Social media : Third-person perceptions of architecture

Abstract

Perceptions of architecture vary depending on the reader. This study is based on an experiment involving social media. A provocative architectural photomontage is shared on Facebook without using the sponsored feature. Inputs, notably ‘Likes’ and ‘Comments’, received within 24 hours from posting were analysed. Unlike respondents who are involved in architecture, the general public is afraid of innovative design, departing from the prescriptive formal and informal norms, the comfort zone. The emphasis of the public is the utilitarian rather than the aesthetic dimension of architecture.