Atmospheres. A Contribution of Design to Understand How They Appear

Abstract

This paper investigates how images can evoke and represent atmospheres, moving beyond traditional aesthetic concerns with beauty in art to consider perception, experience, and environmental interaction in a world which is mostly designed. Drawing on contemporary philosophy, particularly the work of Böhme and Seel, it frames atmospheres as phenomena arising between a be holder and their environment, experienced individually and shared intersubjectively. Through a practice-led image research methodology, the study analyses series of experimental image variations – ranging from photorealistic 3D renderings of a scene to highly abstracted compositions – to examine how visual elements such as composition, color, light, perspective, and materiality contribute to atmospheric effects. The findings highlight the capacity of aesthetic practice to make implicit sensory knowledge explicit, offering a deeper understanding of how images shape emotional and perceptual experiences.