By Nick Moss & Barbara Iddon

There is a lack of beauty and emotion in our built environment. The visual patterns in nature that instinctively satisfy us are being obliterated from our surroundings, which have become progressively monolithic and featureless. They are anti-nature, or put another way, anti-human. Our response to beauty, to the right things in the right place, is part of what makes life worth living. The power of architecture to inspire, move and delight has been under attack for many years, but emotion in architecture matters because it satisfies and encompasses the human condition and offers a glimpse into the transcendent. Emotion in architecture allow us to appreciate, aspire, and connect. When our natural capacities for aesthetic appreciation are quashed, instead of feeling inspired, we feel imprisoned. Instead of feeling uplifted, we feel depressed. Instead of feeling liberated, we feel oppressed. Instead of feeling connected, we feel isolated. Bad buildings silently rob us of energy, health and well-being. This is not about the lofty projects that academics and critics are so keen to discuss. It's about the buildings we see every day as we go about our business, the ones we live and work in: houses and shops, offices and cafes, schools and centres.