Ecocritical Interpretation of Natural and Virtual Elements in the Residential Environment. Nature in Dwelling Spaces and its Simulacra

Ecocriticism, in other words, ecological criticism, is a research direction grounded in contemporary literature, humanities, and cultural studies. The scope of its application remains difficult to define because of its changing nature, inherent to young and dynamically developing branches of science. It is unambiguous that ecocriticism focuses on the issue of nature and in particular, the definition and evaluation of human relations with the environment in works of art and others dealing with the above subject matter [7]. Architecture, understood as the transformation of space to meet human needs, is in its essence an ecocritical concept that involves redefining and reorganizing the existing state of the relationship between humans and their environment [8]. Whereas literature, painting, theatre, cinema, or music merely perform the issue of relations between nature and the represented by human culture, thus forming the sensitivity of the audience, architecture in the most practical dimensions constitutes a determinant and physical emanation of the actual state of these interactions. Considering the above remark, the application of ecocritical perspective in the analysis of architecture becomes a promising and potentially developing, one could say, natural direction of spatial structures research. The adopted basis for analysis corresponds with the assumptions of James Gibson’s ecological theory of perception founded on the thesis that it is impossible to describe the environment without taking into account the presence of the subject and its cognitive capabilities [9], which remain dependent on cultural factors [10]. Referring to the definition by Marek Budzyński, who defines architecture as the transformation of space for the persistence of life, in the case of ecocritical analyses all living beings become the subject of studies [11]. The biological world functions in physical space establishing interdependencies – it shapes architecture and is simultaneously shaped by it [12]. It is necessary to emphasize that focused on mutual interaction ecological criticism is a far broader concept than the explicit concept of green architecture, also known as sustainable architecture, whose main goals are responsible resource and energy management and environmentally minimizing life cycle design of buildings. While the idea of ecological architecture is to minimize the impacts of buildings on the ecosystem, ecological criticism undertakes to evaluate the interactions of a building, its environment, its users, and all biological life without assuming that these interactions are adverse or undesirable [7]. A space designed from an ecocritical perspective can serve as a mediator between all the living organisms that inhabit it [13], each of which, in order to survive, requires access to natural resources: air, sun, and water.

Architecture shapes physical reality cognized through the senses by arranging a certain form of relations between the elements of nature and culture. Architectural styles and particular buildings representing consecutive periods favour selected senses or attempt to affect them as comprehensively as possible [15]. A significant field of civilization’s development is the improvement of forms of space representation as a cognitive medium, the purpose of which is to share with others the experience of space that they cannot experience themselves, spaces that are yet being designed or do not exist [16]. The possibilities of representing the experience of space through conventional methods have been multiplied in recent decades by the development of digital technologies enabling the creation and, perhaps most importantly, the exploration of three-dimensional virtual reality [17]. The transmission of information using IT technology relies on all previously known methods of representation and simultaneously superimposed virtual spaces. Appropriate equipment (VR goggles, vests emitting vibrations, headphones) enables atavistic and immersive exploration of virtual space, which also contributes to supporting design processes [18]. While the process of improving the representation of space proceeded at an accelerated pace, a separate cognitive medium emerged, the cybernetic world with its own possibilities of development [1]. On the ideological level, virtual reality is a known concept, we can look for its similarities to the space of imagination, and meanings existing in the collective consciousness. In culture, there exist, although not function, buildings, places and even whole lands and worlds created in literature or film, known to wide groups of readers or viewers [19]. If the aim of representation is to create an illusion that is the more perfect the more completely it imitates sensory experience, providing the recipient with an increasingly full spectrum of stimuli, the aim of simulacra is to create an illusion that has no reflection in reality [14]. Virtual space as a parallel reality provides an exemplary manifestation of simulacra, which through a process of distancing representation from reality established a new reality, in this case, multiple, simultaneous realities. The indeterminacy of virtual realities stands in opposition to the stable architectural space that Christian Norberg-Schulz wrote about [20].

In the case of the virtual environment, the traditional order of architecture: idea -> representation -> realization is disturbed. In a virtual world, representation is equal to realization. The consequences for architecture of the above state of matter are as follows:

Virtual reality can to some extent satisfy human spatial needs,

The consequences of further development of virtual reality are difficult to predict; it is possible that the analogous terms that have emerged for the development of robotic technologies will operate in relation to three-dimensional realities (e.g. Uncanny Valley). The above topics are an inspiration for artists who speculate on how we will function if the boundaries between real and virtual realities become blurred, such as the Matrix series of films directed by Lilly and Lena Wachowski or the Black Mirror series produced by Charlie Brooker. Conjectures about the impact of cyberspace on physical reality remain in the realm of speculation and science fiction, which are rarely as accurate as those of William Gibson [21].

In 2021 a project of a dormitory for the University of California in Santa Barbara called Munger Hall has been published, the realization of which is to be supported with the sum of 200 million dollars by Charlie Munger, an American investor, and a billionaire. The controversial concept intended to provide living space for 4.5 thousand students assumes that 94% of them will have no windows in their rooms and thus no access to sunlight. A substitute for a real window will be artificial light screens with controllable brightness. Similar solutions are already applied on Disney Cruises’ cruise ships [29], which inspired the initiators of the project to use technology that allows them to preserve the enormous volume of the building without having to enlarge the building area or increase the number of floors. The lack of windows is supposed to be acceptable with adequate ventilation and the project, according to its founder, is an improved version of “Unité d'Habitation” – Le Corbusier’s Marseilles Unit, whose author had the ambition to create not buildings but machines to live in [29, 30].

The preliminary design depicts an eleven-story, 1.68 million ft² building (approximately 156,077.1 m²) containing two service floors and nine repetitive residential floors divided into eight “houses” containing eight “apartments” of eight single rooms measuring 10×7 ft² (3.05 × 2.13 m 6.5 m²). Using a completely repeatable pattern, this would result in 4,608 sleeping rooms, of which a maximum of 288 would be located at the outer edge of the building with opportunities for natural light (this is 6.25% of all bedrooms). In terms of “apartments”, 144 out of a total of 576 (16 out of 64 within each story) which is exactly a quarter would have access to sunlight. This means that 864 further individual bedrooms will occur within units that will be able to include windows in the following room. The remaining 3,456 individual rooms, accessible from the 432 common areas of the apartments, will not have access to conventional windows, which is exactly 75% of the total building.

The argument for the proposed solution is to reinforce pro-social behaviour among dormitory residents [31]. Compact and windowless bedroom spaces are supposed to encourage spending time in common spaces that mobilize creative work and collective development. In this scope, the concept is to some degree in line with the idea of cohousing, however, there is a risk that the expected behaviour will not result from the positive aspects of common spaces but will be forced by the unfavourable conditions prevailing in private spaces. Immediately after the concept was presented to the public knowledge, there were concerns about the impact on the psychological condition of the residents and the potentially criminogenic nature of living spaces deprived not only of sunlight but also of views of the surrounding area. The repetitive layout of the subsequent house, suite, and room divisions while maintaining a deep tract results in a programmatic, consciously introduced, fundamental disparity between daylight access in different sectors of the building within the proposed solution.

The history of architecture has known examples of dwellings devoid of windows; however, these were exceptional cases of primitive constructions [23]. The typology of residential buildings evolves with the changes of civilization going through successive stages of development and regression. In the pre-industrial period, multi-family housing was rare, notable examples include Roman insulae, which were later replaced by tenement houses [23]. The rapid growth of multifamily housing occurred during the period of industrialization that coincided with the migration of the population toward cities that continues until today. Population growth forced the dynamic development of housing, which had to satisfy a vast demand for housing in a short period of time. The answer to this challenge was functionalism, which broke with tradition and interrupted the previous evolutionary continuum of architecture. Modernism brought a fresh perspective to the issue of architectural and urban planning, responding to the problem of crowded and disease-ridden, dense downtowns by proposing open spaces with freestanding, ventilated and sunny block buildings. The issue of access to light, air, and nature was a crucial factor shaping modern architecture.

Today, residential housing comes in a variety of forms that combine two basic spatial arrangements: compact and freestanding, also referred to as positive and negative [22, 32]. The above consists of quarter buildings (Figure 4: A), tower buildings (Figure 4: B) and block buildings (Figure 4: C). The diagram shows simplified residential housing typologies for 112 dwelling units, including an unprecedented solid block type (Figure 4: D), in which the parameter of access of sunlight to each unit is discarded [33].

Figure 1.

Figure 2.

Figure 3.

Figure 4.

Within the familiar living spaces, there are many elements imitating the natural environment, ventilation systems provide fresh air, potted plants are a substitute for greenery, and we welcome domestic animals to the interiors. The avant-garde element in the proposed dormitory design is the lack of natural daylight. As mentioned, the planned absence of windows in most sleeping quarters is to be compensated by screens that imitate sunlight, called “virtual” windows [31]. Originally it was assumed that the light would be emitted in a way that mimics the real daily cycle, but already at the current stage, there are indications that the costs of implementation of such a solution turn out to be too high and it was decided to implement individual manual control [29]. The initial solution would constitute a simulation, but the ability to adjust the light intensity flexibly, regardless of the external conditions would constitute a simulacrum. In rooms isolated from natural conditions, there would be the possibility of falsifying reality, imitating selected conditions without time limits. Similar mechanisms are used for commercial purposes in casinos, where internal atria imitate desert oases of life, and incessant lights allow for endless entertainment [34].

In addition to the ideological context of distorting reality and interfering with natural life processes, the manipulation of light in residential environments has serious health consequences. Biological rhythms are genetically determined, they regulate the organism's temporal homeostasis by synchronizing biochemical and behavioural processes with external environmental changes, primarily light intensity [35]. Diurnal changes in lighting are the dominant factor regulating circadian biological rhythms – the presence of artificial light at night affects nocturnal activity, and sleep disorders and results in the phenomenon of suppression of nocturnal melatonin synthesis, which is increasingly linked to higher cancer risk [36]. Thus, disturbances in the functioning of the circadian clock or its desynchronization with external conditions lead to severe health conditions, including those called civilization diseases, in addition to neoplasms, metabolic disorders, and depression [35, 36, 37]. The invention of fire, later of electricity, in addition to its many advantages, contributed to the phenomenon called light pollution, which, like other pollutants, is responsible for negative impacts on health. In addition to the consequences of exposure to artificial light at irregular periods of the day, the lack of windows in a residential building can also cause the problem of insufficient exposure to sunlight. Over the past century, changes in work patterns have displaced much of the activity from the outdoors to the indoors, resulting in a difference in the proportion of UFR exposure, leading to widespread vitamin D deficiency and public health problems [38]. After many years of cautioning against sun exposure due to the risk of skin cancer, current research is proving the numerous benefits of proper sunlight exposure, such as decreased mortality from all causes, reduced risk of certain internal cancers, cardiovascular diseases, metabolic diseases, respiratory diseases, certain autoimmune diseases and allergies, neurological states, myopia, and the risk of autism spectrum in offspring if vitamin D deficiency occurs during pregnancy [38]. The effect of sunlight on the proper functioning of the body is underestimated and its absence in student’s dorm rooms carries serious health risks.