A theoretical framework for contemplative neuroaesthetics is proposed, grounded in sensorimotor dynamics. The authors argue that the capacity of arts and architecture to induce contemplative phenomenological states has been largely overlooked. They operationalize how attunement to architecture can lead to such states, contrasting externally-induced methods with internally-induced ones. Architecture may spontaneously elicit contemplative states as built features naturally resonate with the sensorimotor system. Becoming sensible of this resonance creates an occasion for an externally-induced contemplative state. Neuroscientific studies of architecture are reviewed, brain regions involved in aesthetic contemplative responses are elaborated, and contributions to evidence-based design are pointed at.
Architecture, rather than being a passive backdrop or symbolic object, actively participates in human cognition. Drawing on Lambros Malafouris's Material Engagement Theory, this analysis argues that buildings function as macro-cognitive artifacts that shape thought and behavior. The study examines Ryue Nishizawa's Moriyama House, a fragmented Tokyo residence, as a case study. It traces five cognitive processes at work: thinking through materials, performing meaning through bodily engagement, co-constituting action between humans and nonhumans, materializing shared goals among heterogeneous actors, and the long-term reciprocal reshaping of inhabitants' habits and the building itself. The analysis uses architectural analysis and frame-by-frame deconstruction of the ethnographic film Moriyama-San to show how these processes create a cognitive habitat.