Music, Arts and Culture Studies

http://www.kaupunginpuutarhurienseura.fi/kesaluentopaivat-kuopiossa-24-26-8-2016/

Kuviin perustuva luento tutki paratiisin konseptia eli kulttuurisesti jaettua ideaa, että ihmiselle ihanteelllinen ympäristö rakentuu harmoniasta luonnon kanssa.

This photo-based presentation at the conference of the Association of Municipal Green Area Managers studied the concept of paradise, the culturally shared notion about "the ideal environment": harmony with and immersion into nature.

Valo elämysten lähteenä - ulkovalaistuksen merkitys julkisissa ja yksityisissä tiloissa.  Miten valaistus ja elämykset vaikuttavat elämänlaatuun? Miten myös talvella voitaisiin rohkaista ulkoilemaan ja liikkumaan, valoa ja elämyksellisyyttä hyödyntäen? Mikä ylipäätään on valon ja elämysten yhteys?

Julkaistu Viherympäristö-lehdessä; marraskuu 2016.

Light as the source of meaningful experiences - this article examines the significance of outdoor lighting in public and private places. What is the connection between lighting and meaningful experiences and in what ways light affects subjective quality of life? How to encourage people to obtain outdoor experiences also in winter by utilising light design and new lighting ideas?

Published in November 2016 in Viherympäristö - magazine ("Urban Greenery"), a professional journal for urban greenery planners.

Miten Suomen ilmastossa voisi runsaammin ja vetovoimaisemmin käyttää kaupunki- ja puutarhasuunnittelun keinoja, jotta asukkaat ja matkailijat pystyisivät nauttimaan kaupunkiluonnosta ja sen moninaisista hyödyistä myös talvisin?

Julkaistu Viherympäristö-lehdessä 01/2017 (s.68-69): http://epaper.fi/read/3426/mQXVdXpe

How to use tools and strategies of urban greenery planning to ensure that residents and visitors are able to enjoy the urban greenery also in winter in the Arctic climate of Finland?

Published in Viherympäristö - magazine ("Urban Greenery") vol. 01/2017 pp. 68-69, a professional journal for urban greenery planners.

Millainen on ihanteellinen elinympäristö? Kysymystä ovat pohtineet monet ekspertit, ml. arkkitehdit, taiteilijat, filosofit ja biologit. Vastausta on haettu mm. savannilta kahden miljoonan vuoden takaa, ihmisten taidemausta ja ympäristömieltymyksistä, sekä eri heimoja ja kulttuureja tutkimalla. Kasvuympäristö vaikuttaa mieltymyksiin eikä "yksi koko sopii kaikille"-ympäristö vaikuta mahdolliselta, evoluutiopsykologien ehdotuksista huolimatta.

Julkaistu Viherympäristö-lehdessä 03/2017
(Viherrakentajien ammattilehti)

Miksi kaupunkisuunnittelu- tai viherammattilaisen tulisi olla perillä elämyksellisyydestä? Tutkimusten mukaan elämykset ovat olennainen osa onnellista, merkityksellisen ja sisällökkään tuntuista elämää. Psykologien mukaan ihmisillä on sisäsyntyinen tarve löytää elämästä mielekkyyttä, ja jos se puuttuu, puuttuu myös arjen hyvinvointi, pahimmillaan koko elämänhalu. Elämyksellisyys myös ylläpitää yhteisöllisyyttä, parantaen elämänlaatua. Kaupunkiympäristö vaikuttaa joka päivä niin positiivisten kuin negatiivistenkin elämysten syntyyn.

This multidisciplinary study enforces a suggested link between everyday aesthetic experiences and restoration. The studied phenomenon is staycation, a short-term holiday spent at home or at one's home region, to identify how people use a (culturally) familiar environment for everyday aesthetic enjoyment and how that influences restoration. This focus minimises the potential effect of long-distance travel, novelty and escapism to restoration. Staycation has not been studied before from the perspective of everyday aesthetics and restoration. I explore staycation through a lens of qualitative media analysis; history and empirical research of holiday-making; and theories in everyday aesthetics.

Matkailu on maailman nopeimmin kasvavia aloja. Suosituimpiin käyntikohteisiin maailmanlaajuisesti lukeutuvat luonnonpuistot, kaupunkipuistot ja kasvitieteelliset puutarhat; näin myös Suomessa. Keräsin vastauksia 308 ulkosuomalaiselta eli ulkomailla asuvalta tai asuneelta henkilöltä aiheesta: millaiseen ympäristöön hakeudut, kun haluat palautua stressistä tai matalasta mielialasta? Asettuvatko kaupunki ja luonto aina vastakkain – miten matkailu, kaupunkiolot ja luontoelämykset yhdistyvät?

Do humans have a natural habitat? If yes, is it the original habitat of early hominids or the most optimal environment for today's humans? Are these two the same thing and, if not, what does 'optimal habitat' mean? I examine the concept of the optimal habitat from four viewpoints: 1) paradise; 2) urban design based on environmental psychology; 3) favorite places; and 4) environment as an invitation for action.

I conclude that an optimal habitat is not a collection of more or less fixed elements but an environment that can be experienced as a beneficial feedback loop based on and responding to cognitive, emotional, aesthetic, and other needs. Different environments can prompt or hinder this experience of optimal habitat and consequently improve or diminish subjective well-being.

Research indicates that nature offers many physical and mental health benefits, including restoration - or recovery from mental fatigue. However, questions remain what exactly in one's environment is experienced as restorative and why. Bridging environmental aesthetics, environmental psychology and cultural studies, this study establishes a connection between landscape and mindscape as seen, for instance, in the ways in which and orderly environment is interpreted as an orderly state of mind and vice versa. Using data drawn from a qualitative survey targeting expatriate Finns, the article mobilises content analysis to interpret the results and concludes that a 'favourite place' is aesthetically appealing, enables actions that are experienced as restorative and is as much an interpretation of a space as a physical place.

This paper critiques a common research method, image-based studies, in assessing environmental preferences. The method is used, in particular, in the fields of environmental psychology, landscape studies, and health studies, here called empirical environmental preference studies or EEP studies. I argue that the established view in the EEP field that nature is inherently experienced as more aesthetically appealing and restorative than urban environments may be biased because of the image-based method. This paper presents a literature review of EEP studies, discussing them in a framework of environmental and everyday aesthetics. The conclusion is that EEP studies may strip cities of their physical, socio-cultural, and aesthetic layers; and comparing nature and cities as places of restoration may be unfruitful as our relationship with nature and urban environments is dissimilar.

Tulokset, kyselytutkimus 13.4-20.4.2020, 300 vastaajaa.
Kyselyn tavoite oli kartoittaa suomalaisten ulkoilu-ja vapaa-ajanviettotapojen muutoksia korona-poikkeusoloissa 16.3.2020 lähtien. Kysely toteutettiin kuukausi poikkeusolojen alun jälkeen. Vastauksista käy ilmi, että vaikka luonnossa liikkuminen on lisääntynyt, vastaajat kokivat voivansa hieman huonommin kuin ennen poikkeusoloja, vapaa-ajanvieton muutosten vuoksi. Kaupunkitilaan, harrastuksiin ja ihmisten pariin kaivataan takaisin.

This paper critiques a common research method, image-based studies, in assessing environmental references. The method is used, in particular, in the elds of environmental psychology, landscape studies, and health studies, here called empirical environmental preference studies or EEP studies. I argue that the established view in the EEP eld that nature is inherently experienced as more aesthetically appealing and restorative than urban environments may be biased because of the imagebased method. This paper presents a literature review of EEP studies, discussing them in a framework of environmental and everyday aesthetics. The conclusion is that EEP studies may strip cities of their physical, socio-cultural, and aesthetic layers; and comparing nature and cities as places of restoration may be unfruitful as our relationship with nature and urban environments is dissimilar.

This multidisciplinary study enforces a suggested link between everyday aesthetic experiences and restoration. The studied phenomenon is staycation, a short-term holiday spent at home or at one’s home region, to identify how people use a (culturally) familiar environment for everyday aesthetic enjoyment and how that influences restoration. This focus minimises the potential effect of long-distance travel, novelty and escapism to restoration. Staycation has not been studied before from the perspective of everyday aesthetics and restoration. I explore staycation through a lens of qualitative media analysis; history and empirical research of holiday-making; and theories in everyday aesthetics.

Do humans have a natural habitat? If yes, is it the original habitat of early hominids or the most optimal environment for today’s humans? Are these two the same thing and, if not, what does ‘optimal habitat’ mean? I examine the concept of the optimal habitat from four viewpoints: 1) paradise; 2) urban design based on environmental psychology; 3) favorite places; and 4) environment as an invitation for action. I conclude that an optimal habitat is not a collection of more or less fixed elements but an environment that can be experienced as a beneficial feedback loop based on and responding to cognitive, emotional, aesthetic, and other needs. Different environments can prompt or hinder this experience of optimal habitat and consequently improve or diminish subjective well-being.

Research indicates that nature offers many physical and mental health benefits, including restoration – or recovery from mental fatigue. However, questions remain about what exactly in one’s environment is experienced as restorative and why. Bridging environmental aesthetics, environmental psychology and cultural studies, this study establishes a connection between landscape and mindscape as seen, for instance, in the ways in which an orderly environment is interpreted as an orderly state of mind and vice versa. Using data drawn from a qualitative survey targeting expatriate Finns, the article mobilises content analysis to interpret the results and concludes that a ‘favourite place’ is aesthetically appealing, enables actions that are experienced as restorative and is as much an interpretation of a space as a physical place.

The uses and functions of game music in everyday life The premise of this article is the idea that games and their music do not only relate to playing, but are also part of people’s musical practices outside of the actual gameplay situation. However, so far very little research has been done on the meanings of game music outside of gaming. In this study, we aim for a broader understanding of people’s relationship with game music by examining how game music is used outside of the context of gaming. The empirical analysis of the article is based on two datasets collected in Finland. The primary material consists of written stories (N=183) about personally meaningful game music memories. In addition to this, we use survey data (N=785) concerning people’s activities with their favorite game music outside of the game. In the study, we investigated (1) how varied and common the activities of using game music are, (2) what different types of game music use can be discerned, and (3) what ps...

The perspective of conceptual metaphor on personal meaningfulness of game music The use of metaphors is prevalent when talking about music in everyday life as well as in more professional contexts. As such, the role of metaphors in describing and understanding music has been a topic for philosophical discussions and more recently also for empirical research. While most of the focus has traditionally been on the meaning of music, in this article we consider metaphors as related to the personal meaningfulness of music. More specifically, we investigate metaphoric expressions in personal narratives of fond game music memories, aiming to understand what the metaphors tell about the relationship between music and the listener. Following the theory of conceptual metaphor, we treat metaphors not as merely rhetorical figures of speech but as a pervasive feature of human meaning-making, that is, as related to the way we understand abstract things by conceptually mapping our understanding of ...