Beyond Tension: On the Spatial and Emotional Agency of Angularity Part 1 Dissertation 2026 Ronit Sehgal Heriot Watt University - Dubai Campus | UAE Architectural discourse has long treated angularity as a language of tension, drama, or disruption, often associated with movements such as deconstructivism and radical modernism. However, this perspective risks narrowing angularity to a visual or symbolic condition, rather than recognizing its capacity to shape perception, orientation, and affect.Beyond Tension: On the Spatial and Emotional Agency of Angularity argues that angularity should not be reduced to an aesthetic bias, but understood as a spatial agent capable of constructing a wide phenomenological spectrum, from tension and disorientation to calm, reflection, and belonging.The research begins by tracing the historical and geometric origins of angular design before applying phenomenological frameworks drawn from Maurice Merleau-Ponty, Juhani Pallasmaa, and Christian Norberg-Schulz. Through an atlas of 40 angular architectural precedents, the research identifies recurring formal and experiential patterns before focusing on four case studies across different scales and typologies, examining how angular spaces are embodied, sensed, and remembered.By proposing ""angular phenomenology"" as an interpretive category, the dissertation links geometry to lived experience. It demonstrates how angular forms influence how users see, move through, and emotionally process architecture, offering architects a more nuanced lens for designing spaces that are experientially and emotionally rich. Tutor(s) Santiago Miret