed in response to the stadium preceded by congruent trials than incongruent trials. This effect was more pronounced in the left than right frontal sites. The LPP suggested that a congruent narrative imparted the stadium approaching affective features, and induced approaching responses, which was consistent with the behavioral and correlational results. Our findings suggested that changes in narrative were sufficient to shape the approach-avoidance responses and the underlying neural correlates. Implications for stadium management and buildings are provided.

Introduction

We live and work in buildings made of concrete and steels, and the things that connect us between such buildings are called stories ( Hinton, 2014 ). By telling stories, the building itself becomes a meaningful space rather than a mere physical object, this process is known as the narrative ( DiMascio and Maver, 2014 ; Jamieson, 2017 ). Architectural narrative prioritizes human experience in buildings and concerns about what happens in space ( Tseng, 2015 ). Architectural narrative not only expresses social and cultural messages of the semantic meanings of buildings and space, but also contributes to the construction of meaning per se ( Psarra, 2009 ). A narrative thus becoming an essential element in the design of architecture ( Tissink, 2016 ). A strong architectural narrative may add interests for its users and stamp their experiences with narrative feature ( Chen and Kalay, 2008 ). As an architecture, the stadium is no longer portrayed as a silent physical matter, but actually as an epitome of culture in the city ( Sheard, 1985 ) and an actor that explained its own identity. Therefore, what stories the stadium tells or what can be read from the stadium counts a lot from the perspective of architectural narrative.

The narrative is not only a medium whereby which we interact with the environment; studies have shown that it is a potent factor that shapes our processing of information ( Wheeler et al., 1999 ; Green and Brock, 2000 ; Shiller, 2017 ; Piotrowski et al., 2019 ). Behavioral studies showed that narratives could induce our attitudes to be more congruent with that expressed in a narrative ( Wheeler et al., 1999 ; Green and Brock, 2000 ), and the influence of a narrative can even override statistical information ( Betsch et al., 2011 ). Moreover, by manipulating the temporal structure of stories, researchers collected fMRI data when presenting participants with either an intact temporal sequence of the story, or with the same event in scrambled order. The results showed that the temporally scrambled events evoked weaker schematic representations in mPFC ( Baldassano et al., 2018 ). The effect of a narrative on neural responses persists even after the disappearance of stimuli, as study showed functional connectivity changed after listening to narratives representing different emotional contents ( Borchardt et al., 2015 ). This persisting effect was also obviously revealed by using EEG ( Borchardt et al., 2018 ). These studies showed the feasibility of using neuroscience technique to investigate the effect of narrative, as well as the potential neural correlates related to the influence of narrative. Although the narrative is commonly related to literature and plays, it is also widely accepted in architectures ( Jo and Lee, 2007 ; Wakefield, 2015 ). It is reasonable to postulate that the influence of narrative also exists in architectures.

The powerful influence of a narrative has been widely used, such as in communicating effectively with the general about the policies of government ( Piotrowski et al., 2019 ), and in addressing the economic fluctuations ( Shiller, 2017 ). However, the potent effect of a narrative seems to be neglected by researchers in the stadium management, in which exploring the determinants of stadium attendance is of pivotal importance ( Schreyer and Ansari, 2021 ), as getting revenue from ticket sales is an important part of financial resources ( Deloitte, 2021 ). Related to this issue are studies concerned about how built environments affect human behavior. Emotion may be a core node in this relationship as shown by the structural equation modeling analysis ( Ryu and Jang, 2007 ). Naturally, environmental factors were the mostly studied variable related to stadium attendance ( Uhrich and Koenigstorfer, 2009 ; Chen et al., 2013 ; Yoshida et al., 2021 ). Consistent with studies in other buildings ( Ryu and Jang, 2007 ), findings showed that the environmental stimuli of the stadium affected an individual’s behavioral response via emotional processing ( Uhrich and Koenigstorfer, 2009 ; Chen et al., 2013 ; Yoshida et al., 2021 ). Specifically, the more satisfied people with the environmental stimuli ( Chen et al., 2013 ; Yoshida et al., 2021 ) or more positive emotion they experienced ( Uhrich and Koenigstorfer, 2009 ), the more likely they attended the stadium. These studies highlighted the role of emotion in responding to the environmental stimulus.

The relationship between environmental stimulus and people’s responses could be supported by the S (stimuli)–O (organism)–R (response) model, which assumes that stimuli in the environment affect an individual’s emotional states and ultimately result in approach or avoidance responses ( Mehrabian and Russell, 1974 ). Approach is positive, reflecting the desire to stay in the environment while avoidance is negative, indicating the withdrawal behavior ( Mehrabian and Russell, 1974 ). From the perspective of environmental psychology ( Mehrabian, 1976 ), the stadium narrative can be regarded as an environmental stimulus and the narrative itself is a potent medium for emotion-eliciting ( Westermann et al., 1996 ). Thus, it is likely that the stadium narrative would potentially influence approach-avoidance response toward the stadium by internal emotion processing of the individual. However, no study has been conducted to reveal the causal link between stadium narrative and approach-avoidance response, and the mechanisms underlying this link also remains unknown. The employment of techniques of neuroscience provides a method to reveal the internal psychological processing of organism and helps to advance our understanding of the mechanisms underlying a certain behavior ( Churchland and Sejnowski, 1988 ; Bell and Cuevas, 2012 ). Among all the techniques, electroencephalography (EEG) records brain electrical activities at a millisecond in an non-invasive manner and is relatively low-costing, and has been used in engineering ( Hou et al., 2021 ; Liu et al., 2022 ).

Therefore, the present study aimed at investigating the influence of the stadium narrative on approach-avoidance response and its neural correlates by using EEG. First, a new experimental procedure, which was called “continuity editing procedure” here, was introduced to enable the stadium to tell a story based on filmmaking theory. Continuity editing is a technique widely used in filmmaking. In continuity editing, many camera shots are used to create a continuous sequence of events that comprise a narrative ( Magliano and Zacks, 2011 ). Here, participants were presented with sequences of pictures forming two different conditions. Each picture represents a unique scene in the sequence. The sequences are presented progressively from the spatial perspective. As the narrative goes, participants would feel that they are getting closer and closer to the stadium. The essence of the difference between congruent and incongruent condition is the continuity of events. In one condition, pictures are sequenced to express the theme that “This is a stadium with wonderful games.” In another condition, the theme is “This is a stadium in which people do nothing related to sports but working or studying.” The distinction in the two conditions is achieved by using either sports-related or sports-unrelated pictures at the end of the narrative. Because events that have happened or have been happening in it have naturally become a part of the source of narratives ( Tseng, 2015 ), and the stadiums are often used for exhibiting sports games, the narrative contents in the two conditions are either congruent or incongruent with what are generally happening in the stadium. The two conditions were called “congruent condition” and “incongruent condition” hereafter, respectively. In the congruent condition, events happened in the stadium could be naturally continued. In the incongruent condition, events happened in the stadium were somewhat abrupt, or were less continued than in the congruent condition. A similar experimental design could be seen in other studies related to the narrative by using continuity editing ( Speer et al., 2007 ; Magliano and Zacks, 2011 ).

Second, the N400 component was used to verify the feasibility of our experimental procedure. The N400 is a negative component peaking at approximately 400 ms after stimuli onset, is a marker of semantic processing ( Berkum et al., 1999 ; Kutas and Federmeier, 2011 ), and is sensitive to semantic expectancy ( Kutas and Hillyard, 1980 ). If larger N400 amplitude was induced in incongruent trials than that of congruent trials, then this indicated that pictures on the marker point were more expected in congruent trials than incongruent trials. On the other hand, this suggested that the presented sequences could convey information in a way similar to language, reflecting that the experimental procedure is effective at enabling the stadium to speak.

Third, the LPP (late positive potential) would be focused in data analysis. The LPP is a broadly distributed positivity with the average latency starting at approximately 300 ms and lasting for several milliseconds after stimulus onset ( Cuthbert et al., 2000 ). The LPP is thought to index the emotional processing as larger amplitudes of LPP were found in response to affective pictures than non-affective neutral ones ( Cuthbert et al., 2000 ; Schupp et al., 2000 ; Olofsson et al., 2008 ; Hajcak et al., 2010 ). Moreover, studies revealed larger LPP over the left frontal cortex in response to approach-related stimuli, such as appetitive pictures ( Gable and Harmon-Jones, 2010 ), and concepts that were rated as good like welfare ( Cunningham et al., 2005 ), while avoidance-related stimuli elicited larger LPP amplitudes in the right frontal ( van de Laar et al., 2004 ; Cunningham et al., 2005 ). The frontal lateralization of the LPP is consistent with findings that showed the asymmetry in frontal cortex in emotional processing [for a review, see Harmon-Jones et al. (2010) ]. Therefore, differences in the amplitudes of LPP between two conditions could be explained by emotional processing or the processing of approach-avoidance stimuli if the LPP effect has a frontal lateralization. Considering that environmental stimuli influenced people’s emotional connection with the stadium at the behavioral level ( Uhrich and Koenigstorfer, 2009 ; Chen et al., 2013 ; Yoshida et al., 2021 ), it is assumed that significant differences in LPP would be observed in the two conditions. It is further hypothesized that frontal lateralization of LPP would be different between the two conditions, if significant behavioral responses exist.

Materials and Methods

Participants.

Sample size was estimated using G*Power (version 3.1) ( Faul et al., 2007 ). Twenty-six participants would be required to detect statistically significant F -test difference with a power of 0.85 at a significance level of p = 0.05. Therefore, thirty university students were recruited as paid volunteers, two of which were removed for further analysis due to abnormal recording. In the end, twenty-eight participants were included in our experiment ( Mage = 24.07 years, SD = 1.75 years; 15 females). All participants were right-handed, with no history of neurological or psychiatric diseases. All reported having normal or corrected-to-normal vision. None had received any extracurricular training in architecture design and sports. Before the experiment, all participants signed a written consent form.

Four kinds of pictures were used in the presentation of sequences: (1) the outer appearances of the stadium; (2) the inside of the stadium; (3) pictures related to the stadium such as sports games; (4) pictures unrelated to the stadium such as working or studying. Studying- or working-related pictures rather than random pictures like animals or plants were chosen to avoid generating potential confounding variables. As all contents of the pictures were confined to the scope of human activities, and the essential difference of the pictures between the two conditions was level of activities, the congruent condition was active while the incongruent was sedentary. This selection would make the concepts associated with the two conditions comparable.

First, 960 pictures were downloaded and selected from the Internet, with 240 pictures for each kind. Pictures with resolution above 600 × 800 pixels were selected. After the selection, some of the pictures were further edited using Photoshop software to remove information that interferes with the expression of the theme, such as crowds outside the stadium. Then, pictures were sequenced to form two conditions. In the congruent condition, pictures were arranged with the sequence “outer appearance of the stadium in distance-outer appearance of the stadium-the inside stadium-sports related scene-outer appearance of the stadium in distance” to tell that “This is a stadium with wonderful games.” In the incongruent condition, pictures were arranged with the same sequence except that the fourth pictures were replaced by pictures unrelated to sports to tell that “This is a stadium in which people do nothing related to sports but working or studying.” Finally, 162 sequences were selected as the final experimental stimuli. Other sequences were excluded due to inappropriate arrangement of the pictures. The inappropriate arrangement of the pictures refers to the sequences that cannot bring a sense of congruence for the congruent trials or a sense of incongruence for the incongruent trials. For example, the combination of a football field with basketball games. For the final 162 sequences, half were congruent while the other half were incongruent.

Procedure and Design

Each trial started with a black fixation in the middle of the screen with a light gray background for 500–800 ms. Then, the first picture was presented for 1,000 ms, followed by the second, the third, and the fourth pictures, each presented for 250 ms. To generate a sense of narrative, we presented the pictures in the following sequence: stadium in the distance, stadium in a nearer site, the interior of a stadium, and the things happening in a stadium accordingly. After the presentation of the preceding four pictures was a 250 ms blank screen. At the end, the stadium reappeared on the screen for 1,000 ms. Following was the response interface, lasting for infinite time until participants made a response. Such a design would avoid any contamination from artifacts associated with the actions of button-pressing. During the experiment, all stimuli were presented on a 20-inch Dell computer monitor (1,440 × 900 pixels, 60 Hz), situated approximately 100 cm from the participant. See Figure 1 for more details.

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Flow of experimental procedure and design.

Participants were instructed to express their approach-avoidance attitude toward the stadium by pressing either enter or exit buttons. The association between the hand side (left or right) and the response (enter or exit) was counterbalanced across the participants. The enter and exit responses represent expression of approach and avoidance decisions, respectively ( Vartanian et al., 2013 ). Before the formal experiment, six practice trials were given to familiarize the participants with the stimuli and procedure.

As pictures in congruent and incongruent conditions are different in the study, the physical stimulus confounds are unavoidable ( Luck, 2005 ). Thus, the possible significant differences cannot be totally attributed to our manipulation. To address this issue, we would present the stadium two times and analyze data after subtracting ERPs induced by the reappearance of the stadium from ERPs induced by the stadium that appeared for the first time. If the results have the same pattern, this indicates that the significant differences in the two conditions are not contaminated by physical differences.

Electroencephalography Recording and Preprocessing

The EEG was recorded from 64 Ag/AgCl electrodes organized according to the international 10/20 system. The electrode in front of the Fz served as ground. Four additional electrodes were placed at the left eye supra- and infraorbitally and at the outer canthi of both eyes to record vertical and horizontal electrooculograms (EOGs), respectively. Impedances of all electrodes were kept below 10 kΩ during recording. The sampling rate was 1,000 Hz, with a band-pass filter of 0.05–100 Hz.

The preprocessing was conducted using Brainstorm ( Tadel et al., 2011 ). EEG was resampled at 512 Hz and re-referenced to the average of bipolar mastoid. A band-pass filter of 1–30 Hz was applied offline. Eye movements were corrected by using independent component analysis (ICA). Noisy segments were excluded manually. EEG epochs from −200 to 1,000 ms relative to the first, the fourth, and the fifth pictures’ onset were time-locked and baseline corrected (−200–0 ms). That is, there were three types of EEG epochs in the study (see Figure 1 ). The first epoch was based on the onset of the fourth picture in the sequence (end of the narrative); it was used for confirming the feasibility of the experimental procedure. The fourth picture was situated at the end of the narrative. Pictures preceding the fourth picture served as a context. Only after the context is established can we investigate whether or not the subsequent stimulus fits well with it. Therefore, similar to the classic study of N400, in which the stimulus was presented word by word and ERPs were extracted at the end of the sentence ( Kutas and Hillyard, 1980 ), the present study displayed information picture by picture and analyzed the N400 effect for the fourth picture. The second epoch was based on the onset of the fifth picture in the sequence (reappearance of the stadium); it was used for exploring the influence of preceding narratives. The third epoch was based on the onset of the first picture in the sequence, and it was used for excluding the compounds of physical differences in different conditions.

ERP Data Analysis

All ERP analyses were based on the mean amplitude values of each participant under each condition. Based on visual inspection and previous studies concerned about N400 ( Kutas and Federmeier, 2011 ) and LPP ( Gable and Harmon-Jones, 2013 ; Gable and Poole, 2014 ), the time window of 200–400 ms was used for statistical analysis for the fourth picture in sequence. For the first and fifth pictures in sequence, 500–800 ms were used for statistical analysis.

Repeated-measures ANOVAs were conducted for the midline (anterior: FPZ and FZ; central: FCZ, CZ, and CPZ; posterior: PZ, POZ, and OZ) and lateral electrodes (left anterior: AF3, F1, F3, and F5; right anterior: AF4, F2, F4, and F6; left central: FC1, FC3, FC5, C1, C3, and CP1; right central: FC2, FC4, FC6, C2, C4, and CP2; left posterior: P1, P3, and CB1; right posterior: P2, P4, and CB2) separately. For the midline electrodes, congruency (congruent and incongruent) and anteriority (anterior, central, and posterior) were considered as within-subjects factors. For the lateral electrodes, hemisphere (left and right) was added as an additional within-subjects factor, that is, a 2 (congruency: congruent and incongruent) × 3 anteriority (anterior, central, and posterior) × 2 (hemisphere: left and right) repeated-measures ANOVA for lateral analysis. The mean value of the electrodes in each region of interest was computed for analysis. The analysis of simple effects tests if there were obvious interactions and all pairwise comparisons were adjusted by Bonferroni correction. Only the significant effects containing the congruency (the main variable) were reported.

Behavioral Results

A paired t -test was conducted based on the ratio of “enter” response for each participant under each condition. As shown in Figure 2 , the results showed a significantly higher value of “enter” response [ t (27) = 4.31, p < 0.001, d = 1.51] for congruent condition ( M = 75.61%, SD = 22.53%) than incongruent condition ( M = 41.64%, SD = 27.36%). Although response time was collected, we would not analyze it given that the response was delayed in the present study.

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Values of “enter” ratio under each condition. The error bars refer to the standard errors.

Electrophysiological Results and Correlational Analysis

Epoch1 (the fourth picture in the sequence).

Figure 3 shows the grand average waveforms elicited by the fourth picture in the sequence (A) and the scalp distribution of incongruent-minus-congruent difference waves (B). As can be seen, a larger N400 was induced by the incongruent than congruent trials. This N400 effect was globally distributed and maximal between 200 and 400 ms.

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Object name is fnins-16-858888-g003.jpg

Grand mean ERP waveforms elicited by the fourth picture. (A) FZ and PZ. Gray-shaded areas indicate the time windows used for statistical analysis. (B) Displayed the Scalp distribution of the incongruent-minus-congruent difference waves in the time window of 200–400 ms.

Statistical analysis of the N400 time window of 200–400 ms showed main effects of congruency on midline electrodes [ F (1,27) = 6.10, p = 0.02, η 2 = 0.18] and lateral [ F (1,27) = 8.71, p = 0.01, η 2 = 0.24], as a larger N400 amplitude was elicited under the incongruent condition than under the congruent condition. Significant interactions were observed between anteriority and congruency on both midline [ F (1.33,35.87) = 17.25, p < 0.001, η 2 = 0.39] and lateral electrodes [ F (1.17,31.47) = 26.19, p < 0.001, η 2 = 0.49], as there were larger N400 in incongruent vs. congruent trials for the anterior electrodes [midline: F (1,27) = 16.02, p < 0.001, η 2 = 0.37; lateral: F (1,27) = 21.50, p < 0.001, η 2 = 0.44] and central electrodes [midline: F (1,27) = 8.20, p = 0.01, η 2 = 0.23; lateral: F (1,27) = 12.98, p = 0.001, η 2 = 0.33], but not for the posterior electrodes [midline: F (1,27) = 3.23, p = 0.08; lateral: F (1,27) = 3.36, p = 0.08].

Epoch2 (The Fifth Picture in the Sequence)

Figure 4 shows the grand average waveforms elicited by stadiums (the fifth picture in the sequence) preceded by congruent and incongruent narrative. Figure 5 shows the scalp distribution of congruent-minus-incongruent difference waves (A). For the fifth picture in the sequence, a larger LPP was induced by the congruent than incongruent trials in the time window of 500–800 ms.

An external file that holds a picture, illustration, etc.
Object name is fnins-16-858888-g004.jpg

Grand mean ERP waveforms elicited by the reappearance of the stadium preceded by congruent or incongruent narratives. Gray-shaded areas indicate the time windows used for statistical analysis. F3, FZ, F4, FC3, FCZ, and FC4 showed larger amplitude of LPP for congruent trials than in congruent trials, while P3, PZ, and P4 showed no significant difference between the two conditions.

An external file that holds a picture, illustration, etc.
Object name is fnins-16-858888-g005.jpg

(A) Scalp distribution of the congruent-minus-incongruent difference waves in 500–800 ms. (B) Scalp distribution of the congruent-minus-incongruent difference waves in 500–800 ms derived from the values of fifth picture minus the first picture. That is, values in congruent trials (values of the fifth picture minus the first picture in congruent condition) minus values in incongruent trials (values of the fifth picture minus the first picture in incongruent condition).

Analysis of the LPP in the time window of 500–800 ms revealed a significant main effect of congruency on midline [ F (1,27) = 4.28, p = 0.048, η 2 = 0.14], as congruent trials elicited a larger LPP than incongruent trials. Significant interactions between congruency and anteriority were observed on both midline [ F (1.19,32.25) = 5.47, p = 0.02, η 2 = 0.17] and lateral electrodes [ F (1.17,31.51) = 4.94, p = 0.03, η 2 = 0.16], as larger amplitudes of LPP were elicited by congruent trials than incongruent trials for the anterior electrodes [midline: F (1,27) = 7.15, p = 0.01, η 2 = 0.21; lateral: F (1,27) = 6.77, p = 0.02, η 2 = 0.20] and central electrodes [midline: F (1,27) = 7.32, p = 0.01, η 2 = 0.21; lateral: F (1,27) = 4.81, p = 0.04, η 2 = 0.15], but not for the posterior electrodes [midline: F (1,27) = 0.95, p = 0.34; lateral: F (1,27) = 0.59, p = 0.45].

Epoch2-Minus-Epoch3

To exclude the above LPP effect (congruent-minus-incongruent) was contaminated by physical differences in the congruent and incongruent conditions, the value of amplitudes elicited by the fifth picture minus the first picture was treated as a dependent variable. Figure 6 shows the grand average of difference waveforms elicited by the fifth picture minus the first picture in the sequence. Figure 5 shows the scalp distribution of congruent-minus-incongruent difference waves for epoch2-minus-epoch3 in the time window of 500–800 ms (B).

An external file that holds a picture, illustration, etc.
Object name is fnins-16-858888-g006.jpg

Grand mean ERP waveforms of the congruent-minus-incongruent difference waves derived from the values of fifth picture minus the first picture. Gray-shaded areas indicate the time windows used for statistical analysis. F3, FZ, F4, FC3, FCZ, and FC4 showed larger amplitude of LPP for congruent trials than in congruent trials, while P3, PZ, and P4 showed no significant difference between the two conditions.

Analysis of the LPP in the time window of 500–800 ms showed significant main effects of congruency on midline [ F (1,27) = 10.05, p = 0.04, η 2 = 0.27] and lateral [ F (1,27) = 9.94, p = 0.004, η 2 = 0.27], as larger positivity was elicited under congruent condition than the incongruent condition. Moreover, interactions between anteriority and congruency on both midline [ F (2,54) = 3.93, p = 0.03, η 2 = 0.13] and lateral electrodes [ F (2,54) = 3.44, p = 0.04, η 2 = 0.11] were observed, owing to larger LPP in the congruent than incongruent trials for the anterior [midline: F (1,27) = 6.79, p = 0.02, η 2 = 0.20; lateral: F (1,27) = 6.82, p = 0.02, η 2 = 0.20] and central electrodes [midline: F (1,27) = 17.47, p < 0.001, η 2 = 0.39; lateral: F (1,27) = 16.69, p < 0.001, η 2 = 0.38], but not for the posterior electrodes [midline: F (1,27) = 0.09, p = 0.77; lateral: F (1,27) = 0.1, p = 0.92].

Laterality of the Frontal Late Positive Potential

Although the interactions between congruency and hemisphere was not significant in the above repeated-measures ANOVAs, there were theoretical motivations to examine the laterality of LPP ( Maxwell et al., 2017 ). Because larger amplitudes of LPP in the left frontal hemisphere are related to approach motivation ( Gable and Harmon-Jones, 2013 ; Gable and Poole, 2014 ), and our behavioral results showed a higher ration of “enter” under congruent than incongruent condition, we speculated that the difference caused by congruent-minus-incongruent trials should be more pronounced in the left frontal area than in the right frontal area. Therefore, similar to previous studies concerned about the laterality of LPP ( Gable and Harmon-Jones, 2010 ; Gable and Harmon-Jones, 2013 ), we choose AF3, F1, F3, and F5 for the left lateral frontal electrodes and AF4, F2, F4, and F6 for the right lateral frontal electrodes. A paired t -test was conducted based on the mean difference value (congruent minus incongruent) of LPP in response to the fifth picture. The result showed a significant greater LPP effect in the left frontal than in the right frontal [ t (27) = 2.75, p = 0.01, d = 0.24]. The result remained the same after excluding the physical differences of the stadium in congruent and incongruent conditions [ t (27) = 3.29, p = 0.003, d = 0.25].

The correlation between congruent-minus-incongruent LPP amplitudes and behavioral response was conducted. The results showed significant positive correlation in anterior electrodes ( r = 0.67, p < 0.001), central electrodes ( r = 0.51, p = 0.01), left anterior electrodes ( r = 0.65, p < 0.001), right anterior electrodes ( r = 0.64, p < 0.001), left central electrodes ( r = 0.45, p = 0.02), and right central electrodes ( r = 0.50, p = 0.01). No obvious relationship was found in posterior electrodes ( r = −0.29, p = 0.13), left posterior electrodes ( r = −0.28, p = 0.15), and right posterior electrodes ( r = −0.29, p = 0.14).

By using ERPs, the present study investigated the effects of the stadium narrative on the approach-avoidance response toward the stadium, and the corresponding neural correlates underlying such effects. The results showed larger amplitudes of N400 during the time window of 200–400 ms for incongruent trials than congruent trials at the end of the narrative, reflecting the feasibility of the experimental procedure. In the time window of 500–800 ms after the reappearance of the stadium, larger amplitudes of LPP were observed preceded by congruent trials than incongruent trials. The LPP effect was invulnerable to the physical differences in the two conditions and has a left frontal laterality. Our findings suggested that changes in the stadium narratives affected approach-avoidance responses and the corresponding neural correlates.

The first finding was that a more negative N400 was observed at the end of the narrative for incongruent trials than congruent trials. The N400 effect in the present study indicated that the stories in incongruent trials were less expected than stories in the congruent trials, as the amplitude of N400 reflected semantic expectation ( Kutas and Hillyard, 1980 ). On the other hand, the N400 effect in the study suggests that the continuity editing procedure could convey information in a similar way to language, confirming the feasibility of continuity editing procedure for the study of architectural narrative. The finding of N400 suggested that a stadium was not simply a silent building, but also a lively actor that embodied its own identity and stories.

Another finding was that larger amplitudes of LPP were elicited for congruent trials compared with incongruent trials when the stadium reappeared. Given that affective pictures evoke larger amplitudes of LPP than non-affective or neutral pictures ( Schupp et al., 2004 ; Pastor et al., 2008 ), the LPP effect in the present study indicated that the stadium narrative imparted the stadium the affective meanings. Specifically, compared with the condition in which the stadium was associated with non-sports events, the condition in which the stadium was associated with sports tends to embody more affective meanings.

In terms of affective response, there are two motivational states underlying it, the defensive associated with withdrawal behavior and the appetitive associated with approach behavior ( Bradley et al., 2001 ). As the LPP was observed for both positive and negative stimuli compared with neutral stimuli ( Cuthbert et al., 2000 ; Liu et al., 2012 ), we cannot decide whether the affective processing elicited by the stadium was approaching or avoidance simply based on the anterior-central LPP effect. Interestingly, the left laterality of LPP in frontal sites suggested that the affective response to the stadium was approaching, as the left laterality of LPP is related to approaching processing ( van de Laar et al., 2004 ; Cunningham et al., 2005 ; Gable and Harmon-Jones, 2010 ). Alternatively, as LPP has been suggested to reflect motivated attention to affective stimuli ( Keil et al., 2002 ) and increased motivational significance of affective stimuli ( Schupp et al., 2007 ), the LPP effect may also indicate that stadiums preceded by congruent narratives were able to capture more attentional resources. Moreover, the LPP effect was indifferent to physical differences and the baseline (see Supplementary Material “Analysis of LPP based in another baseline”).

The role of emotion in the relationship between narrative and approach-avoidance response is consistent with the proposal of the SOR model ( Mehrabian, 1976 ). First, previous studies have suggested that narrative was a potent medium to elicit emotion ( Westermann et al., 1996 ). Similarly, the stadium narrative can also serve as an emotional medium and engage participants in emotional processing. Second, although buildings have usually been treated as neutral stimuli, we human beings could establish affective connections with it by narratives, from the perspective of place attachment ( Gross and Brown, 2008 ). This is consistent with the proposition that the stadium could embody emotional connotations like home ( Charleston, 2009 ).

Finally, consistent with previous studies which showed that exposure to narratives shaped our attitudes ( Wheeler et al., 1999 ; Green and Brock, 2000 ), the behavioral results showed a larger ratio of “enter” after exposure to the impression congruent with the stadium than that of incongruent, indicating that approach-avoidance responses toward the stadium were influenced by the preceding contexts of narratives. The behavioral results confirmed the potent power of a narrative revealed by ERP results. The stadium with a congruent narrative not only elicited larger LPP, which indexed motivational approaching processing, but also induced overt approaching behaviors. The positive correlation between LPP effect and behavioral response once again indicated that the larger the LPP effect, the more likely participants chose to enter the stadium. This suggested that contents of narrative should be selected carefully to make a stadium more appealing for visitors or users; this could be done by highlighting the special features of the stadium purposely. On the other hand, these results further confirmed the interpretation of LPP as motivational approaching processing.

In application, the stadium narrative could serve a multitude of functions for stadium management. On one hand, the stadium could be used as a medium for the expression of specific messages, especially events related to sports, which might be useful for the promotion of the stadium. On the other hand, the narrative provides an effective way for improving the stadium attendance and could be used as a motivator to drive people attending the stadium. Stadium operators could strengthen the affective bonds between the stadium and individuals, and make individuals more attached to the stadium by displaying influential events related to the stadium. Moreover, only one type of building (stadium) was used, the external validity of the study was constrained when applying the results to other buildings. Specifically, when choosing whether or not to enter a stadium, the choice is largely based on preference ( Wang et al., 2018 ), which is not always the case in other buildings. For example, entering a restaurant or hotel is mainly based on necessary needs. We postulate that the influence of a narrative might be different when people chose to enter different buildings, considering that motivation is an important influencing factor in decision-making. Therefore, the specific activities related to the buildings should be considered in real application.

The case study of the stadium also has some implications for buildings. First, the study indicates that buildings are not simply composed of concrete and steel anymore; a narrative is also an important element. A narrative enters the building in many ways; whether it is purely a form or a backstory, it shapes the way we interact with our environment. Therefore, each great building should tell a story to avoid being banal. In management, architectural narrative could be treated as a context to influence the intention of enter or exit, as social context has been shown to affect people’s willingness to buy a house ( Guo et al., 2022 ). For managers, this context could be established by referencing history or by presenting a vision. Second, the same building can convey totally different meanings and affect our perception simply by changing narratives. Reconstruction or renovation of buildings could be achieved by changing narratives, while keeping the original physical structure unchanged. It is the stories between buildings and us and not the silent materials that matters.

Conclusion and Limitations

To reveal the influence of narratives on an individual’s approach-avoidance attitudes toward the stadium and the underlying neural correlates, we presented a sequence of pictures preceding the reappearance of the stadium and record the EEG simultaneously. Our findings suggested the feasibility of continuity editing procedure to enable a stadium to tell a story. Moreover, both behavioral and electrophysiological results suggest the power of a narrative in shaping our attitudes. The findings provided insights into maximizing the stadium attendance and promotion of the stadium by using narratives. The findings of the case study can also be extended to buildings.

For the convenience of experimental manipulation, we enable the stadium to tell a rather simple story. However, in real life, each great architecture may undergo lots of things and accumulate many stories. Future studies could employ a more vivid story to add interest in the experiment. Moreover, this is an experimental study conducted in a laboratory, which naturally constrained the external validity. In real life, deciding whether or not to enter a building may be subject to many factors and the process of decision-making may be different from that in the laboratory. This could be avoided by using mobile EEG in the future.

Data Availability Statement

Ethics statement.

The study involving human participants was reviewed and approved by Northwestern Polytechnical University. The patients/participants provided their written informed consent to participate in this study.

Author Contributions

WZ and QH: conception and study design. HW, XC, YH, YZ, and WZ: data acquisition. WZ, HW, and XC: data analysis. WZ and HW: drafting manuscript. QH, XC, YH, and YZ: revision. All authors contributed to the article and approved the submitted version.

Conflict of Interest

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Publisher’s Note

All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article, or claim that may be made by its manufacturer, is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.

This work was supported by the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities and by the Special funds for the Construction of World-Class Universities (disciplines) and Characteristic Development Guidance of the Central Universities (21GH0311).

Supplementary Material

The Supplementary Material for this article can be found online at: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnins.2022.858888/full#supplementary-material

It’s all about the narrative

In approximately 3 1/2 months I will be standing on a stage in Washington D.C. at the American Institute of Architects 2012 National Convention talking about blogging and social media for architects. Most of the people who swing through here probably don’t much care about that – and I don’t blame you (you already know that I’m making it up as I go). However, what struck me this morning as I was standing in the shower (where I do some of my best problem solving), was how blogging, my presentation for the convention, and architecture in general, all have something really important in common …

the narrative.

Technically, a narrative is a constructive format that describes a series of events. Whether I realize it or not, that is what I am generally doing when I spew forth one of these blog posts – at least, that’s what I’m doing on the good ones. There is something I am talking about and despite my tendency to ramble, I have a point I am trying to make and I typically deliver it wrapped up in some sort of anecdote. It makes my point more interesting for me to write about, and hopefully, more interesting for you to read about. I don’t think it’s very newsworthy that having a story to tell makes the delivery of information far more enjoyable but how does that work with architecture?

When we get a new client or project, one of the first things we do is try and find out who they are and what they want. This is the most important step in the initial process of design. According to our proposals, this falls under the category of “programming” – it’s when you tell us what you want: 3 bedrooms, large eat-in kitchen, covered seating area outside off the kitchen, etc. Essentially the client is telling us a story about how they would like to live and use their eventual home and we, as their architect, are essentially their editors (more this part over here, delete this section, focus in on the development of this concept, etc.). This is at the root of why I think getting a project specifically designed for you by an architect is superior than something that already exists in the marketplace. I can assure you that a 3 bedroom, 3 bath house designed just for you by an architect will be decidedly different than some other 3 bedroom, 3 bath house assembled as a kit of parts by a spec-home developer.

The difference is in the narrative … the story that you bring to me and my eventual interpretation of how to effectively communicate your story. That’s why every project is different (despite the same requirements) and why some architects are better than others.

Just something I was thinking about and thought I would throw out there to anyone who felt like adding to the story.

Original from Life of an Architect

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The importance of ‘narrative’ in Architecture

While storytelling and narrative have been interchangeably used, when it comes to architecture, writing and filmmaking there are several differences between the two. Great architecture has to tell a story. We all have heard this statement and often wondered what story would an office building or a factory tell. We have heard that narratives have to be established to make space meaningful and we believed it even without knowing what it means. Some interpret it as setting up the milestones as a part of the design which would be the literal expression while some would abstract the elements and beg to differ. What if we were to say that narrative is something else altogether?

‘Storytelling’ requires a premise revolving around one or more central elements, a problem and a solution to the problem while a ‘Narrative’ requires a context, an emotion that is associated with it and a revelation that follows through the emotion.

‘Narrative’ is a multifarious term. Its essential meaning can change according to the situation it is put into. Let us take the example of architecture. It is a multi-faceted field. It can hold various subsets and mean differently when put into different scenarios like research, construction, design, management , innovation, journalism, advertising, and many others. Similarly, ‘Narrative’ poses with a different tint in each of these subsets.

‘Narrative’ in Architectural Design | Narrative in Architecture

While museums and memorials are more towards the spectrum of storytelling where the design revolves around the life or history of some central character, the case of other spaces stand to differ. ‘Narrative’ in this context takes up the function of serialization and revelation of spaces. A residence design would have a semi-public lounge which would then flow into a more private living room followed by private dining and then leading on to the most private spaces of the residence. The sequence of the spaces is the narrative in this example. An architect is equipped with the responsibility of adding flavor to this narrative by adding certain spaces that would add a sense of curiosity as to what follows next or simply a space that lets someone take a break before going on to discover the rest of the narrative.

‘Narrative’ in construction

Construction is a time-oriented activity that requires material and manpower. Construction is based on series and sequences. The narrative in this context is the flow from one activity to another. The purpose of the narrative here is to ensure the smooth and easy functioning and completion of the project.

The phases in construction hence hold great importance. How the work is carried out which also considers the social and cultural aspects, how it impacts the environment and the existing fabric of a place, and what it represents and is aimed at sets the narrative in construction.

‘Narrative’ in Adaptive Reuse

Setting the narrative in the case of a built environment is challenging. The sequence and the form of the space remain constant. The change in narrative is brought about by the function assigned. We have seen examples of how old industrial buildings and power stations have been repurposed to museums, hotels, and resorts . The narrative in this context functions as a bridge from the past to the present. Here again, the narrative can exist as an extension of the past or stand as an antonym to the previous function. How smoothly and creatively the narrative is set up shows the talent and caliber of the architect.

‘Narrative’ in Religious Architecture

Religious buildings altogether follow a different narrative. The purpose of narrative in this context is to reaffirm the beliefs and traditions of the particular religion based on holy texts and their practitioners. The sequence, in this case, differs largely from all the other design projects. The narrative sets the premise for one to experience divinity and the holy presence. Every space has a religious significance and the unfolding of these spaces form an integral part of the narrative. Apart from the religious inputs that impact the narrative, introducing the divine experience and meditative effects becomes the task of the architect.

‘Narrative’ in Architectural Journalism | Narrative in Architecture

Architectural journalism stemmed from the need of bringing architecture to the common man, unlike a medical term. Earlier, the term ‘architecture’ was a term relatively used by the architect, contractor, and client and anybody who is not involved would shrug it off as something relevant. A narrative was necessary to familiarise the concept of architecture, the role of good architects and how they impact our day to day lives. Setting up the narrative in architectural journalism evolved through sketches, models, photos, project descriptions, competitions, renders, walk-throughs, magazines, cartoons, film, comics and now we stand at Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality.’ Narrative’ in this context was meant to create awareness and make ‘architecture’ a term that could be used in our routine vocabulary.

A narrative can be hence set in different contexts and mean differently. It is upon the user to play with the narrative to set up something that benefits the user group. What is your narrative?

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Narrative Ways of Architecture Education: A Case Study

2015, Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences

The primary purpose of architectural education is creating proficient, critically minded, innovative and ethical designers or builders whose contribution to the cultural, social, economic, development of society are considerable. Architecture education field has an interdisciplinary nature that includes social, humanities, physical sciences, creative arts and technology . Architectural education is one of the most distinctive areas of education that needs creative abilities. Considering that the main concern of architects is to generate 3 dimensional forms and space to provide accommodations for human activities, the training process needs to concentrate on two issues, firstly the balance between formal and socio-behavioral aspects and secondly, college students seeking, thinking and also different mental activities (A. . Interaction among students, critique sessions by lecturer or other students also working collaboratively are key issues of architectural design education .

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Journal of Problem-Based Learning

Teresa Stone

David Vampola

International Journal of Higher Education

Chao-Ming Yang

Erik Carver

Amy Solomon-Minarchi

Journal of Learning and Teaching in Digital Age

arzu deveci topal

(IJACSA) International Journal of Advanced Computer Science and Applications

Fariza Khalid

1 Introduction

Narrative, as an artistic expression, has developed into a more complete system in literature, painting, film and other artistic fields. Space narrative as a kind of architectural design methodology is in the process of exploring and establishing its theoretical significance.

It was in the 1960s, with Robert Venturi [ 1 ], as the landmark starting point, that architects began to reflect and widely discuss the significance in which modernism has created uninteresting stereotype spaces in the living environments of different cultures, regions and ethnic groups. Among many theories that reflect on the connotation of space, space narrative provides a new research direction as a multidisciplinary cross-disciplinary architecture theory. Aldo Rossi [ 2 ], Christopher Alexander [ 3 ], Christian Norberg-Schulz [ 4 ], Kenneth Frampton [ 5 ], Wang Shu [ 6 ], etc., all of them focus on spatial connotation from the critical perspective of modernism.

The modern space production pays attention to the relation of material function and ignores the relation of social and cultural emotion. However, consumers and users in the information age are more enthusiastic about the diversified emotional experience under the aesthetic vision of daily life. At the same time, the functional paradigm of modern architecture is insufficient to measure or interpret the complex relationship and semantic characteristics of pioneer architecture. Spatial narrative, as a design program, is a progress of postmodernist architectural design. Thinking about the significance of architecture beyond the noumenon, modern architecture is made to jump out of the "mire of concrete and mortar" by means of spatial narration, and a series of severe and complex problems are responded to in the contemporary context.

2 Methodology

2.1 architectural modernology.

No design is born out of thin air, it has its past and reasons. Based on the original site, space and environment understanding and understanding, become a good design of the fundamental. The Japanese Wajiro Kon first proposed the “modernology” [ 7 ] that is present life research. Modernology investigates not only people's daily behavior, but also at what they owned, wore and more. In recent years, modernology has been widely applied in architectural design, bringing the floating concept of architectural design and urban construction to life, so that more people can experience and participate in it. Architects reverse reason all kinds of information, present and apply events, key words and life values in the design. Spatial narrative can present the different social cultures, the spirit and state of human civilization in history [ 8 ].

2.2 Architectural narratology

Narrative, as a basic way of human cognition of the world and social communication, has accompanied the development of human society. Although the relationship between architecture and narrative can be traced back to the construction of the Acropolis of Athens in ancient Greece, the research data shows: In the 1960s, the deconstruction, influenced by the trend of structuralism, was the beginning of narrative intervention architecture. Narrative as a design method was first applied to the creation of modern architecture in the early 1980s.

Bernard Tschumi and Nigel Coates, who taught at AA School in London, took the lead in guiding the interdisciplinary exploration and practice of narrative between architecture and literature, film, and performance space. The book published by the AA School [ 9 ] in 1983 shows the student work guided by Tschumi and Coates: Drawing on the narrative strategy, a series of architectural works of comic style are designed through the translation of spatial experience and spatial time dimension.

In 1983 Nigel Coates and his students formed a research group according to Guy Debord [ 10 ]. They borrowed the thoughts and strategies of situationist international, mapping a city image that blends reality with ideal. In 2012 Nigel Coates [ 11 ] further systematically illustrate the relationship between narrative and architecture.

Bernard Tschumi [ 12 ], proposed the importance of events, procedures and violence to architecture. This book discusses whether there is narratology in architecture, expounds the intersection between architecture and literature as well as discourse symbols, and discusses the spatial narration of social culture. This provided theoretical guidance for the subsequent project of Parc de la Villette (1983).

Rem Koolhaas's graduation design [ 13 ] was the beginning of his architectural narrative. Rem Koolhaas [ 14 ] integrated the knowledge of society, politics, culture, consumption and other aspects with architecture, which became a classic narrative text of architectural theory. Koolhaas brought the performance of film narrative into architectural design.

Sophia Psarara [ 15 ] from the University of Michigan in the United States, compares the relationship between narrative and architecture in a systematic way, and clarifies the value of narrative for architecture.

The architects represented by Benjamin Stinson [ 16 ], Zhang Nan [ 17 ], Zhang Yonghe [ 18 ] and Lu Shaoming [ 19 ] expounded the significance of spatial narrative from the cultural appeal of spatial experience and emotional resonance. The architects represented by Christian Norberg-Schulz [ 20 ], Liu Jiakun [ 21 ], Daniel Libeskind [ 22 ] and Wang Shu [ 23 ], expounded the spatial narrative from the perspective of architectural region, history and memory. The architects, represented by Steven Holl and Peter Zumthor [ 24 ], express the narrative characteristics from the aspects of site, materials and construction.

Thus it can be seen that interdisciplinary and architectural practice has promoted the rapid development of spatial narrative theory. In architecture, spatial narrative presents a theoretical crossover with phenomenology, semiotics, imaging and other specialties and in the design expression presents the multi-media, multi-angle. The spatial narrative theory also pays attention to the regional nature of architecture, the spirit of place, the spatial experience and other aspects.

3 A spatial narrative case of architecture

Take a conceptual plan of urban public space designed by the author as an example to illustrate the application and function of spatial narrative in design. The project is located in Beijing's Zhongguancun Science and Technology Park, China's “Silicon Valley” Zhongguancun overpass No. 1 is a “mouth-shaped” pedestrian bridge with a total length of 328 m and a main bridge of 5–7 m wide. There are a total of 3 walking stairs, 8 escalators, and 4 barrier-free straight stairs, which can meet the traffic needs in multiple directions ( Fig. 1 ).

Zhongguancun overpass No. 1, Beijing, China (Photo by X. Kang)

Citation: Pollack Periodica 17, 1; 10.1556/606.2021.00398

3.1 The history of Zhongguancun

The development history of Zhongguancun is also very similar to Silicon Valley. Silicon Valley was an orchard in 1914, and Zhongguancun, then, was a desolate graveyard. In the 1950s, an idea from Stanford University made Silicon Valley what it is today. In the 1980s, due to the transformation of industry-university-research achievements of Tsinghua University, Peking University and other universities, the graveyard “Zhongguancun” developed into today's Zhongguancun. There is only one Zhongguancun in China and only one Silicon Valley in the United States. They are both products of the times and cannot be duplicated.

Zhongguancun has gone through the development period of Electronic Street, Beijing New Technology Industry Development Test Area, Zhongguancun Science Park, Zhongguancun National Independent Innovation Demonstration Zone, etc., and has become a banner of innovation and development in China and a world-renowned high-tech park.

3.2 History and environmental analysis of Zhongguancun overpass No. 1

Due to the fact that many electronic product malls gather on both sides of the road in Zhongguancun area, colleges and universities are clustered nearby, with large flow of people and dense traffic flow, which leads to traffic disorder. Zhongguancun overpass No. 1 was built to solve the problem of urban traffic. Construction started on December 30, 2010 and officially put into use on December 27, 2011.

Although Zhongguancun overpass No. 1 has been reorganized to separate cars from people, it is still one of the most famous traffic jams in Beijing, especially Zhongguancun overpass No. 1 ( Fig. 2 ). It has been calculated that pedestrians have to pass the Zhongguancun overpass No. 1, at least three to five minutes of red light waiting time; motor vehicles on the fourth ring road, at least 20 min to pass the Zhongguancun overpass No. 1 in the morning and evening peak become an important activity place in the urban public space [ 25 ], which is also the origin of this project to design a museum of urban memory.

Zhongguancun overpass No. 1 during off-duty hours (Photo by X. Kang)

3.3 Spatial analysis of Zhongguancun overpass No. 1

The motor vehicle driving space of Zhongguancun overpass No. 1 is vertically divided into two layers: the underground layer and the ground layer ( Fig. 3 ). The space for non-motorized vehicles includes the ground layer and the bridge layer. The traffic is mainly concentrated in the southwest corner of the overpass at the A1 exit of Zhongguancun Subway Station. In addition, through analysis, it can be found that there are still underutilized spaces in overpass No. 1, which are the two traffic islands under the overpass, the inner ring space of the inner corridor and the roof of the overpass. These three Spaces provide space possibilities for the design ( Fig. 4 ).

Motor vehicle driving space of Zhongguancun overpass No. 1 (Drawing by X. Kang)

Available spatial diagram of Zhongguancun overpass No. 1 (Drawing by X. Kang)

3.4 Mayfly – the museum of time

Due to its unique geographical location and surrounding environment, Zhongguancun overpass No. 1 has formed regional urban memory and landscape, which is humanistic and narrative. This opens up the possibility of building an art museum about the city's memory and stories of the times.

The narrative theme used in the conceptual design is “light and shadow of time”. Because the two corner spaces on the south side of the glyph-shaped overpass are adjacent to the subway station and the crowd is dense, the upper roof space in the northeast corner of the glyph-shaped overpass creates a public space for urban memory. Just as Le Corbusier's Ronchamp Church brings people a sense of sacred awe, the art museum of time also hopes to tell stories and convey emotions through space ( Fig. 5 ). The museum in the corner of the overpass is like a mayfly. This insect has only one day of life. It has experienced birth, aging, sickness and death and changes in the world in a short period of time. This is similar to the story of the No. 1 overpass in Zhongguancun.

Mayfly – The Museum of time (Drawing by X. Kang)

The geometric shape of the outer contour conforms to the modern aesthetics of contemporary architectural design. Through the combination of six loop-shaped corridor spaces, the moving line of the space is lengthened to connect the space with a continuous narrative theme space. The traffic island at the top of the overpass, inside the overpass and at the bottom of the overpass is connected with a walking ladder, making full use of the space and giving the possibility of multi-dimensional construction of the space ( Fig. 6 ). The square colored window holes on the wall of the museum do not affect the complete display wall, but also constitute the exhibits of time. They shape the connection points of the spatial narrative and are also a small window into the city story ( Fig. 7 ).

4 Conclusion

A city is a small universe, a place where human beings live together and gain social identity. The museum, on the other hand, is big machines for people to see the world, where they can think, communicate, question, feel confused and suddenly enlightened. Each person is a barometer of what is going on in the world, and what you acquire will eventually shape something new through you.

Spatial narrative can present the different social cultures, the spirit and state of human civilization in history. The theoretical research of spatial narrative as an architectural design methodology lies in incorporating architecture into the narrative dimension, through cross-discipline, theoretical penetration and development, in order to expand the field of architectural, and provide new concepts and mechanism for architectural design. The theoretical research of spatial narrative also lies in the emphasis on the relationship between the physical space and the spirit of the place, the external environment and the experiencers (people). Through the narrative research of architectural space, it is beneficial to the in-depth understanding, analysis, expression and innovation of architectural design.

The spatial spirit and realistic construction of space make spatial narrative possible. In the process of modernist architecture with a series of problems such as the all-pervasive capital, the explosion of information, the accelerated iteration of technology, the global urbanization, the loss of certainty, etc., spatial narrative, as a methodology, provides a meaningful answer to this unprecedentedly complex and changeable world. Spatial narrative can guide the design practice of architecture, and practice is also the best way to test the theory and the best feedback. The relevant case research in history can also supplement the theory of spatial narration.

Acknowledgments

Thanks to the teachers of the Marcel Breuer Doctoral School, Faculty of Engineering and Information and Technology at the University of Pécs, Dr Molnár Tamás, Dr Bálint Bachmann, etc., who have inspired this research. In addition, the author would like to thank DLA students Shi Yongqing and Ren Chao who have been communicating and discussing with the author.

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Original research article, architectural narrative shapes brain activities underlying approach-avoidance response: a case study of the stadium.

1 Department of Physical Education, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi’an, China
2 Graduate Department, Xi’an Physical Education University, Xi’an, China
3 Graduate Department, Shanghai University of Sports, Shanghai, China
4 School of Sports Training, Xi’an Physical Education University, Xi’an, China

Introduction

Materials and Methods

Participants.

Procedure and Design

Figure 1. Flow of experimental procedure and design.

Electroencephalography Recording and Preprocessing

ERP Data Analysis

Behavioral Results

Figure 2. Values of “enter” ratio under each condition. The error bars refer to the standard errors.

Electrophysiological Results and Correlational Analysis

Epoch1 (the fourth picture in the sequence).

Figure 3. Grand mean ERP waveforms elicited by the fourth picture. (A) FZ and PZ. Gray-shaded areas indicate the time windows used for statistical analysis. (B) Displayed the Scalp distribution of the incongruent-minus-congruent difference waves in the time window of 200–400 ms.

Epoch2 (The Fifth Picture in the Sequence)

Figure 4. Grand mean ERP waveforms elicited by the reappearance of the stadium preceded by congruent or incongruent narratives. Gray-shaded areas indicate the time windows used for statistical analysis. F3, FZ, F4, FC3, FCZ, and FC4 showed larger amplitude of LPP for congruent trials than in congruent trials, while P3, PZ, and P4 showed no significant difference between the two conditions.

Figure 5. (A) Scalp distribution of the congruent-minus-incongruent difference waves in 500–800 ms. (B) Scalp distribution of the congruent-minus-incongruent difference waves in 500–800 ms derived from the values of fifth picture minus the first picture. That is, values in congruent trials (values of the fifth picture minus the first picture in congruent condition) minus values in incongruent trials (values of the fifth picture minus the first picture in incongruent condition).

Epoch2-Minus-Epoch3

Figure 6. Grand mean ERP waveforms of the congruent-minus-incongruent difference waves derived from the values of fifth picture minus the first picture. Gray-shaded areas indicate the time windows used for statistical analysis. F3, FZ, F4, FC3, FCZ, and FC4 showed larger amplitude of LPP for congruent trials than in congruent trials, while P3, PZ, and P4 showed no significant difference between the two conditions.

Laterality of the Frontal Late Positive Potential

Conclusion and Limitations

Data Availability Statement

The original contributions presented in the study are included in the article/ Supplementary Material , further inquiries can be directed to the corresponding author/s.

Ethics Statement

Author Contributions

Conflict of Interest

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Publisher’s Note

Supplementary Material

The Supplementary Material for this article can be found online at: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnins.2022.858888/full#supplementary-material

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Keywords : architectural narrative, building, stadium, continuity editing, late positive potential, emotion

Citation: Zhang W, Wei H, Chen X, Hou Y, Zhang Y and Huang Q (2022) Architectural Narrative Shapes Brain Activities Underlying Approach-Avoidance Response: A Case Study of the Stadium. Front. Neurosci. 16:858888. doi: 10.3389/fnins.2022.858888

Received: 20 January 2022; Accepted: 28 February 2022; Published: 13 May 2022.

Reviewed by:

Copyright © 2022 Zhang, Wei, Chen, Hou, Zhang and Huang. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY) . The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

*Correspondence: Qian Huang, [email protected]

This article is part of the Research Topic

Human Decision-Making Behaviors in Engineering and Management: A Neuropsychological Perspective

Narrative Architecture

A good work must be derived step by step, and each step has its own essential logic. A good building is like a good movie. In a scene of architectural space, tell a story, let you experience an atmosphere and convey an emotion.

We will use a studio to help you deepen the program itself, experience the narrative architectural design method, let the architects, and use the director’s approach to connect each of your spaces. From the source of the method, the concept of narrative, case analysis to the final stage of the expression of a complete logical chain. The program itself is the essence and greatest competitiveness of the portfolio.

In a nutshell, narrative architecture is a more artistic approach to architectural research. But unlike some methodologies that advocate “overhead to reality”, narrative architecture has a very rigorous logic. It must be clearly related to reality, pay attention to the particularity of the place, and proceed from the place and the reality. Each step is related to each other. And mutual proof, while paying great attention to the artistic methodology of the senses and stories. Peter Zumthor explains this: Every building is a specific society, in a specific place, to achieve a specific function. Try to answer those questions that arise from simple facts accurately and critically.

> Lesson 1 Location

> Lesson 2 Place to Mapping

> Lesson 3 Mapping to narrative concept

> Lesson 4 Return to the place and start a narrative

> Lesson 5 Detail tell a story

> Lesson 6 Collage Expression Narrative Concept

The interpretation of the place and the research on the context are the most important part of the narrative. Because we need to know a lot about our place, the story of the place, the character and particularity of the place – the same type of building that occurs in Norway and Hong Kong will produce completely different personalities and results. Everything is based on very in-depth research. We need to know where to interpret the stories of these places and places.

Lesson 2 Place to Mapping

When we have a basic understanding of the place, we need to start collecting the most effective information in the place and reflect the information as mapping. The information reflected in the mapping is scientific information, data, and detailed human information. It is 100% based on facts, not empty, non-nutritive guesses, and then the information is drawn into the mapping with artistic collage. These mappings that contain information are the basis for the entire design to be referenced at any time.

Lesson 3 Mapping to narrative concept

When we got all the stories and information from the venue, we started to make these materials relect a design concept. A concept that tells the story of the place, we will continue to think deeply about the story of the place, the concept of development.

Rather than a concept that only describes our own dreams, this is the area that many domestic architects often fall into. Their stories are just those that they are wishful to make, but they are separated from the story of the place.

What is important is how to reflect the story of the place into a narrative concept.

Several key words: specific, special, visible

Lesson 4 Return to the place and start a narrative

We return to the place with a narrative concept that contains the story, realizing the narrative concept into a building, a real building. The components, composition, and formulation of the building are all based on the narrative concept.

Lesson 5 Detail tell a story

“Too much attention can not be given to produce a distinct Character in every building, not only in great features, but in minor detail together; even a moulding, however diminutive, contributes to increase or lessen the Character of the assemblage of which it forms a part.”

The detail and element of the building can be reflected in the narrative, but it is easy to be ignored, because we are used to too many unthinking doors, pillars, walls. The story told by Detail gives the viewer more patience and a more microscopic experience of the narrative of architecture.

Lesson 6 Collage Expression Narrative Concept

There are many ways to express design, rendering, and line graphs. This is the diversity of expression. For narrative architecture, collage can be said to be the most suitable and easiest way to express its effects. In this lesson we will use some works to elaborate on how to use collage to express narrative concepts and narrative buildings. As well as a very important question, back to the original place, the purpose of our map is to express the feeling of the place.

Architectural Narrative Shapes Brain Activities Underlying Approach-Avoidance Response: A Case Study of the Stadium

Affiliations.

1 Department of Physical Education, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi'an, China.
2 Graduate Department, Xi'an Physical Education University, Xi'an, China.
3 Graduate Department, Shanghai University of Sports, Shanghai, China.
4 School of Sports Training, Xi'an Physical Education University, Xi'an, China.
PMID: 35645719
PMCID: PMC9136322
DOI: 10.3389/fnins.2022.858888

Keywords: architectural narrative; building; continuity editing; emotion; late positive potential; stadium.

AI-powered marketing and sales reach new heights with generative AI

Artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) continue to push the boundaries of what is possible in marketing and sales. And now, with the ongoing step-change evolution of generative AI (gen AI), we’re seeing the use of open-source platforms penetrating to the sales frontlines, along with rising investment by sales-tech players in gen AI innovations. Given the accelerating complexity and speed of doing business in a digital-first world, these technologies are becoming essential tools.

Inevitably, this will impact how you operate—and how you connect with and serve your customers. In fact, it’s probably already doing so. Forward-thinking C-suite leaders are considering how to adjust to this new landscape. Here, we outline the marketing and sales opportunities (and risks) in this dynamic field and suggest productive paths forward.

Our research suggests that a fifth of current sales-team functions could be automated.

How AI is reshaping marketing and sales

AI is poised to disrupt marketing and sales in every sector. This is the result of shifts in consumer sentiment alongside rapid technological change.

Omnichannel is table stakes

Across industries, engagement models are changing: today’s customers want everything, everywhere, and all the time. While they still desire an even mix of traditional, remote, and self-service channels (including face-to-face, inside sales, and e-commerce), we see continued growth in customer preference for online ordering and reordering.

Winning companies—those increasing their market share by at least 10 percent annually—tend to utilize advanced sales technology; build hybrid sales teams and capabilities; tailor strategies for third-party and company-owned marketplaces; achieve e-commerce excellence across the entire funnel; and deliver hyper-personalization (unique messages for individual decision makers based on their needs, profile, behaviors, and interactions—both past and predictive).

Step changes are occurring in digitization and automation

What is generative ai.

Many of us are already familiar with online AI chatbots and image generators, using them to create convincing pictures and text at astonishing speed. This is the great power of generative AI, or gen AI: it utilizes algorithms to generate new content—writing, images, or audio—from training data.

To do this, gen AI uses deep-learning models called foundation models (FMs). FMs are pre-trained on massive datasets and the algorithms they support are adaptable to a wide variety of downstream tasks, including content generation. Gen AI can be trained, for example, to predict the next word in a string of words and can generalize that ability to multiple text-generation tasks, such as writing articles, jokes, or code.

In contrast, “traditional” AI is trained on a single task with human supervision, using data specific to that task; it can be fine-tuned to reach high precision, but must be retrained for each new use case. Thus gen AI represents an enormous step change in power, sophistication, and utility—and a fundamental shift in our relationship to artificial intelligence.

AI technology is evolving at pace. It is becoming increasingly easy and less costly to implement, while offering ever-accelerating complexity and speed that far exceeds human capacity. Our research suggests that a fifth of current sales-team functions could be automated. In addition, new frontiers are opening with the rise of gen AI (see sidebar “What is generative AI?”). Furthermore, venture capital investment in AI has grown 13-fold over the last ten years. 1 Nestor Maslej et al., “The AI Index 2023 annual report,” AI Index Steering Committee, Institute for Human-Centered AI, Stanford University, April 2023. This has led to an explosion of “usable” data (data that can be used to formulate insights and suggest tangible actions) and accessible technology (such as increased computation power and open-source algorithms). Vast, and growing, amounts of data are now available for foundation-model training, and since 2012 there’s been a millionfold increase in computation capacity—doubling every three to four months. 2 Cliff Saran, “Stanford University finds that AI is outpacing Moore’s Law,” Computer Weekly, December 12, 2019; Risto Miikkulainen, “Creative AI through evolutionary computation: Principles and examples,” SN Computer Science, 2(3): 163, March 23, 2001.

Would you like to learn more about our Growth, Marketing & Sales Practice ?

What does gen ai mean for marketing and sales.

The rise of AI, and particularly gen AI, has potential for impact in three areas of marketing and sales: customer experience (CX), growth, and productivity.

For example, in CX, hyper-personalized content and offerings can be based on individual customer behavior, persona, and purchase history. Growth can be accelerated by leveraging AI to jumpstart top-line performance, giving sales teams the right analytics and customer insights to capture demand. Additionally, AI can boost sales effectiveness and performance by offloading and automating many mundane sales activities, freeing up capacity to spend more time with customers and prospective customers (while reducing cost to serve). In all these actions, personalization is key. AI coupled with company-specific data and context has enabled consumer insights at the most granular level, allowing B2C lever personalization through targeted marketing and sales offerings. Winning B2B companies go beyond account-based marketing and disproportionately use hyper-personalization in their outreach.

Bringing gen AI to life in the customer journey

There are many gen AI-specific use cases across the customer journey that can drive impact:

A gen AI sales use case: Dynamic audience targeting and segmentation

Gen AI can combine and analyze large amounts of data—such as demographic information, existing customer data, and market trends—to identify additional audience segments. Its algorithms then enable businesses to create personalized outreach content, easily and at scale.

Instead of spending time researching and creating audience segments, a marketer can leverage gen AI’s algorithms to identify segments with unique traits that may have been overlooked in existing customer data. Without knowing every detail about these segments, they can then ask a gen AI tool to draft automatically tailored content such as social media posts and landing pages. Once these have been refined and reviewed, the marketer and a sales leader can use gen AI to generate further content such as outreach templates for a matching sales campaign to reach prospects.

Embracing these techniques will require some openness to change. Organizations will require a comprehensive and aggregated dataset (such as an operational data lake that pulls in disparate sources) to train a gen AI model that can generate relevant audience segments and content. Once trained, the model can be operationalized within commercial systems to streamline workflows while being continuously refined by agile processes.

Lastly, the commercial organizational structure and operating model may need to be adjusted to ensure appropriate levels of risk oversight are in place and performance assessments align to the new ways of working.

At the top of the funnel, gen AI surpasses traditional AI-driven lead identification and targeting that uses web scraping and simple prioritization. Gen AI’s advanced algorithms can leverage patterns in customer and market data to segment and target relevant audiences . With these capabilities, businesses can efficiently analyze and identify high-quality leads, leading to more effective, tailored lead-activation campaigns (see sidebar “A gen AI sales use case: Dynamic audience targeting and segmentation”). Additionally, gen AI can optimize marketing strategies through A/B testing of various elements such as page layouts, ad copy, and SEO strategies, leveraging predictive analytics and data-driven recommendations to ensure maximum return on investment. These actions can continue through the customer journey, with gen AI automating lead-nurturing campaigns based on evolving customer patterns.
Within the sales motion, gen AI goes beyond initial sales-team engagement, providing continuous critical support throughout the entire sales process, from proposal to deal closure. With its ability to analyze customer behavior, preferences, and demographics, gen AI can generate personalized content and messaging. From the beginning, it can assist with hyper-personalized follow-up emails at scale and contextual chatbot support . It can also act as a 24/7 virtual assistant for each team member, offering tailored recommendations, reminders, and feedback, resulting in higher engagement and conversion rates. As the deal progresses, gen AI can provide real-time negotiation guidance and predictive insights based on comprehensive analysis of historical transaction data, customer behavior, and competitive pricing.
There are many gen AI use cases after the customer signs on the dotted line, including onboarding and retention. When a new customer joins, gen AI can provide a warm welcome with personalized training content , highlighting relevant best practices. A chatbot functionality can provide immediate answers to customer questions and enhance training materials for future customers. Gen AI can also offer sales leadership with real-time next-step recommendations and continuous churn modeling based on usage trends and customer behavior. Additionally, dynamic customer-journey mapping can be utilized to identify critical touchpoints and drive customer engagement.

This revolutionary approach is transforming the landscape of marketing and sales, driving greater effectiveness and customer engagement from the very start of the customer journey.

Winning tomorrow’s car buyers using artificial intelligence in marketing and sales

Commercial leaders are optimistic—and reaping benefits.

We asked a group of commercial leaders to provide their perspective on use cases and the role of gen AI in marketing and sales more broadly. Notably, we found cautious optimism across the board: respondents anticipated at least moderate impact from each use case we suggested. In particular, these players are most enthusiastic about use cases in the early stages of the customer journey lead identification, marketing optimization, and personalized outreach (Exhibit 1).

These top three use cases are all focused on prospecting and lead generation, where we’re witnessing significant early momentum. This comes as no surprise, considering the vast amount of data on prospective customers available for analysis and the historical challenge of personalizing initial marketing outreach at scale.

Various players are already deploying gen AI use cases, but this is undoubtedly only scratching the surface. Our research found that 90 percent of commercial leaders expect to utilize gen AI solutions “often” over the next two years (Exhibit 2).

Our research found that 90 percent of commercial leaders expect to utilize gen AI solutions “often” over the next two years.

Overall, the most effective companies are prioritizing and deploying advanced sales tech, building hybrid teams, and enabling hyper-personalization. And they’re maximizing their use of e-commerce and third-party marketplaces through analytics and AI. At successful companies, we’ve found:

There is a clearly defined AI vision and strategy.
More than 20 percent of digital budgets are invested in AI-related technologies.
Teams of data scientists are employed to run algorithms to inform rapid pricing strategy and optimize marketing and sales.
Strategists are looking to the future and outlining simple gen AI use cases.

Such trailblazers are already realizing the potential of gen AI to elevate their operations.

Our research indicates that players that invest in AI are seeing a revenue uplift of 3 to 15 percent and a sales ROI uplift of 10 to 20 percent.

Anticipating and mitigating risks in gen AI

While the business case for artificial intelligence is compelling, the rate of change in AI technology is astonishingly fast—and not without risk. When commercial leaders were asked about the greatest barriers limiting their organization’s adoption of AI technologies, internal and external risk were at the top of the list.

From IP infringement to data privacy and security, there are a number of issues that require thoughtful mitigation strategies and governance. The need for human oversight and accountability is clear, and may require the creation of new roles and capabilities to fully capitalize on opportunities ahead.

In addition to immediate actions, leaders can start thinking strategically about how to invest in AI commercial excellence for the long term. It will be important to identify which use cases are table stakes, and which can help you differentiate your position in the market. Then prioritize based on impact and feasibility.

The AI landscape is evolving very quickly, and winners today may not be viable tomorrow. Small start-ups are great innovators but may not be able to scale as needed or produce sales-focused use cases that meet your needs. Test and iterate with different players, but pursue partnerships strategically based on sales-related innovation, rate of innovation versus time to market, and ability to scale.

AI is changing at breakneck speed, and while it’s hard to predict the course of this revolutionary tech, it’s sure to play a key role in future marketing and sales. Leaders in the field are succeeding by turning to gen AI to maximize their operations, taking advantage of advances in personalization and internal sales excellence. How will your industry react?

Richelle Deveau is a partner in McKinsey’s Southern California office, Sonia Joseph Griffin is an associate partner in the Atlanta office, where Steve Reis is a senior partner.

The authors wish to thank Michelle Court-Reuss, Will Godfrey, Russell Groves, Maxim Lampe, Siamak Sarvari, and Zach Stone for their contributions to this article.

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Narrative structure of architecture by Mudita Mehta
10 Examples of Narrative Architecture around the world
10 Examples of Narrative Architecture around the world
New Books: Narrative Architecture
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10 Examples of Narrative Architecture around the world

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Case Study Narrative: Sun Slice House by Steven Holl
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Narrative Analysis (Qualitative Research Design)

COMMENTS

10 Examples of Narrative Architecture around the world
Using narrative as a template for the design process allows the foundation of a design to be deep and anchored in history creating a new lens through which to see storytelling in architecture and providing a dynamic spatial experience as a story to its user. 1. Jewish Museum, Berlin | Daniel Libeskind.
Understanding Architecture Case Studies
A case study (also known as a precedent study) is a means of finding relevant information about a project by examining another project with similar attributes. Case studies use real-world context to analyze, form, support, and convey different ideas and approaches in design. Simply put, architectural case studies are when you use existing ...
Architecture Narratives
An architectural narrative is the story that a building tells about its users and/or its patrons. A great example is the Institut du Monde Arabe (1987) in Paris by Architecture-Studio and Jean Nouvel, which combines elements of Western and Islamic architecture in order to illustrate and nurture the relationship between France and the Arab world.
Narrative Ways of Architecture Education: A Case Study
Abstract. Architecture education has social, interpersonal and ethical aspects. The role of narration and storytelling as a pedagogical tool in clarification of academic subjects has been argued by researchers. This study examines the narration method in architecture education compared to the lecturing method.
Narrative Architecture by Luke Kvasnicka
Narrative Architecture Where Old Meets New Luke Kvasnicka. ... and sequence with an understanding of both the historical and urban context of projects will offer a case study of narrative methods ...
Architectural Narrative Shapes Brain Activities Underlying Approach
The case study of the stadium also has some implications for buildings. First, the study indicates that buildings are not simply composed of concrete and steel anymore; a narrative is also an important element. ... Investigating a Narrative Architecture: Mackintosh's Glasgow School of Art. Huddersfield: University of Huddersfield. [Google ...
It's all about the narrative
In approximately 3 1/2 months I will be standing on a stage in Washington D.C. at the American Institute of Architects 2012 National Convention talking about blogging and social media for architects.
Narrative ways of architecture education: A case study
The role of narration and storytelling as a pedagogical tool in clarification of academic subjects has been argued by researchers. This study examines the narration method in architecture ...
narrative architecture case study
Modern Architecture Modern Cities Independent Study. ... and urban context of projects will offer a case study of narrative methods.... Case study 01: Analysis of the 12th International. Architecture Exhibition, Venice 2010. Case study 02: Interview series with a selection of architectural/... Architecture education has social, interpersonal ...
Narrative ways of architecture education: A case study
Narrative ways of architecture education: A case study. Architecture education has social, interpersonal and ethical aspects. The role of narration and storytelling as a pedagogical tool in clarification of academic subjects has been argued by researchers. This study examines the narration method in architecture education compared to the ...
Narrative Ways of Architecture Education: A Case Study
This study examines the narration method in architecture education compared to the lecturing method. Two groups of students, each consisting of 37 participants were selected.
Case Study and Narrative Inquiry as Merged Methodologies: A Critical
Case study and narrative inquiry as merged methodological frameworks can make a vital contribution that seeks to understand processes that may explain current realities within professions and broader society. This article offers an explanation of how a critical perspective on case study and narrative inquiry as an embedded methodology unearthed ...
The importance of 'narrative' in Architecture
The purpose of the narrative here is to ensure the smooth and easy functioning and completion of the project. The phases in construction hence hold great importance. How the work is carried out which also considers the social and cultural aspects, how it impacts the environment and the existing fabric of a place, and what it represents and is ...
Narrative Ways of Architecture Education: A Case Study
This paper explores the implementation of narrative learning in first-year architectural design studios and how it can amplify the making, communicating and reflecting aspects of the study. In particular, this paper examines the estrangement technique, which enables an objective view of a story and its telling.
3 A spatial narrative case of architecture
Abstract With the development of economic globalization and the information age, architecture has gradually become a kind of seal of politics, capital and culture, and is divorced from the spirit and life experience of the existing places in the region. Therefore, the field of architecture constantly seeks new research paradigm from the interdisciplinary perspective and reconsiders the ...
Frontiers
Each great architecture tells a story to make its space meaningful. What the stadium tells matters how the individual interacts with it. The potent influence of narrative in shaping our cognitive processing has been revealed and widely used. This influence, however, has not been the focus of researchers in stadium operations. The present study aimed at investigating the influence of the ...
Narrative Architecture A Designer's Story
Narrative Architecture explores the postmodern concept of narrative architecture from four perspectives: thinking, imagining, educating, and designing, to give you an original view on our postmodern era and architectural culture. Authors Sylvain De Bleeckere and Sebastiaan Gerards outline the ideas of thinkers, such as Edmund Husserl, Paul Ricoeur, Emmanuel Levinas, and Peter Sloterdijk, and ...
Narrative structure of architecture by Mudita Mehta
The study assumes architecture and narrative as one, instead of two individual fields that support each other. ... 2.3 The Case Studies This part of the study will take two houses and will analyse ...
Narrative Architecture
We will use a studio to help you deepen the program itself, experience the narrative architectural design method, let the architects, and use the director's approach to connect each of your spaces. From the source of the method, the concept of narrative, case analysis to the final stage of the expression of a complete logical chain. The ...
Architectural Narrative Shapes Brain Activities Underlying Approach
The potent influence of narrative in shaping our cognitive processing has been revealed and widely used. This influence, however, has not been the focus of researc … Each great architecture tells a story to make its space meaningful. What the stadium tells matters how the individual interacts with it. ... A Case Study of the Stadium Front ...
Marketing and sales soar with generative AI
The rise of AI, and particularly gen AI, has potential for impact in three areas of marketing and sales: customer experience (CX), growth, and productivity. For example, in CX, hyper-personalized content and offerings can be based on individual customer behavior, persona, and purchase history. Growth can be accelerated by leveraging AI to ...