The experiential and emotional dimension in the updated heritage knowledge after the Cultural and Affective Turns. Its transfer to the tangible characterization of architecture

Abstract

Knowledge of the environment through the integration of their experiential-emotional component and the rational components has been addressed since the last century by various disciplines. Endorsed from neuroscience, this integration is relevant in the updated conception of heritage: from the expert and 'scientific' assessment of the object, through the subjective experience of the tactile and traditional place, to the recent incorporation of the emotions in the interaction of community.

Focusing on architecture, and although its specificity of being physically in our space and time has caused this component to be addressed by disciplines dedicated to the environment, its ideological framework has never been revisited in terms of heritage. This article aims to show its approach from the disciplines dedicated to the environment, establishing a dialogue with the incursion of the experiential, emotional and affective within heritage valuation: the Cultural Turn of the sixties and the most recent Affective Turn approaches are contextualized in the UNESCO Conventions and Charters, revisiting the methodologies developed by both Turns from the heritage perspective. The prevalence in its current identification with intangible heritage, finally leads to the need for its incorporation into the characterization of tangible heritage and its methodological challenge.