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Designing Courthouses
Designing Courthouses
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Designing courthouses
Designing courthouses.
In
P a recent study, psychologist Anne Maass investigated the effects of courthouse architecture
on
r the psychological well-being and cognitive processes of potential users. Specifically, she
compared two courthouses located in Padova, Italy: the old courthouse, located in a former
o
convent originally built in 1345, and the new courthouse, built in 1991 and designed by Gino
b
Valle, an internationally known architect. Although serving or having served the same
lpurpose, the two buildings have completely different stylesone is an old building with a
e
rather residential look, warm colors, large windows, and a large wooden door, the other a
m
massive, gray, semi-circular building, with narrow windows, and an entrance enclosed
between two huge walls.
When study participants were asked to imagine themselves accompanying a friend to the
courthouse, they reported greater discomfort and stress when anticipating a trial in the
modern building. However, contrary to predictions, this was true only when they were already
familiar with the two buildings. It is possible that photographs reduced the actual impact of
the architectural design, although this would contradict prior research by architect Gavin
Stamp showing that distortions due to photographic presentation have negligible effects on
preference. Another possibility for participants greater discomfort when imagining going to
the new courthouse is that those with prior experience may have been exposed to the
building from multiple angles, whereas unfamiliar participants received information only
about the buildings facade.
It is important to note that participants did not generally dislike the new building. From the
standpoint of general aesthetic distinctions such as beauty versus ugliness, no differences
emerged between the two buildings; if anything, the new building was seen by the
participants as slightly more attractive. The data suggest that participants responded more to
the intimidating nature of the building than to its beauty.
The most important result of Maasss research is that courthouse architecture was found to
affect the estimated likelihood of conviction. Participants were more pessimistic about the
trial outcome when they imagined entering the new building than when they imagined
entering the old one. (This occurred regardless of whether participants had any prior
familiarity with the respective buildings.) It remains unclear exactly which architectural
features are responsible for the observed shift in likelihood of conviction estimates. The
modern building differs on so many dimensions (size, color, shape, building materials, age,
and so on) from the old building that it is impossible to isolate their individual impact. Also, it
may be the interaction of features that creates the overall impression of the building as
intimidating.