도시화 환경에서 스트레스 이완을 지향하는 건축 기하 조형 특성에 관한 연구 = A Study on Architectural Geometric Form Characteristics Oriented Toward Stress Relaxation in Urbanized Environments

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

(Background and Purpose) The process of urbanization has rapidly transformed the density, scale, and complexity of the built environment, while progressively reframing urban stress as a chronic and cumulative stress background formed under conditions of long-term, multi-source stimulus exposure. Within this context, architectural geometric form no longer functions merely as a neutral visual backdrop, but instead operates as a high-frequency and long-term environmental stimulus in everyday urban life, and can be understood as a formal structural variable within the urban stress context. However, systematic discussions of architectural geometric form remain relatively limited in existing urban stress research. Accordingly, this study aims to establish an explanatory framework linking urban stress and architectural geometric form, and to clarify the roles and mechanisms through which building form characteristics participate in the formation and relaxation of urban stress. (Method) This study examines the role of architectural geometric form within the context of everyday urban visual exposure. A literature-based analysis is first conducted to clarify key concepts related to urban stress and architectural geometric form and to synthesize existing typological discussions. An interdisciplinary analytical approach is then adopted, integrating findings from evolutionary psychology and neuroscience to theoretically consolidate stress-related formal characteristics. Finally, using relaxation-oriented processes associated with parasympathetic nervous system(PSNS) activation as a guiding reference, the identified mechanisms are translated into operational geometric form principles. (Results) Based on a systematic review of prior studies, the research categorizes architectural geometric form characteristics associated with urban stress into two primary groups. The first group corresponds to perceptual insecurity–related stress triggered by threat–safety judgments, and is primarily associated with formal cues such as contour sharpness and massing pressure that are readily perceived as threatening or oppressive. The second group corresponds to cognitive load–related stress arising from increased external information processing costs, and includes morphological organizational features such as excessive repetition, organizational discontinuity, and unpredictability that elevate the difficulty of environmental interpretation, identification, and anticipation. These geometric characteristics demonstrate stable associations with heightened stress experiences under conditions of long-term visual exposure. (Conclusions) Grounded in stress response mechanisms and theories of visual processing, this study derives a set of geometric form principles oriented toward stress relaxation and organizes them into a design-referential framework. These principles include the reduction of threat-related formal cues, minimization of broken lines and abrupt directional changes, control of boundary noise and unpredictability, enhancement of formal integrability through unified organizational rules, alleviation of massing pressure through segmentation, setbacks, and hierarchical articulation, and the maintenance of‘orderly variation’in the regulation of complexity. The study theoretically suggests that such geometric strategies can facilitate the attenuation of stress responses and support the formation of restorative states in urban environments. By providing a conceptual reference for architectural design practice, this research aims to assist designers in more clearly identifying potential stress risks and relaxation opportunities at the level of geometric form, thereby enabling informed formal optimization and strategic design translation.