The NMBU VR-Lab was featured in the German television science programme NANO on 3sat, broadcast on 11 March 2026, in the televised report “Sind Altbauten objektiv schöner?” The programme explored public responses to contemporary architecture and the renewed appeal of traditional building styles.
The televised report addressed a debate that has become increasingly visible through social media and image-based commentary, particularly the contrast between contemporary architecture and older built environments in discussions of beauty, atmosphere, and human experience. In this context, the inclusion of Ramzi Hassan and the VR-Lab was relevant because the report touched on broader questions of architectural perception, public preference, and visual interpretation, all of which relate to research also explored at the VR-Lab through immersive visualization methods.
This relevance is also linked to earlier research on architectural perception through immersive media, particularly the study by Mouratidis and Hassan (2020), which examined how contemporary and traditional architectural styles are perceived in virtual reality using 360-degree video. That publication was an important point of contact for the producer and relates directly to the program’s broader theme of how the public evaluates architectural form and how ideas of beauty and atmosphere shape such judgments.
The televised report also highlights an issue that is becoming increasingly important in both research and teaching. Architecture is no longer encountered only through direct physical experience or professional drawings. It is also encountered through renderings, comparative images, digital reconstructions, short-form media, and immersive simulations. These forms of representation influence expectation, judgment, and emotional response long before a building is completed. As a result, the study of architecture today must address not only what is designed, but also how it is communicated and how it is publicly received.
The inclusion of the VR-Lab in this televised report reflects the relevance of research that connects immersive technologies with architectural understanding and public perception. It also shows how academic work on representation and spatial experience can contribute to wider discussions on the built environment.
Link to the official programme page: https://www.3sat.de/wissen/nano. (German TV science programme NANO on 3sat, broadcast on 11 March 2026, segment “Sind Altbauten objektiv schöner?”) Note: Video availability may be restricted outside Germany, Austria, and Switzerland due to territorial and broadcasting rights.
Direct link to the video report: “Sind Altbauten objektiv schöner?”
Related study: Mouratidis, K., & Hassan, R. (2020). Contemporary versus traditional styles in architecture and public space: A virtual reality study with 360-degree videos. Cities, 97, 102499. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cities.2019.102499