| Title |
Beyond Automated Urban Experience |
| Authors |
김민재(Kim, Min-Jae) ; 강병준(Kang, Byeong-Joon) |
| DOI |
https://doi.org/10.5659/JAIK.2026.42.8.189 |
| Keywords |
Mindful Urbanism; Urban Experience; Sensory Reactivation; Multi-sensory Design; Restorative Environments; Public Space |
| Abstract |
Contemporary cities are increasingly shaped by speed, efficiency, and information density, encouraging people to move through space
habitually rather than experience it attentively. As a result, urban experience often becomes automated, while sensory awareness and
perception of place fade into the background. In response, this study proposes Mindful Urbanism as a conceptual framework for urban design
that seeks to reactivate perception and cultivate awareness. The research combines an integrative review of scholarship on mindfulness,
environmental psychology, restorative environments, multisensory urban experience, and public space with an exploratory comparative analysis
of three case studies: Therme Vals, the High Line, and the Salk Institute. The findings suggest that Mindful Urbanism operates through a
three-stage mechanism of Automatic-Disruption-Awareness. Within this framework, reflective urban experience is understood not as a separate
stage but as an extended outcome that emerges when awareness is reinforced through dwelling, memory, and interpretation.The case analysis
identifies three key design strategies: multisensory layering, rhythm recalibration, and the organization of voids. The study argues that urban
design should move beyond simply accommodating behavior and instead function as an environmental practice that recalibrates attention,
embodies perception, and cultivates engagement with the present moment. Mindful Urbanism is therefore presented as a complementary
framework applicable to pedestrian networks, public spaces, infrastructure reuse, and architecture-landscape hybrid environments. |