Thirty-six questions for a better Architecture

When we design spaces for people to live we often ask the same questions. Questions that make it easier to translate words into space. How many bedrooms do you require? How many bathrooms? All of these questions exist within the parameters of what we expect and understand to be possible for us. Money, laws, regulations and societal expectations can occupy the minds of those who will occupy the buildings that we design and dampen their ability to think about living in ways that may exist outside of what they assume to be possible. 

In 1997, a study was published in the Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, under the name of ‘The Experimental Generation of Interpersonal Closeness: A Procedure and some preliminary findings’. Today the study is better known as the 36 questions. The study investigated the process of building interpersonal closeness between individuals in a controlled setting. The researchers designed a set of 36 carefully crafted questions, progressively deepening in personal nature, to facilitate self-disclosure and mutual vulnerability. Participants, paired off and previously unacquainted, took turns asking and answering these questions. The results demonstrated that this structured approach significantly accelerated the development of emotional intimacy, fostering a sense of connection and closeness between individuals. We learned of this study and were inspired to question how it can be applied to our world of design. 

To experiment with how we talk to each other about our homes, we have begun compiling a list of thirty-six questions for better architecture. The number is arbitrary, but it gives us a starting point. These are questions that, among other things, focus on smells, routines, sensations and emotions. Often they are questions that don't have an immediate correlation to Architecture - these are usually our favourites and elicit the most interesting responses.

Below is an example of the type of questions that we have begun to ask, in place of conventional questions. We hope that, through speaking to architects from all corners of our globe, we can compile a catalogue with real-life examples of the ways that architects can ask better questions to get to better architecture.