Rational or Irrational?

The Museum of Emotions is not imagined as a permanent architectural structure, but rather a pavilion able to travel among cities and countries. Externally, the pavilion appears as an articulated tensile structure supported by light-weight timber modular structure. The first representing the complexity of emotions and the second the rational human nature in which emotions are kept “under control”.

ME wants to embody the character of the emotions which can be both rational and irrational, but nonetheless changeable. The organic and irregular fabric-covered tunnels lead to various levels of experience and the access is guaranteed via escalators that lead the visitors to the reception where they will be instructed on the experiential journey that awaits them.

A Place for Emotions

What would you expect to find inside a museum of emotions? 

Emotions originate in the most primitive part of the brain: the limbic system. They are innate, temporary and their main objective is to both warn and motivate humans. There are primary emotions such as joy, fear, surprise, sadness, disgust, and there are more complex emotions such as shame, guilt, remorse, envy, which emerge later in human development because of personal experiences in life.

How can all of these complex and personal emotional states be experienced in a museum?

The path is divided into several individual experiences during which the user is subjected to different stimuli for each of the five senses: sounds, colours, images, smells and touch.

The entire experience guides the visitor through emotions that such stimuli can trigger.For this reason, the visitor comes along the entire route continuously monitored through infrared cameras that allow, through the changes in body heat, to understand what emotion the visitors are feeling in reference to each stimulus.​​​​​​​

The Sensory Deprivation Experience

The final experience, in contrast with the sensory overstimulation that occurs in the previous steps, invites the visitors to immerse in a sensory deprivation tank, which through the total lack of stimuli aims to generate a moment of detachment and recollection. Also in these final steps the visitors are monitored and their subconscious reaction will be collected for scientific studies.

This project aims to raise awareness for the visitors of the museum allowing them to gain more emotional self-awareness but also to collect data for future scientific research.

Credits

Design Team: Serena Palmucci, Shiryu Kawamura, Gaia Cambri.

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