How Ceiling Height Influences Our Emotions and Cognitive States
Ceiling height has a profound impact on our emotions and thought processes. Large, high-ceilinged spaces, like cathedrals, naturally draw our eyes upward, engaging the part of the brain associated with abstract thinking and even spiritual experiences. This effect is why high ceilings are beneficial in creative spaces, promoting openness and inspiration, while lower ceilings are often better suited to task-focused environments where concentration is key.
Most of us feel a sense of awe and perhaps even spirituality when we enter a big grand ornate great cathedral Why? Well the short answer is because they were designed to have this effect on us and there are a few ways in which it works.
According to science and our human physiology, our eyes tend to role upwards when we think of large spaces or distant times and upward roles of the eyes also accompany intense religious experiences, meditative states and hallucinatory states. So when we enter a building of vast scale, our eyes are drawn upwards towards the ceiling triggering the part of the brain responsible for abstract thought. This is also by the way why it is important to have high ceilings in creative offices and low ceilings in spaces more meant for task driven functions.
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