NEWS
Wrapping up a great journey
It’s never too late to remember good moments: In May 2025, we celebrated the end of our Urban Art and Green project. Team members Jan Mikuni and Margot Dehove, introduced by Helmut Leder, presented the most up-to-date findings from our project. Our extensive datasets supported the following key conclusions:
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Former literature shows that art in urban public spaces is underexplored BUT interest is growing.
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In a real-life encounter, Grätzloasen have the potential to be an attractive element and being in contact with them for a short amount of time positively impacts wellbeing (decrease of anxiety, stress and negative mood) but this effect was not specific to the artistic elements placed within the Grätzloase.
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In a laboratory setting, the results differ from those in the real-life encounter.
All in all, our initial findings are promising but they merely scratch the surface, highlighting the need for more investigations.
This scientific presentation was followed by a discussion moderated by Elisabeth Oberzaucher, offering attendees the opportunity to hear insights from Joerg Fingerhut, Matthew Pelowski and Mizan Rambhoros (see bios below) on urban aesthetics and the translation of scientific findings into practical applications. Our event ended with celebratory drinks and a last (rain-soaked but spirited) farewell tour of the Grätzloase.
The Urban Art and Green Team is very proud of what we have achieved. It has been a rewarding experience full of learning, collaboration, and creativity. Thanks to all our collaborators (from scientific colleagues, to master students, to our artist partners in BG98) and to the WWTF for funding this amazing project: Your contributions made all the difference.
PS: While this message may sound like a farewell, we still have a few final pieces to wrap up… So stay tuned for our upcoming papers!
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Photo credit: Helmut Leder and Naomi Patocka
Bios of the panellists of the Discussion:
1) Joerg Fingerhut: Philosopher and cognitive scientist at Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin. As the head of a Neurourbanism group, a key focus of his research is how city environments influence health and wellbeing.
2) Matthew Pelowski: Associate professor of Psychology at the University of Vienna and head of the ARTIS Lab, he investigates the potential of art to transform people and societies, including the impact of arts on health and wellbeing.
3) Mizan Rambhoros: Postdoctoral researcher at the University of Vienna's ARTIS Lab, specialising in architecture, geohumanities, and psychological aesthetics.
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Conference: Division 10 (Society for the Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, & the Arts) of the American Psychological Association (APA) – 2025 contributions
For this March, members of the Urban Art and Green team presented our work at the Div. 10’s Annual Research Conference, New Haven CT (USA).
In a session chaired by Jan Mikuni, Helmut Leder and her respectively presented the theoretical and the empirical parts of a talk about art in urban public spaces and experienced wellbeing.
Kirren Chana presented a consequent piece of work from our project: a scoping review of the literature on the urban elements that are considered for their aesthetics and wellbeing potentials.
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Looking forward to the new discussions and ideas this conference sparked.
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Photo credit: Helmut Leder
Thoughts about the future from the urban art and green team
Throughout the Winter Semester, the Vienna Cognitive Science Hub organized a series of talks centred on “Future Thinking”. During these talks, we wondered how our individual and collective cognitive processes should evolve to address the pressing challenges our world and societies face.
Elisabeth Oberzaucher and Helmut Leder animated the introduction lecture. Jan Mikuni concluded the series with a talk about the role of aesthetics in creating healthy cities of tomorrow.
Missed it? No worries, the recording of Jan’s talk (and some of the other talks from the “Future Thinking” series) is available here.
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Photo credit: Margot Dehove.
EVALabs - 20 years celebrations
(Symposium and Summer School)
Members of the Urban Art and Green project had the honour to be a part of the EVALabs – 20 years celebrations (weekend from 20 to 23 Sept, 2024).
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Helmut Leder led various discussions during the weekend, reflecting on the past and future of the field of Aesthetics.
Jan Mikuni inspired the young generation of researchers during the Summer School with a talk on career planning and development.
Margot Dehove co-hosted (with colleagues Kirren Chana and Tristan Barrière) a workshop on Eye-Tracking, sharing the EVALabs experience and starting discussions about the method among her peers.
Such an inspiring weekend !
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Photo credit: Anna Lena Knoll.
Celebrating the Grätzloase
Last May, our Grätzloase had some new visitors. Members of our funding agency WWTF had the chance to enjoy a little breakfast inside the Grätzloase, while celebrating the project's milestones since 2021.
What a way to start the day :)
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Photo credit: Helmut Leder.
Pint of Science
May 15 was all about Grätzloase and Science: Jan Mikuni presented our project at the Pint of Science festival.
More info here
Photo credit: Julie Murman and Thomas Karner.
Conference: International Association of Empirical Aesthetics (IAEA) 2024 contributions
From May 08 until 10, the IAEA conference took place in Palma, Mallorca. Margot Dehove presented a talk about the impact of our street interventions on well-being, attraction and aesthetic experience in a symposium about urban aesthetics moderated by Helmut Leder.
Want to know more about the IAEA conference? Check their webpage
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Photo credit: Alexandra Victoria Alvarez.
