How did YURU come to life? Neuroarchitecture in action.
YURU was our first built project where our design process was significantly influenced by neuroarchitectural research. However, implementing this approach is often easier said than done. So, how did we actually achieve it?
YURU - Before, Exterior
The rundown little corner with its original windows before it shapeshifted into YURU.
YURU’s location is unique: situated in downtown Budapest, an area teeming with tourists, yet tucked away on the second floor of a private courtyard building, it remains hidden from the bustling streets. This sense of seclusion aligned with the client’s vision of creating a 'sanctuary of sushi & sake,' enhancing the ‘otherwordly’ character we envisioned for the place.
YURU - Before, Interior
The space used to serve as an office, with the sterile characteristics of an average office space.
The design process began with in-depth discussions with the client to clearly articulate their vision for YURU. The following key aspirations emerged:
YURU aims to be a speakeasy restaurant and bar.
YURU aspires to serve as a sanctuary for sushi and sake.
YURU seeks to fuse Japanese and Danish cultural elements.
YURU wants to provide a memorable experience for groups.
While these goals were well-articulated from the client’s perspective, we needed to break them down further to ensure a shared understanding of what each would entail in practice. So, these meant:
YURU aims to be a speakeasy restaurant and bar.
The term 'speakeasy' originates from the prohibition era, referring to bars hidden from public view. Today, these spaces evoke a sense of wonder and surprise, offering a distinctly different world where guests can momentarily escape and leave the outer world behind.
YURU aspires to serve as a sanctuary for sushi and sake.
As a sanctuary, YURU needs to be a contemplative space, a serene environment where sushi needs to be in a central, highlighted position.
YURU seeks to fuse Japanese and Danish cultural elements.
Since the sushi chefs honed their craft in high-class Danish restaurants, the client wanted to express this cultural fusion in the design. Through our discussions, we articulated a vision that embraced the serenity and contemplation inherent in both Japanese Zen and Danish Hygge. Although these traditions originate from different worlds, they share common values that we distilled into a sense of peace and calm—creating a warm, welcoming environment.
YURU wants to provide a memorable experience for groups.
Neuroscientific research shows that the more salient an experience is, the more deeply it is embedded in our memory. To create a sense of salience, certain factors come into play: the elements of surprise and wonder, and the multisensory nature of an experience—meaning the more senses that are engaged, the more vivid and memorable it becomes. For an experience to be accomodating for groups, we need to shape the space ergonomically so groups are encouraged to share the experience. It could mean the shape of a counter, the size of a space, etc.
At the heart of human-centric architecture is the concept of multisensoriality, which involves designing from a human perspective. The question becomes: what should we feel when interacting with a space? What should we see, hear, touch, smell, or even taste?
While Aristotle identified five senses—sight, hearing, touch, smell, and taste—today, we recognize many others, such as proprioception (awareness of our body's position), chronoception (sense of time), thermoception (sense of temperature), and spatial orientation.
As architects working within a neuroarchitectural framework, we aim to meet the client's aspirations by designing in a way that engages these diverse senses, shaping a richer, more immersive experience. Now, let’s take a brief look at how we affected these senses at YURU.
SIGHT
We live in an ocular-centric world, where visuals dominate our perception. This emphasis on sight is the result of various social and technological developments, making visuals the primary and most immediate hook for any design. Even on this website, we rely solely on photos, which inevitably strip away the complex sensory environment we’ve created. While the disproportionate focus on vision at the expense of other senses is problematic, it’s true that our visual system processes the most information in the shortest time. Thus, catering to our sense of sight remains essential. So how did we do it?
Warm, earthy colors help to soothe and ground the senses.
While the meanings of colors can vary across cultures, certain principles of color psychology hold true universally. Muted tones like warm tans and grays evoke feelings of stability, comfort, and support, while also radiating a welcoming and friendly atmosphere.
Warm (2700K), hidden surface lighting is used to avoid glare and to enhance spatiality, tactility, and relaxation.
Light color temperature is deeply connected to our circadian rhythms, influencing how alert or relaxed we feel. In general, cooler light promotes alertness and focus, while warmer light creates a sense of relaxation and coziness. This response is rooted in our natural cycle with the sun—during the day, when sunlight has a cooler color temperature, it helps keep us awake and focused. As the sun sets and the light becomes warmer, it signals our bodies to produce melatonin, preparing us for sleep.
Use of symmetry and proportions drawn from the human body.
Our brains are wired to favor symmetry over asymmetry. Whether it’s a human face or a storefront entry, most of us have a strong, unconscious bias towards systems and patterns that follow an underlying guiding principle, with symmetry being one of the most fundamental. This preference reflects our innate tendency to seek order and balance in our surroundings.
Use of rich, curved geometry.
Curved surfaces reflect and distribute light in a more complex way than flat surfaces do, creating a visually more dynamic and engaging environment. The interplay of light and shadow on curved forms adds depth and softness, enhancing the perception of spatial fluidity. This rich geometry invites tactile interaction and encourages movement, making the space feel more organic and alive.
Organized, calm overall look.
By combining easily readable patterns, such as those found in the flooring or paravans, with homogeneous surfaces and a simple color and shape palette, the design achieves a total reduction of visual clutter. This balance fosters a sense of calm and harmony, allowing the space to feel both structured and soothing.
HEARING
To create a serene, contemplative space while also trying to accomodate as many people as possible, the question of acoustics is crucial. The sound of clinking glasses and cutlery can be nice in a restaurant, but the smaller the space, the less spatial clutter is around, the harder it is to keep acoustics under control. So how did we do it?
Curved surfaces
The use of freely curving surfaces contributes to a quieter atmosphere by reflecting sound waves at various points and angles, effectively minimizing echoes.
Soft materials all around
The wooden block flooring inside helps dampen footsteps, while its depth and irregularity also aid in diffusing echoes. Additionally, the textile used on the ceiling and the soft linoleum flooring on the terrace work together to absorb sound, softening the overall acoustic environment.
Use of symmetry and proportions drawn from the human body.
Our brains are wired to favor symmetry over asymmetry. Whether it’s a human face or a storefront entry, most of us have a strong, unconscious bias towards systems and patterns that follow an underlying guiding principle, with symmetry being one of the most fundamental. This preference reflects our innate tendency to seek order and balance in our surroundings.
Wooden screen
To effectively shield the space from the building’s interior and vice versa, we designed a detailed wooden screen that provides both visual and acoustic protection.
TOUCH
‘Vision reveals what touch already knows.’ Juhani Pallasmaa’s words emphasize the importance of tactility in a world increasingly focused on visual design alone. However, vision itself is multimodal, meaning that by seeing something, our other senses are also engaged, allowing us to ‘feel’ surfaces as if we were touching them. Neuroaesthetic studies further reveal that when we see objects making contact, our mirror neuron system is activated, creating the sensation that we, too, are being touched. These studies highlight the profound impact our environment has on our tactile system, suggesting that we should consider the materiality of a space even more thoughtfully than before in design. Armed with these insights, we did the following:
Round endges, curved surfaces.
Neuroaesthetic studies reveal that in small, enclosed environments like YURU, sharp edges can unconsciously trigger a sense of stress. Our bodies instinctively perceive these edges as more threatening and potentially harmful than rounded ones, heightening our stress response. The use of rounded edges in such a compact space helps promote relaxation and a sense of safety, evoking associations with protective, enclosing forms like a cave or the womb.
Tactile, handmade plaster walls
Using Kerakoll’s hand-applied wall plaster adds a human touch, revealing the movement and care infused into the surface. Paired with subtle surface lighting, it enhances tactility that can be sensed not only through touch but also visually, creating a richly layered, multisensory experience.
Wooden surfaces to interact with
We used solid wood for horizontal surfaces, ensuring guests touch only warm, natural materials that complement the inviting atmosphere conveyed throughout the space.
Soft textile ceiling installation
The ceiling on the terrace is covered by a wavy textile installation, that has hidden lighting in it, further emphasizing a soft quality.
Soft seating
We made custom upholstery for the bar stools to ensure guests can sit comfortably for extended periods.
SMELL
We all have memories triggered by specific scents, whether it’s a perfume that reminds us of a long-time partner or the smell of a room that transports us back to childhood. This connection exists because the brain processes olfactory information near the areas where we store memories, making smell just as vital to our experiences as any other sense. While YURU, as a restaurant and bar, naturally caters to the sense of smell, we also aimed to contribute our own unique touch:
Charred wood
Throughout YURU, we charred every piece of wood for three key reasons: first, to eliminate the need for artificial preservatives, as charring enhances the wood's natural resistance; second, to achieve a distinctive black color that harmonizes with the warm tones of the environment; and most importantly, to create a lingering smoky aroma that permeates the entire restaurant, enriching the overall sensory experience.
TASTE
This we left to the chefs of YURU.
AND A FEW MORE THINGS…
Custom, charred wood block flooring
The flooring in the space is a crucial element that conveys multiple meanings. It pays homage to the concrete block flooring commonly found throughout the area, including just outside YURU, subtly triggering memories and fostering a sense of belonging. Additionally, the flooring offers a light step, enhancing acoustic privacy and providing a more comfortable experience underfoot. Neuroscientific studies have shown that walking on uneven, modular surfaces can improve balance compared to predominantly flat, homogeneous floors. This subtle unevenness and modularity engage our inner sense of balance, encouraging greater awareness of our bodily sensations.
Curved counter
We designed a curved counter not merely to fit the space's 'curvy' aesthetics but to facilitate easier accommodation of groups. Traditional flat counters have guests sitting side by side, facing only the bartender, resembling birds perched on a wire. In contrast, our curved surface allows people to face one another, fostering better group dynamics and enhancing social interaction.
‘Skyframe’
The custom overhead lighting we designed draws inspiration from James Turrell’s Skyspace works, aiming to create an infinite, boundless spatial experience. This design fosters a contemplative atmosphere that encourages guests to free their minds and engage more deeply with their surroundings. This effect is further enhanced by the curved geometry of the walls leading up to the ceiling, creating an optical illusion that draws people into a sense of infinity.
The overall ‘organic’ quality
In this space, we embrace an organic aesthetic reminiscent of nature, characterized by seemingly random curving geometries that, while seemingly playful and ad hoc, are grounded in discernible rules and guiding principles. This balance creates a sense of spontaneity while maintaining cohesion throughout the design.
Overall, we believe that by prioritizing sensory and emotional experiences both conceptually and methodically in the design process, we can create spaces that resonate more profoundly with our spatial experiences. YURU is the first of what we hope will be many architectural spaces by Noumen Studio that exemplify this approach, resulting in not only a more engaging, but also a healthier built environment.