Buildings and neighbourhoods speak. They speak of egalitarianism or elitism, beauty or ugliness, acceptance or arrogance. The aim of UrbanGems is to identify the visual cues that are generally associated with concepts difficult to define such beauty, happiness, quietness, or even deprivation. The difficult task of deciding what makes a building beautiful, or what is sought after in a quiet location is outsourced to the users of this site using comparisons of pictures. With a comprehensive list of aesthetic virtues at hand, we would be more likely to systematically understand and re-create the environments we intuitively love.

"Bad architecture is in the end as much failure of psychology as of design" Alain de Botton, The Architecture of Happiness.

"Beauty is nothing other than the promise of happiness" Stendhal, On Love.

Team: Adam Barwell, Daniele Quercia, Jon Crowcroft

Contact: Daniele Quercia