Arts

Contemporary architecture is undergoing a transformation from the modernist techno-functional paradigm towards practices that integrate technology with humanistic, cultural, and environmental values. Biophilia—understood as the innate human need for contact with nature—is becoming an important design category that supports health, well-being, and ecological awareness, yet it can also convey additional narratives. In this context, immersion plays a significant role: it is a process of deep engagement of the user with space, involving the senses, emotions, and imagination, while simultaneously fostering relationships between humans and their surroundings. The concept of immersiveness, originating in art theory and digital media studies, is now applied in architecture as a tool for creating spatial narratives and cultural experiences. Biophilic architecture employs immersive strategies to transform buildings into environments that support sensory, behavioural, and social practices. This article analyses selected examples of such projects (including the Rooftop Garden—Warsaw University Library, Musée du quai Branly, and apartment buildings Bosco Verticale) and proposes a Multi-criteria Method for Assessing Architectural Immersiveness (MMAAI). The findings indicate that the integration of nature, technology, and spatial narrative enables architecture to act as a mediator between humans and the environment, generating new qualities of spatial experience in the Anthropocene epoch.

CIE recommendations for architectural exterior illumination provide general guidelines for highlighting building forms, with emphasis on edges, curvature, and spatial layering. However, they do not explicitly address luminance contrast disposition—specifically, whether elements further from the viewer should appear brighter or if those closer should be more intensely lit. Inspiration for addressing this problem can be drawn from the principles of Renaissance and Baroque paintings, where techniques of working with light evolved from dramatic contrasts to more rational and balanced approaches, offering valuable models for contemporary illumination design. This study compares the principles of painting from that period with eye-tracking and survey-based methods to investigate whether the arrangement of luminance contrasts of illuminated building facades significantly influences viewers’ visual attention, aesthetic judgment, and perception of depth. The verification was conducted in two stages using three lighting variants of a selected architectural object. These variants differed in the luminance contrast distribution between surfaces closer to and farther from the observer, while maintaining a constant average luminance level across the entire façade of 10 cd/m². The first stage analysed visual reactions of 116 (out of 178) participants to luminance changes across the multi-segmented façade, presented in a darkened room on a luminance-calibrated display. The second stage involved a survey in which 358 participants were asked about their lighting preferences. Participants—including both design professionals and laypeople—exhibited consistent perceptions regarding how different lighting configurations affected their impression of the building. The results revealed that luminance disposition significantly influenced the perceived volume of the structure, particularly the sense of depth. Eye-tracking data also indicated a strong positive correlation between subjective aesthetic assessments and patterns of visual attention.

This article proposes a reading of A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001) as the spiritual swan song of Stanley Kubrick, even though it was completed posthumously by Steven Spielberg. Conceived and developed by Kubrick from the 1970s until the late 1990s, the film emerges as a profound meditation on life, death, and the persistence of memory—one that continues to resonate through another author’s hand. It stands as a singular case of authorial transmission, where Spielberg’s intervention operates less as completion than as curatorship: the act of listening to, translating, and preserving a vision projected beyond its creator’s lifetime. Beyond its production history, which includes Kubrick’s long collaboration with writer Ian Watson, the early story treatments, and Spielberg’s eventual reinterpretation of Kubrick’s design materials and narrative architecture, this essay advances a philosophical reflection on A.I. as a mediated testamentary work. Drawing on the thoughts of Paul Ricoeur, Jacques Derrida, and Maurice Blanchot, it examines how questions of authorship, memory, and narrative closure intersect with the film’s ontological and affective dimensions. Through these lenses, A.I. reveals itself as both an allegory of survival and a reflection on artistic legacy—suggesting that a swan song may endure beyond its maker, preserved through the curatorship and imagination of another.