The Sign and the Word. Exploring the Art of Emotional Communication

In the fall of 2024, the P.A.T.H.O.S. project (Perception of Architecture, Territory, and Heritage. Observation and Sensation) was launched as a collaboration between the University of Genoa and the University of Pisa. The research aims to explore the emotional relationship that inevitably develops between an individual and the territory, as well as the communication of this emotion through its representation. Drawings and texts –either in the form of keywords or extended expressions of the subject’s sensations and observations– created by students from the two universities were chosen as the means of communication. These drawings and words were presented to external observers through an online test and will undergo specific evaluations to identify the elements indicative of emotions, as well as to determine what worked most effectively in terms of graphic and verbal representation. The goal is to fill gaps in the psychological scientific literature, which lacks specific categories of words, emotions, and images related to the urban-architectural environment.