Building Barcodes: Measuring the multi-sensory dimension of architecture Part 2 Dissertation 2025 Lauren Cunningham Northumbria University Newcastle | UK This project challenges the dominance of vision in architectural design by proposing a new method of representation that reintroduces the sensory and embodied dimensions of space. Traditional tools—such as orthographic drawing and static photography—reinforce an ocularcentric bias in architecture, reducing space to fixed visual form. In response, this project introduces ‘building barcodes’: unfolding sequences of bars that visualise spatial pressure over time, mapping the sensory journey of a navigating body.By reinterpreting spatial syntax through this new method, the study analyses Baroque and Modernist churches to examine the hypothesised shift toward vision-dominated design. Drawing on Moretti’s theory of hollow space and von Meiss’ concept of radiance, the framework mathematically quantifies how architectural form influences sensory engagement, a topic which has previously been explored solely through descriptive means.The findings suggest that while vision remains dominant, Modernist churches foster more tactile and intimate forms of perception— challenging the notion that contemporary architecture has lost its sensory richness.Instead, it has shifted.Building Barcodes offers not only a new lens for visualising spatial experience but also a call to rebalance architectural representation—shifting from static form to embodied sequence, from image to experience. Tutor(s) Kyung Wook Seo