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Elisa Mondin, Politecnico di Milano, ItalyAbstract
Can the naive and affective nature of childhood drawing become a visual research method within architectural criticism and design? In an era saturated with hyper-polished and AI-generated images, this paper investigates drawing as an affective and memory-based practice capable of opening intimate, non-normative readings of space. When adults are asked to draw, the response is often a refusal driven by judgement and technical insecurity. When drawing is instead reframed as an act of remembering rather than representing, and the adult is invited to adopt a child-like mode of engagement, it opens up a non-evaluative space grounded in affection, imagination, and embodied experience. Within the architectural field, such drawings enable alternative forms of spatial knowledge by visualising space as it was felt, rather than as it was measured or formally defined. The paper proposes “affective drawings” as a design-driven research method that operates between architectural thinking and artistic and philosophical inquiry. Through a series of case studies, this approach demonstrates how drawing can function simultaneously as a tool for listening and as a critical medium for engaging with the built environment. Therefore, the research introduces the concept of “Scales of Affection,” in which scale refers not only to physical dimensions – from the domestic interior to the urban realm – but also to varying degrees of experiential and emotional depth. By articulating these scales, the paper argues for an epistemology of emotional resonance capable of informing architectural interpretation and contributing to processes of reactivation and care of the built environment.
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Conference: IICAH2026Stream: Humanities - Philosophy, Ethics, Consciousness
This paper is part of the IICAH2026 Conference Proceedings (View)
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To cite this article:
Mondin E. (2026) Scales of Affection: Toward an Epistemology of Memory and an Emotional Reading of the Built Environment ISSN: 2432-4604 – The IAFOR International Conference on Arts & Humanities – Hawaii 2026 Official Conference Proceedings (pp. 35-50) https://doi.org/10.22492/issn.2432-4604.2026.4
To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.22492/issn.2432-4604.2026.4
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