It's not about flashy starchitect bling, high-tech tricks, minimalist sensory deprivation or narcissistic egos.

WSJ: Barnes Collection | Tod Williams | Billie Tsien | The New Barnes Shouldn't Work��But Does | By Ada Louise Huxtable

Due to the darkness, isolation and sensory deprivation, life becomes black and white in all senses.

BBC: Surviving the worst winter in the world

Some of it appears in the literature on sensory deprivation.

ECONOMIST: The transcendental effects of silence