Mindful architecture is poised to foster sustainable behavior and simultaneously mitigate the physical and mental health challenges arising from the impacts of global warming. Previous studies demonstrate that a substantial educational gap persists between architecture and mindfulness. However, recent advancements in text-to-image AI have begun to play a significant role in generating conceptual architectural imagery, enabling architects to articulate their ideas better. This study employs DALL-E, Midjourney, and Stable Diffusion—popular tools in the field—to generate imagery of mindful architecture. Subsequently, the architects decoded the architectural characteristics in the images into words. These words were then analyzed using natural language processing techniques, including Word Cloud Generation, Word Frequency Analysis, and Topic Modeling Analysis. Research findings conclude that mindful architecture from text-to-image AI perspectives consistently features structured lines with sharp edges, prioritizes openness with indoor–outdoor spaces, employs both horizontal and vertical movement, utilizes natural lighting and earth-tone colors, incorporates wood, stone, and glass elements, and emphasizes views of serene green spaces—creating environments characterized by gentle natural sounds and calm atmospheric qualities. DALL-E is the text-to-image AI that provides the most detailed representation of mindful architecture.

Green mindfulness seems to play an important role in promoting sustainability in architecture, but discrete areas of knowledge are still widely unknown. This study aimed to explore the publications that exist on the nexus between green mindfulness and architecture, and to find the architectural features that tend to foster green mindfulness. The study conducted a systematic literature review by searching publications from databases including Scopus, Google Scholar, and Thai Journals Online in September 2022. Five authors—one architectural researcher, two architectural professors, and two architects—independently reviewed the full-length articles to confirm their accuracy and objectivity. Eight articles were selected for examination by descriptive analysis showing the publication year, source, and citations of the articles. Thematic analysis was used to find the characteristics of the architectural atmosphere with the potential for fostering green mindfulness. Finally, only one study was found that was truly concerned with architecture and green mindfulness. This publication showed that mass and volume are associated with biophilic design, fascination with biophilic design, and affiliation with biophilic design. Material and object refer to natural material; light is in reference to natural light; and landscape and viewpoint suggest plants, greenery, and natural views, while details regarding color and sound were not explored.

Biophilic design is an architectural concept that bridges the gap between modern buildings and the innate human longing for nature. In addition, it promotes physical and mental well-being while aligning with several Sustainable Development Goals. Recent research highlights that the architectural language used to describe the attributes of biophilic architecture remains unclear. Previous research has shown that text-to-image AI enhances architects’ ability to articulate their ideas more effectively. Therefore, this study aims to address the following research question: What are the architectural languages of biophilic design after architects use text-to-image AI? The initial step involves generating images of biophilic architecture by using three popular text-to-image AI tools: DALL-E 3, MidJourney, and Stable Diffusion. The 30 selected images were used to help architects develop the architectural language to describe the characteristics of biophilic design across 10 categories: Form, Space, Movement, Light, Color, Material, Object, View, Sound, and Weather. The terms obtained were analyzed using natural language processing (NLP) techniques, including word cloud analysis, frequency analysis, and topic modeling. The results indicate that the architectural language of biophilic design exhibits greater detail and clarity after architects utilize text-to-image AI. Nevertheless, in some instances, the language used to describe biophilic design is also constrained by the images generated by the text-to-image AI that the architects observe.

Mindfulness is a psychological construct that enhances sustainable behaviors, environmental behavior, environmental consumption, mindful consumption, and water and energy sustainable consumption. The state of mindfulness can be affected by the determinator of the physical environment as architecture via the architectural atmosphere. The previous studies show that the discrete areas of knowledge between architecture and mindfulness are still widely unknown. However, image-centered social media platforms such as Instagram seem to be able to provide big data for studying people’s perceptions of architecture. Thus, this study aims to describe the concept design and characteristics of architectural atmosphere in architecture images tagged mindfulness posted to Instagram. A coding framework developed from a previous systematic literature review was conducted for this content analysis. A total of 354 architectural images were screened, coded, and analyzed by five architects. The results highlight that the Japanese traditional architecture (59.20%) looks to be the most architectural atmosphere concept that influences mindfulness, following by Biophilic Design (33.05%), and Buddhist contemplative space (20.06%). In addition, it was found that the most common architectural atmosphere characteristic fostering mindfulness performed calm space (73.58%), focus object (54.45%), concrete material (85.71%), hue color (78.17%), hard light and shadow (78.98%), and view with a tree (60.11%).

Attention is a pivotal component and a central vehicle of mindfulness, a psychological factor improving mental health. Despite architecture’s potential to encourage attention and mindfulness, there is still a research gap. This study aimed to investigate architectural design strategies that promotes attention in order to foster mindfulness. The research was carried out in three primary stages. The first step entailed conducting a systematic review by searching publications related to architecture that promotes attention from Scopus in February 2024. After considering the suitability and accessibility, 32 articles were included. No studies were found to have investigated the field of enhancing mindfulness. The second step utilized content analysis to decode the selected articles using a framework developed from literature reviews. All three coders decoded the data independently, allowing the main researcher to compile it into the final dataset. Finally, the data underwent Python meta-analysis for word frequency and association. The result revealed certain qualities that help achieve attention through architecture. The architectural atmosphere is most effective when it features natural forms and spaces that evoke a sense of enclosure. The lighting should emphasize natural light and uniformity, whereas the sound designs primarily concern acoustics, ambient, and noises, with controlled weather emphasizing air aspects. The building should utilize natural materials and incorporate object elements; the facade and entrance are particularly crucial components. Moreover, the colors of brick and green and views encompassing gardens and vegetation are among the qualities mentioned. Based on the analysis, the material, view, and color features were most congruent with the biophilic design concept. All these factors are expected to foster mindfulness, thereby improving mental health.

The climate change crisis is negatively impacting the mental health of people worldwide. Attention is a pivotal pathway to healing ourselves and the world, as it is a sensory process that enhances mental health and promotes sustainable behavior. Despite architecture’s potential to captivate all six human senses immediately, there is still a significant gap in research. Thus, this study aimed to identify architectural features that stimulate attention through the six human senses: visual, touch, auditory, olfaction, taste, and emotion. This review article was conducted by searching data from Scopus in February 2024, identifying 4844 related publications. After data screening following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines, 32 relevant and accessible research works were identified. Finally, data were extracted from the selected articles and analyzed using thematic analysis to explore their relevance to all six senses. The results reveal that the architectural features predominantly eliciting attention are mainly related to visual sensory stimuli. Closely following are the architectural features perceived through the emotional sense. The architecture that promotes attention is minimally associated with touch, auditory, and olfaction senses. Lastly, no architectural features were found to influence attention perceived through the sense of taste. Nevertheless, this study merely synthesizes data from previous research studies. Future research endeavors should validate this study’s findings for broader implications empirically.