Aalborg Universitet

Does views to nature and the design of spaces matter?

A pain stress experiment
Fich, Lars Brorson; Gimmler, Antje; Petrini, Laura; Jelic, Andrea; Djebbara, Ali Zakaria;
Jönsson, Peter
Published in:
Academy of neuroscience for Architecture

Publication date:
2018

Link to publication from Aalborg University

Citation for published version (APA):

Fich, L. B., Gimmler, A., Petrini, L., Jelic, A., Djebbara, A. Z., & Jönsson, P. (2018). Does views to nature and
the design of spaces matter? A pain stress experiment. In Academy of neuroscience for Architecture: Shared
Behavioral Outcomes (pp. 68-69).

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SHARED BEHAVIORAL OUTCOMES

SEPTEMBER 20-22, 2018

SALK INSTITUTE
 ACADEMY OF NEUROSCIENCE FOR ARCHITECTURE

Table of Contents

Steafano Andreani���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 10
Allen Sayegh
Urban Attractors, Physical Proximity and States of Mind: Measuring Dynamic Experiences
in Varying Typologies of the Built Environment

Kyuho Ahn������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 12
Theoretical Paradigm Adapted for School Design for Children with Autism Spectrum
Disorder

B. Akrami, S. Habibi���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 14
Applicable Biophilic Principles on Hospitals Retrofitting. The Case Study of Turkish Public
Hospitals

Michael Arbib, Tricia Ngoon, and Eric Janes���������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 16

From Neutral Space to Physical Space: Giving a “Brain” to a Building

Rafaela Paes De Andrade Arcoverde & Fernando Diniz Moreira����������������������������������������������� 18

Architecture, Light and Emotion: The Brennand Chapel by Paulo Mendes da Rocha, in
Recife, Brazil

Sally Augustin, Ph.D���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 20

Applying Neuroscience Research to Boost Creativity

Sarah d’Auriol������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 22
Re-Scripting Urban Interactions Through Architecture: Correlations of Brain Function and
the Built Environment

Meredith Banasiak, EDAC, Assoc. AIA.�������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 24

Mark Blaser, AIA, Kathleen Reeves, MS, LPC
Supporting Recovery Through Design: A Translational Application of the Neuroscience of
Eating Disorders to a Treatment Facility

Priscilla Bencke����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 26
Sandra Marlise Cescon de Moura, Rebeca Calheiros de Novais Plech, Yasmine Rosa
Creation of Neuro-Architecture Study Guide, Facing the Architect, With International
Application

Kevin Bennett, PhD���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 28

Personality and Location Decision Making: Mapping the Distribution of Big Five Personality
Traits Inside Built Designs

Andrew Brown������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������ 30
David van der Leer
Revisiting Behaviorism: New Approaches to Understanding City Life

- ii -
 ANFA 2018 CONFERENCE

William Browning�������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 32


Neuroscience for Biophilic Design

Richard Buday, FAIA�������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 34

Tom Baranowski, PhD
Behavior-aided Design: A Translational Approach to Persuasive Architecture

Yousef Bushehri����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 36
Through the Eyes of the User: Understanding Architectural Design for Users with Disabilities

Laura Cambra-Rufino, PhD �������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 38

José León Paniagua-Caparrós, PhD
Analyzing Users’ Experience of an Intensive Care Unit (ICU)

Elisabetta Canepa����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 40
Neurocosmos: The Emotional and Cognitive Correlates of Architectural Atmospheres

Kynthia Chamilothori������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 42
Perceived Interest And Heart Rate Response To Façade And Daylight Patterns In Virtual
Reality

Alex Coburn���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 44
Omid Kardan, Hiroki Kotabe, Michael C. Hout, Justin MacDonald, Gregor Hayn-Leichsenring, Marc G. Berman
Psychological Responses to Natural Patterns in Architecture

Jana Masset Collatz, Erin Cuevas, and Nancy Etcoff, PhD���������������������������������������������������������� 46

Architecture of Effortless Attention

Erica Costa.����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 48
Amanda Lee
Building Façades as Neurocognition Stimuli

Pierre Cutellic, Phd Fellow.���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 50

Amanda Lee
Implementation of Neurofeedback Paradigms to the Generation of Design &
Architectural Features

Zakaria Djebbara������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 52
Incentive Architecture: Neural Correlates of Spatial Affordances During Transition in
Architectural Settings

Arlene Ducao and Ilias Koen������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������ 54

Multimer: Human Signals for Improved Spatial Design

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 ACADEMY OF NEUROSCIENCE FOR ARCHITECTURE

Sara Ebrahem������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 56
Exploring the Phenomenological Perception of the Architectural Spatial Experience

Eve Edelstein��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 58
Diana Anderson, Thomas Grey, Desmond O’Neill
Clinicians for Design: A Convergence of Expertise to Enhance Cognition and Healthcare
Design

Semiha Ergan������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 58
Dafna Fisher-Gewirtzman
How does visibility in urban settings change human perception on urban design?

Martha Espinoza, Rui-Min Wang, Keiji Iramina�������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 62

Exploring Garden Design Composition and its Effect on Psychophysiological and
Behavioral Responses

Jonathan Essary��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 64
Giyoung Park, PhD, AIA, Upali Nanda, PhD, Jon Bailey
Sensory Design Lab: Studying the Brain and Building Within Real Life Settings

Jay Farbstein, PhD, FAIA, Melissa M. Farling, FAIA, LEEDap, ��������������������������������������������������������� 66

Richard E. Wener, PhD, Erin Persky, Associate AIA, CCHP, Eve A. Edelstein, PhD, EDAC, Associate AIA, F-AAA
Correctional Lighting is Bad for Your Health

Lars Brorson Fich��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 68

Does Views to Nature and the Design of Spacses Matter? A Pain Stress Experiment

Raechel French �������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 70

Shifting Teacher Practice in an Innovative Learning Environment

Rainer Gabriel������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 72
The Built Environment as Cultural Emotion Generator and External Brain

Arathy Gopal�������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 74
Aesthetics of Architecture and Vision – Perception and Processing

Mark Alan Hewitt, FAIA���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 76

Is Ornament Necessary? Answers from Brain Science

Andrea Jelic ��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 78

Lars Brorson Fich
Using the Embodied Language of Space To Develop Stress Assessment Tool For
Architectural Experience

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Johanna Jõekalda ���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 80

Shaping Space by Experience Data

Jain Jwon & Jyeon Kim ��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 82

Individuals’ Visual Attention to Interior Elements in the Audio-visual Context of Lived
Experiences

Yoko Kawai.���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 84
Blurring the Self/Space Boundary to Increase Mindfulness: Perspectives from Japanese
Architectural Philosophy, Neuroscience and Psychology

Esa Laaksonen������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������ 86
Neural Mirroring Architecture – Empathy and Atmosphere

Leteef A Lawal����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 88
Design Factors Related to Postpartum Environments: Preferences for Sense-Sensitive
Spaces

Casey M. Lindberg, PhD�������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 90

Gilligan, M.S
Wellbuilt for Wellbeing: Using sensors and surveys to explore the indoor environment and
health

Haonan Lu������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������ 92
Aging with Urbanism - Urban Design with Psychoanalytic Approach

Victoria Eugenia Soto Magan���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 94

Forrest Simon Webler and Marilyne Anderson
Transparency as an environmental factor that influences cognitive visuo-locomotive
experience in large-scale buildings

Joe Manganelli���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 96
Agents’ Cognition in the Smart City: Agent Architecture Assessment Framework

J. Susan Campbell Marano, M.A.I.D. and Judy Theodorson�������������������������������������������������������� 98

Nature is Restorative: A Model for a Therapeutic, Collaborative Learning Environment for
Teenagers that Incorporates Biophilia and Neuroscience Research to Encourage Learning
and Well- Being

Melissa Marsh, Daniel Davis, Rachel Montana, Sarah Wilen������������������������������������������������������ 100

Mind and Matter: Office Amenities and Design in the Wellness Era

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Pegah Mathur M.Sc., Traci Rose Rider Ph.D., Wayne Place Ph.D���������������������������������������������� 102
Experimental Design for Evaluating the Effect of Lighting Interventions on patients with
Alzheimer’s: A Review

Robin Mazumder, B.Sc, MSc. OT, and Colin Ellard������������������������������������������������������������������������ 104

The Space Between: An Exploration Into How Urban Environments Influence Affect and
Distance Perception

Elizabeth McNicholas, AIA, Matthew McNicholas, AIA��������������������������������������������������������������� 106

Legibility, Orientation and the Mantle of the ‘Other’

Alexandra Mesias and Bob Condia���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 108

Assessing Architecture Students’ In The Moment Creativity

Young-Hee Min, Ph.D. and Mi-Kyoung Ha, Ph.D�������������������������������������������������������������������������� 110

Color Contribution to Environmental Legibility, Relations of Objective Performance and
Subjective Perception in Wayfinding

Marianne Halblaub Miranda���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 112

Maria Ustinova, Thomas Tregel, Martin Knöll
“I spy with my little eye” A child-led Assessment of the School Built Environment

Ana Mirea����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 114

Childhood Memories and Their Influences for the Architect’s Cognition

Evandro Z. Monteiro, Cláudio Lima Ferreira, Rachel Zuanon, Sidney P. Bernardini����������������� 116
“Here and beyond”: Synergies between Gordon Cullen’s townscape qualities and
Environment / Behavior / Neuroscience Paradigm

Sabrina Nagel & Madlen Simon AIA���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 118

A New Shelter Typology Fostering Mutual Child/Animal Rehabilitation: The Neuroscientific
Connection

Aishwarya Narayana����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 120

Anirudh Gurumoorthy
Is there anybody out there? Anonymity and Aesthetic Emotions in Music and Architecture

David A. Navarrete�������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 122

Bill Witherspoon, Debajyoti Pati, PhD
Applied Cognitive Architecture: The Restorative Impact of Perceived Open Space
Jaroslav Nešetril & Tomáš Vlcek����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 124
Topological Anticipation of Modern Patterns and Visions in Baroque

Raymond Richard Neutra MD Dr.PH���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 126

Beyond Survival Through Design: Lessons from Evidence Based Medicine

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Winifred E. Newman, Ph.D�������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 128

Kinsuk Maitra, Ph.D., OTR/L, FAOTA, Sonit Bafna, Ph.D.
Home as Health Intervention

Dr. M Dana Oprisan������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 130

Shaping the Human Biosphere: A Systematic Review of Research on Visual Attributes of
the Built Environment and Their Applicability in Architectural Practice

Andrea de Paiva.����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 132

Emotions and Senses: The Relation between Architecture, Emotion and Perception

Stephanie Park.�������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 134

Impact of Face-to-Face Social Interaction on Performance in the Workplace

Evgeniia P. Petrashen���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 136

Strengthening the Physical and Mental Health of Children Means of Environmental Design:
The Method Of Forming A Therapeutic Landscape

Sarah Petrocelli, RA, LEED AP and Luke Petrocelli, RA����������������������������������������������������������������� 138

Cognitive Architecture: A Model for Professional Practice

Bianca Predoi, Ph.D������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 140

A Neuroaesthetics of Ionian Capital

Bianca Predoi, Ph.D������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 142

A Neuroaesthetics of Ionian Capital

Nadia Rachel����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 144

Effects and Influence of Entrance and Lobby Design on the Care of Mental Health Clients

Mahmoud Ragai Turk & Ahmad Amr Kamal�������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 146

A School Designed to Improve Student’s Brain Activity Using Integrated Neuro-
Architectural Design Aspects (QEEG-VR)

Robin R. Randall, AIA, LEED BD+C�������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 148

ALoren D. Johnson, Associate AIA, LEED BD+C, Pamela Harwood, AIA, Dr. Marcel André Robischon
How Buildings Teach Kindness: Social Emotional Learning Across Generations in
Neuroscience & Architecture

David Redemske������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������ 150

The Criminalization of the Mentally Ill within the US Prison System

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Ben Regnier �������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 152

Mark Thaler, Maddy Burke-Vigeland, Kimberly Hickson,
The Student Experience: The Future of the Academic Library

John Roth.����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 154

Cognitive Differentiation and Design Thinking – Louis Kahn as an Early Pioneer – Next
Directions

Alissa Rupp, FAIA, LEED BD+C��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 156

Contemplating Temporal Architecture: Toward better buildings and deeper
neuroscientific study of architectural experience and perception

Davide Ruzzon���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 158

Tuning Design

Lucille Z. Sadlon, Assoc. AIA, and Bob Condia, AIA�������������������������������������������������������������������� 160

The Biological Effects of Materials: Visual and Tactile Perception of Environment

Lennie Scott-Webber, PhD�������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 162

Intentional Designs of Classrooms Support Student Behavioral Changes in Academic
Engagement Experiences | SigniMcant Findings

Jennifer A. E. Shields, AIA���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 164

Tiff Thompson, PhD
Comparing Physiological Responses to Modes of Spatial Representation

Nastaran Shishegar, Ph.D. Student������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 166

Implementation of Neurofeedback Paradigms to the Generation of Design &
Architectural Features

John H. Shoaff���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 168

How Frank Lloyd Wright Used Fundamental Mechanisms of Perception to Generate His
Uniquely Powerful Aesthetics

Madlen Simon, AIA and Ming Hu, AIA������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 170

EEG Monitoring of User Experience in Controlled Virtual Environments: emerging
methodology to Inform Design Decision-making

Rengina-Theodora Skantzi & Dr. Oungrinis, Konstantinos-Alketas���������������������������������������������� 172

Architecture, Psychology and Cognitive Functions in Confined Spaces: Comfort,
Appropriation and Habitability

Matt Smith, Upali Nanda, Eduardo Macagno, Thom Greving��������������������������������������������������� 174

A Culture of Experimentation: From the Torrey Pines Living Lab to Emerging Neuro-
Architecture Lab

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 ANFA 2018 CONFERENCE

Gideon Spanjar Ph.D & Dr. Frank Suurenbroek.���������������������������������������������������������������������������� 176

(Eye)Tracking Users’ Patterns: Visual Experience and Choice Behavior in Transition Zones of
Amsterdam-Southeast

Larry Speck, FAIA, & Ricardo Muñoz, AIA�������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 178

Sandra Bond Chapman, PhD, Robert Doane, AIA, AHCA
Physical Environment and Brain Health

Jatheesh Srikantharajah ����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 180

Dr. Colin Ellard, Bob Condia
Place, Peripheral Vision, and Space Perception: A Pilot Study in VR

John Stewart, AIA, DBIA .���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 182

Designing Great Memories in the Hospitality and Entertainment Environments

Ann Sussman, AIA,���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 184

Justin B. Hollander, PhD, AICP and Hanna Carr
Using Biometric Software to Understand the Architectural Experience and Improve Design

Amelia Taylor-Hochberg����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 186

Emerging Methodologies of Neuro-Urbanism: Operationalizing Neuroscience in
Architecture and Urban Planning Practice

Judy Theodorson������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������ 188

Ambiance in Spiritual Spaces: Examination of Themes of Light & Nature in Student Design
Proposals

Signo Jesse Uddenberg, EIT LEED AP and Nate Goore��������������������������������������������������������������� 190

The Benefits of Thermal Sequence & Variation on Comfort

Deborah Wingler, Ms������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������ 192

More Than Feelings: Examining Child and Parent Affective Responses to the Ambulatory
Surgical Environment

Zhengbo Zou, PhD��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 194

Semiha Ergan, Hongting Chen
How Does Visibility in Urban Settings Change Human Perception of Urban Design?

Diane Zoura�������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 196

Suppressing the Visual Sense to Enhance the Experiences of Spiritual Spaces

Rachel Zuanon��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 198

Cultural Heritage and Memories of Places: Convergences and Divergences between
the Legacy of the ‘Physical’ Sites of Memory and the Memories of Places Evoked in the
Neural Architecture

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 ACADEMY OF NEUROSCIENCE FOR ARCHITECTURE

Urban Attractors, Physical Proximity and States of Mind: Measuring Dynamic

Experiences in Varying Typologies of the Built Environment
Stefano Andreani, Allen Sayegh
Harvard University Graduate School of Design
[email protected], [email protected]

ABSTRACT:

The presented research work attempts to offer new insights on the human responses to the public space through quantifying the impact of
varying qualities of the built environment to the individual experience [1]. The objective is to afford architects and urban designers with novel
metrics on spatial cognition and emotional states for supporting design intuition and better informing urban interventions [2]. The research
methodology includes the measuring of the spatial experience and psychological transactions of test subjects while navigating and exploring
the urban environment, leveraging the emerging technological opportunities of mobile wearable sensing tools. Two research experiments
are discussed, exploring the relationship between (a) urban attractors and user attention in walking tasks, and (b) urban proxemics and
psychological states through different modes of transportation.

The first study addresses the influence of specific elements in the urban environment on people’s mental maps of a place, reinterpreting
studies on city “imageability” [3,4]. Drawing correlations between visual perception and physical characteristics of the public space, this
experiment employs the use of sensor data from a wearable eye-tracker to analyze human attention patterns while exploring the actual
environment [5,6] ‒ as opposed to more conventional studies of screen images in indoor settings [7]. By mapping the eye gaze of 15 test
subjects as they walk along a familiar route in Cambridge, MA, this experiment correlates gaze duration/intensity and different qualities of
the viewed elements (pavement, entrances, corners, etc.). The juxtaposition of the eye-tracking results with a post-walk map-drawing task
also allows to make comparisons between the portion of existing information that is taken in through the eye and what is remembered or
processed into memory.

The second experiment investigates the emotional impact of varying typologies of the public space while navigating the environment
through four modes of transport: walking, cycling, driving, and riding the subway. This research draws on precursory Psychogeography studies
[8] and recent investigations on mobile cognitive measurements [9,10], as well as on proxemics theories that sets a hierarchy of physical
proximity ‒ from the body space, through the personal and social space, to the public space [11]. In the study, a test subject followed a
specific route in Boston travelling through three unique neighborhoods, each time using a different mode of transit. Proxemics was studied
with a set of proximity sensors directed at the four corners, whereas a wearable EEG brain scanner allowed to track brain activity [12]
throughout the experiment and against proximity. The analysis of the readings and spatial scenarios are reinterpreted for the creation of a
taxonomy of urban compositions that juxtaposes the spatial condition, proximity, and state of mind of the 99 cases observed.

Future studies will expand this lexicon of experimented urban situations, inviting for a critical engagement with the neuroscience towards a
deeper understanding of how the spatial morphology, the dynamic activities, and the subtle varying conditions of places affect people's
perception and behavior in urban contexts. This framework might eventually foster enhanced design methods in which the human
experience ‒ and even emotions ‒ are placed at the forefront of design decisions towards more engaging, pleasant, and responsive built
environments.

Fig. 1 Test subject wearing an eye tracker in the public space (left) and measurement of the test subject’s emotional states and proxemics
values through a mobile EEG scanner and proximity sensors (right).

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 ANFA 2018 CONFERENCE

Fig. 2 Analysis and visualization of proximity data and EEG readings in relation to varying typologies of urban environments and modes of
transport.

REFERENCES:
[1] Arbib, Michael. 2015. “Toward a Neuroscience of the Design Process.” In Mind in Architecture: Neuroscience, Embodiment, and the
Future of Design, edited by Sarah Robinson and Juhani Pallasmaa, 75–98. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

[2] Mallgrave, Harry Francis. 2015. “Embodiment and Enculturation: the Future of Architectural Design.” Frontiers in Psychology 6: 1398.

[3] Lynch, Kevin. 1960. The Image of the City. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

[4] Salesses, Philip, Katja Schechtner, and César A. Hidalgo. 2013. “The Collaborative Image of The City: Mapping the Inequality of Urban
Perception.” PLoS ONE 8 (7): e68400.

[5] Noland, Robert B., Marc D. Weiner, Dong Gao, Michael P. Cook, and Anton Nelessen. 2017. "Eye-tracking Technology, Visual Preference
Surveys, and Urban Design: Preliminary Evidence of an Effective Methodology." Journal of Urbanism: International Research on
Placemaking and Urban Sustainability 10 (1): 98-110.

[6] Wilhelm, Frank H., and Paul Grossman. 2010. "Emotions beyond the Laboratory: Theoretical Fundaments, Study Design, and Analytic
Strategies for Advanced Ambulatory Assessment." Biological Psychology 84 (3): 552-69.

[7] Sussman, Ann, and Janice Ward. 2016. "Planning for the Subconscious Using Eye Tracking and Other Biometric Tools for Better
Understand Ourselves." Planning 82 (6): 31-34.

[8] Sadler, Simon. 1998. The Situationist City. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

[9] Ma, Liang and Jennifer Dill. 2015. “Associations Between the Objective and Perceived Built Environment and Bicycling for
Transportation.” Journal of Transport & Health 2 (2): 248–255

[10] Mavros, P., Austwick, M. and Smith, Z. 2016. “Geo-EEG: Towards the Use of EEG in the Study of Urban Behaviour.” Applied Spatial
Analysis and Policy 9(2): 191–212.

[11] Hall, Edward T. 1966. The Hidden Dimension. Garden City: Doubleday.

[12] Touryan, Lance, Kerick, Ries, and Mcdowell. 2016. "Common EEG Features for Behavioral Estimation in Disparate, Real-world Tasks."
Biological Psychology 114: 93-107.

AUTHOR BIOS:
STEFANO ANDREANI is a licensed architectural engineer and educator interested in innovative and transformative design research methods
for the understanding and design of human-centered built environments. Andreani is a Lecturer in Architecture at the Harvard University
Graduate School of Design teaching courses on responsive environments, user-centered design, and quantitative urban experiences.
Pursuing his research at the intersection of innovation-driven architecture and digitally-informed urban design, Andreani is also a Research
Associate at the Responsive Environments and Artifacts Lab (REAL) at Harvard GSD.

ALLEN SAYEGH is an architect, designer, an educator and the principal of INVIVIA – an award winning global design firm. He is an Associate
Professor in Practice of Architectural Technology at Harvard Graduate School of Design and the director of REAL - the Responsive Environment
and Artifacts Lab at Harvard GSD. His courses and practice explores the potentials of media and technologically-integrated built
environment, interaction design and the study of architectural and urban space thought through the impact of changing technology. His

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 ACADEMY OF NEUROSCIENCE FOR ARCHITECTURE

Theoretical Paradigm Adapted for School Design for Children with

Autism Spectrum Disorder
Kyuho Ahn, University of Oregon

ABSTRACT:

There are many school design guidelines available to support 21st century educational demands. However, these
guidelines offer little information about educational interventions for children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD)
because most of these children have abnormal reactions to sensory stimuli (Kaufman, 2014). Many researchers
and architects believe that architectural interventions do influence educational outcomes of children with ASD
and have suggested design guidelines for ASD school environments (Beaver, 2011; Mostafa, 2008; Scott, 2009).
However, the relation between sensory stimuli and a wide range of sensory profiles of ASD in an educational
setting is unclear.

This research proposes a theoretical framework that describes the relation between environmental stimuli and
autistic sensory profiles that support clinical intervention. The framework is based on an atmospherics theory Ahn
(2016) proposed that describes the theoretical relation between store stimuli and the emotional responses that
induce consumer behaviors. Ahn’s theory integrates three environmental theories, the SOR Paradigm (Donovan
and Rossiter, 1982), Aesthetic Theory (Berlyne, 1971) and Preference Theory (Kaplan and Kaplan, 1982). Ahn’s
theory can be adapted for this study because it offers architects/designers a useful tool for design developments
by enabling them to understand the relations in the environmental stimuli-human experience holistically.

The framework proposed suggests that the twin concepts of “comfort” and “arousal” can be used to determine/
measure the perceived environmental quality of a school environment. Comfort is a physiologically and/or
mentally amenable condition that supports the activities intended. Arousal is the feeling that subjects experience
and the degree to which they are aware of environmental stimuli. The framework addresses hyper- and hypo-
sensory conditions of children with ASD and explains the way a designer/architect can achieve appropriate
comfort and arousal levels to support an artistic child’ individual needs, and therefore, optimize architectural
conditions of a classroom to support clinical interventions. A case study of the framework’s implications in four
existing classroom environments will be used to explain the way this framework can be used in design analysis to
determine the way classrooms function to meet the individual needs of children with ASD.

REFERENCES:

Ahn, K. (2016), Store Environment and Consumer Satisfaction: A Theoretical Framework for Store Design and
Management, International Journal of Design in Society, 10 (1), 13-32.
Berlyne, D. E. (1971), Aesthetics and Psychobiology. Century Psychology Series. New York: Appleton-Century-
Crofts.
Beaver, Christopher. (2011). Designing Environments for Adults and Children on the Autism Spectrum. Good Autism
Practice, 12(1), 7-11.
Donovan, Robert J., and John R. Rossiter (1982), Store Atmosphere: An Environmental Psychology Approach.
Journal of Retailing, 58(1): 34–57.
Kaplan, Stephen, and Rachel Kaplan (1982), Cognition and Environment: Functioning in an Uncertain World. New
York: Praeger.
Kaufman, R. (2014). Autism breakthrough: The groundbreaking method that has helped families all over the world
(First ed.). New York: St. Martin’s Press.

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Mostafa, M. (2008). An Architecture for Autism: Concepts of Design Intervention for the Autistic User. ArchNet-
IJAR, 2(1), 189-211.
Scott, I. (2009). Designing Learning Spaces for Children on the Autism Spectrum. Good Autism Practice, 10(1),
36-51.

AUTHOR BIO:

Kyuho Ahn, NCIDQ® Certificate No. 022270, LEED AP ID+C

IIDA, IDEC, RDI

Kyuho Ahn is an associate professor of interior architecture at University of Oregon. He is LEED-accredited and
certified by the National Council for Interior Design Qualification and has significant professional design experience
in space planning, design and project management, which includes supervising design and installation of more
than 500 franchised retail stores in Korea and China, a free standing museum, and several trade shows. His primary
research is in developing a design assessment and application model describing human behavior within a built-
in environment. He studies how built-in environments influence human experiences and how these relationships
inform design decisions. He is particularly interested in investigating universal design issues of architectural
environments from a diversity point of view. He tries to identify design issues that promote independency of both
abled and disabled individuals.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES:

1. To understand architectural interventions’ effects on sensory issues of children with ASD.

2. To understand autistic sensory conditions (hyper vs. hypo) in relation to architectural stimuli.
3. To develop a theoretical paradigm that describes the relation between the environment and autistic
behavior that can be useful in design.

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 ACADEMY OF NEUROSCIENCE FOR ARCHITECTURE

Applicable Biophilic Principles on Hospitals Retrofitting

The Case Study of Turkish Public Hospitals
B. Akrami(1), S. Habibi(2),

(1)
Istanbul Technical University (ITU), Faculty of Architecture, Department of Architectural Design, Taskisla
Campus,34437, Beyoglu, Istanbul, Turkey. 905396886031, [email protected];
(2)
Technical University of Catalonia (UPC), School of Architecture of Barcelona (ETSAB), Department of
Architectural Technology, Av. Diagonal 649, 08028 Barcelona, Spain. 34 632 294 304, [email protected];

ABSTRACT:

The UNEP’s reports are seeking to promote the isolated relationship of human and nature in health care’s
architectural spaces due to their emerged social and environmental sustainability challenges in recent years.
Chief of it is reviewed and proved low satisfaction level from hospitals architectural spaces being low thermal,
visual, lighting and acoustic comfort levels. Nowadays architectures of health care services by integrating
architectural spaces with nature, in any possible way, have succeeded to improve a large part of these problems
from following the bionic principles to generating healthy, productive and therapeutic spaces. Accordingly,
this research project by focusing on built health centers and surveying and analyzing their social problems, as
a novel project, will present bionic-based retrofitting solutions. One possibility is applying Biophilic principles.
Biophilic is an innovative and growing design method of architectural spaces within which we live, work, learn,
and heal up. Specifically this research project explores the novel ideas in favor of revitalizing built public health
centers incorporating Biophilic design patterns. This paper presents the part of an executive research project
and will consist in: 1) a literature review of two similar projects which have been composed by Biophilic principles
and 2) presenting applicable solutions in order to optimize the comfort levels in healthcare centers in turkey.
The mentioned literature review will highlight the outcomes of Biophilic principles on both financers and users.
The Khoo Teck Puat Hospital (KTPH) in Singapor and the modern Altunizade Acibadem Hospital of Istanbul are
case studies which have been selected using General Morphological Analysis (GMA) and will be analyzed by
applying WELL building standards and using Multi-Criteria Decision Making methodology. Then, research team
by presenting design solutions will specify the Biophilic method’s 14 principles of which can be effective while
optimizing built hospitals sustainability.

KEYWORDS: Biophilic Design, Existing hospitals, Turkey, WELL Building Standard.

REFERENCES:

1. R. Muzarch, “Salutogenic and Biophilic Design as Therapeutic Approaches to Sustainable Architecture.”,

Architectural Design Journal, vol. 87, p47, March/April 2017.
2. R. Guenther, “Transforming Hospitals”, Architectural Design Journal, vol. 87, p129, March/April 2017
3. S. J. Kellert, J. H. Heerwagen, & M. Mador, “Biophilic design: The theory, science and practice of bringing
building to life”. New Jersey: John Willet & Sons Inc. p. 2008.
4. E.O. Wilson,” Biophilia: The Human Bond with Other Species.” Cambridge: Harvard University Press. 1984.
5. R. Ulrich, “Biophilic theory and research for healthcare design.” In Kellert et al, Biophilic Design. 2008.
6. Browning, W.D., Ryan, C., Clancy, J. 2014. 14 Patterns of Biophilic Design, Improving Health & Well-Being in the
Built Environment. New York: Terrapin Bright Green.
7. W.D. Browning, C. Ryan, J. Clancy, “14 Patterns of Biophilic Design, Improving Health & Well-Being in the Built
Environment.” New York: Terrapin Bright Green. 2014.
8. URL-1 https://www.wellcertified.com/
9. Delos, The WELL building Standard, version 1.0, (2014).
10. URL. www.terrapinbrightgreen.com/

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 ANFA 2018 CONFERENCE

AUTHORS BIO:

SAEID HABIBI
Currently, a second-year architectural-technology PhD student at UPC, Barcelona, Spain.
I have five years progressive on-site and off-site experience in numerous project including electrical installations,
executive supervisor, and/or architectural-design team leader for several companies in Iran and Turkey from 2011
to 2016.
I was an architectural advisor for Mahan International Commercial Real Estate from 2014 to 2016.
While earning master’s in architectural technology, I worked on Islamic patterns as well as a project to optimize
university-student satisfaction publishing my research projects at Iranian conferences including “The Relationship
Between Leisure Time and Satisfaction Level of Students, Iran, Tourism and Urban Identity”.
I am currently doing my doctoral research in hospital façades and intelligent materials.

BEHNAZ AKRAMI
I have recently graduated with my master degree in architectural design from Istanbul Technical University,
Istanbul, Turkey.
I did my bachelor project about hospital design and then, I have improved my research study about sustainable
healthcare architecture in higher education and have submitted papers about impacts of sustainable hospital
design on patient’s treatment processes and also publishing my research project at Istanbul conference including
“Investigating the Methods for Using Sustainable Architecture in Hospital Design in Istanbul; Eco-Friendly Cities for
Everyone book”. Hence, during that time, I was familiar with Biophilic design, Neurobiophilia terms and doing my
master thesis in relating healing environment and biophilic design in healthcare architecture.
From 2014 to 2017, I had a variety of experiences in diverse projects as an interior designer, executive supervisor
in several companies in Istanbul. Also, I worked for two years in Azerbaijan municipality as an architectural-design
team leader in Iran from 2011 to 2014.

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 ACADEMY OF NEUROSCIENCE FOR ARCHITECTURE

From Neural Space to Physical Space: Giving a “Brain” to a Building

Michael Arbib, Tricia Ngoon, and Eric Janes
Introduction
We explore the integration of two ways in which neuroscience (which we extend to include the study of cognitive
science as well as brain mechanisms) may impact architecture.
• Neuromorphic architecture: Studying neuroethology (the neuroscience of animal behavior) in search of systems
whose mechanisms can inform future developments in smart architecture. A key notion is that of “neural space,”
the network of sensors, effectors, and computations embedded in the building, analyzed in terms of their
functionality rather than their placement in 3D space.
• Neuroscience of the experience of architecture: Assessing the ways in which different populations of people
explore, experience and interact with the built environment, in search of lessons relevant to the design process.
We propose that careful attention to the “neural space” of a building may yield innovative designs that enrich the
physical “building space” through constraint satisfaction between the physical and neural dimensions of the building.
Neuroscience of the experience of architecture
A key notion from neuroscience is that a human (or animal) is engaged in a continual cycle of action and perception
(APC) with its environment, with sensors providing the input for perception and effectors providing the means to carry
out actions – but perception is based in part on the human’s current goals and needs as well as memory based on
prior experience, with actions serving both to gather more information and to effect changes in the environment. An
important feature of the APC is the social interaction of people with each other, as the plans and behavior of each
actor change with their perception of the actions and intentions of others. The neuroscience of the experience of
architecture applies findings and methods of neuroscience (and cognitive science more generally) to assess the
behavior and experience of a person within or in proximity to a building (or architected space) in terms of these
concepts, seeking to understand how changes in the building may constrain or enrich that behavior. Conversely, we
seek to engage neuroscientists in extending studies from the laboratory to the built environment.
Example: Multi-sensory integration plays a key role in human experience of buildings, but much behavior makes
especial use of vision both to locate objects and to navigate despite the possible variations in the placement of
obstacles. How does that change when vision is absent? Folska (2012) had blind participants sketch maps of a routine
route at the Colorado Center for the Blind. All participants exhibited a preference for relying on touch rather than
audition for extracting environmental information. Passini and Proulx (1988) found that the blind made more decisions
in navigating complex spaces and required more information access points than those who navigated sighted, but
blind participants were still able to navigate novel, complex spaces. This suggests the need to provide diverse tactile
cues in designing for the blind. Similar considerations apply to aiding memory formation and recall, both providing
means to help blind newcomers to the building orient themselves, and supplementing the resident’s working memory
of where objects are to be found. We have analyzed this in terms of the TAM-WG model (Guazzelli, Corbacho, Bota,
& Arbib, 1998) which explains the integration of a cognitive map with available affordances in locomotion, showing
how the unavailability of visual affordances requires a greater density of established “via points” if navigation is to be
conducted efficiently.
A schematic of the TAM-WG model. *
Parietal cortex finds affordances for behavior;
premotor cortex selects actions for which
affordances are currently available.
Populations of place cells in the hippocampus
function like a distributed GPS: “You are here.” But
the hippocampus must work with other systems to
mediate navigation.
The model adds a Cognitive Map (World Graph) to
a hippocampus in modeling the brain.
* An exposition of the model for architects is
available on YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iZZIGAYE9Cs

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Neuromorphic architecture
Viewing a building as an “inside-out” animal which contains the environment in which it interacts with human
occupants, neuromorphic architecture proposes that the future evolution of architecture will endow many buildings
with appropriate variations on sensors, effectors and interaction infrastructure (“brain”) studied in neuroethology to
support the adaptive interaction of each building with its inhabitants (Arbib, 2012). The “neural space” of a building
then provides the abstract network linking the sensors, effectors and “brain” to achieve a key set of functionalities,
such as supporting navigation, memory and the performance of key functions.

A Proposal
The design of the interaction infrastructure (“neural space”) should lead the design of the physical layout (“building
space”), although each will constrain development of the other as design proceeds.
Rather than rooting the initial design stage in large-scale site planning and massing models, we begin with the neural
space: What actions is the building to perform to benefit specific occupants in specific ways? What sensors are
needed to gather the necessary data? What effectors will implement the actions? How will the interaction
infrastructure be designed to link them, using new neuroscience data to develop complex information structures such
as that of the TAM-WG model? With an initial design completed for the neural space (where “space” is used here in
the abstract sense of elastic relationships, with no prior commitment to placement of its elements in space in the
conventional 3D sense), design of the physical layout can proceed, incorporating the placement of the design
elements of the neural space in the unfolding integrated design.
A Case Study
The poster at ANFA 2018 will provide a worked-out example, an apartment for a blind resident whose design
exemplifies this strategy. We will use the above data on the importance of the tactile sense as a guiding principle for
the physical layout, while adding a specific exercise in neuromorphic architecture – the design of the interaction
infrastructure (“brain”) of the kitchen which integrates sensors and effectors to supplement the resident’s working
memory of where items are located and the sequencing and timing of a recipe while cooking. Supplementing the
blind resident’s command of a great deal of verbal and spatial memory, the interactive kitchen uses technological
tools and audio cues to offload this memory and assist in cooking tasks. A key point for debate is the extent to which
neuroscience can add to the growing impact of artificial intelligence in the design of interactive architectures.
References:
Arbib, M. A. (2012). Brains, machines and buildings: towards a neuromorphic architecture. Intelligent Buildings
International, 4(3), 147-168, DOI:110.1080/17508975.17502012.17702863.
Folska, C. L. (2012). In blind sight: Wayfinding in the absence of vision. Ph.D. Thesis, University of Colorado at Denver,
Guazzelli, A., Corbacho, F. J., Bota, M., & Arbib, M. A. (1998). Affordances, Motivation, and the World Graph Theory.
Adaptive Behavior, 6, 435-471.
Passini, R., & Proulx, G. (1988). Wayfinding without vision: An experiment with congenitally totally blind people.
Environment and Behavior, 20(2), 227-252.
Authors:
Michael Arbib. Adjunct Professor of Psychology, UCSD, and Contributing Faculty Member, NewSchool of Architecture
and Design, San Diego. [email protected]
Arbib wrote the book on “Brains, Machines and Mathematics” and is an expert in computational neuroscience and
the evolution of the language-ready brain. He pioneered the notion of “neuromorphic architecture” in the sense of
designing a building with a “brain.” Having served as ANFA vice-president, he is currently coordinator for the ANFA
Advisory Council. His UCSD lectures (and other talks) linking neuroscience and architecture are available on YouTube.
Tricia Ngoon. Ph.D. Student in Cognitive Science, UCSD, [email protected]
Ngoon is a Ph.D. student in Cognitive Science advised by Dr. Scott Klemmer. Her research examines how to support
relational thinking and creativity in learning. This paper is based in part on her project in Michael Arbib’s 2017 course
at UCSD on the interaction between neuroscience and architecture.
Eric Janes. Designer.SanDiego, [email protected]
Janes is an architectural designer with a keen interest in the biological reasons behind how we, as humans,
experience tectonic space. He believes that design is an evolution of work produced along a meandering path of
discovery and learning.
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 ACADEMY OF NEUROSCIENCE FOR ARCHITECTURE

Architecture, Light and Emotion: The Brennand Chapel by Paulo

Mendes da Rocha, in Recife, Brazil
Rafaela Paes de Andrade Arcoverde & Fernando Diniz Moreira

ABSTRACT:

The manipulation of space by the architect can generate empathy and creative sensibilities in man, engendered
by the invocation of the so-called “atmospheres”. According to Mallgrave (2015), one of the main tasks of
architecture is the creation of empathy. In this way, this paper explores the relationship between natural light and
matter in religious spaces and their human emotional responses. In what ways light and matter are interrelated
in order to create these architectural atmospheres (conscious or otherwise)?

Designed by Paulo Mendes da Rocha, one of the most distinguished Brazilian architects, in Recife-PE between
2004 and 2006, the Chapel of Our Lady of the Conception, also known as the Brennand Chapel, is an exemplary
case for analyzing these atmospheres. Mendes da Rocha reused the ruins of an existing old building, restoring it,
inserting new symbolic elements and exploring new natural light sources. The dialogue he promoted between
stone, concrete, glass and light provokes sensations to the user. The interaction between the hardness of matter
and the lightness of light is a crucial factor for the architectural experience of man.

These aspects can be discussed with the support of phenomenology and neuroscience, associating the records
of forms and types of light effects inside the chapel, as well as the capture of the emotions aroused by the
spatial and sensorial experience of the religious space. For this, we have applied methodologies based on
Moustakas (1994), McCarter and Pallasmaa (2012), which maintain that the experience is the most complete
way of expressing the sensorial dimension, since these sensations can only be perceived in their integrity when
personally experienced by the passerby. Authors such as Holl (2006), Plummer (2009) and Millet (1996) were also
instrumental in understanding the effects of light in space.

Keywords: Natural Light, Neuroscience, Phenomenology, Architecture, Paulo Mendes da Rocha.

Photographs by Rafaela Paes

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 ANFA 2018 CONFERENCE

REFERENCES:

Holl, S. (2006). Parallax. New York: Princenton Architectural Press.

Holl, S., Pallasmaa, J.; Peréz-gomez, A. (1993). Question of perception. San Francisco: William Stout.

Mallgrave, H. (2015). Enculturation, Sociality and Built Environment, In: Architecture and Empathy. Edited by:
Tidwell, P. Finland: Taplo Wirkkata Rut Bryk Fundation.

McCarter, R., Pallasmaa, J. (2012). Understanding Architecture: a primer on architecture as experience. London:
Phaidon Press Limited.

Millet, M. (1996). Light Revealing Architecture. New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold.

Moustakas, C. (1994). Phenomenological Research Methods. California: Sage Publications

Morris, D. (2015). Spatiality, Temporality, and architecture as a place of memory, In: Merleau Ponty Space, Place,
Architecture. Edited by: Locke, P., Mccann, R. Athens: Ohio University.

Pallasmaa, J. (2005). The Eyes of the Skin: Architecture and the Senses. Great Britain: John Wiley & Sons.

Pallasmaa, J., Mallgrave, H., Robinson, S., Gallese, V. (2015). A conversation on empathy, In: Architecture and
Empathy. Edited by: Tidwell, P. Finland: Taplo Wirkkata Rut Bryk Fundation.

Plummer, H. (2009). The Architecture of Natural Light. New York: The Monacelli Press.

Pisani, D. (2013). Paulo Mendes da Rocha: obra completa. São Paulo: Gustavo Gili.

Rocha, P. (2012). América, cidade e natureza. Edited by: Villac, M. São Paulo: Estação Liberdade.

AUTHORS BIOS:

Rafaela Paes de Andrade Arcoverde

Holds a bachelor’s degree in Architecture and Urbanism from Catholic University of Pernambuco, UNICAP, and
is currently studying some subjects at the Federal University of Pernambuco, UFPE, for the purpose of admission
at the master’s degree.
[email protected]

Fernando Diniz Moreira

Holds a Ph.D. in Architecture from the University of Pennsylvania (2004) and is a Associate Professor at the
Federal University of Pernambuco, UFPE.
[email protected]

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 ACADEMY OF NEUROSCIENCE FOR ARCHITECTURE

Applying Neuroscience Research to Boost Creativity

Sally Augustin, PhD, Design With Science, [email protected]

ABSTRACT:

Many organizations, public and private, link the success of their endeavors to the creative performance
of their members. Neuroscientists have learned a lot about the design of spaces in which people,
individually and in groups, are most likely to think and act creatively, and their insights can be applied
to develop workplaces where individuals and teams charged with creative tasks perform to their full
potential. Neuroscientists have tied enhanced creative performance to design elements at a variety of
scales, from room to city level. Systematic research has linked specific surface colors (green; Lichtenfeld,
Elliot, Maier, and Pekrun, 2012), light colors (3000 Kelvin; Weitbrecht, Barwolff, Lischke, and Junger, 2015),
and the presence of leafy plants (Studente, Seppala and Sadowska, 2016) to more creative thinking, for
example. Similarly, certain other visual, olfactory, acoustic, and haptic experiences, as well as psychosocial
conditions, have been associated with enhanced creative achievement. Individual elements combine
in networks that elevate users’ creative problem solving capabilities and collectively establish the mental
conditions/framework needed to support creative thinking (Schifferstein and Desmet, 2008). Creativity-
relevant design-related science has been effectively applied in practice in a diverse set of real world
settings via scientist-designer collaborations and obstacles to implementation have been overcome.
Designers and other people developing and using environments where complex issues need to be resolved
must be familiar with research linking design and enhanced creative thinking—resources are limited and, in
many important contexts, we don’t have time for “do-overs.”

REFERENCES:

Stephanie Lichtenfeld, Andrew J. Elliot, Markus A. Maier, and Reinhard Pekrun. 2012. “Fertile Green: Green
Facilitates Creative Performance.” Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, vol. 38, no. 6, pp. 784-797.

Hendrik Schifferstein and Pieter Desmet. 2008. “Tools Facilitating Multi-Sensory Product Design.” The Design
Journal, vol. 11, no. 2, pp. 137-158.

Syvie Studente, Nina Seppala and Noemi Sadowska. 2016. “Facilitating Creative Thinking in the Classroom:
Investigating the Effects of Plants and the Colour Green on Visual and Verbal Creativity.” Thinking Skills and
Creativity, vol. 19, pp. 1-8.

W. Weitbrecht, H. Barwolff, A. Lischke, and S. Junger. 2015. “Effect of Light Color Temperature on Human
Concentra6on and Crea6vity.” FortschriBe der Neurologie, Psychiatrie, vol. 83, no. 6, pp. 344-348.

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 Crea6vity.” Thinking Skills and Crea4vity, vol. 19, pp. 1-8.
a4vity, vol. 19, pp. 1-8.
ANFA 2018 CONFERENCE
W. Weitbrecht, H. Barwolff, A. Lischke, and S. Junger. 2015. “Effect of Light Color Temperature on Human Concentra6
hke, and S. Junger. 2015. “Effect of Light Color Temperature on Human Concentra6on and Crea6vity.” FortschriBe der Neurol
lor Temperature on Human Concentra6on and Crea6vity.” FortschriBe der Neurologie, Psychiatrie, vol. 83, no. 6,
pp. 344-348.

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 ACADEMY OF NEUROSCIENCE FOR ARCHITECTURE

Re-Scripting Urban Interactions Through Architecture: Correlations of

Brain Function and the Built Environment
Sarah d’Auriol

ABSTRACT:

This thesis applies recent research in neuroscience and behavioral studies to rethink and implement cognitive
architecture within the re-design of Place des Fête, Paris—a historical city square turned post-modernist concrete
jungle; housing a metro station, monstrous housing complexes, a police station, and commercial establishments—
to address urban and cultural isolation to create a community base, which harbors the social interaction of diverse
citizens. In order to create urban spaces, which can improve the human experience; it is critical to understand
brain function. Valuing the intrinsic human need for nature and the immense influence of biophilic design on
human health is a key factor of positive urban experiences. From chemical process to physical and emotional
responses, the built environment causes many reactions in the body, both subconsciously and consciously. In
urban environments full of negative sensory stimuli, it is important to provide positive architectural experience,
which includes spaces encouraging leisure, rest, community enhancement, self-expression, respect, productivity,
and growth. The urban re-design of Place des Fêtes is an intervention that maximizes human wellbeing and cross-
cultural collaboration through physical experiences.

AUTHOR BIO:

SARAH D’AURIOL
Savannah College of Art and Design

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ANFA 2018 CONFERENCE

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 ACADEMY OF NEUROSCIENCE FOR ARCHITECTURE

Supporting Recovery Through Design: A Translational Application of

the Neuroscience of Eating Disorders to a Treatment Facility
Meredith Banasiak, EDAC, Assoc. AIA, Mark Blaser, AIA, Kathleen Reeves, MS, LPC

ABSTRACT:

Recent advances in neuroscience research have begun to unravel neural correlates of eating disorders.
Findings suggest functional and anatomical differences in processing and anatomy resulting in perceptual,
affective, physiological and cognitive distinctions-- many of which have environmental correlates with respect
to how persons with eating disorders experience their surroundings. This unique set of experiences can inform
the design of specialized behavioral health facilities programmed for treating eating disorders. This poster will
1) review findings in eating disorder research across key themes associated with restorative care as a critical
first step to developing research informed goals and translational design considerations for environmental
interventions in eating disorder service settings, 2) share research conducted with patients and staff to capture
the eating disorder patient experience, and 3) describe how evidence was applied to guide the programming
and design of a new residential treatment center, Eating Recovery Center in Denver, Colorado.

A former NIMH director called anorexia nervosa the most fatal mental disorder (Insel 2012) given that it has the
highest morality rate of any mental illness, 10% (Arcelus 2011). A review of eating disorder literature elucidates
distinct characteristics of persons with eating disorders and the therapy they are receiving as unique from other
behavioral health classifications. Evidence suggests that eating disorders are complex conditions which present
discrete differences in neural anatomy and processing often in response to environmental correlates which
affects how a person with eating disorder relates to an environment. For example, because the circadian
rhythms of food intake in persons with eating disorders are abnormal, optimized light can aid regular eating
to synchronize circadian rhythms influencing hunger and temperature (Yamamotova 2008) whereas low light,
diurnal and seasonal, can undermine self-regulatory control resulting in the disinhibited eating in persons with
bulimia (Kasof 2001). In addition, research suggests that associated over/under sensory modulation issues
characteristic of certain eating disorders may result in proprioceptive impairment affecting spatial cognition
(Brand-Gothelf et al 2016, Chieffi et al 2015).

Given the limited evidence examining interactions between the environment and eating disorders, mining
the patient perspective was essential to developing hypotheses around environmental impacts on delivery of
care and recovery. Because functional aspects of eating disorders tend to heighten a patient’s dissatisfaction
and ambivalence (Swain Campbell 2001) conventional instruments such as patient satisfaction questionnaires
do not accurately assess the experience of persons with eating disorders nor the success of the facility design
in supporting recovery. Thus, we structured this data collection as an exploratory study by applying grounded
theory (Patton 1990) to uncover themes related to patient outcomes using the methods described by Trzpac
et al 2016 as precedent. We will share this research approach to capturing patient experience through the
development of an experience-based questionnaire and simulated empathetic observations.

Findings from this literature review and data collection will be summarized as associated key design goals
and research-informed design strategies, linked with specific attributes of eating disorders. The translational
application of such strategies will be illustrated in the dining spaces and community spaces and art selection at
Eating Recovery Center’s newest residential facility.

This interdisciplinary team continues to build on this initial research effort as new Eating Recovery Center
facilities are being built at locations across the country. Future work will include examining patient outcomes
associated with lighting and facility geographic locations.

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 ANFA 2018 CONFERENCE

REFERENCES:

Arcelus, J., Mitchell, A., Wales, J., Nielsen, S. (2011). Mortality Rates in Patients With Anorexia Nervosa and Other
Eating Disorders: A Meta-analysis of 36 Studies. Archives of General Psychiatry, 68, 7, 724–731.

Brand-Gothelf, A., Parush, S., Eitan, Y., Admoni, S., Gur, E. and Stein, D. (2016), Sensory modulation disorder
symptoms in anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa: A pilot study. International Journal of Eating Disorders, 49:
59-68.

Chieffi, S., Iavarone, A., La Marra, M., Messina, G., Villano, I., Ranucci, S., Messina, A., Piombino, L., Dalia, C. and
Monda, M. (2015) Memory for Proprioceptive Targets in Bulimia Nervosa. Journal of Psychiatry, 18, 297.

Insel, T. (2012). Spotlight on Eating Disorders. The National Institute of Mental Health: www.nimh.nih.gov

Kasof, J. (2001). Eveningness and bulimic behavior. Personality and Individual Differences, 31, 361-369.

Patton, M. (1990). Qualitative evaluation and research methods (2nd ed.). Newbury Park, CA: Sage.

Swain-Campbell, N., Surgenor, L. and Snell, D. (2001), An analysis of consumer perspectives following contact
with an eating-disorders service. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry, 35: 99-103.

Trzpuc, S., Wendt, K., Heitzman, S., Skemp, S., Thomas, D. and Dahl, R. (2016). Does Space Matter? An
Exploratory Study for a Child–Adolescent Mental Health Inpatient Unit. HERD: Health Environments Research &
Design Journal, 10, 1, 23–44.

Yamamotová, A., Papezová, H., and Vevera, J. (2008). Normalizing effect of bright light therapy on temperature
circadian rhythm in patients with eating disorders. Neuroendocrinology Letters, 29, 1, 168-72.

AUTHOR BIOS:

Meredith Banasiak, EDAC, Assoc. AIA

Design Researcher, Boulder Associates Architects
As design researcher for Boulder Associates Architects, Meredith promotes the firm’s commitment to person-
centered design by cultivating research partnerships with healthcare clients, exploring innovative methods of
conducting research, and gathering and translating evidence with designers. Having been a faculty member
in architecture and environmental design programs for over ten years, Meredith brings to Boulder Associates
experience in health-design research and pedagogy supporting the transformational shift in practice towards
an evidence-based culture. She was an original Research Associate with the Academy of Neuroscience for
Architecture (ANFA) and remains an active Advisory Council member.

Mark Blaser, AIA

Associate, Boulder Associates Architects
Mark Blaser has over ten years of healthcare design experience with Boulder Associates.

Kathleen Reeves, MS, LPC

Vice President of Operations and Development, Eating Recovery Center
As Vice President of Operations and Development at Eating Recovery Center, Kathleen Reeves brings over
25 years of healthcare experience, ranging from the direct delivery of patient care as a clinical clinician to
the provision of administrative oversight in various director- and executive-level positions. In her current role,
Kathleen is tasked with operational strategy development, planning and execution for Eating Recovery
Center’s facilities, including facility development and expansion, accreditation/licensing, patient housing,
transportation and other ancillary services.

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 ACADEMY OF NEUROSCIENCE FOR ARCHITECTURE

CREATION OF NEURO-ARCHITECTURE STUDY GUIDE, FACING THE ARCHITECT,

WITH INTERNATIONAL APPLICATION
BENCKE, PRISCILLA
MOURA, SANDRA MARLISE CESCON DE
PLECH, REBECA CALHEIROS DE NOVAIS
ROSA, YASMINE

1. ABSTRACT
First voluntary movement of architecture professionals, started in 2018 in Brazil, to the development of a study guide about
Neuro-architecture, which is divided in two parts: Theoretical, through a group of studies and Practical, through social actions
in public spaces.
GOALS OF THE GROUP OF STUDIES (Theoretical Part):
We aim to reunite people who are interested in Neuro-architecture, creating a support
network and voluntary collaboration, in order to share and improve contents about the
subject, also developing a more humane view of the ambiences.
Through this movement we also reach to encourage the development of researches with
Teaching Institutions, spreading the subject, providing knowledge exchange between
different groups and applicability of the guide in any part of the world.
GOALS OF THE GROUP OF STUDIES (Practical Part):
The social actions will allow to put into practice and validate the Neuro-architecture
knowledge, applying strategies in public spaces, with the possibility of measuring and
registration of the results, applying technique known by Evidence-Based Design, taking
Neuro-architecture benefits to needy community.
After studies made by the group, it was found a huge lack of humanization in hospital areas.
Therefore, we will start our practice in hospitals. The first intervention to be performed will
be in a hospital room, through application of wallpapers or paintings on the walls and roofs.
We established this way of intervention to avoid any change or damage to the place. This
action will be performed in small scale aiming to accomplish accompaniment and to obtain
results in the year of 2018. The way to make feasible this practice will be through the search
of assistance of local medical staff, so that we can follow and assess the benefits of the
action.
Figure 1 - Flowchart With the practice, we aim to reduce the time of permanence of the patients in the hospital,
physiological
records and reduce the amount of painkillers that
are consumed. We are looking for sponsors to
perform the interventions to enable the practice.

STUDY GUIDE
The study guide will be divided by semester, to
allow the entry of new participants along the year.
Each meeting will have a specific subject to be
approached with previously defined bibliography,
based on reading recommendation disclosed on
ANFA website (Academy of Neuroscience and Figure 2 – Some Photos

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 ANFA 2018 CONFERENCE

Architecture). At the end of each meeting, it must be registered the knowledge that was discussed in order to be shared with
other groups of studies. Each meeting must have a voluntary organizer who will be in charge of the logistics, as well as the
registration of the knowledge that will be shared.

EXPECTED RESULTS BY THE GROUP OF STUDIES AND SOCIAL ACTIONS:

To the professionals of projects, we
hope the application of a way to design
based on neuroscientific evidences,
stimulating a more humane view of the
ambiences and that cause an impact on
physical and emotional well-being of the
users.
To the community, we hope to allow the
access and experience to Neuro-
architecture, promoting a better impact
of the ambiences in people’s lives, also
measuring its influence.

2. REFERENCES
Consenza, R., Guerra, L. 2011. Neurociência e
Educação: Como o Cérebro Aprende. 1 Ed.
Artmed: 151p
Eberhard, J. 2008.Brain Landscape: The
coexistence of Neuroscience and Architecture.
1 Ed. Oxford University: 280p
Goldhagen, S. 2017.Welcome to Your World:
How the Built Environment Shapes our Lives. 1
Ed. Harper: 283p.
Mallgrave, H. 2011.The Architect’s Brain:
Neuroscience, Creativity and Architecture. 1.
Ed. Wiley – Blackwell: 297 p.
Montgomery, C. 2014 .Happy City:
Transforming our Lives Trough Urban Design.
1.Ed. Farrar, Strau and Giroux: 368 p.
Mora, F. 2017. Neuroeducación: Solo se Puede
Aprender Aquello que se Ama. 1 Ed. Alianza
Editorial
Robinson, S, Pallasmaa, J. 2017. Mind in
Figure 3 – Studies Schedule Architecture: Neuroscience, Embodiment and
the Future of Design. 1 Ed. The MIT Press: 272p

3. AUTHOR BIOS
Priscilla Bencke, Specialist in Workplace Design (Gepr. ArbeitsplatzExpertin / Gepr. BüroEinrichterin - Germany), Quality Office Consultant (Quality
Forum Office Furniture and Equipment - Germany). Graduated in Architecture and Urbanism from UFRGS (Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul)
and postgraduate in Interior Design by UniRitter Laureate International Universities. Manager of Bencke Arquitetura, Organizer of events on the
theme "Neuroarchitecture" in Brazil.- www.qualidadecorporativa.com.br/concept/ [email protected] +55 (51)3350.5099

Sandra Marlise Cescon de Moura, Architecture and Urbanism, graduated from Vale do Rio dos Sinos University - Unisinos, MBA in Civil Construction
Management in progress by Fundação Getulio Vargas - FGV, Owner of Sandra Marlise Arquitetura, Porto Alegre - RS, Brazil

Rebeca Calheiros de Novais Plech, Graduated in Architecture and Urbanism from Lutheran University of Brazil, Specialist in Workplace Design
certified by Mensch&Büro-Akademie, from Germany, owner on Arquitetura INN – An interior design studio, specialized in retail and Corporate
Architecture, based in Porto Alegre/RS – Brazil. www.arquiteturainn.com.br/[email protected]/+55(51) 99402.9803

Yasmine Rosa, Architecture and Urbanism, Specialist in Residential Architecture. Owner of Studio A1 Arquitectura, Imbé – RS, Brasil, develops
residential projects focused on comfort and well-being through Neuroarchitecture studies.

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 ACADEMY OF NEUROSCIENCE FOR ARCHITECTURE

Personality and Location Decision Making:

Mapping the Distribution of Big Five Personality Traits Inside Built
Designs
Kevin Bennett, Ph.D., Pennsylvania State University, Beaver Campus

ABSTRACT:

Personality psychology seeks both to understand individual differences in behavior, emotion, and decision making
and to identify the underlying causes of traits. The discipline is organized around the pursuit of three principle
questions concerning human activity: First, how do individuals differ from one another? Second, how can we
explain these differences? And third, what are the consequences of these differences? The emergence of the
Five-Factor Model (FFM) or “Big Five” – five general dimensions of character – has allowed the field to move beyond
basic issues of taxonomy toward an understanding of the consequences of trait differences. Big Five factors
are reliably associated with a number of behavioral outcomes in academic, occupational, relationship, and
health settings (Ozer & Benet-Martinez, 2006). Although the consequences of personality differences have been
studied in numerous areas, few studies have focused on the link between personality traits and location decision
making (LDM) in the context of architectural design. This study presents findings that relate the psychological
functioning of personality traits to LDM inside built environments by explicitly mapping out individual personality
data. This approach provides a bird’s eye view of the distribution of personality traits, thus adding layers of
information to overall LDM patterns. Across multiple semesters, seat locations were freely chosen by college
students (N=209) in an interior auditorium (11 total rows and a seating capacity of 20 seats per row). The 60-item
NEO-Five Factor Inventory (NEO-FFI) – developed as a short form of the NEO PI-R (Costa & McCrae, 1989) – was
administered as a measure of five domains of personality: Neuroticism, Extraversion, Openness, Agreeableness,
and Conscientiousness. Presented as detailed psychological maps of interior spaces, results reveal important
associations between dimensions of personality and LDM. Discussion centers on how to best translate

REFERENCES:

Bennett, K., Gualtieri, T., & Kazmierczyk, B. (2018). Undoing solitary urban design: A review of risk factors and
mental health outcomes associated with living in social isolation. Journal of Urban Design and Mental Health, 4,
1-7.

Costa, P. T., Jr., & McCrae, R. R. (1985). Revised NEO Personality Inventory (NEO PI-R) and NEO Five-Five Factor
Inventory (NEO-FFI). Odessa, FL: Psychological Assessment Resources.

Gosling, S. D., Gifford, R., & McCunn, L. (2013). The selection, creation, and perception of interior spaces: An
environmental psychology approach. In G. Brooker & L. Weinthal (Eds.), The Handbook of Interior Architecture
and Design (pp. 278-290). Oxford, UK: Berg.

Rentfrow, P. J., Gosling, S. D., & Potter, J. (2008). A theory of the emergence, persistence, and expression of
geographic variation in psychological characteristics. Perspectives on
Psychological Science, 3(5), 339-369.

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 ANFA 2018 CONFERENCE

AUTHOR BIO:

KEVIN BENNETT is Director of the Personality and Human Performance Lab (PHPL), winner of the Faculty Excellence
in Teaching Award, and Assistant Teaching Professor in Psychology at the Pennsylvania State University, Beaver
Campus. He currently serves as psychology program coordinator at the Beaver campus and delivers an array
of courses including social, personality, evolutionary, human factors, quantitative, and introductory psychology.
Bennett earned degrees from City, University of London UK (Ph.D, Psychology), University of New Mexico (M.S.,
Experimental Psychology), and University of Michigan (BA, Psychology). In a broad sense, Bennett’s research
examines (1) how we think about and engage with physical space (the actual world as well as virtual, augmented,
and mixed realities); (2) how we make choices about geographic locations - from large landscapes and regions
to small interiors and built designs.

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 ACADEMY OF NEUROSCIENCE FOR ARCHITECTURE

Revisiting Behaviorism:
New Approaches to Understanding City Life
Andrew Brown, Associate Director of Research, Van Alen Institute
David van der Leer, Executive Director, Van Alen Institute

ABSTRACT:

At Van Alen Institute, we believe that, too often, investment choices and design decisions are made in cities without
sufficient appreciation of how minds and bodies respond to urban environments. The increased sophistication
and accessibility of technology to observe human behavior, and the willingness of designers to experiment with
those tools, signal meaningful progress toward a more human-centered urban future. However, in light of the
behaviorism of the 1970s, and its limited influence on design fields beyond that period, we are reminded that
research often requires considerable support to reach practitioners, inform better policies and practices, and
achieve real impact.

Through our initiatives, Van Alen hopes to expand the body of knowledge showing how urban settings affect
people, and empower designers and citymakers by making that knowledge more accessible. Van Alen has
developed a variety of multidisciplinary projects that investigate the relationship between mind, body and city
at ground-level, translate knowledge across disciplines, engage communities, and address the gaps between
scientists, designers, city dwellers and city leaders. Based on studies and lessons learned from Van Alen’s larger
body of work, and interspersed with historical anecdotes from behaviorism’s past, this presentation shares a fresh
approach to exploring human behavior in the city, and advances a vision for behaviorism that can truly drive
design fields and citymakers. The presentation will feature the following Van Alen projects:

I. The Brain and the City: Brooklyn, NY (2015)

Van Alen collaborated with neuroscientists from Columbia University GSAPP’s Cloud Lab on a citizen-science
experiment using brain-computer interfaces (BCI) to record brainwaves as participants explored Brooklyn’s
DUMBO neighborhood. Data from the experiment was aggregated into a spectacular visualization by Cloud
Lab and later presented at an interactive public event of BCI research projects. The experiment and event
deepened our understanding of how people relate to place and helped reshape the conversation about urban
design and its potential to affect the human experience.

II. Shore to Core: West Palm Beach, FL (2017)

Van Alen and the City of West Palm Beach launched the design and research competition, Shore to Core, to
create healthier spaces along the city’s waterfront promenade. The winning research team, Happier by Design,
created a tactical intervention to study the impact of the site on well-being. The result was the promotion of
psychological restoration and human engagement on the waterfront, and the development of tools for policy
makers to determine the success of West Palm Beach’s new masterplan by measuring the links between design
and wellbeing.

III. Ecologies of Addiction: London, UK (2018)

Van Alen and Imperial College London’s Sustainable Society Network+ launched Ecologies of Addiction to explore
the complex relationship between cities and addictive behaviors. The research team - neuroscience researchers
from King’s College London, landscape architects, and the art foundation Nomad Projects - developed a
smartphone app that collected data from study participants in real time, and encouraged participants to share
surrounding audio and images on social media. The study’s findings suggest that even brief encounters with
nature in cities can boost one’s mental well-being for hours afterward, and the effects appear to be particularly
beneficial for individuals at greater risk of addiction disorders.

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 ANFA 2018 CONFERENCE

REFERENCES:

Mechelli, A. et al (2018). Urban Mind: Using Smartphone Technologies to Investigate the Impact of Nature on
Mental Well-Being in Real Time. BioScience, Volume 68, Issue 2, p 134–145.

AUTHOR BIOS:

David van der Leer

David van der Leer, Executive Director of Van Alen Institute, develops projects that explore the nuanced
relationship between the built environment and the human being. Under his leadership, Van Alen focuses on the
ways our minds and bodies are impacted by the cities we live in, and how we in turn impact the environment.

Andrew Brown
Andrew Brown is a researcher trained in empirical analysis of programs and public policy. At Van Alen, Andrew
oversees projects that explore the relationship between mental well-being and cities, and develops activities
that convene stakeholders to design strategies to urgent problems.

AIA Credit - Learning objectives:

-- Trends in the future of community engagement and fostering trust between citizens and public officials
-- Trends in technologies used to observe/analyze human behavior in the built environment
-- Trends in translating research in human behavior to urban development and public policy.

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 ACADEMY OF NEUROSCIENCE FOR ARCHITECTURE

Neuroscience for Biophilic Design

William Browning, Partner, Terrapin Bright Green

ABSTRACT:

Biophilia is the innate human connection to nature (Wilson, 1984). Biophilic design brings the outdoors in
and brings experiences of nature into the built environment. These experiences have been found to lower
stress, improve cognitive function, and enhance preference. Theories on how these psychological and
physiological changes occur have been around for several decades, and additional recent studies in
neuroscience have been used to further our understanding of some of the underlying mechanisms.

Some of the earliest research on biophilic design was focused on the impact of a view to nature on surgical
recovery periods (Ulrich, 1984 and Ulrich et.al., 1993). These studies examined the effect of both real and
representational views of nature, which then led to questions about the differential responses to real vs
simulated nature (Kahn et.al. 2008, and Spangler et.al. unpublished). Additional research explored visual
preference, and where different images are processed in the brain (Biederman & Vessel, 2006).

New technology and imaging techniques allow us to see and track real-time changes in the brain. One
well-researched impact of biophilic design, improvements in cognitive performance, has been attributed to
the mechanism of Attention Restoration Theory (Kaplan & Kaplan, 1989). Recent work using fMRI has shown
that the shift in cognitive processing can occur within 40 seconds (Lee et.al., 2015). Proposed research
using a new technique, neural cartography, may allow in the field confirmation of responses to biophilic
environments that had been recorded in observational study. It allows us to the see the significant impact
that our environment has on us.

REFERENCES:

Biederman, I., Vessel, E.A. Perceptual pleasure and the brain. Am Sci 2006; 94:249–255.

Kahn, P. et al. “A plasma display window? —The shifting baseline problem in a technologically mediated
natural world.” Elsevier Science Ltd., Journal of Environmental Psychology 28: 192-199. May 2008.

Kaplan, R., Kaplan, S., The experience of nature: A psychological perspective. Cambridge University Press,
1989.

Lee, K. et. al. “40-second green roof views sustain attention: The role of micro-breaks in attention
restoration.” Journal of Environmental Psychology doi: 10.106/jenvp.2015.04.003.

Spangler, J. Harvard School of Public Health, personal communication, 2018.

Ulrich, R. S. “View through a window may influence recovery from surgery”Science, Vol. 224. 1984.

Ulrich, R.S. and Lunden. “Effects of Nature and Abstract Pictures on Patients Recovering from Open Heart
Surgery.” Paper presented at the International Congress of Behavioral Medicine. Uppsala, Sweden. June
27-30. 1990.

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 ANFA 2018 CONFERENCE

AUTHOR BIO:

WILLIAM BROWNING, BED Colorado University, MSRED MIT, Hon. AIA, LEED AP.,is one of the green building
and real estate industry’s foremost thinkers and strategists, and an advocate for sustainable design solutions
at all levels of business, government, and civil society. Early in his career, Bill built Buckminster Fuller’s last
experimental structure. In 2006, he co-founded Terrapin Bright Green is an environmental strategies research
and consulting firm. Browning’s clients include Disney, New Songdo City, Lucasfilm, Google, Bank of
America, the White House, and the Sydney 2000 Olympic Village. Browning is a founding board member
of the USGBC. In addition to consulting, William writes and lectures widely on sustainable design and
building practices. He is a co-author of Green Development: Integrating Ecology and Real Estate; A Primer
on Sustainable Building; Greening the Building and the Bottom Line; Biophilic Design; The Economics of
Biophilia; Midcentury (un)Modern; and 14 Patterns of Biophilic Design.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES:

1.Understanding the basics of the science of biophilia and biophilic design.

2. Learning how design elements can support Attention Restoration response.

3. Discussing new techniques for in-the-field measurement of brain response.

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 ACADEMY OF NEUROSCIENCE FOR ARCHITECTURE

Behavior-aided Design:
A Translational Approach to Persuasive Architecture
Richard Buday, FAIA, Archimage, Inc. Houston, Texas
Tom Baranowski, PhD, Baylor College of Medicine Houston, Texas

ABSTRACT:

Architects are adept at designing functional and fashionable buildings, but they face improbable odds against
issues outside their traditional skills—such as anticipating how users respond to architecture. This is important
because the world’s most pressing design problems are manmade. [1] Poverty, hunger, and illiteracy, for example,
are the result of resource distribution, not lack of resources. Half of all accidents, many diseases, and most wars,
crime, intolerance, and injustices are similarly behaviorally preventable. Architects are ethically [2] and legally
obliged to protect the public’s health, safety, and welfare, but as neither neuroscientists nor psychologists, they
are ill equipped. Thus, sustainable, resilient, affordable housing, safe neighborhoods, productive workspaces,
engaging schools, healing hospitals, and livable cities are a challenge to produce.

Human behavior is a complex process and resistant to change. Science provides insight into factors influencing
what people do, but architects have little opportunity to test design ideas against psychosocial and neuroscience
theories of behavior.

A combination of ancient and modern technologies offers a possible solution. Narrative immersion has been used
to shape what people think and do since the dawn of man. Story- based video games have been successful
educating, training, and changing people’s behavior. [3] Storied game worlds are virtual environments that
simulate urban, architectural, and interior settings within first-person narratives. Like real-world building users,
players’ game experiences can include interactions with artificially intelligent non- player characters representing
different cultures, genders, ages, and physical abilities.

Architects’ computer model tools are compatible with video game engines. As differences between physically
constructed and virtually built environments shrink, storied video games become ideal sandboxes for architects
to study a proposed building’s behavioral performance with a target population.

Based on twenty years’ experience creating video game interventions, we explore opportunities translating
video games into architectural behavioral simulators. Qualitative and quantitative research on story immersion
for promoting new behaviors, [4,5] emotional responses to simulated worlds, [6] training behaviors through video
games, prose action as narrative companions to virtual environments, [7] and adapting behavior-change worlds
to target population needs is presented. [8]

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 ANFA 2018 CONFERENCE

REFERENCE:

1. Leary, M., Most problems are people problems, in SPSP.org Connections, D. Nussbaurm, Editor. September 22,
2014, Society of Personality and Social Psychology.

2. The American Institute of Architects. (2017). 2017 Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct. Retrieved from http://
aiad8.prod.acquia-sites.com/sites/default/Mles/2017- 04/AIA-Codeofethics-and-professionalcondcut_033017.
pdf

3. Baranowski, T., Baranowski, J., Thompson, D., & Buday, R. (2011). Behavioral science in video games for children’s
diet and physical activity change: key research needs. J Diabetes Sci Technol, 5(2), 229-233.

4. The Narrative Impact of Active Video Games on Physical Activity Among Children: A Feasibility Study. Lu AS,
Baranowski T, Hong SL, Buday R, Thompson D, Beltran A, Dadabhoy HR, Chen TA. J Med Internet Res. 2016 Oct
14;18(10):e272.

5. Story Immersion May Be Effective in Promoting Diet and Physical Activity in Chinese Children. Wang JJ, Baranowski
T, Lau PWC, Buday R, Gao Y. J Nutr Educ Behav. 2017 Apr;49(4):321-329.e1. doi: 10.1016/j.jneb.2017.01.001.

6. Thompson V. Thompson D. Baranowski T. Understanding serious videogame storyline and genre preferences
related to game immersion among low-income ethnically diverse
urban and rural adolescents. In: Evans CM, editor. Internet Issues: Blogging, the Digital Divide and Digital Libraries.
New York: Nova Science Publishers; 2010. pp. 177–188.

7. Prose Fiction as a Narrative Companion for a Vegetable Parenting Videogame. Brand L, Beltran A, Buday R,
O’Connor T, Hughes S, Baranowski J, Diep C, Lu AS, Baranowski T. Games Health J. 2015 Aug;4(4):305-11. doi:
10.1089/g4h.2014.0143. Epub 2015 Apr 14.

8. Adapting a Videogame to the Needs of Pediatric Cancer Patients and Survivors. Beltran A, Li R, Ater J,
Baranowski J, Buday R, Thompson D, Chandra J, Baranowski T. Games Health J. 2013 Aug;2(4):213-21. doi: 10.1089/
g4h.2013.0018. Epub 2013 Jul 19.

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 ACADEMY OF NEUROSCIENCE FOR ARCHITECTURE

Through The Eyes of The User:

Understanding Architectural Design for Users with Disabilities
Yousef Bushehris

ABSTRACT:

OBJECTIVE:
This article presents a case study that employed a user-centered methodology (functional scenarios method
1,2,3) for evaluating and quantifying multi-unit residential building designs based on the needs of the primary
users. To use the assessment tool, functional-needs of a user-group are identified to determine architectural
metrics and criteria for evaluation.

BACKGROUND:
Research indicates that there are few housing options4 that meet or support the social and activity needs
of young adults with disabilities who are transitioning from their parents’ homes into independent living in the
community 5,6.

METHODS:
A survey was administered to 22 individuals with physical disabilities that asked them to indicate how they
performed activities (e.g. level of independence/assistance) and how much their quality of life is impacted by
that activity. The survey items were determined based on interviews, component tasks of ADLs, and the available
literature on unmet needs 5,6,7. 32 activities were identified for the survey in 4 main categories (bathroom-related,
eating-related, ambulation-related, and interaction-related activities). Quantitative architectural elements that
are associated to each of the component-tasks were determined to establish a method for assessing building
designs and determining how successful they will be in meeting the users’ needs.

RESULTS:
17 activities were identified as being important for achieving a high quality of life and the focus of the architectural
evaluation.

CONCLUSION:
Based on the results, 4 architectural metrics were identified (distance, clearance, connectivity, and visibility) to
assess how well social and activity needs will be met in a building design. Each of the activity categories has
specific metrics associated with them (clearance for bathroom and eating activities; clearance and distance
for ambulation activities; connectivity and visibility for interaction activities) and each metric is measurable
(CAD software for distance and clearance, DepthMapX space syntax for connectivity and visibility). Criteria and
thresholds for successfully meeting each of the important needs should be identified so that a design can be
assessed based on the needs and abilities of the user group

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 ANFA 2018 CONFERENCE

REFERENCE:
1 - Denham, M. E., Bushehri, Y., & Lim, L. (2018). Through the Eyes of the User: Evaluating Neonatal Intensive Care
Unit Design. HERD: Health Environments Research & Design Journal, 1937586718761017.

2 - Bushehri, Y. (2016). Application of the functional scenarios method on alternative settings (dissertation, Georgia
Institute of Technology).

3 - Hadi, K., Lim, L., Patterson, M., & Zimring, C. (2015, November). Critical Metrics for Designing ICU and Medical-
Surgical Rooms: Making Research and Analysis Useful. Paper presented at the Healthcare Design Conference,
Washington DC.

4 - Hoffman, D. W., & Gina, A. Livermore. 2012. The house next door: A comparison of residences by disability
status using new measures in the American Housing Survey. Cityscape, 14(1), 5-33.

5 - Roebroeck, M. E., Jahnsen, R., Carona, C., Kent, R. M., & Chamberlain, M. A. (2009). Adult outcomes and
lifespan issues for people with childhood‐onset physical disability. Developmental Medicine & Child Neurology,
51(8), 670-678.

6 - Cleek, A. (2013). Young, disabled and stuck in a nursing home for the elderly. Aljazeera America. Retrieved
from http://alj.am/18smSw0

7 - Stokes, H., Turnbull, M., & Wyn, J. (2013). Young People with a Disability: Independence and Opportunity: a
Literature Review. Youth Research Centre, Melbourne Graduate School of Education.

AUTHOR BIO:

YOUSEF BUSHEHRI is a Ph.D. student at the Georgia Institute of Technology investigating how the design of the
built environment affects human health outcomes. His research interest is at the intersection of spatial design,
aging, and psychology. The focus of Yousef’s doctoral studies is evidence-based design and he is working on
developing methods of analyzing and quantifying spatial experiences and the impact of design elements on
the various needs of its users, which can help develop future guidelines. Before Georgia Tech, Yousef had been
practicing architecture in Kuwait, and was an artist in residence for 89plus at the Google Cultural Institute at
Google, Paris.

Yousef Holds a BS.Arch (2011) and M.Arch (2013) from the Catholic University of America and an MS.Arch (2016)
from Georgia Tech.

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 ACADEMY OF NEUROSCIENCE FOR ARCHITECTURE

Analyzing Users’ Experience of an Intensive Care Unit (ICU)

Laura Cambra-Rufino, Ph.D. Student Architect
José León Paniagua-Caparrós, Ph.D. Architect

ABSTRACT:
The aim of this abstract is to share the research work on the environmental conditions (both
quantitative and qualitative) in an ICU of an acute hospital.

This project is a small part of a Ph.D. thesis in progress at Escuela Técnica Superior de Arquitectura de
Madrid (Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, Spain) funded by “Ayudas para la formación de profesorado
universitario FPU, Ministerio de Educación Cultura y Deporte de España”.

The method used for analyzing users’ experience consisted of a three-month placement at Hospital
Marina Salud de Dénia (Alicante, Spain) sponsored by “Beca DKV Arte y Salud”. During that time, we
used a three-step ethnographic strategy:

-- Firstly we studied and observed users’ behavior in the ICU environment.

-- Secondly, we carried out walking interviews to members of staff (nurses and anesthesiologists),
patients and companions. In these interviews we asked them for their everyday routines and
took notes about their comments on the interaction between their activities and the built
environment.

-- Thirdly, we drew users’ flow on the ICU plan and wrote down the conclusions about their
functional and emotional needs .

The overall purpose of this analysis was to identify and enlist specific users’ requirements that should be
considered on the design process of an intensive care unit.

REFERENCES:

APPLE, M., A Comparative Evaluation of Swedish Intensive Care Patient Rooms. Herd-Health
Environments Research & Design Journal, 2014. 7(3): p. 78-93.

ALEXANDER, C., S. ISHIKAWA AND M. SILVERSTEIN A Pattern Language. Translated by J.G. BERAMENDI.
Edtion ed. New York: Oxford University Press, 1977. Translation of: Un lenguaje de patrones. ISBN 978-

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 ANFA 2018 CONFERENCE

0195019193.

MORICHETTO, Hanna, 2016. Atmosphere, wellbeing and health in residential architecture: linkages to
neuroscience? ANFA 2016: CONNECTIONS – BRIDGESYNAPSES, Salk Institute.
PALLASMAA, J. Habitar. Translated by À. GIMÉNEZ IMIRIZALDU. Edtion ed. Barcelona: Gustavo Gili, 2016.
ISBN 9788425229237.

RASMUSSEN, S. E. Experiencing Architecture. Translated by C. RUIZ. Edtion ed. Cambridge (Mass.): The
MIT Press, 1959. Translation of: La experiencia de la arquitectura. ISBN 9780262680028.

ULRICH, R. S., L. L. BERRY, X. B. QUAN AND J. T. PARISH A Conceptual Framework for the Domain of
Evidence-Based Design. Herd-Health Environments Research & Design Journal, Fal 2010, 4(1), 95-114.

ZEISEL, J. Inquiry by Design. Edtion ed.: Cambridge University Press, 1981. 400 p. ISBN 9780521319713[8] Böhme, G.
(2013), op. cit.

AUTHOR BIOS:

LAURA CAMBRA-RUFINO, Ph.D. Student Architect

Associated firm or organization, professional designations: Predoctoral Researcher at Universidad
Politécnica de Madrid, Spain.
Full mailing address: Camino Alto de San Isidro 11, 3ero C, 28019 Madrid, Spain
Telephone: 0034 699 86 34 06
E-mail address: [email protected]
https://arqppmed.wordpress.com/

Laura graduated from Architecture at Universitat Politècnica de València in 2012.

After finishing her MArch, she got a job at the Vertical Transportation team at Arup London where she
worked for almost three years. Since September 2015 she has been working on her Ph.D. at Universidad
Politécnica de Madrid which focuses on the influence of the built environment on people’s health. To
understand hospital performance from its user perspective she has spent a large amount of time in
hospitals: a three-month hospital placement and several study trips to reference hospitals in Spain. In
March 2018 she moved to Sweden for a three-month placement at the “Centre for Healthcare
Architecture” Chalmers University of Technology.

For more information, please visit https://arqppmed.wordpress.com/

JOSÉ LEÓN PANIAGUA-CAPARRÓS, Ph.D. Architect

Biographical narrative: José León Paniagua-Caparrós is a Dr. Architect with over thirty years of experience in
healthcare architecture. Working as a civil servant since 1980, he has been instrumental in the design,
planning and execution stages of many Spanish hospitals. He currently works as the infrastructure’s
manager for “Instituto de Salud Carlos III (ISCIII)” which is the main Public Research Entity that funds,
manages and carries out biomedical research in Spain.

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 ACADEMY OF NEUROSCIENCE FOR ARCHITECTURE

Neurocosmos:
The Emotional and Cognitive Correlates of Architectural Atmospheres
Elisabetta Canepa: M.Sc.Eng., Ph.D. student[I]
Department Architecture and Design (dAD), Polytechnic School, University of Genoa, Italy
Laura Avanzino: M.D., Ph.D.[II] - Giovanna Lagravinese: Ph.D.[III] - Anna Fassio: Ph.D.[IV] - Valter Scelsi: M.Arch.[V]

ABSTRACT:
Through its inherent spatial presence, the architectural action instills an emotional potential in the physical
environment, shaping the ground for the architectural atmospheric perception[1]. The term “atmosphere” defines
a state of resonance and identification (sensorimotor, emotive and cognitive) between an individual and his
surrounding built space. Human subjects can feel empathy for inanimate rooms when they interiorly establish an
embodied simulation[2] of some architectural features as form, proportions, rhythm, materials, light and shade,
temperature, sounds (that is the so- called “generators of atmosphere”[3]-[4]).

Performing an experimental test, we propose to verify the existence of an empathic reactivity[5] in subjects put
into contact with architectural settings, loaded by variable arrangements of atmospheric tension. The goal is to
determine which architectural features ignite the atmospheric perception, based on emotional sensitivity, and if
this supposed empathic performance is shared among subjects and gradable as model in architectural theory,
according to the scientific principle of objectivity and replicability.

The test is based on observation of reproductions of architectural settings designed about their atmospheric
skills. These settings, modeled in VR, are showed to engaged subjects, who have to draft a self-assessment
questionnaire, aimed at analyze the multicomponential nature (emotive and cognitive) of the architectural
atmospheric perception. The sample is founded on 205 individuals, of mixed sex, aged 20-35 and collected
from the same sociocultural milieu. Their dispositional empathy is preliminarily examined by a brief form of the
Interpersonal Reactivity Index (B-IRI)[6]. Every experimental session employs 21 digital settings, composed by a
standard element and 20 variations on the theme. The case study is the spatial unit of corridor[7], inflected with
five categories of design parameters. In the questionnaire the first questions rate the subjective measure of
the atmospheric emotive component, using a self-report visual analogue scale (VAS), based on arousal and
hedonic valence. Following questions explore the cognitive dimension, asking the participants to describe with
an adjective the emotional experience lived, extracting a tag from a prearranged set of “atmospheric features”
(emotive qualities)[8] and “objective features” (physical and geometrical properties).

REFERENCES:

[1] Pallasmaa, J. (2014). Space, Place and Atmosphere: Emotion and Peripherical Perception in Architectural
Experience. Lebenswelt: Aesthetics and Philosophy of Experience, 4(1), 230-245.

[2] Freedberg, D., & Gallese, V. (2007). Motion, Emotion and Empathy in Esthetic Experience. Trends in Cognitive
Sciences, 11(5), 197-203.

[3] Böhme, G. (2013). Atmosphere as Mindful Physical Presence in Space. OASE - Tijdschrift voor Architectuur/
Journal for Architecture: Sfeer Bouwen/Building Atmosphere, 91, 21-32.

[4] Zumthor, P. (2006). Atmospheres: Architectural Environments. Surrounding Objects. Basel: Birkhäuser.

[5] Tidwell, P. (ed.). (2014). Architecture and Atmosphere. Espoo: Tapio Wirkkala-Rut Bryk Foundation. Tidwell, P.
(ed.). (2015). Architecture and Empathy. Espoo: Tapio Wirkkala-Rut Bryk Foundation.

[6] Ingoglia, S., Lo Coco, A., & Albiero, P. (2016). Development of a Brief Form of the Interpersonal Reactivity Index
(B-IRI). Journal of Personality Assessment, 98(5), 461-471.

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 ANFA 2018 CONFERENCE

[7] Koolhaas, R., AMO, Harvard Graduate School of Design, & Westcott, J. (eds). (2014). Elements: A Series of
15 Books Accompanying the Exhibition “Elements of Architecture” at the 2014 Venice Architecture Biennale.
Venezia: Marsilio.

[8] Böhme, G. (2013), op. cit.

FIGURES: (clockwise, starting from the top left):

Standard element: typical corridor in private residential buildings (width: 1,20 m; height: 2,70 m), with
smooth finished concrete walls, floor and ceiling.

Case no. 1.2 - Variation of plan layout: “L” layout with right-turn.
Case no. 2.4 - Variation of section: trapezoidal section with sloped walls.
Case no. 5.1 - Variation of horizontal surface treatment: colored flooring (blue).
Case no. 6.1 - Variation of vertical surface treatment: colored walls (blue).
Case no. 7.1 - Variation of light and shade layout: zenithal and scattered lighting

AUTHOR BIOS:

[I] Ph.D. student at the Department Architecture and Design (dAD), University of Genoa. Her academic
experience enhances by teaching assistance in several architectural design courses and international workshops.
The research activity is on project theory, society and culture(s), now focused on architectural atmospheric
perception. @: [email protected]

[II] Assistant professor in Physiology at the Department of Experimental Medicine (DIMES), University of Genoa. She
is author of 76 papers, h index 19. @: [email protected]

[III] Post-doc fellow at the Department of Experimental Medicine (DIMES), University of Genoa. She is author of 15
papers, h index 6. @: [email protected]

[IV] Assistant professor in Physiology at the Department of Experimental Medicine (DIMES), University of Genoa,
and external collaborator at the Italian Institute of Technology in Genoa. She is author of 45 papers, h index 23.
@: [email protected]

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 ACADEMY OF NEUROSCIENCE FOR ARCHITECTURE

PERCEIVED INTEREST AND HEART RATE RESPONSE

TO FAÇADE AND DAYLIGHT PATTERNS IN VIRTUAL REALITY
K. CHAMILOTHORI1, G. CHINAZZO1, J. RODRIGUES2, E. DAN-GLAUSER3, J. WIENOLD4, M. ANDERSEN5,*
1 PhD candidate, Laboratory of Integrated Performance in Design (LIPID), Ecole polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Switzerland
2 Post-doctoral researcher, Behavioral Genetics Laboratory, Ecole polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Switzerland

3 Senior Lecturer, Director of the Cognitive and Affective Regulation Laboratory, Institute of Psychology, University of Lausanne, Switzerland

4 Research Scientist, LIPID lab, Ecole polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Switzerland

5 Full Professor, Head of LIPID lab, Ecole polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Switzerland *presenting author

ASBTRACT:
SUMMARY
This contribution introduces an experimental study aiming to provide concrete evidence on how façade and daylight
pattern geometry can affect the emotional responses triggered by a space. The study was conducted in Virtual Reality (VR)
where participants were exposed to 360° scenes of an interior space with three different façade patterns. Their subjective
evaluations and heart rate were recorded. The results show a statistically significant effect of façade on the perception of
space, as well as the mean heart rate change. Specifically, during exposure to a façade with an irregular pattern,
participants rated the space as more interesting and their mean heart rate was lower, resulting to a greater mean heart rate
change compared to the resting state, providing quantifiable measures of the impact of façade characteristics on human
perception and physiological behavior.

METHODOLOGY AND RESULTS

The profound impact of daylight on the subjective experience of a space has
Table 1. The studied façades and the shared
been widely acknowledged in the field of architecture (Pallasmaa, 2012;
(✓) and unique (X) attributes between them.
Zumthor, 2006). Current design practices tend to limit sunlight penetration in
favor of visual comfort and energy efficiency, which has been criticized as

Aperture geometry

Pattern regularity
leading to a monotonous light landscape (Corrodi and Spechtenhauser, 2008).

Ratio of aperture

Clarity (Material)
Although various studies have highlighted the importance of contrast and
Front view of interior
luminance variability for the creation of interest (Parpairi et al., 2002; Rockcastle
scenes in virtual reality
et al., 2016; Wymelenberg et al., 2010), we have limited knowledge on how the
façade geometry and the resulting distribution of daylight patterns affect the
experience of a space. Previous research has shown the importance of
perceived order and complexity of the façade (Omidfar et al., 2015) and the Irregular pattern
irregularity in the distribution of openings on a façade (Chamilothori et al., 2016)
based on evaluations with rating scales. Although this is an important step in
uncovering the perceptual effects of façade geometry, the validity of rating
scales in quantifying the perception of a lit environment has been questioned ✓ ✓ ✓ X
(Houser and Tiller, 2003). A two-step approach, combining subjective
evaluations with an objective measure, has been suggested instead (Tiller and
Rea, 1992).
Following this approach, the authors conducted a within-subject
experiment where participants were immersed in VR scenes with different Regular pattern
façade geometries, investigating the relation between façade patterns and
emotion responses through subjective evaluations, but also measures of heart
rate and skin conductance (Felnhofer et al., 2015; Izso et al., 2009; Lang et al.,
1993). Three variations of façade patterns were investigated, with, as shared ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓
attributes, the façade material and the ratio of aperture (open to total façade
surface), and as varied attributes, pattern regularity and geometry of aperture
(Table 1). The variations were developed following the workflow described in
Chamilothori et al. (2016) and were projected in VR, which has been shown to Venetian blinds
accurately convey the perception of real spaces lit with daylight (Chamilothori
et al., 2018). The three scenes were presented in random order to 72 participants
(36 men and 36 women), however 16 were excluded after visual inspection of
the physiological data due to anomalies or technical problems. The participants ✓ ✓ X ✓
verbally evaluated how pleasant, interesting, and exciting the space was
perceived (subjective response), while their heart rate and skin conductance
were simultaneously recorded with the Empatica 4 wristband (McCarthy et al.,
2016). For the sake of brevity, we discuss here solely the results regarding the

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 ANFA 2018 CONFERENCE

perceived interest and the heart rate. A Friedman’s ANOVA for the three façade types showed statistically significant
differences of pattern geometry on both subjective and objective responses (perceived interest: chi-sq = 40.86, p<.001,
mean heart rate change: chi-sq = 6,99, p<.05). Specifically, during exposure to the irregular pattern, participants rated the
interest of the space higher, and had a stronger decrease in heart rate (Fig. 2), which may witness coherent orienting effect
(Laumann et al., 2003) toward this pattern. Pair-wise analysis with a Wilcoxon Signed-Ranks Matched-Pairs test showed
significant differences between the irregular pattern and i) the venetian blinds (W = 101.5, p<.001, effect size r = 0.69) as well
as ii) the regular pattern (W = 60.5, p <.001, r = 0.63) on the perceived interest, and only between the irregular pattern and
the venetian blinds (W = 1111, p<.05, r = 0.34) on the heart rate change. The calculation of Spearman's rho showed a
statistically significant negative correlation between mean heart rate change and interest (rho = -0.24, p<.05).
Mean heart rate [measurement - baseline] How interesting is this space?
Irregular
pattern
**
Regular
* **
pattern
Venetian
blinds
0 -1 -2 -3 -4 -5 -6 -7 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Heart rate [bmp] Median rating from 1 (Not at all) to 10 (Very)
Fig. 2. Mean heart rate change and standard error of the mean for a 28s response window after event onset, measured with a frequency
of 1Hz (left), and median reported interest and median absolute deviation (right) during exposure to different façades in VR. The paired
comparisons with statistically significant differences are marked as follows: * = p<.05, ** = p<.001.

FUTURE WORK
Our results confirm that the effect of architectural façade elements on human experience is quantifiable and highlight the
need for further studies on the perceptual and physiological effects of built environments. This study is part of a wider
experimental investigation of the effect of façade characteristics on human perception and physiological behavior.

REFERENCES:

Chamilothori, K., Wienold, J., Andersen, M., 2018. Adequacy of Immersive Virtual Reality for the Perception of Daylit Spaces:
Comparison of Real and Virtual Environments. LEUKOS 0, 1–24.
Chamilothori, K., Wienold, J., Andersen, M., 2016. Daylight patterns as a means to influence the spatial ambiance: a
preliminary study, in: Proceedings of the 3rd International Congress on Ambiances, Volos, Greece.
Corrodi, M., Spechtenhauser, K., 2008. Illuminating: natural light in residential architecture. Birkhäuser, Basel, Boston, Berlin.
Felnhofer, A., Kothgassner, O.D., Schmidt, M., Heinzle, A.-K., Beutl, L., Hlavacs, H., Kryspin-Exner, I., 2015. Is virtual reality
emotionally arousing? Investigating five emotion inducing virtual park scenarios. Int. J. Hum.-Comput. Stud. 82, 48–56.
Houser, K.W., Tiller, D.K., 2003. Measuring the subjective response to interior lighting: paired comparisons and semantic
differential scaling. Light. Res. Technol. 35, 183–195.
Izso, L., Lang, E., Laufer, L., Suplicz, S., Horvath, A., 2009. Psychophysiological, performance and subjective correlates of
different lighting conditions. Light. Res. Technol. 41, 349–360.
Lang, P.J., Greenwald, M.K., Bradley, M.M., Hamm, A.O., 1993. Looking at pictures: Affective, facial, visceral, and behavioral
reactions. Psychophysiology 30, 261–273.
Laumann, K., Gärling, T., Stormark, K.M., 2003. Selective attention and heart rate responses to natural and urban
environments. J. Environ. Psychol., 23, 125–134.
McCarthy, C., Pradhan, N., Redpath, C., Adler, A., 2016. Validation of the Empatica E4 wristband, in: 2016 IEEE EMBS
International Student Conference (ISC). Presented at the 2016 IEEE EMBS International Student Conference (ISC), pp. 1–4.
Omidfar, A., Niermann, M., Groat, L.N., 2015. The use of environmental aesthetics in subjective evaluation of daylight quality
in office buildings, in: Proceedings of IES Annual Conference. Presented at the IES Annual Conference 2015, Indianapolis.
Pallasmaa, J., 2012. The Eyes of the Skin: Architecture and the Senses, 3 edition. ed. Wiley, Chichester.
Parpairi, K., Baker, N.V., Steemers, K.A., Compagnon, R., 2002. The Luminance Differences index: a new indicator of user
preferences in daylit spaces. Light. Res. Technol. 34, 53–66.
Rockcastle, S., Amundadottir, M.L., Andersen, M., 2016. Contrast measures for predicting perceptual effects of daylight in
architectural renderings. Light. Res. Technol.
Tiller, D.K., Rea, M.S., 1992. Semantic differential scaling: Prospects in lighting research. Light. Res. Technol. 24, 43–51.
Wymelenberg, K.V.D., Inanici, M., Johnson, P., 2010. The Effect of Luminance Distribution Patterns on Occupant Preference
in a Daylit Office Environment. LEUKOS 7, 103–122.
Zumthor, P., 2006. Atmospheres : architectural environments - surrounding objects. Birkhäuser, Basel.

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 ACADEMY OF NEUROSCIENCE FOR ARCHITECTURE

Psychological Responses to Natural Patterns in Architecture

Alex Coburn,i Omid Kardan,ii Hiroki Kotabe,ii Michael C. Hout,iii Justin MacDonald,iii Gregor Hayn-Leichsenring,iv
Marc G. Bermanii
i
University of Cambridge; iiUniversity of Chicago; iiiNew Mexico State University; ivUniversity of Pennsylvania

ABSTRACT:

Exposure to natural environments has been shown to enhance mood, cognitive functioning, and mental health.
Nature-like design features can also be found in “biophilic” architectural spaces. It has been proposed that
organic architectural patterns are innately preferred over synthetic forms, and that exposure to naturalistic
architectural spaces may confer similar psychological benefits as interacting with nature itself. In this study, we
examined whether subjective perceptions of naturalness in architecture are driven by objective visual patterns,
and we investigated whether nature-like patterns are robust predictors of similarity and preference ratings of
architectural scenes.

In Experiment 1, participants (n=100) rated images of interior (n=120) and exterior (n=120) architectural scenes
on their perceived degree of naturalness. Ratings were then regressed on eight low-level spatial and color
features of the images, which explained 64% and 49% of the variance in naturalness ratings of interior and exterior
scenes, respectively. Scaling and contrast-related features drove the majority of variance in naturalness ratings,
supporting the hypothesis that people associate these patterns with more natural-looking architectural scenes.

In Experiment 2, participants (n=167) assessed the similarity of the architectural scenes in an image arrangement
task. We applied multidimensional scaling analysis (MDS) on these similarity data to identify the underlying
aesthetic dimensions that drove participants’ grouping decisions. MDS Dimension 1 weights were then regressed
on subjective naturalness ratings, which explained over half of the variance in Dimension 1 weights for interior
scenes and over two-thirds of variance in Dimension 1 weights for exterior scenes. These results suggest that
people may unconsciously “see” naturalistic patterns in architectural images, even when they are not prompted
to do so in any way.

In the final experiment, participants (n=100) were asked to make aesthetic preference ratings on the architectural
scenes. These ratings were then regressed on naturalness scores modeled by low-level visual features, which
explained 53% of variance in preference ratings for interiors and 35% of variance in preference ratings for exteriors.
Nature-like scaling and contrast patterns accounted for most of this variance in each image set. These findings
suggest that biophilic visual patterns, particularly patterns of scaling and contrast, may play an important role
in generating aesthetic pleasure when people view architectural scenes. This work paves the way for future
researchers to explore how naturalistic visual patterns in architecture influence restoration and wellbeing.
____________________________________
1
Berman et al., “Interacting with Nature Improves Cognition and Affect for Individuals with Depression”; Berman, Jonides, and Kaplan, “The
Cognitive Benefits of Interacting with Nature”; Berto, “Exposure to Restorative Environments Helps Restore Attentional Capacity”; Bratman
et al., “The Benefits of Nature Experience”; Bratman, Hamilton, and Daily, “The Impacts of Nature Experience on Human Cognitive Function
and Mental Health”; Bratman et al., “Nature Experience Reduces Rumination and Subgenual Prefrontal Cortex Activation”; Kaplan, “The
Restorative Benefits of Nature.”
2
Alexander, The Phenomenon of Life; Goldberger, “Fractals and the Birth of Gothic”; Joye, “Architectural Lessons from Environmental
Psychology”; Salingaros, “The Sensory Value of Ornament”; Solomon, “New Building Systems Mimic Nature and Return to a Biocentric
Approach to Design.”
3
Alexander, The Phenomenon of Life.

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 ANFA 2018 CONFERENCE

REFERENCES:

Alexander, Christopher. The Phenomenon of Life: An Essay on the Art of Building and the Nature of the Universe.
Vol. 1. 4 vols. The Nature of Order. Berkeley, Calif: Center for Environmental Structure, 2002.
Berman, Marc G., John Jonides, and Stephen Kaplan. “The Cognitive Benefits of Interacting with Nature.”
Psychological Science 19, no. 12 (December 1, 2008): 1207–12.
Berman, Marc G., Ethan Kross, Katherine M. Krpan, Mary K. Askren, Aleah Burson, Patricia J. Deldin, Stephen
Kaplan, Lindsey Sherdell, Ian H. Gotlib, and John Jonides. “Interacting with Nature Improves Cognition and Affect
for Individuals with Depression.” Journal of Affective Disorders 140, no. 3 (November 2012): 300–305. https://doi.
org/10.1016/j.jad.2012.03.012.
Berto, Rita. “Exposure to Restorative Environments Helps Restore Attentional Capacity.” Journal of Environmental
Psychology 25, no. 3 (September 2005): 249–59. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvp.2005.07.001.
Bratman, Gregory N., Gretchen C. Daily, Benjamin J. Levy, and James J. Gross. “The Benefits of Nature Experience:
Improved Affect and Cognition.” Landscape and Urban Planning 138 (June 2015): 41–50. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.
landurbplan.2015.02.005.
Bratman, Gregory N., J. Paul Hamilton, and Gretchen C. Daily. “The Impacts of Nature Experience on Human
Cognitive Function and Mental Health.” Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences 1249, no. 1 (2012): 118–136.
Bratman, Gregory N., J. Paul Hamilton, Kevin S. Hahn, Gretchen C. Daily, and James J. Gross. “Nature Experience
Reduces Rumination and Subgenual Prefrontal Cortex Activation.” Proceedings of the National Academy of
Sciences 112, no. 28 (July 14, 2015): 8567–72. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1510459112.
Goldberger, Ary L. “Fractals and the Birth of Gothic: Reflections on the Biologic Basis of Creativity.” Molecular
Psychiatry 1, no. 2 (1996): 99–104.
Joye, Yannick. “Architectural Lessons from Environmental Psychology: The Case of Biophilic Architecture.” Review
of General Psychology 11, no. 4 (2007): 305–28. https://doi.org/10.1037/1089-2680.11.4.305.
Kaplan, S. “The Restorative Benefits of Nature: Toward an Integrative Framework.” Journal of Environmental
Psychology, Green Psychology, 15, no. 3 (September 1995): 169–82. https://doi.org/10.1016/0272-4944(95)90001-
2.
Salingaros, Nikos A. “The Sensory Value of Ornament.” Communication and Cognition 36 (2003): 331–352.
Solomon, Nancy B. “New Building Systems Mimic Nature and Return to a Biocentric Approach to Design.”
Architectural Record 190, no. 9 (September 1, 2002): 172.

AUTHOR BIO:

ALEX COBURN is a PhD student in Architecture at the University of Cambridge. His research focuses on psychological
responses to visual patterns in architecture, with a focus on the psychological benefits of biophilic design. Over
the past two years he has been collaborating with Dr. Anjan Chatterjee at the Center for Cognitive Neuroscience,
University of Pennsylvania, and with Dr. Marc Berman at the Environmental Neuroscience Laboratory, University of
Chicago. He can be reached at [email protected] or (617) 306-1134.

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 ACADEMY OF NEUROSCIENCE FOR ARCHITECTURE

Architecture of Effortless Attention

Jana Masset Collatz, Erin Cuevas, and Nancy Etcoff, PhD

ABSTRACT:

Capturing effortless attention—a psychologically restorative state during which investing more attention in an
activity or environment is experienced as requiring fewer cognitive resources—has the potential to serve at least
two cultural functions through architecture. First, by promoting a conscious engagement with one’s physical
environment, architecture can inspire interest in the activities and people it hosts. Second, by allowing people to
rest their more consuming directed attention, architectural spaces that capture effortless attention can provide
cognitive rest and restoration.

Extensive empirical evidence shows that contact with nature supports the experience of effortless attention.
Why then do we not produce more built environments that promote the human needs fulfilled by effortless
attention? For example, it has been posited that environments with a quality of mystery, suggesting that there is
more information to be acquired through further exploration, inherently inspire curiosity and therefore engage
effortless attention. Because the human brain is tuned to detect novel information in the environment, novelty
inherently attracts effortless attention as well.

“Architecture of Effortless Attention” is an ongoing research project with two goals: (1) to identify specific spatial
conditions that promote the mentally engaged restorative state of effortless attention and (2) to generate an
evolving catalog of architectural design strategies to produce such conditions. The research is grounded in a
review of literature across the fields of neuroscience, psychology, consumer marketing, industrial design, and
architecture.

Drawing on this research and experimenting with it in practice, the authors are currently developing
“Expansiveness,” a design implementation of the theories developed in “Architecture of Effortless Attention” that
employs qualities of mystery and novelty— attractors of effortless attention—to promote psychological wellness.
Inspired by installation artists such as Yayoi Kusama (“Infinity Mirrored Room”) and James Turrell (“Breathing
Light”), “Expansiveness” draws on case study analysis to investigate means and methods for generating
perceived expansiveness within a confined architectural enclosure. The resulting methods can be applied to
solve architectural problems beyond the scope of art and installation; for example in confined urban dwellings,
adaptive reuse, and pop-up projects where expanding the perception of an enclosed space is a valuable
design strategy.

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 ANFA 2018 CONFERENCE

AUTHOR BIOS:

JANA MASSET COLLATZ

Jana Masset Collatz is an architect whose design research investigates the intersection of human perception
and material composition. Together with Erin Cuevas, she co-founded a Los Angeles-based design firm with a
vision to bring the subjects of their curiosities—nature, neuroaesthetics, performance art, industrial design, and
social media—into design realities that actively engage the mind and emotions. Her design process is strongly
influenced by interdisciplinary collaboration. Jana received a post-professional Master of Architecture from
Harvard University in 2016, in addition to a Bachelor and Master of Architecture from Tulane University in 2009
(summa cum laude, AIA medal recipient) and a Master of Preservation Studies in 2010. From 2009 until 2014, she
worked as an associate for Ammar Eloueini Digit-all Studio. Her work has been published online and in print, as
well as exhibited at the AIA New Orleans Center for Design and the fortyK gallery

ERIN CUEVAS
Erin Cuevas is the co-founder of Curious Minds Los Angeles, an interdisciplinary architecture office focusing on
sensory and immersive environments. She holds a graduate degree with distinction from the Harvard Graduate
School of Design, and a bachelor’s degree from the University of Southern California, where she currently holds
a position as a design instructor.
Erin is committed to addressing our increasingly media-centric world by challenging the intersection of culture,
digital behavior and architecture. Her work has been published in print and online, as well as on public display,
including at Harvard University and the Architektur Galerie Berlin. Supplementing her visual arts studies, Erin has
participated in dance and choreography through involvement with several dance companies in Southern
California, including Team Millennia, USC Dance Repertory Company, and Evoke Dance Company. Erin
founded Project XYZ, a production company composed of dancers, architects, and film-makers, to explore her
interest in the delicate relationship between the human body and its surrounding environment.

NANCY ETCOFF, PH.D.

Nancy Etcoff is an Assistant Clinical Professor at the Harvard Medical School, a faculty member of the Harvard
University Mind/Brain/ Behavior Initiative, a Research Affiliate at the Center for Health and Happiness at the
Harvard School of Public Health, and a psychologist and researcher at the Massachusetts General Hospital
Department of Psychiatry where she is the Director of the Program in Aesthetics and Well Being.
Dr. Nancy Etcoff conducts ground breaking and highly cited scientific investigations in the psychology and
neuroscience of emotion, and the psychology and biology of beauty and aesthetics. Her research has
culminated in numerous awards, and her book, Survival of the Prettiest: The Science of Beauty (Doubleday,
1999; Anchor, 2000) has been published in over a dozen languages, and is
the subject of a one-hour Discovery Channel documentary.
Nancy Etcoff has appeared as a keynote speaker at numerous international, national and local conferences.
Her 2004 TED talk on happiness and its surprises has been viewed by over 1,400,000 people and was recently
cited by TED curator, Chris Anderson as one of the 5 talks he learned the most from. Finally, she has been sought
out by corporations and non-profits as a consultant & global advisor.

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 ACADEMY OF NEUROSCIENCE FOR ARCHITECTURE

Building Façades as Neurocognition Stimuli

Erica Costa, B.Arch.
Traditional & Experimental Practitioner, Licensed Architect CAU/Brazil, [email protected]

Amanda Lee, M.Arch I

Pratt Institute, [email protected]

ABSTRACT:

This paper reports the first stage1 of an ongoing research which suggests a methodology to catalog building
façades for further measuring of its ​in situ influence (if any) on subjects’ physiological responses through the use
of portable and/or wearable devices such as skin conductivity bracelets, electroencephalogram helmets and
georeferencing by the use of global positioning systems. Previous studies2 on this matter proved effective to point
out built environment does affect both psychological and physiological states on passersby. This study aims to
pinpoint usual building façade types to gather on-site physiological data.

The suggested method of cataloging building façades is expected to surpass type description by treating it as
interface, i.e., transition between closed private systems, (buildings and its boundaries), and open public ones,
(streets and its openness). Both connect at the street level affecting each others patterns of movement. This is
Space Syntax Theory primary premise and how it tackles architecture: as connected systems ordering space.
The omni urban landscape around us within cities is given shape to a certain society at given time and place
conveying individual flux from origin to destination - building to building - through the streets. Hence, spatial
form, spatial configuration, is of main relevance to this study as it pertains attributes to control movement on the
ground: streets, pathways, gardens, fences, railings, multiple entrances (etc.) - inviting or repelling pedestrians.
This categorization will help build a broader concept of façades than description alone.

Recent research crossing Neuroscience and Architecture have indicated subject responses to built environment
comparing controlled stimuli such as geometric surfaces and organic surfaces, or green spaces and arid
settlements (here roughly described as such for better understanding). Regarding results show clear preference,
it’s fair to analyze architectural space decoding it into listed elements regularly found in cityscapes and commonly
used to induce the relation between pedestrians and buildings. There is a chance these elements are related
to city planning mechanisms such as zoning regulation: setbacks and sidewalks width, for instance. Any land
use legal instrument promoting a pattern of urban development which might affect pedestrian preferences
and therefore routes. Put into another words, planners programming the city to be either friendly or excludent
to pedestrians behind empirical logic - which might not reflect overall well-being of those who live in the cities.

The suggested cleavage areas for initial testing of this devise methodology are two commercial sectors less than
a mile apart from each other in Brasilia, capital of Brazil. Separated by the Monumental Axis, South and North
commercial areas are within same zoning, same size but former was built about 25 years later than the latter.
This time frame results in two unique urban samples, being South representative of modernist ideals [figure 1] and
North of sectarian postmodernism [figure 2] - local conditions which allow individual performances analysis and
later clashing of both data regarding not only influence of a façade type, but immediate collection of façades,​
Brasilia’s Pilot Plan urban planning ​per se, as perceived by pedestrians.

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 ANFA 2018 CONFERENCE

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS:

Research funded by own resources.

NOTES:

1. Research consist in three phases, being: [1] building cataloging; [2] choice of representative façade types and
field arrangements; [3] field experiments on subjects. Next cities to host this research are New York City (US) and
Recife (Brazil).

2. Testing, Testing! A psychological study on city spaces and how they affect our bodies and minds. In: http://
www.bmwguggenheimlab.org/.

REFERENCES:

ARBIB, Michael. [​Why] Should Architects Care about Neuroscience? In: Architecture and Neuroscience. Espoo:
Tapio Wirkkala - Rut Bryk Design Reader, 2013.

HILLIER, Bill. ​Space is the machine. London: Space Syntax, 2007.

HOLANDA, Frederico de. É

​ a luta de classes, estúpido! E-metropolis. V.2, 2011d.

HOLANDA, Frederico de. O espaço de exceção. Brasília: Editora Universidade de Brasília, 2002.

MALLGRAVE, Harry​Francis. T​ he Architect’s Brain - Neuroscience, Creativity and Architecture. Chichester: Wiley-
Blackwell, 2010.

PEPONIS, John (org). Ekistics - Space Syntax - Social implications of urban layouts, vol. 56, n. 334-5 (jan-abr, 1989).

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 ACADEMY OF NEUROSCIENCE FOR ARCHITECTURE

Implementation of Neurofeedback Paradigms to the Generation of

Design & Architectural Features
Pierre Cutellic, PhD Fellow

ABSTRACT:

This project explores linkages between biophilia, neuroscience, and the built environment to develop evidence-
One can see how deeply linked are the developments of artificial with natural (or non- artefactual) aspects of
intelligence in currently encoding the world and developing models of understanding it. A classical separation
between both forms of intelligence may only serve here as a foreword to introduce the complementary use
of Machine Learning (ML) models with human cognition in the hereafter described research. Looking within
the research and development Melds of Brain-Computer Interfaces (BCI), implemented ML models from data
acquisition to classification tasks in general are a great example of complementary loops of inference together
in response with the neurofeedback of a user for re-capacitation of motor or other cognitive skills in medical
applications such as neuroprosthetics for example. But aside medical research and among the abundant
literature and initiatives to bring BCI Out-Of-The-Lab (OOTL) and to other disciplines for research and application
purposes, it has been quite rare so far to find architectural or design research contributing in investigating or
repurposing such technologies, despite their accessibility. Yet architectural potentials and consequences, and
more precisely in the case of Computer-Aided Architectural Design (CAAD) for the scope of this research, should
be considered, at least, of the same importance than for construction technologies, material engineering or even
environmental data-science; once considered for a broaden understanding, reachability and impact on the
world in which one operates. This paper describes an ongoing research on generating design and architectural
features through the exploitation of discriminative neural patterns such as Event-Related Potentials (ERP) and by
the implementation of neurofeedbacks, gained through a visual EEG-based brain computer interface (BCI), for
the active modulation of implemented ML models. While the built environment is indisputably aggregating and
modulating so many stimuli from the world, It necessarily participates to infer on physiological and psychological
states. This paper will first describe empirical experiments in the scope of inverting the concern and ask what can
such states provide in modulating design and architecture. Then hypotheses will be proposed following the trivial
model of an inference loop and project potential contributions to architecture.

REFERENCES:

Cutellic, Pierre. “Machine Learning From Las Vegas.” Archis, Amsterdam, October 20, 2016.

Cutellic, Pierre. “Le Cube d’Après, Integrated Cognition for Iterative and Generative Designs.” Proceedings of
the 34th Annual Conference of the Association for Computer-Aided Design in Architecture ACADIA, no. ACADIA
14​: Design Agency, Los Angeles (October 23, 2014): 473–78.

Cutellic, Pierre, and Lotte, Fabien. “Augmented Iterations.” Proceedings of the 31st ECAADe Conference Vol.1,
no. Computation and Performance (September 18, 2013): 393–401brain. New York, NY: Little Brown.

Willingham, D. (2013). Can physical activities improve fluid intelligence? Retrieved from
https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-athletes-way/201312/can-physical-activities-improve-fluid-
intelligence

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 ANFA 2018 CONFERENCE

AUTHOR BIO:

PIERRE CUTELLIC
Pierre is currently PhD Fellow at the CAAD chair of ETH ITA Zürich since October 2016. His research focuses on
the integration of peculiar neuro- and other bio-signals together with machine learning in decision-making and
learning automation of design processes. Pierre graduated in Architecture at E.N.S.A.Paris- Malaquais in 2007. He
joined Gehry Technologies in Europe in 2008 as a Project Consultant and worked until 2012 on EU and UAE projects,
as the Qatar National Museum (Doha) or the Luma Foundation (Arles), while being involved with renowned
design firms and general contractors such as Gehry Partners, Zaha Hadid Architects, Ateliers Jean Nouvel, Coop
Himmelb(l)au, Oger International, Bouygues Construction and Hyundai Construction. Between 2010 and 2015,
Pierre became adjunct-assistant professor and taught integrative design and production, human computation
and algorithmics at the Digital Knowledge Dept. of Paris-Malaquais. In 2013, Pierre co-founded his first innovative
company in neuroscience and computational design. His past professional experience and collaborations have
been frequently published and exhibited in US and EU since 2010. Before joining ETH, he was since 2014 lecturer
in innovations and computation for the building industry at CNPA Laboratory of EPF Lausanne.

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 ACADEMY OF NEUROSCIENCE FOR ARCHITECTURE

Incentive Architecture: Neural Correlates of Spatial Affordances

During Transition in Architectural Settings
Zakaria Djebbara

ABSTRACT:

Transitions from one space to another are defined by two spaces and a delineating threshold between them.
The threshold itself can manifest in different architectural forms and has impact on the perception and affective
evaluation of the connected spaces (Moretti, Bucci, Mulazzani, & DeConciliis, 2002). Changing spatial proportions
in sequences is an architectural illusion exploited since the Egyptians (ca. 2010 BCE). Prior spaces seem to affect
later spaces and the threshold itself might have an affective influence. Here, we investigated transitions in the
form of openings, to gain a deeper understanding of the perceived affordance of crossing the openings and how
this impacts evaluation of the space. Embedded in a broader investigation of cognitive predictive mechanisms
to better understand architectural transitions, the aim of the current study was to investigate whether the physical
passing, referring to affordances (Gibson, 1979) and active inference (Bruineberg, Kiverstein, & Rietveld, 2016;
Friston, Mattout, & Kilner, 2011), co-vary with the motor-related cortical potentials (MRCPs; Bozzacchi, Giusti,
Pitzalis, Spinelli, & Russo, 2012) as measured with the electroencephalogram (EEG). We hypothesized to find more
positive MRCP activity in pre-frontal and parietal areas prior to action in spaces that provide better affordances,
compared to spaces that hinder the agent (Bozzacchi, Spinelli, Pitzalis, Giusti, & Di Russo, 2015). We further
investigate whether the ceiling height of the second space has an emotional influence, and how the MRCPs
may influence the introspective decisions.46 Using a Mobile Brain/Body Imaging (MoBI) approach (Gramann
et al., 2011; Gramann, Jung, Ferris, Lin, & Makeig, 2014; Makeig, Gramann, Jung, Sejnowski, & Poizner, 2009) we
combined head-mounted virtual reality with mobile EEG, to investigate transition through different openings.
Participants were asked to transition between two spaces passing openings with low versus high affordance,
i.e., openings that were too narrow to pass versus openings that were easily passable. The task entailed an
action-dependent transit (50% of trials), with the final goal to reach a red circle (Figure 1). This study investigates
the neural dynamics underlying action and cognition as predictive mechanisms revealing first insights into the
affective influences of transitions on spatial perception of sequentially experienced spaces.

Figure 1: https://i.imgur.com/C6LpqFG.png
REFERENCES:

Bozzacchi, C., Giusti, M. A., Pitzalis, S., Spinelli, D., & Russo, F. Di. (2012). Awareness affects motor planning for goal-
oriented actions. Biological Psychology, 89(2), 503–514. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biopsycho.2011.12.020

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 ANFA 2018 CONFERENCE

Bozzacchi, C., Spinelli, D., Pitzalis, S., Giusti, M. A., & Di Russo, F. (2015). I know what I will see: action-speciMc motor
preparation activity in a passive observation task. Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience, 10(6), 783–789.
https://doi.org/10.1093/scan/nsu115

Bruineberg, J., Kiverstein, J., & Rietveld, E. (2016). The anticipating brain is not a scientist: the free-energy principle
from an ecological-enactive perspective. Synthese, 1–28. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11229-016-1239-1

Friston, K., Mattout, J., & Kilner, J. (2011). Action understanding and active inference. Biological Cybernetics,
104(1–2), 137–160. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00422-011-0424-z Gibson, J. (1979). The Ecological Approach to Visual

Perception. Houghton Miòin- Boston. Gramann, K., Gwin, J. T., Ferris, D. P., Oie, K., Jung, T.-P., Lin, C.-T., ... Makeig,
S. (2011). Cognition in action: imaging brain/body dynamics in mobile humans. Reviews in the Neurosciences,
22(6), 593–608. https://doi.org/10.1515/RNS.2011.047

Gramann, K., Jung, T.-P., Ferris, D. P., Lin, C.-T., & Makeig, S. (2014). Toward a new cognitive neuroscience: modeling
natural brain dynamics. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 8, 444. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnhum.2014.00444
Makeig, S., Gramann, K., Jung, T.-P., Sejnowski, T. J., & Poizner, H. (2009). Linking brain, mind and behavior.
International Journal of Psychophysiology, 73(2), 95–100.

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijpsycho.2008.11.008

Moretti, L., Bucci, F., Mulazzani, M., & DeConciliis, M. (2002). Structures and sequences of space. In Works and
Writings (pp. 177–181). New York: Princeton Architectural Press.

AUTHOR BIO:

ZAKARIA DJEBBARA
Zakaria Djebbara, PhD-fellow at Aalborg University, Denmark. A particular interest in transitions in architecture and
the bodily/ cognitive impact of such events. Research includes predictive mechanisms, motor-related cortical
rhythms and sequences of spaces.

DJEBBARA, ZAKARIA, PhD-fellow

LARS BRORSON FICH, Associate professor
LAURA PETRINI, Associate Professor
KLAUS GRAMANN, Professor

Department of Architecture, Design, Media and Technology, Aalborg University

Department of Communication and Psychology, Aalborg University
Chair Biological Psychology and Neuroergonomics, Department of Psychology and Ergonomics, Technische Universität Berlin

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 ACADEMY OF NEUROSCIENCE FOR ARCHITECTURE

Multimer: Human Signals for Improved Spatial Design

Arlene Ducao and Ilias Koen

ABSTRACT:

Sensor technology, particularly biosensor technology, has become widely, cheaply available and portable. In
2018, than a third of the world’s population is expected to own a geo- locatable smartphone, devices that can
pair with biosensors so that, for better or worse, we can track ourselves in all kinds of ways, in all kinds of settings,
and learn new things about ourselves and our environments. Call it the Era of the Spatially Quantified Self.

To explore how biometric sensors can help us understand the role of infrastructural networks in the collective socio-
cognitive life of city residents, a group of researchers from MIT and NYU developed Multimer, a location analytics
system that is among the first to examine crowd-sourced, quantified biometric data in a spatial, temporal, social,
and environmental context. It also provides experiential data about populations at large spatial scales, with the
aim of improving spatial design through quantified, uniformly and passively collected human signals. Multimer
data, which includes brainwave, heart rate, pedometer, and GPS information, has been collected and analyzed
for a range of applications, from measuring perceptions of danger and safety in Manhattan traffic to quantifying
what “immersion” is for users of virtual reality. Multimer data has also been collected in other places including
London, Glasgow, Nairobi, Manilla, Milwaukee, Kuala Lumpur, and San Francisco. In this paper, we will discuss the
system components, the analysis findings, challenges, and next steps for this technology.

AUTHOR BIOS:

ARLENE DUCAO, CEO of Multimer; Adjunct Associate Professor, NYU; Research Fellow, MIT CMS E-Lab
ILIAS KOEN, CTO of Multimer; Research Akliate, NYU
http://multimerdata.com

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ANFA 2018 CONFERENCE

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 ACADEMY OF NEUROSCIENCE FOR ARCHITECTURE Sara Ebrahem

Exploring the Phenomenological Perception of the Architectural Spatial

Experience
Bibliotheca Alexandrina as a case study

Sara Ebrahem
Instructor/Msc.candidate, College of engineering and technology, Arab Academy for science, Technology and Martime Transport, Alexandria , Egypt.

Abstract

Phenomenology of perception is the interpreter of the architectural spatial environment. It translates the swilling forces of spatial physical
energy into an architectural experience happening in the brain. The senses act as gate ways, in which the spatial environment channels through
into the user`s psyche. Neuroscientists assures upon studying images of the brain in action that the five senses are the fuel of emotions. Major
advances in neuroscientific multi-sensory interaction studies, show that multisensory regions account for sensory spatiotemporal integration,
sensory substitution accruing, supramodality, crossmodality, emotional and behavioral response, showing that most, if not all neural processes
are in some form multisensory. However, guided by the visually-biased nature of architectural practice, architects attempt to creates better
architectural experience relying on their intuitive best judgment, ignoring the phenomenological multi-sensory nature of user`s perception
and its potentials. Therefore, on an interdisciplinary common ground between architecture and neuroscience, the research takes a speculative
method, aiming to empirically determine the extents to which phenomenological perceptions allow users to experience architectural spaces,
overcoming the intellectual cognitive blindness through channeling the selective attention of the brain mechanism. The entry spaces
Bibliotheca Alexandrina are taken as a pilot case study, verified by a subsequent case study. Following a predetermined procedure based on
neuroscientific-architectural findings, users are navigated through the spaces in interactive walkthroughs. The empirical experiment resulted
in the verification of the multi-sensory phenomenological nature of the architectural experience, giving intriguing indicator on the extend of
impact of each sense and its ability to create emotional inclusive and sensory substitutive experience, speculatively identifying the senses
that are most responsible for creating the imaginary volumetric architectural spatial shape in the brain, aiming finally for proposing
phenomenological method to be specifically included in the architectural design process and education.

Keywords: Phenomenology of perception ; Multi-sensory experience ; Sensory emparical experiment; Architectural sensory substitution.

Multi-sensory interaction reporting to PFC (DLPFC & VLPFC) of behavioural response and
spatial memory

Fig. 1. Left: A depiction study of the flow of information from different sensory modalities to each other and to the PFC area in the brain, which is divided to
main parts. Right: A neuroscientific review of a Multisensory cortical brain areas, showing a direct relation between multi-sensory interaction and spatial
perception motion, behaviour responsible areas.Source: (Klemen & Chambers, 2012)

Multi-sensory and emotional response

Orbitofrontal cortex OFC stimulation: mediating between sensory inputs, emotions, behaviour and The PFC area in
the brain

* Corresponding author. Tel.: +2-010-220-37566

E-mail address: [email protected] / [email protected]

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 ANFA 2018 CONFERENCE
Sara Ebrahem

Fig 2: Left: shows the activation of four different brain regions in the brain to odour-tasteless solutions. Middle: shows the activation of specific brain areas
due to activation of (taste-odour) stimulus. (A) the medial part of the anterior OFC. (B) in nearby medial part of the anterior OFC. Source: (Araujo, Rolls,
Bach, McGlone, & Philips, 2003). Right: fMRI Brain activation of ACC and OFC. Source: (Rolls, 2010)

Sensory substitution (Phenomenonpathic response)

The potential of the architectural multi-sensory spatial environment to act as a sensory substation device

Fig. 2. Audio visual sensory substitution due to various tasks conducted using sighted, blind and congenitally blind subjects in two situations pre- training
and post training. Source: (Murphy, et al., 2016)

Multi-sensory empirical experiment at the Bibliotheca Alexandrina

Fig.3. Part of the Bibliotheca alexandrine empirical experiment including participants following predetermined procedure, based on neuroscience and
architectural review.
References
Araujo, I. E., Rolls, E. T., Bach, M. K., McGlone, F., & Philips, N. (2003). Taste-olfactory convergence, and the representation of the
pleasantness of flavor in the human brain. European Journal of neuroscience, 18, 2059-2068.
Klemen, J., & Chambers, C. D. (2012). Current perspectives and methods in studying neural mechanisms of multisensory interactions.
Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews, 111–133.
Krawczyk, D. C. (2002). Contributions of the prefrontal cortex to the neural basis of human. Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews, 26,
631–664.
Murphy, M. C., Nau, A. C., Fisher, C., Kima, S.-G., Schuman, J. S., & Chan, K. C. (2016, January 15 ). Top-down influence on the visual
cortex of the blind during. NeuroImage, 932–940.
Rolls, E. T. (2010). The affective and cognitive processing of touch, oral texture, and temperature in the brain. Neuroscience and
Biobehavioral Reviews, 34, 237–245.

* Corresponding author. Tel.: +2-010-220-37566

E-mail address: [email protected] / [email protected]

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 ACADEMY OF NEUROSCIENCE FOR ARCHITECTURE

Clinicians for Design: A Convergence of Expertise to Enhance

Cognition and Healthcare Design
Eve Edelstein*, Diana Anderson, Thomas Grey, Desmond O’Neill

ABSTRACT:
Background:
Increasingly, clinicians are asking not only for the architect’s perspective, but to develop a design skill-set and knowledge-
base that will allow them to help shape the future of hospitals, medicine, and healthcare.

Purpose/Objectives:
Clinicians for Design is an international network of clinicians and researchers with a vision to inspire and accelerate the
design of environments that enhance health outcomes through innovations in healthcare spaces, technologies, care
delivery systems and policies (1).

The inaugural Clinicians for Design workshop was hosted at the Royal College of Physicians, during the European Healthcare
Design conference, London, UK in June, 2017. Thereafter, workshops and research activities with hospitals and academic
medical centers are exploring key lessons learned from the clinicians, healthcare system leaders, and medical researchers.
Specific objectives include the application of research to improve practice, meetings to increase clinician understanding of
the architectural process, and integration of clinical expertise with design-thinking.

Methods/Results:
As ‘neuro-architectural’ research converges with clinically-informed design, it has inspired the emergence of new models of
practice for dementia care. A network of like-minded clinicians, neuroscientists, and a team of geriatricians and designers
have formed an alliance to enable a deeper understanding of the elements which contribute to dementia-inclusive design
in healthcare facilities.

A leading cause of institutionalization for those with dementia is often spatial disorientation (2). Absence of cognitive
mapping in dementia can be partially compensated for by using other forms of orientation strategies (3). Therefore, the
design of healthcare facilities can significantly influence one’s spatial orientation and wayfinding abilities (4). This grant-
funded study aims to develop a ‘Design Audit Tool’ in line with Dementia-Inclusive Design Guidelines, ensuring equality
across healthcare users (5). The goal is for inclusive, accessible, and easily understood environmental design for people with
dementia, based on neurological and architectural research.

Implications:
Clinicians and designers discuss their progress in identifying dementia care pathways and research outcomes using a
transdisciplinary approach. The advances towards a dementia inclusive healthcare audit tool is described, including the
role of experts and emerging professionals in medicine, research, and design who seek an enduring connection between
clinical practice and architecture.

REFERENCES:

(1) Anderson DC, Pang SA, Edelstein EA, O’Neill D. The Convergence of Architectural Design and Health: Clinicians for
Design. The Lancet. 2018. Unpublished [Submitted, under review].
(2) Monacelli AM, Cushman LA, Kavcic V, Duffy CJ. Spatial disorientation in Alzheimer‘s disease: The remembrance of
things passed. Neurology. 2003 Dec 9;61(11):1491-7.
(3) Poettrich K, Weiss PH, Werner A, Lux S, Donix M, Gerber J, von Kummer R, Fink GR, Holthoff VA. Altered neural network
supporting declarative long-term memory in mild cognitive impairment. Neurobiol Aging. 2009 Feb;30(2):284-98. Epub
2007 Jul 17.
(4) Marquardt G. Wayfinding for people with dementia: a review of the role of architectural design. HERD. 2011
Winter;4(2):75-90.
(5) De Suin A, O'Shea E, Timmons S, McArdle D, Gibbons P, O'Neill D, Kenneally SP, Gallagher P. Irish National Audit of
Dementia Care in Acute Hospitals. Cork: National Audit of Dementia Care. 2014.

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 ANFA 2018 CONFERENCE

AUTHORS BIO:

PRESENTING AUTHOR
Eve A. Edelstein, PhD, Assoc.AIA, F-AAA * (Presenting author)

Dr. Eve Edelstein directs the Perkins+Will Hx Lab that explores human experience of design. Dr. Edelstein translates research
into brain-based design solutions that address clinical, psychological and behavioral needs. Eve’s degrees include a Ph.D.
in neuroscience (Institute of Neurology, University College London), a professional Master of Architecture (NewSchool
Architecture & Design) and Anthropology (University California, Berkeley). Dr. Edelstein is co-founder of Clinicians for Design,
an international group formulating design solutions at the healthcare interface; a Board member of the Academy of
Neuroscience for Architecture; member of the AIA Design+Health Research Consortium, and faculty of the Neuro-
Architecture intensive course at NewSchool of Architecture for Design. Eve’s research includes: hearing neuroscience
(Harvard / MIT lab); circadian impact on EEG and HRV (AIA College of Fellows Latrobe Prize with Ohio State University,
University California, Berkeley and San Diego); EEG and perceptual responses to virtual reality visual and sonic simulations
(University California San Diego); Neuro-Universal impact of architecture on able and disabled users (Berkeley Teaching
Prize); digital modeling of multi-circadian stimuli (HxLab); and the impact of design features on workplace behavior (HxLab
and University California Berkeley). Dr. Edelstein publishes and presents internationally, including TEDx and keynote
addresses the American Institute of Architects and the American Academy for the Advancement of Science.

Eve A. Edelstein, PhD (neuro), M.Sc., M.Arch., B.A. (anthro), EDAC, Assoc. AIA, Fellow-AAA
Research Director HxLab, Senior Associate, Perkins+Will
Co-Director, Clinician for Design
Fellow, American Academy of Audiology
Board Member, Academy of Neuroscience for Architecture

PO Box 364, Tiburon, CA 94920

Tel +1 415 819 5183 work cell / +1 619-838-6870 personal cell
[email protected]
https://perkinswill.com/people/eve-edelstein

Diana C. Anderson, MD, M.Arch.

Co-Director, Clinician for Design

403 Cote St. Antoine Road, Montreal, Quebec H3Y 2J8 Canada
Tel + 1 514-570-6848
[email protected]
www.dochitect.com

Thomas Grey Dip.Arch.B.Arch.Sci.MArch.

Research Fellow, TrinityHaus

TrinityHaus, 16 Westland Row, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin 2

Phone: +353 (0)1 896 3802
Mobile: +353 (0)85 1200 779
[email protected]
www.trinityhaus.tcd.ie

Desmond (Des) O'Neill MA MD FRCPI AGSF FRCP(Glasg) FRCP FRCPEdin FGSA

Consultant physician in geriatric and stroke medicine and Professor in Medical Gerontology
Tallaght University Hospital and Trinity College Dublin

Trinity Centre for Health Sciences, Tallaght University Hospital, Dublin D24 NR0A, Ireland
Tel +353 1 414 3215
[email protected]
https://www.tcd.ie/medicine/staff/doneill/

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 ACADEMY OF NEUROSCIENCE FOR ARCHITECTURE

How does visibility in urban settings change human perception on

urban design?
Semiha Ergan1 and Dafna Fisher-Gewirtzman2
1
Assistant Professor, New York University, 15 Metrotech Center, Brooklyn, NY, 11201,
Phone: 646-997- 3581; Email: [email protected]

2
Assistant Professor, Technion –Israel Institute of Technology, Sego building, Technion City, Haifa, Israel,
Phone: +972-4-8294031; Email: [email protected]

ABSTRACT:

Urban population keeps growing with a projected estimate of 70% of population living in cities within the next
couple decades (United Nations, 2014). Previous studies on urban design show that urban form has considerable
impact on human mobility and path selection (Hillier and Lida 2005, Meilinger 2008). Visibility has long been
argued by urban planners and designers and visibility in urban settings play a critical role in perception of urban
environments (Fisher- Gewirtzman, 2018). Understanding how visibility in urban settings change human perception
of urban design provide opportunities for improving design of future cities. The objective of this research study is
to define the correlations between visibility level in urban settings and human perception under variant urban
configurations (e.g., walkways, greenery, tall/short buildings, with/out sky view). A set of experiments has been
performed using biometric sensors and visual stimuli, which simulate movement along variant pedestrian paths
from pedestrians’ eye point of view. Results show visible sky view in a low urban settings walking along a center
path without greenery was more influential for human relaxation than being exposed to greenery. Similarly
configurations of urban design with low buildings with 50% sky-view exposure with trees where pedestrians were
walking along the sidewalks resulted in more relaxation in people than without trees. Collected data from 35
participants are currently being analyzed statistically to understand the correlation between visibility scores and
human experience.

REFERENCES:

‘World Urbanization Prospects’, United Nations, New York, 2014

“Globally, more people live in urban areas than in rural areas, with 54 per cent of the world’s population residing
in urban areas in 2014. In 1950, 30 per cent of the world’s population was urban, and by 2050, 66 per cent of the
world’s population is projected to be urban”.

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ANFA 2018 CONFERENCE

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 ACADEMY OF NEUROSCIENCE FOR ARCHITECTURE

Exploring Garden Design Composition and Its Effect on

Psychophysiological and Behavioral Responses
Martha Espinoza, Rui-Min Wang, Keiji Iramina

ABSTRACT:

Our daily experiences produced by the physical environment have an active role in our health and wellbeing.
Experimental researchers have been studying the benefits of exposure to natural environments, finding that
natural surroundings cause more calming responses than urban surroundings; such as a reduction in physiological
stress, improved recovery from mental fatigue, and the enhancement of positive emotions. This is well-known in
literature as the restorative effect.

However, it is still unclear what specific forms or structures in nature provide an environment that is more in tune
with our health. In this work, we will compare two different garden designs to explore which characteristics play
an active role in enhancing our health restoration.

The results aim to contribute to the improvement in design of gardens and natural landscapes that can be
integrated into urban environments like hospitals, care facilities, and workplaces among others to reduce stress
in our everyday life, enhance the recovery process of patients, and improved cognitive functions, mood, and
creativity.

METHOD:
This experiment will be conducted in Fukuoka city, Japan, in May when the average temperature is 22 degrees
Celsius. The studies will record behavioral and psychophysiological responses of participants (n>12) while viewing
to three different spaces for 15 minutes; a) Japanese style gardens, b) urban garden and c) urban area (control
condition). Physiological responses of electroencephalography (EEG) and heart rate variability (HVR) will be
measured during the viewing time of each space to assess the stress level. After completion, the experiment
participants will perform a reaction-time (RT) task to determine the behavioral effects. Self-report questionnaires
Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS) and Perceived Arousal Scale (PAS) will be conducted to
investigate the emotional state of participants.

This research will be supported by a specialist in the Meld of architect and landscape design to better the
elements of garden composition and how critically analyzed each criteria.

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 ANFA 2018 CONFERENCE

REFERENCES:

Ulrich, R.S. Aesthetic and Affective Response to Natural Environment. In Behavior and the Natural Environment;
Altman, I., Wohlwill, J.F., Eds.; Plenum: New York, NY, USA, 1983, p. 85 - 125.

Ulrich, R.S. View through a window may influence recovery from surgery. Science. 1984, 224, p. 420 – 421

Ulrich, R.S.; Simons, R.F. Stress recovery during exposure to natural and urban environments. J. Environ. Psychol.
1991. 11, p. 201 - 230.

Kaplan, R. The role of nature in the context of workplace.Landsc. Urban Plan. 1993, 26, p.193 – 201.

Kaplan, S. The restorative benefits of nature: Toward and integrative framework. J. Environ. Psychol. 1995, 15,
p.169 - 182.

Taylor, A.F.; Kuo, F.E. Children with attention deficits concentrate better after walk in the park. J. Atten. Disord.
2009, 12, p. 402 - 409.

Seiko Goto, B.-J Park. The Effect of Garden Designs on Mood and Heart Output in Older
Adults Residing in an Assisted Living Facility. Health Environments Research and Desig1n 12 Journal. 2013, 6, p.
27 – 42.

Berto R. The role of nature in coping with psycho-physiological stress: a literature review on restorativeness. Behav.
Sci. 2014; 4, p. 394–409.

J. Lee, B.-J Park. Physiological and psychological responses of young males during spring- time walks in urban
parks. Physiol. Anthropol. 2014, 33, p.8.

AUTHOR BIOS:

MARTHA TEODORA ESPINOZA received M.S. in Cognitive Neurosciences at Kyushu University, Japan and B.S. in
Physics at the Autonomous University of Baja California, Mexico. During my master studies, I started collaborating
on a project entitled “Brain-Computer Interfaces to Support the Neurofeedback Therapies of Children with
Autism”. In 2016, I participated in an exchange program at Mahidol University in association with Kyushu University
in which I studied neurofeedback for meditation, analyzing the brain’s phenomena during meditation practice.
As of April 2017 I have been a research student at Keiji Iramina’s laboratory at the department of Systems Life
Sciences in Kyushu University, currently my work involves studying the restorative effect of environment in our brain
and body.

KEIJI IRAMINA received the B.E. degree in electronics engineering in 1986 and the M.E. degree in electronics
engineering from Kyushu University in 1988, and the Dr.Eng. in biomagnetism from Kyushu University, Japan, in
1991. He was a Research Associate with Kyushu University 1991. He became an Associate Professor with the
Faculty of Engineering, Kyushu University in 1994. He joined as an Associate Professor with the Research Institute of
Biomedical Engineering, University of Tokyo, in 1996. He was a Professor with the Graduate School of Information
Science and Electrical Engineering, Kyushu University, in 2004. His main research interest lies on biomedical
engineering and functional imaging of the brain.

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 ACADEMY OF NEUROSCIENCE FOR ARCHITECTURE

Sensory Design Lab: Studying the Brain and Building Within Real Life
ANFA 2018 Conference
Settings
Sensory Design Lab: Studying the Brain and Building
Jonathan Essary, Upali Nanda, PhD, Jon Bailey, and Giyoung Park, PhD, AIA

Within Real Life Settings

ABSTRACT:

Abstract:
In 2017, our HKS research team developed the Sensory Design Lab (SDL) within a new lab and makerspace. The
SDL In 2017,
is an our HKS research
adaptable team developed
and deployable structure the Sensory
used Designmaterials
for testing Lab (SDL)and within a new
spatial lab and makerspace.
conditions, while recording
The SDL is an adaptable and deployable structure used for testing materials
environmental and biometric data. Funded through the American Society of Interior Designers, and spatial conditions, while
and in partnership
withrecording
the Dallasenvironmental
Independent and biometric
School District,data. Funded
the team through
installed thethe American
SDL Society
inside a Dallas of Interior
high school Designers,
whose curriculum
and in
focuses onpartnership
personalized withlearning.
the Dallas Independent
The intent wasSchool District,
to better the teamhow
understand installed
spacetheisSDL inside
utilized, a Dallas
and how it might
be reconfigured
high school whoseto assist personalized
curriculum learning
focuses through the
on personalized study of
learning. the
The relationships
intent between
was to better furniture
understand howselection
andspace
arrangement,
is utilized,ambient
and howenvironment, human behavior,
it might be reconfigured to assistlearning achievement,
personalized anxiety the
learning through levels and
study ofheart
the rate.
relationships between furniture selection and arrangement, ambient environment, human behavior,
learning
An array of achievement,
in-house sensors anxiety
werelevels and heart
created rate.
to capture environmental light levels, temperature, humidity and
sound levels. Biometric sensors, such as heart rate monitors and thermal cameras, were utilized to capture human
An array of in-house sensors were created to capture environmental light levels, temperature, humidity and
responses to various furniture configurations. Behavioral coding and analysis of thermal camera footage identified
sound levels. Biometric sensors, such as heart rate monitors and thermal cameras, were utilized to capture
usage of space, and entry/exit surveys completed the dataset for analysis. Statistical analysis shows higher sound
human
levels wereresponses
associated to with
various furniturereduction
a greater configurations. Behavioral
in anxiety levelscoding andgreater
and with analysis subjective
of thermal camera
achievement. A
footage identified usage of space, and entry/exit surveys completed the dataset
higher heart rate was only linked to higher temperature. The frequency of changing interfaces for analysis. Statistical
(e.g., laptop to
analysis shows
whiteboard) higher sound
was marginally levels were
associated associated
with withinaanxiety,
a reduction greater reduction in anxiety
but with lower levels andachievement.
self-reported with
greater subjective achievement. A higher heart rate was only linked to higher temperature. The frequency
of changing interfaces (e.g., laptop to whiteboard) was marginally associated with a reduction in anxiety,
The but
SDL with
is currently installed in the
lower self-reported 2000 square foot lab in HKS’ headquarters. Current and future use will further
achievement.
explore the relationship between the built environment and human neurophysiology. Advances in neuroscience
couldTheshift
SDLdesigning
is currentlyfor the “human,”
installed to designing
in the 2000 square footfor
labthe “human
in HKS’ brain.” ACurrent
headquarters. deeper andunderstanding
future use will of the
phenomenological connections between people and our habitats, at the cognitive
further explore the relationship between the built environment and human neurophysiology. Advances scale, provides insight
in for
what we build for healthier communities and societal stability. Architects and designers
neuroscience could shift designing for the “human,” to designing for the “human brain.” A deeper will soon be using the SDL
to test their design hypotheses with an expanded set of devices including VR/AR headsets, Microsoft Kinect, EEG
understanding of the phenomenological connections between people and our habitats, at the cognitive
and GSR sensors. We hope the SDL serves as a nexus for collaboration with neuroscience researchers, moving the
scale, provides insight for what we build for healthier communities and societal stability. Architects and
needle for brain and building in our profession.
designers will soon be using the SDL to test their design hypotheses with an expanded set of devices
including VR/AR headsets, Microsoft Kinect, EEG and GSR sensors. We hope the SDL serves as a nexus for
collaboration with neuroscience researchers, moving the needle for brain and building in our profession.

Figures:  

 
Figure 1 ‐ Diagram of Sensory Design Lab structure, custom brackets, surface material, and flooring system. 

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 ANFA 2018 CONFERENCE

Figure 5 ‐ Custom made sensors by HKS LINE measureing and 
recording values for light, temperature, sound, and relative 
Figure 4 ‐ Concept rendering of SDL installed in Dallas  humidity, which are used to corelate with survey response of 
Independent School District high school. interaction and response to the spatial design. 

Figure 2 ‐ Graph plotting environmental data for one study  Figure 3 ‐ Graph plotting students heartrate in comparison to 
session.  interaction. 

References:
REFERENCES: •Barrett, P., Davies, F., Zhang, Y., & Barrett, L. (2015). The impact of classroom design on pupils' learning: Final
results of a holistic, multi-level analysis. Building and Environment, 89, 118-133.
doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.buildenv.2015.02.013
• Fisher, P. K., & Kane, C. (1998). Coercion Theory: Application to the Inpatient Treatment of Conduct-Disordered
Barrett, P., Davies, F.,Children.
Zhang, Y., & Barrett, L. (2015). The impact of classroom design on pupils’ learning:
Journal of Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Nursing, 11(4), 129-134. doi:10.1111/j.1744-6171.1998.tb00028.x
Final results of a • holistic, multi-level analysis.
Klatte, M., Hellbrück, J., Seidel, Building
J., & Leistner, P. (2010).and
EffectsEnvironment, 89, on
of Classroom Acoustics 118-133.
Performance doi:http://dx.doi.
and Well-
org/10.1016/j.buildenv.2015.02.013
Being in Elementary School Children: A Field Study. Environment and Behavior, 42(5), 659-692.
doi:10.1177/0013916509336813
Fisher, P. K., & Kane,• C.Park,
(1998). Coercion
G., & Evans, Theory:
G. W. (2016). Application
Environmental stressors,tourban
thedesign
Inpatient Treatment
and planning: of Conduct-Disordered
implications for human
Children. Journal of Childbehaviourand andAdolescent
health. Journal of Psychiatric Nursing,
Urban Design, 21(4), 453-470.11(4), 129-134. doi:10.1111/j.1744-6171.1998.
doi:10.1080/13574809.2016.1194189
• Tanner, C. K. (2008). Explaining relationships among student outcomes and the school's physical environment.
tb00028.x
Journal of Advanced Academics, 19(3), 444-471. doi:10.4219/jaa-2008-812
Klatte, M., Hellbrück, J., Seidel, J., & Leistner, P. (2010). Effects of Classroom Acoustics on Performance
and Well- BeingAuthor(s):
in Elementary School Children: A Field Study. Environment and Behavior, 42(5), 659-692.
Upali Nanda, PhD. Director of Research, 1.832.729.7652, [email protected]
doi:10.1177/0013916509336813
Jon Bailey, Associate and Designer, 1.832.729.7652, [email protected]
Park, G., & Evans, Jonathan Essary, Designer
G. W. (2016). and Researcher,
Environmental 1.972.852.6772,
stressors, urban [email protected]
design and planning: implications for human
Giyoung Park, PhD, AIA. Sr. Design Researcher, 1.972.852.6744, [email protected]
behaviour and health. Journal of Urban Design, 21(4), 453-470. doi:10.1080/13574809.2016.1194189
HKS, Inc., HKS LINE, HKS RESEARCH
Tanner, C. K. (2008). Explaining relationships among student outcomes and the school’s physical
350 NORTH ST. PAUL STREET Suite 100, DALLAS, TEXAS 75
environment. Journal of Advanced Academics,
www.hksinc.com
19(3), 444-471. doi:10.4219/jaa-2008-812
www.hksline.com www.cadreresearch.org

AUTHOR BIOS:

UPALI NANDA, PhD. Director of Research, 1.832.729.7652, [email protected]

JON BAILEY, Associate and Designer, 1.832.729.7652, [email protected]
JONATHAN ESSARY, Designer and Researcher, 1.972.852.6772, [email protected]
GIYOUNG PARK, PhD, AIA. Sr. Design Researcher, 1.972.852.6744, [email protected]

HKS, Inc., HKS LINE, HKS RESEARCH

350 NORTH ST. PAUL STREET Suite 100, DALLAS, TEXAS 75
www.hksinc.com | www.hksline.com www.cadreresearch.org

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 ACADEMY OF NEUROSCIENCE FOR ARCHITECTURE

Correctional Lighting is Bad for Your Health

Jay Farbstein, PhD, FAIA, Richard E. Wener, PhD, Melissa M. Farling, FAIA, LEEDap, Erin Persky, Associate AIA,
CCHP, Eve A. Edelstein, PhD, EDAC, Associate AIA, F-AAA

ABSTRACT:

The AIA Academy of Architecture for Justice has been exploring a variety of conditions in typical correctional
facilities that affect lighting. These include generally limited access to adequate natural lighting, the limited
spectrum artificial lighting that is provided, and the fact that at least some lighting is kept on at all hours of the
night (in cells and dormitories). It is hypothesized, based on research in other settings, that the typical correctional
lighting provisions result in negative impacts on both inmates and staff (especially those staff who work night shift
or who rotate shifts on a regular basis). The expected impacts include disruption of sleep patterns and circadian
rhythms with attendant associated psychological and health outcomes, which can be very powerful especially
given the involuntary nature of confinement and its long duration for many individuals.

The potential of improved design layouts together with new kinds of artificial lighting (programmable LEDs) to
remedy the situation are worthy of study, given the potential very great beneficial impacts which could include
improved physical and mental health and reduced utilization of health care and mental health services, improved
attentiveness when attending classes and other programs, reduced stress and related behavioral manifestations
including conflict, fights and assaults, and many others.

This session focuses on the issues and theories associated with the physical design of correctional facilities and its
psychological and behavioral impacts, strategies in other types of facilities which may be applicable, with the
goal of outlining a neurobiological research model for these facilities.

AUTHOR BIOS:

JAY FARBSTEIN, PhD, FAIA

President of Jay Farbstein & Associates, Inc., Mr. Farbstein has more than 30 years of professional experience and is nationally
recognized for his contributions in the Meld of facility planning, programming, and post occupancy evaluation – on which
he has spoken and published widely and for which he has received many awards. Mr. Farbstein has led or participated in
numerous research projects for clients including the National Institute of Corrections, U.S. Postal Service, the World Bank, the
U.S. Department of Labor, and the Bruner Foundation. Recently, he led a study of the application of neuroscience to the
evaluation of correctional environments; this project received a Certificate of Research Excellence – along with the only
special commendation - from the Environmental Design Research Association. Mr. Farbstein earned a MArch from Harvard
University and a PhD from the University of London. He is a Fellow of the American Institute of Architects where he co-chairs the
Academy of Architecture for Justice’s research program. He served as chair of the Environmental Design Research Association
which awarded him its lifetime career achievement award.

RICHARD E. WENER, PhD

Richard Wener is Professor of Environmental Psychology and head of the Sustainable Urban Environments program in
the Department of Technology, Culture and Society at the Tandon School of Engineering of NYU. He received his Ph.D.
in psychology from the University of Illinois-Chicago, and is a fellow and past president of Division 34 of the American
Psychological Association. The Environmental Design Research Association gave him its award for distinguished service to the
Meld of environment and behavior in 1995 and its Career Award in 2013. He has published extensively on Post Occupancy
Evaluation of the built environment including correctional settings and sustainable design. Professor Wener’s research on
the behavioral impacts of correctional settings began in 1975 with evaluations of the new federal Metropolitan Correctional
Centers. He has since conducted assessments and other studies in dozens of jails and prisons, culminating his 2012 book “The
Environmental Psychology of Prisons and Jails: Creating Humane Environments in Secure Settings,” from Cambridge University

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 ANFA 2018 CONFERENCE

Press. He presented the Distinguished Scholar lecture at ICAP 15 – the conference of the International Correction and Prisons
Association, in Colorado Springs, October, 2013. Prof. Wener is Managing Editor for a forthcoming volume from the
International Committee of the Red Cross on the design of humane prisons, and currently serves on the Mayor of New York
City’s Justice Implementation Task Force Design Working Group which is tasked with closing and replacing the Rikers Island
detention facilities.

MELISSA M. FARLING, FAIA, LEEDap

Melissa is principal of Gould Evans in Phoenix. Her 25-year architectural career has focused on criminal justice facilities,
public projects, behavioral health hospitals, and an active investigation of the effects of architecture on behavior. She is a
member of the AIA Academy of Architecture for Justice (AAJ) Leadership Group, AAJ Research Committee, and Academy
of Neuroscience for Architecture Advisory Council. Farling has co-facilitated workshops including the “Neuroscience and
Correctional Facility Design Workshop” in New Orleans and the “Neuroscience and Courthouse Design Workshop” in Brooklyn.
The former workshop led to a National Institute of Corrections funded study to examine impacts of views of nature on stress in
a jail intake area. She was one of the principal investigators along with Jay Farbstein and Richard Wener. This study received
the inaugural Certificate of Research Excellence from the Environmental Design Research Association – with the only special
commendation. Farling gives frequent presentations on evidence-based design applications and is contributing author to
several publications including “Mind in Architecture: Neuroscience, Embodiment, and the Future of Design,” edited by Sarah
Robinson and Juhani Pallasmaa and published by The MIT Press. She holds a BA in Architecture from UNC Charlotte and BArch
and MArch degrees from University of Arizona.

ERIN PERSKY, Associate AIA, CCHP

Erin Persky is a facility planner and researcher specializing in justice facilities. She applies her interdisciplinary research acumen
to the practice of criminal justice planning by providing services integral to the development of architectural programs,
needs assessments, feasibility studies, design-build criteria documents, and Post-Occupancy Evaluations (POEs).
Erin has over 10 years of experience conducting civic-related research, with a focus on justice and civic building design. Her
current research focuses include therapeutic justice environments and POEs. She has presented her work to the American
Institute of Architects (AIA), National Association for Court Management (NACM), and the National Commission on Correctional
Healthcare (NCCHC), and has been featured in Architect Magazine for her research. She works closely with the AIA, having
served as member and chair of the AAJ Research and Communications committees and was the 2017 AAJ Chair. Erin is also
working with the NCCHC to develop and integrate evidence-based design guidelines into Correctional Healthcare Facility
standards.
Erin holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology and Social Behavior, summa cum laude, and a Master’s Degree in Political
Science, both from the University of California, Irvine. She also holds a Master’s Degree in Architecture, magna cum laude,
from the NewSchool of Architecture and Design in San Diego.

EVE A. EDELSTEIN, PhD, EDAC, Associate AIA, F-AAA

Dr. Eve Edelstein’s expertise as a clinician, researcher, educator and designer, includes degrees in clinical neuroscience
(Institute of Neurology, University College London), architecture (NewSchool of Architecture & Design) and anthropology
(University of California, Berkeley). Dr. Edelstein’s research includes novel systems that simulate multi- spectrum circadian light
exposure, and circadian design guidelines for the AIA Latrobe Prize research.
Dr. Edelstein directs the Perkins+Will HxLab that explores the human experience of design across all scales and practice area,
and works with clients and design teams to translate rigorous data into design solutions that support the human continuum
of clinical, psychological, physiological and behavioral needs. Eve directs the Perkins+Will Gadget Lab, using bio-sensors,
research and custom tools in pre and post occupancy studies, to reveal the influence of design on cognition, emotion,
intelligibility, and wayfinding among other topics. Co-founder of Clinicians for Design, Dr. Edelstein leads an international
group of clinicians to formulate new design solutions. With international top-tier academic centers, innovative virtual reality
simulations explored immersive and interactive 4D spatial sound objects that simulate speech intelligibility and noise intrusion,
and the impact of interior and exterior architecture on sight lines and functional design.
Dr. Edelstein publishes and presents keynote and educational lectures internationally.

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 ACADEMY OF NEUROSCIENCE FOR ARCHITECTURE

Does Views To Nature And The Design Of Spaces Matter?

A Pain Stress Experiment
Lars Brorson Fich, Aalborg University, Denmark. [email protected].
Antje Gimmler, Aalborg University, Denmark. [email protected]
Laura Petrini, Aalborg University, Denmark. [email protected]
Andrea Jelic, Aalborg University, Denmark. [email protected]
Zakaria Djebbara, Aalborg University, Denmark. [email protected]
Peter Jönsson, Kristianstad University, Sweden. [email protected]

ABSTRACT:
Previously, we have shown that the design of spaces can influence the physiological stress reaction to psychosocial
stress in terms of the stress hormone cortisol [1]. In the current experiment, we examined the physiological reaction
to a pain stressor (the Cold Pressor Test). We used three different computer models in a virtual environment (a
Cave): a closed room, a room with openings onto an empty landscape potentially allowing for escape, and due
to the general consensus that a view to nature is de-stressing [e.g. 2,3,4], a room with a view to nature through the
openings. We predicted that we would find the highest cortisol level in the closed room and the lowest one in the
room with a view to nature. We measured reactivity of the autonomous nervous system (ANS) with high frequency
heart rate variability (parasympathetic activity), and T-wave amplitude (sympathetic activity) recording, and HPA-
axis reactivity with saliva cortisol levels. I contrast to the previous experiment with psychosocial stress, there was
no significant difference in cortisol levels for any condition. There was no significant difference in ANS activation
between the closed and open room, but contrary to consensus, the stress reaction was significantly strongest in
the nature condition (fig.1). This might be explained by the fact that our experiment, as far as we know, is the only
one in which participants have been exposed to the natural setting during both baseline measurements, stressor
and a subsequent de-stressing period, while previous experiments solely have concentrated on the de-stressing
effect. We have now tested two different stressors in the same computer model with different outcomes (fig.2),
implying that the effect of a space depends on a combination of the design and on the events taking place in
the space. This hints at the limitations of architecture as architects can only control the design of the environment
and challenges one-to-one designs of studies of reaction to architectural stimuli. As the referred experiments is
just two limited studies, this calls for further research and for discussion on the affordances of spaces [5,6].

REFERENCES:

1. Fich, L.B., Jönsson, P., Kirkegaard, P.H., Wallergård, M., Garde, A.H., Hansen, Å., 2014. Can architectural design
alter the physiological reaction to psychosocial stress? A virtual TSST experiment. Physiology & Behavior 135, pp.
91-97

2. Ulrich, R.S., Simons, R.F., Losito, B.D., Fiorito, E., Miles, M.A., Zelson, M., 1991. Stress Recovery During Exposure to
Natural and Urban Environments. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 11, pp. 201-230

3. Van Den Berg, A.E., Custers, M.H.G., 2011. Gardening Promotes Neuroendocrine and Affective Restoration
from Stress. Journal of health Psychology, 16(1), pp. 3-11

4. Brown, D.K., Barton, J.L., Gladwell, V.F., 2013. Viewing Nature Scenes Positively Affects Recovery of Autonomic
Function Following Acute-Mental Stress. Environmental Science & Technology, 47, pp. 5562-5569

5. Gibson, J.J., 1986. The Ecological Approach to Visual Perception. New York: Psychology Press; Taylor & Francis
Group.

6. Clark, A., 1999. An embodied cognitive science? Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 3(9), pp. 345-351.

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Figures:

Fig 1. Heart rate, reactivity of the autonomous nervous system measured with high frequency heart rate
variability (parasympathetic activity), and T-wave amplitude (sympathetic activity – low values corresponds to
high activity).
1,2 1,2

1,0 1,0

0,8 0,8
Δ CORTISOL ln(nmol/L)

Δ Cortisol ln(nmol/L)
0,6 0,6

0,4 0,4

0,2 0,2

0,0 0,0

-0,2 -0,2

-0,4 -0,4

-0,6 -0,6
WARM REST COLD REC10 REC20 REC30 Prep TSST Rec 10 Rec 20 Rec 30 Rec 40
CONDITION CONDITION

Fig 2. Participants Saliva cortisol levels measured in Virtual Reality (Cave) computer models of a closed space
(closed line) and a space with openings (dotted line), when exposed to a pain stressor (left) and a psychosocial
stressor (right). As can be seen, the stress reaction depended on the design of the space as well as on the type of
stressful event that took place within the space.
Authors: Lars Brorson Fich (presenter), Architect. m.a.a., Ph.d., associate professor; graduated as an architect
AUTHORS BIOS:
in 1984, and has worked as a practicing architect until 2008. He is now leading a four-year research project on
the BRORSON
LARS influence ofFICH
space on stress. Antje
(presenter), Gimmler,
Architect. Dr. Ph.d.,
m.a.a., phil, Ph.D. is professor
associate of applied
professor; philosophy
graduated as anand researchin 1984,
architect
anddirector at the Center
has worked as afor Applied Philosophy.
practicing In her2008.
architect until interdisciplinary
He is now research
leadingand with a framework
a four-year researchstemming
project on the
influence of space
from classical on stress. pragmatism, neopragmatism and critical theory she is interested in developing a
philosophical
more GIMMLER,
ANTJE empirically Dr.
oriented
phil, philosophy. Laura Petrini
Ph.D. is professor is an associate
of applied professor
philosophy and in neuropsychology
research director atatAalborg
the Center for
University.
Applied Her main
Philosophy. In research interest is in understanding
her interdisciplinary research andphysiological and psychological
with a framework mechanisms
stemming from classicalrelated
philosophical
pragmatism, neopragmatism and critical theory she is interested in developing a more empirically
with the pain experience. Andrea Jelić, Cand. Arch, Ph.D. is an architect and postdoctoral researcher at oriented
philosophy.
Aalborg University. Her research focuses on the intersection of architecture, neuroscience, and phenomenology.
LAURA PETRINI isfrom
She graduated an associate professor
the University in neuropsychology
of Belgrade ataAalborg
(2009) and holds University. from
PhD in architecture Her main research interest is in
the Sapienza
understanding physiological and psychological mechanisms related with the pain experience.
University in Rome (2015). Zakaria Djebbara, Cand. Polyt. Arch, PhD-student in Aalborg University
Department
ANDREA ofCand.
JELIC, Architecture, Design,
Arch, Ph.D. Media
is an and Technology.
architect Researchresearcher
and postdoctoral interests includes spatialUniversity.
at Aalborg experienceHer research
focuses on the intersection of architecture, neuroscience, and phenomenology. She graduated
using the cognitive theory Predictive Processing. Peter Jönsson is an associate professor in psychology at from the
University of Belgrade (2009) and holds a PhD in architecture from the Sapienza University in Rome
Kristiansstad University; Sweden. He has specialized in stress research using virtual models and has led the(2015).
development
ZAKARIA of the virtual
DJEBBARA, Cand.version
Polyt. of the Trier
Arch, Social Stress
PhD-student Test. University Department of Architecture, Design,
in Aalborg
Media and Technology. Research interests includes spatial experience using the cognitive theory Predictive
Processing.
PETER JÖNSSON is an associate professor in psychology at Kristiansstad University; Sweden. He has specialized in
stress research using virtual models and has led the development of the virtual version of the Trier Social Stress Test.

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 ACADEMY OF NEUROSCIENCE FOR ARCHITECTURE

Shifting Teacher Practice in an Innovative Learning Environment

Raechel French

ABSTRACT:

Research shows that many schools continue implementing traditional pedagogy, despite inhabiting spaces
intended to support a variety of teaching and learning opportunities (Saltmarsh, Chapman, Campbell & Drew,
2015). This fact is concerning as more schools are trading in their identical classroom models for multi-modal,
flexible, technology-infused facilities with hopes of spurring pedagogic shifts. The research presented here is a sub-
project of the Innovative Learning Environments and Teacher Change (ILETC) research study conducted through
the University of Melbourne and was completed through a Fulbright Postgraduate Scholarship. The research goal
was to understand the ongoing transitions (i.e. changes in behavior) made by teachers inhabiting these new
spaces to inform future strategies and tools to quicken and ease the transition for future teachers. To this end,
four case studies were completed on schools making the shift from traditional to innovative facilities in Australia
and New Zealand asking the question, “What characterizes a successful transition of a school from traditional
classrooms to an innovative learning environment in the context of the design and construction process?”
While findings spanned organizational and cultural factors, what is most relevant to this speciMc presentation is
evidence of the built environment itself spurring changes in teacher and student behavior. Analysis of this aligns
with recent work on the sociomaterial view on the inhabitation of space in which “the building gives (users)
‘licence...to ask those bigger questions’ and to ‘crowbar’ the process of curriculum and pedagogic change”
(Mulcahy,60 Cleveland, & Aberton, 2015, p. 10). Basically, it is seen that pedagogic change and spatial change
often come to being together in a circulatory fashion. While multiple examples of this were seen in the data, one
of the most prevalent findings is encompassed in what this paper calls, “enabling constraints” or, the purposeful
removal of common artifacts of schooling, such as desks, singular teaching walls, books, etc., to spur desired shifts
in behavior. The perception of these design decisions when paired with organizational routines and structures
shifted from constraints to enablers as educators inhabited their new facilities.

REFERENCES:

Mulcahy, D., Cleveland B., & Aberton H. (2015) Learning spaces and pedagogic change: envisioned, enacted
and experienced. Pedagogy, Culture & Society, DOI: 10.1080/14681366.2015.1055128

Saltmarsh S., Chapman A., Campbell M., & Drew C. (2015) Putting “structure” within the space”: Spatially un/
responsive pedagogic practices in open-plan learning environments. Educational Review, 67:3, 315-327, DOI:
10.1080/00131911.2014.924482

AUTHOR BIO:

RAECHEL FRENCH
University of Melbourne; DLR Group

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 ACADEMY OF NEUROSCIENCE FOR ARCHITECTURE

The Built Environment as Cultural Emotion Generator and External

Brain
The following abstract was written by T.R.A.C.E. member Rainer Gabriel, designer, backed by his fellow research
group members Heiner Mühlmann, cultural theorist, Nico Pezer, phonetician & IT-specialist and Thomas
Grunwald, neuroscientist.

ABSTRACT:

Newer evolution-biologistic models suggest that culture has had an influence on the development of its inhabiting
human beings. It seems quite possible that our built environment, architecture, is a product of some kind of co-
evolution between man and culture. In the western culture one might assume, that it was the classical decorum,
a unit of form and content, and its design rules, that imprinted cultural meanings into the artifacts of a built
enviroment for a couple of 1000 years.

Theories of rhetoric and architecture, like the ones of Leon Battista Alberti, suggest that buildings designed to be
high ranking, according to the Western architectural decorum, have more impact on the minds of their beholders
than low-ranking buildings. The research group T.R.A.C.E. (Transmission in Rhetorics, Arts and Cultural Evolution)
used event-related potentials in a visual object categorization task to probe this assumption and to examine
whether the hippocampus contributes to the processing of architectural ranking (Oppenheim et al,(2009) Brain
Electrical Responses to High- and Low-Ranking Buildings. Clinical EEG and Neuroscience 40), (Oppenheim et al,
(2010) Hippocampal contributions to the processing of architectural ranking. Neuroimage 50). The two groups
of stimuli which were needed for the experiments consist of architectural sketches of high- and low-ranking
buildings. To avoid recall of existing buildings the stimuli are fast drawn freehand sketches that not try to copy real
buildings but show unrecognizable buildings drawn according to the decorum rules.

The neurophysical correlate of architectural stimuli perception gained by the experiments, shows a significant
difference between the two classes of stimuli. It was found that early negative potentials between 200 and 400
ms differentiated between high- and low-ranking buildings in healthy subjects and patients with temporal lope
epilepsy with and without hippocampal sclerosis. By contrast, late positive potentials between 400 and 600 ms
were higher in amplitude to high-ranking buildings only in healthy subjects and TLE patients without but not in
TLE patients with hippocampal sclerosis. These findings suggest that the differentiation between high- and low-
ranking buildings entails both early visual object selection and late post-model selection processes and that the
hippocampus proper contributes critically to this second stage of visual object categorizations.

Based on this outcome it can be suggested that high-ranking-architecture causes familiarity effects within a viewer
– at least when the viewer originates from a western decorum-culture. Following this assumption architectural
perception evokes different emotional responses depending on its position inside a cultural/architectural ranking.
While the brain electrical responses of western test participants did differentiate between western decorum
styled high- and low-ranking buildings both at an earlier and a later stage of visual processing , this difference was
not found during the earlier stage when the experiment was repeated in a different cultural surrounding, namely
Bejing, with Asian participants (Mecklinger et al, (2014), Cross-cultural differences in processing of architectural
ranking. Cognitive Neuroscience Volume 5).

Therefore it seems legitimate to speculate that brain electrical responses to architectural ranking may be
influenced by mental modular processes that were influenced by the cultural rule-system which is responsible
for the outer appearance (shape and facade-design) of buildings. The connection between form and emotion
would function as a transgenerational, artificial emotion memory, that supports the fitness of a population by
coordinating cultural tasks and helps to navigate trough an artificial landscape.

With significant differences between the outer design of high-ranking buildings from different cultures and being
given that all of those buildings represent a highly relevant cultural value for the particular population over

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centuries, differences between the brain electrical responses of the cultural populations could be possible. If this
would be the case, working with those different responses might help to strengthen the cross-cultural dialogue as
well as it might help architects and designers to activate a „forgotten/hidden“ pathway to memory enhancing
cultural mental modular processes that are triggered by the shapes and rules of cultural artifacts. But wether you
try to avoid a clash of cultures or fight dementia, you should not ignore the traces left by a couple of 1000 years
of cultural evolution and the emotions they are able to evoke.

Now it is of significant interest to get to know architectural ranking systems from different cultures to be able to
experiment if western/European on the brain electrical responses to architectural ranking of western/european
participants distinguish between High- and Low-Ranking buildings from different cultures.

REFERENCES:

Alberti Leon Battista, Zehn Bücher über die Baukunst (Ten books on architecture), Wissenschaftliche
Buchgesellschaft Darmstadt, 1975

Richerson Peter J. & Boyd Robert, Not by genes alone – how culture transformed human evolution, The
University of Chicago Press 2005, Chapter One

Jablonka Eva & Lamb Marion J., Evolution in Four Dimensions – Genetic, Epigenetic, behavioral, and Symbolic
Variation in the History of Life, The MIT Press paperback 2006

Oppenheim I, Mühlmann H, Blechinger G, Mothersill IW, Hilfiker P, Jokeit H, Kurthen M, Krämer G, Grunwald
Th (2009) Brain Electrical Responses to High- and Low-Ranking Buildings. Clinical EEG and Neuroscience
40, page 157-161

Oppenheim I, Vannucci M, Mühlmann H, Gabriel R, Jokeit H, Kurthen M, Krämer G, Grunwald Th (2010)

Hippocampal contributions to the processing of architectural ranking. Neuroimage 50, page 742-752

The research group T.R.A.C.E. is looking for neuroscientific proof of cultural evolution since 2003. The group mainly
consists of the the founding members Prof. Dr. Heiner Mühlmann, a cultural theorist who taught at the University
of Paris VIII, the Universities of Münster and Wuppertal, the Collège International de Philosophie, Paris, the Zurich
University of the Arts (ZHdK) i.a. and Prof. Dr. Dr. Thomas Grunwald, Medical Director of the Swiss Epilepsy Centre
in Zurich, as well as of Dr. Nico Pezer, who doctorated in phonetics and linguistic communication 1982 in Cologne
and Dr. Rainer Gabriel, designer.

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 ACADEMY OF NEUROSCIENCE FOR ARCHITECTURE

Aesthetics of Architecture and Vision – Perception and Processing

Arathy Gopal

ABSTRACT:

Aesthetics have substantial impact on the experience of built environments, but seldom quantified as we know
little about its neural representation in the human brain (Choo, et al., 2016). Novel insights from neuroscience have
begun to influence various disciplines, leading to a turn to cognition and emotion in the fields of planning and
architectural design (Papale, et al., 2016). Noting the presence of the aesthetic phenomenon in architecture,
Biryukova concludes the existence of a range of issues in the consideration of the aesthetic qualities of architectural
forms (Litvin, 2007), one issue being the inability to quantify aesthetic appeal from subjective appreciation.
Neuroaesthetics, becomes relevant in this context as it is the study of how aesthetic perception, production,
judgment, appreciation, and emotional response are produced and experienced from a neurological basis
(McClure & Siegel, 2015). In quantifying aesthetics of exterior form of built forms, the visual sensory perception
and processing becomes very relevant. From the study of research work already done in understanding neural
underpinnings of aesthetic perception and judgments, it was found that though there are studies on inputs
from aesthetic perception and many other studies on subjective aesthetic appreciation, an empirical research
relating the two is missing. This study addresses this gap in literature, and tests the relation between the subjective
aesthetic appreciation and the analysis of parameters of aesthetic perception focusing on vision. Parameters
were identified from study of the neural underpinnings of visual perception, processing and aesthetic judgments
in typical as well as different brain. The scope of the study was limited to the study of imagery of exteriors in
architecture though perception is multisensory. Also all aspects of relevance in visual perception cannot be
extracted through imagery analysis. Imagery of selected buildings were then analyzed and rated based on
the parameters. People of same socio-cultural background and age group were selected and the subjective
appreciation of imagery was studied. Analysis showed that though there are differences based on gender and
artistic background, the subjective aesthetic appreciation is significantly related to the parameters derived from
study of visual perception, processing and aesthetic judgments.

REFERENCES:

Choo, H., Nasar, J., Nikrahei, B. & Walther, D. B., 2016. Neural codes of architectural styles, Urbana: University of
Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Litvin, V., 2007. Architectural environment organization in the context of practical aesthetics. Ukraine, GISAP-
Technical sciences, Construction and Architecture, pp. 7-10.

McClure, T. S. & Siegel, J. A., 2015. Neuroaesthetics: An introduction to visual art. Impulse - The Premier Undergraduate
Neuroscience Journal, 1(1), pp. 1-7.

Papale, P. et al., 2016. When neuroscience touches architecture; from hapticity to a supramodal functioning of
the human brain. Perspective, 7(artcicle 866), pp. 1-8.

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AUTHOR BIO:

ARATHY GOPAL
Arathy Gopal is an Architect-Planner currently pursuing her PhD in Urban Planning in School of Planning and
Architecture (SPA) Delhi, India and the Research Director of a charitable trust ASPIRE. She was recipient of National
Best Thesis Award for PG thesis (2nd position) in 2014. She was co-investigator for the research that won the Hay
grant from Academy of Neuroscience for Architecture, San Diego in 2015 and presented the teamwork at ANFA
Conference at San Diego in September 2016. She was offered a travel grant by University of Texas at Austin for
their conference on Psychology and Architecture in December 2016, but had to decline. She was certiMed on
‘Neuroscience for Architecture’ from Newschool of Architecture and Design, San Diego in August 2017 after
attending a four day intensive course in their campus. She earned the certiMcate on ‘Social Norms, Social
Change I’ by University of Pennsylvania & UNICEF on December 2017 and selected as a Sahapedia – UNESCO
Research Fellow 2017, for her work on studying the aesthetics of a historic urban precinct. Her understanding
of the neural mechanisms underlying experience of designed spaces and urban areas aided her in the paper,
‘Aesthetics of Architecture and Vision – Perception and Processing’.

Research Director, Architectural Solutions Planning Innovations Research Enterprise (ASPIRE)

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 ACADEMY OF NEUROSCIENCE FOR ARCHITECTURE

Is Ornament Necessary? Answers from Brain Science

Mark Alan Hewitt, FAIA; Ann Sussman, FAIA

ABSTRACT:

Ernst Gombrich, the Viennese art historian, wrote his Mnal book on the persistence of pattern decoration
in architecture and the decorative arts, citing many psychological links to vernacular and high art
ornamentation. After more than a century of denigration by architects, ornament is back on the radar
screen, as eye tracking experiments note the attraction of texture and pattern in the visual brain. This is
especially true around the edges of buildings and openings in walls.

James J. Gibson also noted the necessity for thickening of texture around occluding edges in the
environment. Now that we know more about both the visual system and affordances in the environment,
we can make more precise observations and hypotheses about architectural ornament as a persistent
feature in buildings. This paper will present a literature survey and analysis of these recent discoveries, and
offer a summary of why the authors believe that ornament is necessary in all buildings and artifacts.

Ann Sussman’s recent book, Cognitive Architecture, points to ornament as an aid to legibility when humans
look at facades for significant features such as doorways and directional cues. Mark Alan Hewitt’s research
in the 1980s used Gibsonian principles to study ornament. His new book, Draw In Order To See, analyzes
key aspects of visual design that architects must understand in terms of neuroscience, including pattern
recognition and occluding edges.

Both researchers presented poster sessions at ANFA’s last conference in 2016. They are members of the
PLACE-SCIENCE research group organized at Englesberg, Sweden in 2017. In 2018 the group will do
experiments on the human experience of urban places.

REFERENCES:

Gibson, James J. 1986. The Ecological Approach to Visual Perception. New York: Taylor & Francis Group.

Gombrich, Ernst. 1979. The Sense of Order: a study in the psychology of decorative art. Ithaca, NY: Cornell
University Press.

Hewitt, Mark Alan. 1978. “Architectural Ornament and the Visual Frame.” Masters Thesis (unpub.) GSAPP,
University of Pennsylvania.

Sussman, Ann and Justin B. Hollander. 2015. Cognitive Architecture: Designing for how we respond to the
built environment. Abingdon, UK: Taylor & Francis.

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AUTHOR BIO:

Mark Alan Hewitt, FAIA

Mark Alan Hewitt Architects, Bernardsville, New Jersey

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 ACADEMY OF NEUROSCIENCE FOR ARCHITECTURE

Using the Embodied Language Of Space To Develop

Stress Assessment Tool For Architectural Experience
Andrea Jelić 1*, Lars Brorson Fich1
1 Department of Architecture, Design and Media Technology, Aalborg University, Denmark
*[email protected]

ABSTRACT:

Despite the growing amount of evidence unequivocally indicating that architecture affects
people’s psychosomatic health and behavior, it remains unclear how the neurophysiological
reaction is linked to the aesthetic (conscious) experience of an architectural space. Following up
on previous experimental studies by Fich et al. which showed that features of the spatial setting -
presence or absence of openings in the room - influence participants’ physiological stress reaction
(measured as cortisol levels) [1] and the enactive cognition framework [2–6], we hypothesize that
the aesthetic experience of architecture is an anticipatory process of making sense of a situation
at hand and hence, at least partially a kind of a risk assessment process which might predict the
physiological stress reaction in a given space.

In parallel, a rich body of work within the fields of cognitive linguistics and neuroscience on
“embodied language” emphasizes the intrinsic connection between linguistic meaning and
range of experiences (sensorimotor, affective, social), in which architecture and more generally,
built environment, could act as a scaffolding in language acquisition and understanding of
semantic meanings. Therefore, by building upon this well-established link between linguistic
meaning and embodied experience [7–10] on the one hand, and the Semantic Environment
Description (SED) questionnaire developed by architectural psychologists in 1970s in Sweden [11]
on the other, we explore how the space-body-language relationship can be used together with
physiological measurements to develop an assessment tool to describe and capture people’s
aesthetic experiences of spaces and their anticipated stress reaction. Experimental testing of our
hypothesis and related questionnaire development is currently underway.

The advantages of the tool are twofold: 1) first, by using the power of language and semantic
meanings as being grounded in our bodily and spatial experiences it allows for a well-targeted
approximation of people’s aesthetic judgements of architectural spaces; and 2) secondly, it
addresses the need for developing methodological tools specifically aimed towards scientific
exploration of architectural questions, which should facilitate the information exchange and
usability of research results in architectural design. Accordingly, this research is inspired by a larger
framework for developing neurophenomenological approach for examining architectural
experience (following [12]), which unites the strengths of cognitive neuroscience, environmental
psychology, philosophy of the mind/phenomenology, and architecture to understand the human
being as architectural experiential subject in its phenomenal and biological totality.

REFERENCES:

1. Fich LB, Jönsson P, Kirkegaard PH, Wallergård M, Garde AH, Hansen Å. 2014 Can
architectural design alter the physiological reaction to psychosocial stress? A virtual TSST
experiment. Physiol. Behav. 135, 91–97.
(doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.physbeh.2014.05.034)

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2. Jelić A, Tieri G, De Matteis F, Babiloni F, Vecchiato G. 2016 The enactive approach to

architectural experience: A neurophysiological perspective on embodiment, motivation,
and affordances. Front. Psychol. 7. (doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2016.00481)
3. Rietveld E, Kiverstein J. 2014 A rich landscape of affordances. Ecol. Psychol. 26, 325–352.
(doi:10.1080/10407413.2014.958035)
4. Xenakis I, Arnellos A. 2015 Aesthetics as an emotional activity that facilitates sense-
making: Towards an enactive approach to aesthetic experience. In Aesthetics and the
embodied mind: Beyond art theory and the Cartesian mind-body dichotomy (ed A
Scarinzi), pp. 245–259. Dordrecht, The Netherlands: Springer. (doi:10.1007/978-94-017-9379-
7_15)
5. Varela FJ, Thompson E, Rosch E. 1991 The embodied mind: Cognitive science and human
experience. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
6. Colombetti G. 2014 The feeling body: Affective science meets the enactive mind.
Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
7. Borghi AM, Binkofski F, Castelfranchi C, Cimatti F, Scorolli C, Tummolini L. 2016 The
challenge of abstract concepts. Psychol. Bull. 142, 1–51. (doi:10.1037/bul0000089)
8. Buccino G, Colagè I, Gobbi N, Bonaccorso G. 2016 Grounding meaning in experience: A
broad perspective on embodied language. Neurosci. Biobehav. Rev. 69, 69–78.
(doi:10.1016/j.neubiorev.2016.07.033)
9. Lakoff G, Johnson M. 2003 Metaphors we live by. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.
10. Gallese V, Lakoff G. 2005 The Brain’s concepts: the role of the Sensory-motor system in
conceptual knowledge. Cogn. Neuropsychol. 22, 455–479.
(doi:10.1080/02643290442000310)
11. Küller R. 1991 Environmental assessment from a neuropsychological perspective. In
Environment, cognition and action: An integrated approach (eds T Gärling, GW Evans),
pp. 111–147. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
12. Varela FJ. 1996 Neurophenomenology: A methodological remedy for the hard problem.
J. Conscious. Stud. 3, 330–349.

AUTHOR BIOS:
Dr. Andrea Jelić is an architect and postdoctoral researcher at Aalborg University. Her research
focuses on the intersection of architecture, neuroscience, and phenomenology, with the aim of
developing an embodied, enactive, and emotional model of people’s experience of the built
environment that can be embraced in user-centered design. She holds a PhD in architecture from
Sapienza University of Rome with the dissertation “Architecture and Neurophenomenology:
Rethinking the Pre-reflective Dimension of Architectural Experience” (2015) and a masters degree
from University of Belgrade (2009). She has published articles in this emerging interdisciplinary field
in architectural and scientific journals, and has presented her work and guest lectured at
international conferences and workshops in USA and Europe.

Dr. Lars Brorson Fich graduated as an architect in 1984, and has worked as a practicing
architect until 2008, from 1998 – 2008 as a partner. During this period, he has designed well over
100 build projects, ranging from a museum to residential and commercial projects and hospital
projects. In 2008, he changed carrier and is now teaching and doing research at Aalborg
University. He is now leading a four-year research project on how the design of space can
influence the effects of stress on e.g., cognition.

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Shaping Space by Experience Data

Johanna Jõekalda

ABSTRACT:

“Shaping Space by Experience Data” is an ongoing research on amplifying spatial experience by interactive
media techniques. It focuses on tracking beholder’s spatial experience in data format and applying this data in
the design process.

The theoretical part of the research examines how the main actors in spatial perception as a cognitive process –
space, senses and the brain – have become definable in terms of data, and how to make use of it while shaping
spatial experience. The practical part of the research proposes techniques that allow to extract test subjects’
experience data from brain-computer interfaces, galvanic skin response sensors, heart rate sensors as they visit
real and virtual environments, and apply this data in the design process.

The indicators of the test subject’s emotional state are ascertained by valence-arousal method on the scales of
activity-passivity and positivity-negativity. The data is analyzed by post-scientific methods that allow to enter the
indicators into spatial models and manipulate their formal properties on the basis of these data.

The potential use of these techniques is illustrated by a set of installation projects that demonstrate how spaces
can be programmed to adjust according to the visitors’ experience data. The principles for the adaptation of
the spaces are based on various illusion techniques that allow the ostensible properties of the environment to be
distorted in a data- based manner. The boundary situations and adaptation logic are designed by the architect,
while the user shapes the situation at a given moment in time. This results in an experience- charged space that
recognizes the beholders’ spatial experiences and adapts itself accordingly.

While data-based solutions are increasingly improving our everyday lives, in architecture they are related more
often to optimized production, environmental sustainability, programmatic functionality, economic applicability
and other technical aspects that do not pay any particular attention to user experience. In its most common
present forms data- based approaches devalue spatial quality in architecture. Considering the experiential
impact the main criterion for spatial quality, “Shaping Space by Experience Data” proposes techniques to
manage spatial experience in all its complexity.

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AUTHOR BIO:

JOHANNA JÕEKALDA MArch

Johanna Jõekalda (1990) is a young Estonian architect. She has studied architecture and urban planning at the
Estonian Academy of Arts and Studio Lynn at the University of Applied Arts Vienna. For the last years she has been
working on virtual reality and brain tracking experiments that have led her to innovative methods of expressing
spatial experience in data format. It was also the research topic of her master thesis (“Shaping Space by Experience
Data” 2017) with a specific focus on the interdependence of digital and physical environments. The developed
workrow and practical solutions evoked the interest of several designers and developers both in Estonia and
abroad, where she has lectured about her approach and organized workshops. Johanna has previously worked
in Angewandte Innovation Laboratory, Allianss Architects design office and Skanska construction company,
spoken at different architecture symposiums, published writings in various cultural publications, curated several
architecture exhibitions and participated in many more – multiple Venice Architecture Biennales among others.
For instance in 2014 she co-curated the Estonian national pavilion “Interspace“ that speculated on the spatial
consequences of a data society. She is currently supervising the architecture and interior design students of the
Estonian Academy of Arts.

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ANFA2018 Conference Proceedings Kwon & Kim

Individuals’ Visual Attention to Interior Elements in the Audio-visual Context

of Lived Experiences
Jain Kwon & Juyeon Kim

ABSTRACT
Sensory experience in built environments is highly complex, and the multimodality of human perception
plays a crucial role in interior occupants’ spatial experiences. This study explored how visual attention to
the interior elements of commercial settings was affected by auditory stimuli, involving eye-tracking
experiments and semi-structured interviews. The participants consisted of 13 females and seven males
(ages 19-23). Three photo images of coffee shops were used as visual stimuli (Figure 1). For data
collection, a SMI-iViewRed eye tracker (with a sampling rate of 30 Hz) was integrated into a high
resolution 27-inch 1920x1080 pixels widescreen monitor. As auditory stimuli, two songs in different
genres were used: soft pop (music 1) and dance-pop (music 2). Each experiment was conducted through
the following procedures: 1) each photo was displayed on the monitor while the two songs played
consecutively, for 60 seconds/music and with a 10-second break in between songs; 2) this procedure was
repeated three times, paired with the three images displayed in a random order; 3) a 20-minute, semi-
structured interview followed. To determine fixation count and dwell time, each 60-second associated
with one music was broken down into six 10-second segments (from T1 to T6); the averages of fixation
count and dwell time with music 1 (M1) and with music 2 (M2) were compared. To sufficiently explain
the details, this abstract illustrates specifically the findings from data analysis using image 1.

Figure 1. Visual stimuli for eye-tracking experiments (from left, coffee shop images 1, 2, & 3)

The averages of fixation count (FC) and those of dwell time (DT) showed the opposite patterns from each
other: e.g., FC-M1 lower than FC-M2 in T1, T3, and T6 while DT-M1 higher than DT-M2 in the same T-
segments. The averages of fixation count (FC) per AOI with M2 appeared higher than with M; FC, DT,
FC per AOI, and visual attention count showed little differences between M1 and M2, particularly in T2
(Figure 2 and 3). The fixation frequency averages by T-segment showed little differences, except in T6—
significantly higher with M2. Fixation duration with M2 were longer in T5-T6 and shorter in T1-T4
(Figure 4).
Fixation Count Average Dwell Time Average
20 8000

19 7500

18 7000

17 6500

16 6000
T1 T2 T3 T4 T5 T6 T1 T2 T3 T4 T5 T6

Music 1 (M1) Music 2 (M2) Music 1 (M1) Music 2 (M2)

Figure 2. Comparison of the averages of fixation count and dwell time – with M1 versus M2

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ANFA2018 Conference Proceedings Kwon & Kim

Visual Attention Count

6

0
T1 T2 T3 T4 T5 T6

Music1 (M1) Music2 (M2)

Figure 3. Visual attention count (highest 10% of the data) in category I – with M1 versus M2

Fixation Frequency Average Fixation Duration Average

30 0.6

20 0.4

10 0.2
0 0.0
T1 T2 T3 T4 T5 T6 T1 T2 T3 T4 T5 T6

Music1(M1)-Fixation Frequency Average[count/sec] Music1 (M1)-Fixation Duration Average [ms]

Music2 (M2)-Fixation Frequency Average[count/sec] Music2 (M2)-Fixation Duration Average [ms]

Figure 4. Comparison between M1 and M2: Fixation frequency and fixation duration

Despite the individual differences of scanpaths, general patterns were also found: with M1, sparse
distributed fixations; with M2, densely distributed fixations, higher fixation count, and longer dwell time
(Table 4). The participants gave their visual attention to the overall interior elements while slow and soft
music was playing; their visual attention to signs, objects, and retail elements was noticeable while fast
and intense background music was playing. The findings from the semi-structured interviews provide
explanations of the various influences on and motives for such patterns and specific attentions.

Table 4. Exemplary comparison of the patterns of two individuals’ fixation sequence, with M1 versus with
M2 in the first 10-second segment (T1)
Participant 1 (P1) Participant 2 (P2)
with Music 1 (M1) with Music 2 (M2) with Music 1 (M1) with Music 2 (M2)
T1

AUTHORS
Jain Kwon, PhD, Assistant Professor of Interior Design, University of Georgia. ([email protected])
Juyeon Kim, PhD, Associate Professor of Interior Architectural Design, Soongsil University. ([email protected])

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
This work was supported by the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) grant funded by the Korea
government (MSIP) (No. NRF-2017R1A2B2007276).

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Blurring the Self/Space Boundary to Increase Mindfulness:

Perspectives from Japanese Architectural Philosophy, Neuroscience
and Psychology
YOKO KAWAI, PhD, Intl Assoc. AIA Lecturer, Yale School of Architecture
KATHLEEN O’CONNOR DUFFANY, PhD 1; KATHLEEN A GARRISON, PhD 2
Associate Research Scientist, Yale School of Public Health 1; Assistant Professor, Yale School of Medicine 2

ABSTRACT:

Mindfulness means paying attention in the present moment, on purpose and non-judgmentally (Kabat Zinn,
2003). Research supports we are happier and potentially healthier when we are mindful (Goleman & Davidson
2017, Killingsworth & Gilbert 2010). This paper explores how space might be designed to increase mindfulness,
by integrating Japanese philosophies of architecture and mindfulness with perspectives from neuroscience and
social psychology.
Based on a literature review, we focus on an aspect of mindfulness in which the boundary between self and
other, i.e., space/surroundings, is blurred. In Japanese philosophy, one’s internal is externalized and the external is
internalized, leading to subject and object being simultaneously separate and united (Izutsu 1975). The authentic
self with active intuition/perception is the self at this stage (Nishida 1926), when the conscious submerges and
intuition extends to the external world (Yuasa 1987). In neuroscience, this blurred self/space boundary is evident
in the brains of meditators who show increased coordination between brain networks attending to internal/
external environments, which are typically anti-correlated (Josipovic et al. 2012).
We’ve analyzed Japanese spatial concepts to see how they contribute to the blurred self/space boundary.
Yugen, art of untold, and Ma, in-betweenness, are in opposition to discrete spatial components required for
clear spatial recognition (Kaplan 1981), and therefore may contribute to blurred self/space boundary. Ma and
also Utsuroi, ephemeral, represent the world as non-static which further blurs/distorts spatial comprehension.
Additionally, Japanese spatial concepts are always from a first-person perspective in motion, such as Hashi,
moving on the boundary between two shores and Michiyuki, moving over boundaries slowly or in a meandering
way. In all of these Japanese spatial concepts, time and space are undifferentiated and time does not pass at
a constant pace (Isozaki 2006, Inoue 1985, Nitscheke 1993, Haga 1995, Hara 1987, Katagiri 2007, Takeuchi 2011).
We’ve integrated these Japanese spatial concepts with more commonly used space and movement concepts,
to develop a vocabulary for architectural design to be used for spatial interventions to increase mindfulness. This
novel Space-Traveler’s notation system applies DirectorNotation technique used in film (Yannopoulos 2013) and
Labanotation used in dance choreography (Guest 2005) to represent space from a first-person perspective and
include a representation of time, which is not currently represented in architectural notation.
In conclusion, this new Space-Traveler’s notation system, integrating vocabularies from Japanese spatial concepts,
can be used to represent, research, and design spaces with the goal of increasing mindfulness. The broader
interest is whether a spatial intervention designed using this new notation system to blur the self/space boundary
could increase mindfulness, thereby increasing well-being and workplace productivity. From the above findings,
we propose a pilot study in the workplace measuring mindfulness by real-time monitoring of an index of neural
signals (electroencephalography) in response to spatial intervention, and evaluating change or difference in
well-being and productivity.

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REFERENCES:

Guest, Ann Hutchinson. 2005. Labanotation: The system of analyzing and recording movement. Fourth Edition ed. New York; London:
Routledge.
Goleman, Daniel, and Richard J. Davidson. 2017. Altered traits: Science reveals how meditation changes your mind, brain, and body. New
York: Penguin Random House.
Haga, Koshiro. 1995. The wabi aesthetic through the ages. In Japanese aesthetics and culture: A reader., ed. Nancy G. Hume, 245- 278Albany,
NY: State University of New York.
Hara, Hiroshi. 1987. Kino kara yoso e. Tokyo: Iwanami Shoten.
Inoue, Mitsuo. 1985. Space in Japanese architecture. Trans. Hiroshi Watanabe. New York: Wetherhill.
Isozaki, Arata. 2006. Japan-ness in architecture. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Izutsu, Toshihiko. 1975. The interior and exterior in Zen Buddhism. Dallas, Tex.: Spring Publications.
Josipovic, Zoran, Ilan Dinstein, Jochen Weber, and David J. Heeger. 2012. Influence of meditation on anti-correlated networks in the
brain. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience 5 (Article 183) (January): 1-11.
Kaplan, Stephen, and Rachel Kaplan. 1981. Cognition and environment. New York: Praeger Publishers.
Katagiri, Dainin. 2007. Each moment is the universe: Zen and the way of being time. Boston: Shambhala Publications.
Kabat Zinn, Jon. 2003. Mindfulness Based interventions in context: Past, present, and future. Clinical Psychology: Science and Practice 10 (2):
144-56.
Killingworth, Matthew A., and Daniel T. Gilbert. 2010. A wandering mind is an unhappy mind. Science 330 : 932.
Nishida, Kitaro. 1965. Basho. In Nishida kitaro zenshu. Vol. 4, 208-289. Tokyo: Iwanami Shoten. Originally published in 1926
Nitschke, Gunter. 1993. From shinto to ando: Studies in architectural anthropology in japan. London: Academy Editions.
Takeuchi, Seiichi. 2015. Flower petals fall, but the flower endures: The Japanese philosophy of transience. Trans. Michael Brase. Tokyo ed.
Japan Publishing Industry Foundation for Culture.
Yannopoulos, Angelos. 2013. DirectorNotation: Artistic and technological system for professional film directing. ACM Journal on Computing
and Cultural Heritage 6 (1) (March): 2:1,2:34.
Yuasa, Yasuo. 1987. The body: Toward an eastern mind-body theory. SUNY series in buddhist studies., ed. Kenneth K. Inada. Trans. Shigenori
Nagatomo and Thomas P. Kasulis, ed. Thomas P. Kasulis. Albany, NY: State University of New York Press.

AUTHOR BIOS:

YOKO KAWAI, PhD, Intl Assoc. AIA

Yoko Kawai, PhD, Intl Assoc. AIA, is a lecturer at Yale School of Architecture and the co-founder of Mirai Work Space
Alliance. She researches and teaches on two closely related subjects: to see how spaces support people’s well-
being in today’s innovative work environment, and how Japanese spatial concepts, through their non-dualistic
and nature-inclusive characteristics, could support the fulfillment of such well-being. Her recent publications
include

KATHLEEN O’CONNOR DUFFANY, PhD

Kathleen O’Connor Duffany, PhD, is an Associate Research Scientist in the Social and Behavioral Sciences
Department at the Yale School of Public Health (YSPH) and Director of Research and Evaluation for CARE (the
Community Alliance for Research and Engagement). Employing qualitative and quantitative methodologies,
her research examines the social, biological, behavioral, and structural barriers to health. Dr. O’Connor Duffany
works with research partners to communicate findings in multiple formats to reach academicians, community
residents, and policy makers. Dr. O’Connor Duffany will provide support for intervention evaluation and research
dissemination related to this proposal.

KATHLEEN A GARRISON, PhD

Kathleen A. Garrison, PhD, is an Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at the Yale School of Medicine. Her background
is in cognitive and clinical neuroscience. Her research interests are to better understand the cognitive processes
of addiction and improve treatments. A major focus of her work is the study of mindfulness and the potential
for mindfulness training to treat addictions. Her research involves clinical trials of mindfulness-based addiction
treatments, and neuroimaging studies of the related neurobiological mechanisms, such as how meditation
shapes the brain.

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Neural Mirroring Architecture – Empathy and Atmosphere

Esa Laaksonen, architect SAFA, PhD candidate at Aalto University, Espoo, Finland
[email protected]
+358505557330
Takaniityntie 12 00780 Helsinki

“…the environment can modulate the function of genes and, ultimately the structure of our brain.
Changes in the environment change the brain, therefore they change our behavior. In planning the
environments in which we live, architectural design changes our brain and our behavior.” i

My research is based on the possibility of and means by which an architect might create atmosphere inside a building.
What are the architect´s means for working with atmosphere(s)? Is there a direct link between the quality of the
architecture and the atmosphere of the design?

One of the focuses of my work is finding out how emotions and experiences of spatial conditions are born. One word for
describing these emotions could be “atmosphere”. Something makes us feel—similar to the way that we feel music—
the atmosphere of the building as soon as we enter it. As the architect Peter Zumthor says:

“I enter a building, see a room and—in the fraction of a second—have this feeling about it.” ii

Zumthor explains that the theme has interested him already for a long time and another concept that has risen to his
mind when thinking of atmosphere is “…the magic of the real world.” iii

Zumthor is one of the few practicing architects describing his impressions and feelings on the concept of the
atmosphere in architecture. One of the points of departure for my research is the oft-cited lecture by Zumthor in which
he gave nine “answers” to the question of creating atmosphere and the architect’s possibilities of creating atmospheric
qualities in a given room or building.

Zumthor´s answers:
the body of architecture
material compatibility
the sound of a space
the temperature of a space
surrounding objects
the emotions between composure and seduction
tension between interior and exterior
levels of intimacy
light on things
+ two “appendixes”: architecture as environment and coherence

My intention is to reduce Zumthor´s answers to five areas of research:

Light (natural and artificial): the architect “sculpting” light volumes in darkness / Sarah Robinson states:
We fail to appreciate that light actually contains darkness.iv / the concept of time in architecture
Material compatibility: material contributions to a sense of intimacy / the influence of materials on the
sound and temperature of space / materials as a part of our sensual understanding of age and ageing
(seductive) Movements: the influence of materials and light on the intimacy and tensions between
interior and exterior
Architectural metaphors: The “body of architecture” is already discussed by Alberti, as Harry Francis
Malgrave suggests we interpret: architecture as a metaphor of the human body and the human body as
the metaphor for architectural designv
Empathy: as a part of understanding the levels of intimacy, meanings of surrounding objects and
architecture as a part of its milieu and of the coherence of the built environment

Neuroscience has had a strong influence recently, mostly because of new methods of mapping brain function
developed during the past twenty years such as functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), positron-emission
tomography (PET), electroencephalography (EEG) and magnetoencephalography (MEG).

Vittorio Gallese, of the University of Parma, is one of the researchers who has been able to locate so called “mirror
neurons” in the brain and explain how these neurons may possibly function. According to Gallese´s research team, part
of our brain reacts to the environment by means of an empathetic mechanism:

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“This mechanism maps the sensory representation of the action, emotion or sensation of another onto
the perceiver´s own motor, visceral-motor or somatosensory bodily formatted representation of that
action, emotion or sensation. This mapping enables one to perceive the action, emotion or sensation of
another in a certain sense—the distinction here is pretty complex—as if she were performing that action
or experiencing that emotion or sensation herself, up to a certain limit of course.”

Gallese continues:

“Embodied simulation is also triggered during the experience of spatiality around our body and during
the contemplation of objects. […] embodied simulation seems to constitute a basic characteristic of our
brain, making possible our rich and diversified experiences of space, objects and other individuals, which
is the basis of our capacity to empathize with them. Embodied simulation not only connects us to the
others, it connects us to the world—a world inhabited by natural and manmade objects (with or without
symbolic nature) as well as other individuals.” vi

In short, this means that we react to the environment in the same way that we react to a smiling baby. We “cry” and
“laugh” when we experience our environment. This experience molds our brain and stays part of our memories and
consciousness.

The Finnish architect Alvar Aalto always spoke of the user’s needs. In Malmö, Sweden in 1957 he reminded us that:

(…) Inside of the house you have possibilities of several forms (of life), as well inside the ugliest of the
palaces and the cheapest of the huts. Here, we have finally the synthesis of architecture: if we are able
to concentrate on the huge possibilities of it, so by playing with all of them (possibilities) we are like the
poets of this World and at the same time we create a physical human happiness in all its forms. That is not
a bad destination, probably it is the greatest under the stratosphere.vii

I believe that it is exactly this opportunity that Zumthor refers to when he speaks of the imprint that a building can make
on our minds.

“That is the first transcendent level of my work: the attempt to conceive of architecture as human
environment. (…)–perhaps it has something to do with love. I love architecture; I love surrounding
buildings , and I suppose I love it when other people love them too. I have to admit it: it would make me
very happy to have made things which other people love.”viii

i Gage, Fred. “Neuroscience and Architecture” Theme presentation, Convention Center, San Diego, May 9, 2003 2-3. The quote is from Melissa Farling: “From
Intuition to Immersion: Architecture and Neuroscience” in Sarah Robinson and Juhani Pallasmaa (Eds.): Mind in Architecture; Neuroscience, Embodiment and
the Future of Design (Cambridge, Massachusets and London, England: The MIT Press 2015.
ii Zumthor, Peter. (2006) Athmospheres -- Architectural Environments -- Surrounding Objects. Basel Boston Berlin: Birkhäuser. 13.
iii ibid.
iv Robinson, Sarah (2011). Nesting: body dwelling mind. William Stout publishers. 84.
v Mallgrave, Harry Francis (2011). The Architect´s Brain, Neuroscience, Creativity, and Architecture, Wiley Blackwell, Chisester. 9.
vi Gallese, Vittorio. Architectural Space from Within: The Body, Space and the Brain. in Philip Tidwell (ed.), Architecture and Empathy, A Tapio Wirkkala Rut Bryk

Design Reader, Tapio Wirkkala Rut Bryk Foundation, 2015. 64-77.

vi Lecture on the Architects´paradise at Syd-Sveriges Byggmästarsällskap in Malmö 1957. Quotation is taken from Schildt, Göran (1997). Näin puhui Alvar Aalto.

Otava, Keuruu 1997. 216. Translated by the author.

vi Zumthor 2006. 65-66.

Left to Right: Café Tamminiemi, Helsinki; Prada Foundation, Milan (Rem Koolhaas, architect); Meisterhaus Kandinsky/Klee, Dessau (Walter Gropius, architect);
KOLUMBA, Cologne (Peter Zumthor, architect). All photos by the author.

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Design factors related to postpartum environments: Preferences

for sense-sensitive spaces
Lateef A. Lawal a, b, PhD Candidate, Robert Vale, Professorial Research Fellowa
a Schoolof Architecture, Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand
b Department of Architecture, Federal University of Technology Minna, Nigeria
Corresponding author’s email: [email protected]

1. Introduction
Despite recent design improvements following person-centred care in hospital settings and birthing environments
(Verderber, 2010; Stichler, 2007), the key elements for a restorative hospital postpartum environment are not
known.
Building design can affect psychological-emotional and physiological wellbeing of women who have hospital
births (Foureur, et al., 2010). In postpartum spaces women are increasingly faced with noise and multiple
disruptions from healthcare providers (Boehm, & Morast, 2009), triggering lack of sleep and rest, due to not
having a single room (Eberhard et al., 2000). This situation also contributes in shaping midwifery practice by
creating cognitive and emotional responses, for midwives who work in such spaces (Hammond, et al., 2014;
Hammond, et al., 2013).
In a different context, combinations of architectural considerations and therapeutic outcomes have been used
for what are called sense-sensitive designs in healthcare environments (Mazauch, 2014; Mazauch, 2005). Very
little is known about how interior postpartum environments affect women’s physical restoration and wellbeing.
The pertinent question is how to create a therapeutic postpartum environment for healthy women as increasingly
more births occur in hospitals.
2. Research methodology
An on-line questionnaire surveys using Qualtrics (2017) was started from October to November 2017 to determine
the specific physical restorative factors for postpartum spaces in New Zealand hospitals. 229 postpartum women
and 58 midwives participated in the surveys.
Survey questions covered interior features and sensory comfort as shown in Tables 1 and 2.
3. Results and Discussions
An association of postpartum recovery and wellbeing was found with interior features and sensory comfort for the
postpartum space design. Room restfulness, equal variances not assumed t (59.905) =1.43, p = 0.158; Natural
daylighting, t (248) =.259, p =.796; Air quality and room freshness, t (241) = 0.44, p = 0.660; Hygiene/clean
environment, t (241) = 0.26, p =0.796
There was a statistically significance difference in the opinion on privacy and noise control between women and
midwives; Privacy: t (244) = 3.30, p < .001; Noise control: t (241) = 3.88, p <.001 (see Figures 1 to 6).

Table 1: Means and Standard Deviations of Preference Ratings for Interior Features
Women Midwives
Category Mean SD Mean SD P
Interior features
A restful room is important to 4.88 0.38 4.77 0.52 .158
my birth recovery
Appreciate a room daylighting 4.50 0.62 4.52 0.58 .796
can enter
Be in a room where the door is 4.46 0.85 4. 00 0.97 .001
closed for privacy

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Figure 1 Natural daylight bar graph Figure 2 Room restfulness bar graph Figure 3 Room privacy bar graph
(with 95% CIs) (with 95% CIs) (with 95% CIs)

Table 2: Means and Standard Deviations of Preference Ratings for Sensory Comfort Features
Women Midwives

Category Mean SD Mean SD P

Sensory comfort
Air quality and room 4.72 0.53 4.68 0.59 .660
freshness
Hygiene/clean environment 4.91 0.34 4.89 0.38 .796
Noise control from 4.06 1.03 4.66 0.48 .001
equipment

Figure 4 Air quality and room freshness Figure 5 Hygienic/clean environment Figure 6 Noise control

4. Implications for Design and Neuroscience

The interior postpartum environment plays a pivotal role for the recovery process. Creating an indoor
environment in which women and their caregivers can feel comfortable is vital in the postpartum environment.
Daylighting in the interior environment is an important element, while a noise-free environment can foster good
recovery. Developing restorative interior environment strategies that will address the noisiness and unconducive
postpartum hospital environment will require an evidence-based design solution towards a wholistic
improvement for both women and their caregivers.

References
Boehm, H., & Morast, S. (2009). Quiet time. AJN The American Journal of Nursing, 109(11), 29-32.
Eberhard-Gran, M., Eskild, A., Opjordsmoen, S., & Schei, B. (2000). Postnatal care--sleep, rest and satisfaction. Tidsskrift for den Norske
laegeforening: tidsskrift for praktisk medicin, ny raekke, 120(12), 1405-1409. Retrieved
at::http://europepmc.org/abstract/med/10851935
Foureur, M., Davis, D., Fenwick, J., Leap, N., Iedema, R., Forbes, I., & Homer, C. S. (2010). The relationship between birth unit design and
safe, satisfying birth: developing a hypothetical model. Midwifery, 26(5), 520-525.
Hammond, A. D., Homer, C. S., & Foureur, M. (2014). Messages from space: an exploration of the relationship between hospital birth
environments and midwifery practice. HERD: Health Environments Research & Design Journal, 7(4), 81-95.
Hammond, A., Foureur, M., Homer, C. S., & Davis, D. (2013). Space, place and the midwife: exploring the relationship between the birth
environment, neurobiology and midwifery practice. Women and Birth, 26(4), 277-281.
Mazuch, R., & Stephen, R. (2005). Creating healing environments: Humanistic architecture and therapeutic design. Journal of Public
Mental
Health, 4(4), 48-52.
Mazuch, R. (2014). Sense-Sensitive Design for the Ageing. Architectural Design, 84(2), 108-111.
Stichler, J. F. (2007). Is Your hospital hospitable?: How physical environment influences patient safety. Nursing for women's health, 11(5),
506-511.
Qualtrics (2017). The online service for questionnaire surveys (used under Victoria University of Wellington account),
Retrieved from http://www.Qualtrics.com
Verderber, S. (2010). Innovations in hospital architecture. Routledge.

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Wellbuilt for Wellbeing:

Using sensors and surveys to explore the indoor environment and
health
Casey M. Lindberg, Ph.D.1
Brian Gilligan, M.S.2
For the Wellbuilt for Wellbeing Team

1 Universityof Arizona Institute on Place and Wellbeing

2 US General Services Administration, Office of Federal High-Performance Buildings

ABSTRACT:

The U.S. General Services Administration controls indoor environments that influence the health and wellbeing
of more than 1 million federal workers. The Wellbuilt for Wellbeing project is the first to explore this influence by
directly measuring in real-time the impact that several indoor environmental quality (IEQ) variables had on
workers’ physiological stress. We found relationships between several IEQ factors and health outcomes, and,
are now using machine-learning processes to use that same data to dig deeper into the behavior of building
occupants.

Wellbuilt observed 231 office workers from 4 federal office buildings over three days and two nights. IEQ factors
were recorded continuously at work and health outcomes measure stress by heart rate variability, physical
activity, and sleep quality. In addition to an intake survey, workers answered hourly survey questions while at
work related to mood, comfort, and performance. Workstation design and other recorded spatial
characteristics varied across participants.

Individuals in open-office arrangements were 32% more physically active at work than those in private offices,
and 20% more than those in traditional cubicles. Moreover, workers with higher physical activity at work had
14% lower physiological stress outside the office compared to those with lower activity

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Those spending most of their time in “comfortable” conditions (30-60% RH based on ASHRAE 55-1989)
experienced 22% less stress at work and, indirectly, better sleep at night than those in “uncomfortable”
conditions.

Further explorations suggest evidence of inflection points for stress response to RH, sound, and CO2 that may
inform discussions on IEQ ranges for optimal health and comfort.

Ongoing analysis centers on the interactions that built characteristics and occupant behaviors (i.e. working
alone vs. with others) have on outcomes such as stress, both perceived and physiological, and activity. These
results will be presented and can have immediate design implications toward optimizing the workplace as both
a dynamic and static environment for wellbeing and performance.

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Aging with Urbanism - Urban Design with Psychoanalytic Approach

Haonan Lu

ABSTRACT:

This urban design proposal integrates clinical techniques with the design process. It tries to repair the urban
environment to support the residency and activity among the elderly. It is presumed that by making urban place
easier for this vulnerable group to use, it can provide better accessibility and higher safety standard for all citizens.

Starting from cognitive mapping, interpersonal techniques, psychoanalysis, and surveys, the design process firstly
utilizes clinical techniques to better understand senior group’s perception towards space. Several behavioral
patterns and psychological conflicts are identified and analyzed. Some extreme clinical conditions help to provide
critical standards for the design of spatial features, for example, the prioritized perception of spatial clues in way-
finding during a heart attack.

Accordingly, new design guidelines are results of the analytical process. For some internal psychological conflicts,
which can be alleviated through psychotherapy (especially CBT), the spatial design provides environmental
settings for corresponding clinical solutions. In this proposal, the guidelines respond to how to build a “holding
environment” to promote the sense of self-efficacy (Bandura, 1977); as well as how to design a place to help “work
through” one’s fear towards previous life-threatening experience (Freud, 1914). Therefore, certain urban space can
be reconfigured to allow for activities with therapeutic effects.

To give a physical manifestation to these design disciplines, a site is chosen in North Berkeley, California. The spatial
design shows in detail regarding the modification of sidewalks, facades, traffic lanes, street median, storefronts,
parks, etc. Meanwhile, as an urban design project, the proposal is integrated into urban infill development in a
larger city area. New housing projects as well as college facilities are proposed with care service and deliverable
assistance, providing higher quality urban features to the community, and sharing facilities with the adjacent
neighborhoods.

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REFERENCES:
Ball, M. S. (2012). Livable Communities for Aging Populations: Urban Design for Longevity. John Wiley & Sons.

Bandura, A. (1977). Self-efficacy: toward a unifying theory of behavioral change. Psychological Review, 84(2),
191.

Bohannon, R. W. (1997). Comfortable and maximum walking speed of adults aged 20—79 years: reference values
and determinants. Age and Ageing, 26(1), 15–19. https://doi.org/10.1093/ageing/26.1.15

Fratiglioni, L., Paillard-Borg, S., & Winblad, B. (2004). An active and socially integrated lifestyle in late life might
protect against dementia. The Lancet. Neurology, 3(6), 343–353. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1474-4422(04)00767-7

Freud, S. (1914). On Metapsychology: The Theory of Psychoanalysis : “Beyond the Pleasure Principle,” “The Ego
and the Id” and Other Works. Penguin.

Kohut, H. (1971). The Analysis of the Self: A Systematic Approach to the Psychoanalytic Treatment of Narcissistic
Personality Disorders. University of Chicago Press.

Lynch, K. (1984). Good city form. Cambridge, Mass: MIT Press.

Pickett, C. L., Gardner, W. L., & Knowles, M. (2004). Getting a Cue: The Need to Belong and Enhanced Sensitivity to
Social Cues. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 30(9), 1095–1107. https://doi.org/10.1177/0146167203262085

Stafford, P. B. (2009). Elderburbia: Aging with a Sense of Place in America: Aging with a Sense of Place in America.
ABC-CLIO.

Winnicott, D. W. (1965). The Maturational Processes and the Facilitating Environment: Studies in the Theory of
Emotional Development. Karnac and the Institute of Psycho-Analysis.

Wu, L.-F. (2011). Group integrative reminiscence therapy on self-esteem, life satisfaction and depressive symptoms
in institutionalised older veterans. Journal of Clinical Nursing, 20(15–16), 2195–2203. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-
2702.2011.03699.x

AUTHOR BIO:

Haonan Lu
Master of Urban Design, UC Berkeley
Urban Designer, Psychologist

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PERCEIVED AND YET NOT SEEN: NON-VISUAL EFFECTS IN DAYLIT

SPACES
VICTORIA EUGENIA SOTO MAGÁN1,*, FORREST SIMON WEBLER1, MARILYNE ANDERSEN2,*
1PhD candidate, Laboratory of Integrated Performance in Design (LIPID), École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne
(EPFL), Switzerland
2Full Professor, Head of Laboratory of Integrated Performance in Design (LIPID), École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne

(EPFL), Switzerland
*presenting authors: [email protected], [email protected]

ABSTRACT:

Findings from neuroscience are increasingly interwoven with architectural research (1,2). Understanding physiological
responses to environmental stimuli in the built environment is critical when evaluating occupant health and wellbeing.
Research in the field of photobiology has shown that lighting conditions can significantly alter our circadian rhythms through
the non-visual system (3,4). This might result in acute changes regarding fatigue, vigilance or cognitive performance during
our daily routines (6). Among the variety of architectural parameters of relevance to lighting design (e.g. orientation, material
choice, environmental conditions…), the challenge is to determine which specific features, if any, have a significant
influence on the physical properties of light initiating a neurobehavioral process.

Until recently, most of the studies on the non-visual system were done at night with controlled light exposure. In order to test
if realistic daylight exposure during working hours triggers physiological and behavioural responses, we designed a field
experiment at the EPFL (Switzerland) to monitor different lighting conditions. The experimental conditions were created using
an adaptive façade glazing technology called electrochromic. Participants were recruited and asked to work for 6 hours
per day in either a classroom with the glazing turned on (which makes the light bluer), or turned off (neutral lighting condition)
(fig.1). We know from photobiology that the intrinsically photosensitive retinal ganglion cells (ipRGCs) responsible for
converting light into a neurological signal, are most sensitive to wavelengths around 480nm (blue light). By exposing
participants to blue and neutral light we can test if the spectral sensitivity of the non-visual system produces noticeable
changes on alertness, fatigue or cognitive functioning, but also, on heart rate variability or skin temperature. Each of these
markers was assessed qualitatively and quantitatively with hourly app-based self-rated questionnaires and performance
tests, and with continuous physiological measurements. Circadian rhythmicity was also monitored outside the experimental
setup using skin temperature sensors and app-based sleep-activity diaries. Vertical illuminance and irradiance was
continuously recorded at the eye level with a customized wearable device (fig. 2), and used as an input for a predictive
computational model (7) to assess the potential of lighting for non-visual responses.

Tracking light exposure over time under “real life” conditions is essential to evaluate the role of adaptive architectural
strategies, such as glazing, on improving behaviour and mitigating negative effects on wellbeing in classrooms. The protocol
developed for this study allows us to monitor, for the first time and with limited intrusion, effects of different daylighting
conditions on circadian rhythmicity, physiology and subjective behaviour.

(a) (b)

Figure 1. (a) Experimental design. Control group experienced daylight neutral conditions (left) and intervention group
experienced red-impoverished daylight (right). (b) SMEAS, customized wearable device to measure vertical illuminance and
irradiance.

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REFERENCES:

(1) Andersen, M., 2015. Unweaving the human response in daylighting design. Build. Environ. 91, 101–117.
doi:10.1016/j.buildenv.2015.03.014

(2) Wirz-Justice, A., Fournier, C., 2010. Light, Health and Wellbeing: Implications from chronobiology for architectural
design. World Health Des.

(3) Cajochen, C., 2007. Alerting effects of light. Sleep Med. Rev. 11, 453–464. doi:10.1016/j.smrv.2007.07.009

(4) Lockley, S.W., 2009. Circadian Rhythms: Influence of Light in Humans, in: Squire, L.R. (Ed.), Encyclopedia of
Neuroscience. Academic Press, Oxford, UK, pp. 971–988.

(5) Smolders, K.C.H.J., de Kort, Y.A.W., van den Berg, S.M., 2013. Daytime light exposure and feelings of vitality:
Results of a field study during regular weekdays. J. Environ. Psychol. 36, 270–279. doi:10.1016/j.jenvp.2013.09.004

(6) Ámundadóttir, M.L., 2016. Light-driven model for identifying indicators of non-visual health potential in the built
environment. PhD Thesis, EPFL.

AUTHOR BIOS:

VICTORIA EUGENIA SOTO MAGÁN

is a PhD Candidate at the LIPID laboratory at EPFL and holds a diploma in architecture from ETSA Sevilla (Spain). Before
joining EPFL, she was Research and Honorary Assistant at the University of Sevilla, from 2011 until 2015. She completed an MA
in Technology and Design, and an MSc in Sustainable Environmental Design (Architectural Association School of
Architecture, London UK). Her doctoral research focuses on the interaction between architectural design, daylight and
acute non-visual effects in occupants, for working environments.

FORREST WEBLER
is a PhD Candidate at the LIPID laboratory at EPFL. He completed a master of science in biomedical engineering from Brown
University, and holds a bachelor of science in physics and mathematics. Forrest’s research interest lie at the intersection of
engineering, health, and design and is currently investigating the circadian non-visual effects of light on occupants in the
built environment.

MARILYNE ANDERSEN
heads the Laboratory of Integrated Performance in Design (LIPID) at EPFL, whose research activities focus on building
performance and decision support in the architectural context, especially as it pertains to human comfort, perception and
health and on the use and optimization of daylight in buildings. She is Full Professor of Sustainable Construction Technologies
and Dean of EPFL’s School of Architecture, Civil and Environmental Engineering (ENAC). Before joining EPFL as a faculty
member in 2010, she was Assistant then Associate Professor tenure-track at MIT, where she founded the MIT Daylighting Lab
in 2004. She holds an MSc in Physics and a PhD in Building Physics from EPFL, and has been a Visiting Scholar at the Lawrence
Berkeley National Laboratory in California, USA, in 2001-02 and 2009. She is the author of over 100 refereed scientific papers,
recipient of several awards including the Daylight Research Award 2016. She was the leader and faculty advisor of the Swiss
Team, who won the U.S. Solar Decathlon 2017 competition. She is a member of the Board of the LafargeHolcim Foundation
for Sustainable Construction and co-founder of the Sàrl OCULIGHT dynamics. She is also a member of the Editorial Board of
the Elsevier Journal Building and Environment and of the Taylor and Francis Journal of the Illuminating Engineering Society
(IES) LEUKOS.

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Agents’ Cognition in the Smart City:

Agent Architecture Assessment Framework
Joe Manganelli
Architect, Human Factors Consultant

ABSTRACT:
OVERVIEW
This paper presents an agent architecture interaction assessment framework developed using constructs and
measures from architecture, agent-based modeling, human factors, systems science & engineering, cognitive
science, neuroscience and evolutionary biology. This work elaborates the ANFA Conference Mission, “…the
range of human experiences that occur in context with elements of architecture, both exterior and interior...” by
expanding the constructs of ‘human’ to ‘agent’ and ‘elements of architecture’ to include all physical and non-
physical architectures that function as part of an agent’s ecological niche. This reframing of the constructs of
and relationships between humans and architecture is useful for modeling and analyzing interactions between
humans, other intelligent agents, and their environments, because it puts all agents and environmental elements
into one unified representational framework, defining them through a single, consistent, comprehensive schema
with shared constructs and measures. This agent-based information processing systems assessment framework
is especially useful now, as designers and researchers develop new constructs, methods, and tools for modeling,
analyzing, simulating, and designing smart environments (e.g., smart cities, intelligent buildings, interactive
environments, augmented cognition, etc.). As part of expanding the sense of what constitutes a ‘cognizing agent’
and an ‘architecture’, readers/attendees are introduced to emerging system types, including: complex, interactive
architectural systems (CIAS), cyber-physical systems (CPS), socio-technical systems (STS), cyber-social systems (CSS),
ultra-large-scale systems (ULS), complex, large, integrated, open systems (CLIOS), multi-scale systems (MSS), and
the Internet-of-Things-Enabled Smart City Framework. These emerging systems entail increased complexity, a high
degree of real-time interactivity between agents (people, buildings, other organisms, hardware, software), and an
accelerated rate of adaptation/evolution.

NEED
Environmental design is an ethical act because the environments we create challenge and/or affirm people’s
beliefs and enhance or degrade their sensory perception, cognition, task performance, and well-being. As
Winston Churchill noted, “We shape our buildings and afterwards our buildings shape us.” (Churchill, 1941) This
same sentiment, expressed from an extended mind perspective as stated by philosopher Andy Clark, is,
“In all this we discern two distinct, but deeply interanimated, ways in which biological cognition leans
on cultural and environmental structures. One way involves a developmental loop, in which exposure
to external symbols adds something to the brain’s own inner toolkit. The other involves a persisting
loop, in which ongoing neural activity becomes geared to the presence of specific external tools and
media…..the true power and beauty of the brain’s role was that it acted as a mediating factor in a
wide variety of complex and iterated processes, which continually looped between brain, body and
technological environment, and it is this larger system that solved the problem.” (Clark, 2003)

In summary, Clark states, by the environments we make, we, “…make better worlds to think in.” (Clark, 2003) Our
environments and tools are extensions of our minds. Architects and environmental researchers and designers
should develop design and analysis tools to model and assess the likely beneficial or detrimental impacts of design
decisions on human sensory perception, cognition, task performance, and well-being during the design process.
We should simulate the likely impact of design decisions on said performance and well-being during design,
construction, and on an ongoing basis during organizational use. As a first step toward achieving these goals,
people and their environments and other tools must be placed in a shared representational framework. If people’s
sensory perception, cognition, task performance, and well-being cannot be modeled directly in relationships with
environmental structures and behaviors, then it is not possible to simulate and analyze how those environmental
and tool affordances likely impact sensory perception, cognition, task performance, and well-being.

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The challenge of developing such a shared representational framework is made more arduous by the current
proliferation of complex and interactive systems and software, in our environments and as parts of our daily
routines, as well as their rapid paces of evolution. This complexity, interactivity, and the rapid rates of change
of these technologies increases the challenge of creating such a shared representational framework while
also increasing the need for such a framework. Humans currently innovate and evolve their environments and
behavioral routines faster than the concomitant changes to sensory perception, cognition, task performance,
and well-being can be integrated into our work processes and cultures. How can we design systems of cognizing
and socializing systems so complex that none of the designers has a complete understanding of exactly what is
being designed, what its boundaries are, how best to design it, how best to simulate/test/validate its performance,
or how it will impact the sensory perception, cognition, task performance, and well-being of individuals and
groups?

PROPOSED SOLUTION IN DEVELOPMENT

This paper uses agent-based modeling constructs and methods to frame the relationships between human,
non-human, and physical agents. It presents an agent architecture interaction assessment framework --- a
shared representational framework for humans and their environments and tools --- designed to be useful for
creating and analyzing models of how environmental design decisions likely impact human sensory perception,
cognition, task performance, and well-being. The agent architecture interaction assessment framework also
uses constructs and measures from architecture, agent-based modeling, human factors, systems science &
engineering, cognitive science, neuroscience and evolutionary biology.

This agent-based information processing systems assessment framework is especially useful now, as designers
and researchers develop new constructs, methods, and tools for modeling, analyzing, simulating, and designing
smart environments (e.g., smart cities, intelligent buildings, interactive environments, augmented cognition, etc.).
Emerging system types, including: complex, interactive architectural systems (CIAS), cyber-physical systems
(CPS), socio-technical systems (STS), cyber-social systems (CSS), ultra-large-scale systems (ULS), complex, large,
integrated, open systems (CLIOS), multi-scale systems (MSS), and the Internet-of-Things-Enabled Smart City
Framework expand the sense of what constitutes a ‘cognizing agent’ and an ‘architecture’. These emerging
systems entail increased complexity, a high degree of real-time interactivity between agents (people, buildings,
other organisms, hardware, software), and an accelerated rate of adaptation/evolution.

REFERENCES:
Churchill, W. (1941, May 10). 1943 October 28, Hansard, United Kingdom Parliament, Commons, House of Commons
Rebuilding, Speaking: The Prime Minister (Mr. Churchill). Documentation of a Public Speech, 393. London, United

Kingdom. doi:https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1943/oct/28/house-of-commons-rebuilding

Clark, A. (2003). Natural-Born Cyborgs: Minds, Technologies, and the Future of Human Intelligence. New York,
New York: Oxford University Press.

AUTHOR BIO:
Joe Manganelli, Architect, Human Factors Consultant, AIA, NCARB, LEED AP BD+C, PhD
xplr design, llc | Fluor Enterprises, Inc. | Kent State University School of Information

Manganelli’s goal is improving the capacity of the built environment to enhance human health, well-being
and cognition. He is an architect and human factors consultant. His research engages architecture, cognitive
science, human factors, systems science, and evolutionary biology. He develops constructs, methods, measures,
and tools for placing and analyzing the performance of agents (people, buildings, other organisms, hardware,
software) within a shared representational framework.

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Nature is Restorative:
A model for a therapeutic, collaborative learning environment for
teenagers that incorporates biophilia and neuroscience research to
encourage learning and well- being.
J. Susan Campbell Marano, M.A.I.D., Washington State University, Interior Designer
Judy Theodorson, M. Arch., Associate Professor, Washington State University

ABSTRACT:

This project explores linkages between biophilia, neuroscience, and the built environment to develop evidence-
based design considerations that support troubled teens within a live-learn rehabilitation facility. This population
is characterized as having numerous psychological, emotional and learning challenges and thus, would benefit
from a built environment that is specifically designed to reduce stress, promote restoration, and facilitate
learning. The method of investigation is a design-research project. First, a literature review was conducted to
identify theoretical themes and empirical studies that look at how the natural and built environment promote
learning and restoration for the target population. Three key themes were identified: the restorative value of
nature, daylighting for neurofunction, and physical movement for executive function. These themes are further
explored below. Next, these findings are considered within the context of a live-learn facility for marginalized
teen-aged girls, resulting in the formation of an interior design interventions framework that identifies spatial,
sensory and visual patterns (Figure 1). Finally, this framework is used as a basis for a conceptual design proposal
for a therapeutic living and learning environment for teen-aged girls. The design concept integrates nature, light,
views, and opportunities for movement (Figure 2). Ultimately, this design-research project offers an evidence-
based and theoretical foundation that can be adapted for a variety of special populations and, for school
design in general. Additionally, the work is being used by a community organization for capital fund raising to
build such a facility for teen girls.

KEY LITERATURE THEMES AND DESIGN INTERVENTIONS

1. Nature is a restorative element in our built environments. Kaplan (1995) argues that
increasing pressures of the modern world lead to mental fatigue and that natural environments are thought to be
rich in characteristics that reduce mental fatigue and provide restoration. E. O. Wilson, a biologist, developed a
school of thought that focuses on the need to bring humans in contact with nature. He uses the term “biophilia”,
which he describes as the innately emotional affinity of human beings to other living organisms (1984). The
concept of biophilia has since been developed into 14 design principles by Terrapin Bright Green, a group that
conducts in-depth research in design (2012). Design Proposal: The building is set in a natural, rural environment
with five secured interior courtyards. Every space has physical access to, or views of, nature. (Figure 2).
2. Daylight is important to neuro-function. The teen circadian cycle is commonly disrupted by hormonal fluctuations
and excessive blue light exposure through digital devices. Emergent research indicates that exposure to daylight
helps regulate the circadian system, which in turn impacts sleep/wake cycles, hormone regulation, and mental
alertness (Figueiro, 2013). Many research studies suggest that daylighting positively impacts performance and
mood (Edwards, et al, 2002). Design Proposal: Every space, including offices, is day lit. Spatial programming
exposes students to bright light early in the daytime schedule.
3. Physical movement improves executive function. Teens that have experienced adverse environments and
relationships may have impaired executive function, which is described as a set of cognitive skills that facilitate
learning and behavior control. It is known that exercise is linked to improved executive function, putting the
body and brain into balance (Ratey, et al, 2008; Willingham, 2013). Design Proposal: The building is designed with
looped circulation paths that facilitate walking within a secure facility. For sustained exercise, there are several
options including a basketball half-court, yoga and workout space.

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REFERENCES:

Edwards, L., & Torcellini, P. (2002). A literature review of the effects of natural light on building occupants. Golden,
CO: National Renewable Energy Laboratory.

Figueiro, M. G. (2013). An overview of the effects of light on human circadian rhythms: Implications for new light
sources and lighting systems design. Journal of Light & Visual Environment, 37(2-3), 51-61.

Kaplan, S. (1995). The restorative benefits of nature: Toward an integrative framework. Journal of environmental
psychology 15(3),169-182.

Wilson, E. O. (1984). Biophilia. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

Ratey, J. J., & Hagerman, E. (2008). Spark: The revolutionary new science of exercise and the
brain. New York, NY: Little Brown.

Willingham, D. (2013). Can physical activities improve fluid intelligence? Retrieved from
https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-athletes-way/201312/can-physical-activities-improve-fluid-
intelligence

Figure 1: Framework for Design: Design Patterns from Literature - Visual, Sensory and Spatial
Figure 2: Floor Plan: Detail of Courtyards and Daylight Exposure Areas

Selected references to both neuroscience and architecture design literature will be detailed with visuals on the
poster and accompanying paper.

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Mind and Matter:

Office Amenities and Design in the Wellness Era
MELISSA MARSH
Founder and Executive Director of PLASTARC

DANIEL DAVIS
Director of Research at WeWork

RACHEL MONTANA
Senior Design Researcher at WeWork

SARAH WILEN
Sociospatial Analyst at PLASTARC

ABSTRACT:

As technology has blurred the lines of work and life, and as real estate models have evolved, the
phenomenon of “workplace as a service” has emerged. Occupants may now expect their physical workplaces
to be more than just a collection of desks, offices, and equipment - in addition, they seek out employers and
spaces that offer amenities and thoughtful design that make for a great place to work. This shift is apparent in
coworking or shared spaces, as well as in more traditional office arrangements. As the service model becomes
more common, designers should look to cognitive and behavioral sciences to inform the next generation of
workplace amenities. How do these environments need to be designed and operated in order to optimize both
for human and corporate benefit? How can environmental design use cognitive research - restrooms provided
to the value of ritual in various cultures to circadian rhythms - into designing the optimal work/life environment?
We have long known there to be a link between humans’ behavior and the physical
environments they inhabit, including the workplace. For example, studies have shown that
architectural projects that prejudice aesthetic over meaning can engender feelings of loneliness
(Roessler, 2012). Access to natural lighting at work keeps our circadian rhythm in its correct balance (Barinaga,
M. 2002), which has direct impacts on levels of fatigue, mood, alertness and hunger. The audibility of background
speech adversely impacts human ability to perform demanding cognitive tasks (Haka, 2009). Even smells play
a large role in where and how people elect to work in the office. Corporeal porosity (Warren, S., and Riach, K.,
2014), induced by odors in the office, have a direct impact on collaboration and propinquity.
Our research explores how these types of findings have informed or should inform the amenities provided
in top workplaces, such as comfortable dining or lounge areas; exercise facilities or classes; and nap rooms
or lighting that is conducive to the body’s natural daily rhythms to help with sleep and increase energy. As
a leading provider of shared workspace and amenities, WeWork conducts extensive research on trends and
occupant preferences around the world. For example, an in-depth study of regional dining habits informed
specific considerations for eating spaces at WeWork, such as more likelihood for overcrowding in Mexico and
Brazil “due to the tendency of members to eat a long lunch (1-2 hours) in large groups” and a need for other
accommodations for practices like a post-lunch nap in Chinese workplaces (Lau, G., and Montana, R., 2018).
Another study on the use of mother’s rooms yielded recommendations for bright, warm lighting and cushioned
seating to avoid a cold, uncomfortable experience (Cosgrove, A., and Montana, R., 2017).
Additional primary research on dining habits at several U.S. WeWork locations included on-site observations in
common areas to discern utilization patterns during breakfast and lunch hours. We tracked occupancy, eating
group size, use of space and furniture options, and use of kitchen equipment to understand how members made
choices about when, where, and how to eat at WeWork. We also conducted interviews with WeWork design and
community management staff to learn about how they incorporate research and user input when planning and
designing amenities such as childcare and restrooms, as well as how they make a business case for including and
updating offerings. When referenced with neuroscience and environmental psychology literature, we were able
to infer how these design and programming decisions promote the intersection of neuroscience and architecture,
as well as options for improving design and amenities offered to support neuroscientific findings.

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REFERENCES:

Barinaga, M. (2002). How the brain’s clock gets daily enlightenment. Science, 295(5557), 955-957.

Cosgrove, A. & Montana, R. (2017). “Mothers’ rooms.” WeWork Research and Data. Unpublished internal study.

Haka, M., Haapakangas, A., Keränen, J., Hakala, J., Keskinen, E., & Hongisto, V. (2009). Performance effects and
subjective disturbance of speech in acoustically different office types–a laboratory experiment. Indoor air, 19(6),
454-467.

Lau, G. & Montana, R. (2018). “Regional Dining Habits.” WeWork Research and Data. Unpublished internal study.
Roessler, Kirsten Kaya. “Healthy Architecture! Can Environments Evoke Emotional Responses?” Global Journal of
Health Science 4.4 (2012): 83–89. PMC. Web. 1 Feb. 2018.

Warren, S., Riach, K. (2014). Smell organization: Bodies and corporeal porosity in office work. The Journal of Human
Relations, Vol 68, Issue 5, pp. 789 - 809

AUTHOR BIOS:

MELISSA MARSH
Leveraging a background in the social sciences with a Master of Architecture at MIT, Melissa founded plastarc,
which employs social research, design metrics, and real estate strategy to create a more flexible and engaging
built world.

DANIEL DAVIS
Based out of New York, Daniel leads a team of researchers investigating the relationship between people and
spaces at WeWork. Daniel originally trained as an architect in New Zealand and later did a PhD in computational
design at RMIT University in Australia.

RACHEL MONTANA
Rachel Montana uses a mix of qualitative and quantitative techniques to provide insights around the physical
design of workspaces. She applies her background in social psychology and UX Research to better understand
WeWork buildings from a user perspective. She holds a Ph.D. and M.A. in Experimental Social Psychology from
Princeton University, and received her B.A. in Psychology from Harvard College.

CASSIE HACKEL
Cassie’s current work includes analysis and advisory on workplace strategy, change management, industry
trends, and the intersection between design and human factors. Cassie holds a Master of Urban Planning from
the University of Michigan.

SARAH WILEN
Sarah’s scope of work covers observational and data analysis on employee feedback for office programming
and workplace satisfaction. Sarah holds a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from the University of Massachusetts in
Amherst.

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 ACADEMY OF NEUROSCIENCE FOR ARCHITECTURE

Experimental Design for Evaluating the Effect of Lighting Interventions

on patients with Alzheimer’s: A Review

Pegah Mathur M.Sc., Traci Rose Rider Ph.D., Wayne Place Ph.D.
College of Design, North Carolina State University

ABSTRACT:

Alzheimer’s disease is expected to become a major public health problem in the U.S. for the aging population. It
is projected that in 2050, 65% of the aging population will die of Alzheimer’s. This raises the questions of whether
and how we are prepared to provide care for this growing population. In this regard, the built environment can
have a crucial role in supporting care and cure processes for the disease. Among the environmental variables
that impact the provision of care for Alzheimer patients, lighting is especially consequential as it is known as a non-
invasive cure method that can stimulate the circadian rhythm and mitigate the issues of sleeping disturbance
and agitation. Nevertheless, previous experimental research on this topic is inconclusive since many studies failed
to present important variables and strategies used in their experimental designs (e.g. characteristics of the lighting
device, time-series design and frequency of the interventions, the amount of light entered into the subject’s
eyes). This paper reviews the existing research on lighting and Alzheimer’s to develop a framework that gives
structure to the design of experimental research on the effect of lighting interventions on Alzheimer’s patients
(e.g. variables, contextual factors, control strategies). This framework can facilitate future research on this topic
as it enables the researchers to improve the internal validity of their results by improving their research design.
Furthermore, this proposed framework can lead to a consistency in defining and using variables, control factors,
and applicable findings across different studies to facilitate replication of experimental studies and inform the
researcher on the generalizability of the findings.

REFERENCES:

Boyden, T. a. E. (2016). Unique visual stimulation may be new treatment for Alzheimer’s.

Konis, K. (2016). A novel circadian daylight metric for building design and evaluation. Building and Environment.

Konis, K. (2018). Field evaluation of the circadian stimulus potential of daylit and non-daylit spaces in dementia
care facilities. Building and Environment, 135.

Michael D. White, S. A.-I., and Richard R. Wilson. (2013). Senior Living Environments: Evidence-Based Lighting
Design Strategies. HERDJOURNAL, 07(01), 60-78.

Nicholas Hanford, a. M. F. (2013). Light Therapy and Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Dementia: Past, Present,
and Future. J Alzheimers Disease.

van Hoof, J., Aarts, M. P. J., Rense, G., & Schoutens, A. M. C. (2009). Ambient bright light in dementia: Effects on
behaviour and circadian rhythmicity. Building and Environment, 44.

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 ANFA 2018 CONFERENCE

AUTHOR BIOS:

PEGAH MATHUR M.SC

[email protected]

Pegah is a PhD student in Environmental Design at North Carolina State University, College of Design, and works
as a research assistant. She has done her undergrad in Iran and her M.Arch in England and a post-professional
Master of Environmental Building Design at University of Pennsylvania. She has worked as research associate
and energy analyst on building performance and daylighting at Center of Environmental Building Design in
PennDesign Before starting her PhD.

Pegah’s area of interest in research is the influence of Built Environment factors, such as lighting on human’s
health, specially the cure process of Alzheimer’s and aging memory disorders. She is focusing on Daylighting and
Lighting as a cure stimulus factor for alleviating the Alzheimer’s patients’ symptoms in the cure process.

TRACI ROSE RIDEr, Ph.D

Assistant Professor in Architecture, [email protected]
PhD in Design (Sustainability in Architectural Education) – NC State University

WAYNE PLACE, Ph.D

Alumni Distinguished Professor of Architecture, [email protected]
Ph.D. in Physics, University of North Carolina Chapel Hill

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 ACADEMY OF NEUROSCIENCE FOR ARCHITECTURE

The Space Between: An Exploration Into How Urban Environments

Influence Affect and Distance Perception
Robin Mazumder, B.Sc, MSc. OT, and Colin Ellard

ABSTRACT:

A study by Azgarzadeh et al (2012) suggested that viewing skyscrapers caused feelings of oppressiveness,
which they deMned as the sensation of crowdedness. In their study, participants rated pictures of urban settings
using an oppressiveness scale. They found a correlation between building height and oppressiveness. Although
Azgarzadeh et al suggested that oppressiveness influenced feelings of stress, they did not measure this directly.
Building on Azgarzadeh’s work, we used psychological methods to examine the experience of participants in
oppressive urban environments. Using immersive virtual reality, participants were placed in low and high building
environments, with or without landscape architecture. They were monitored for physiological arousal using skin
conductance and asked to complete an oppressiveness questionnaire. High building environments were rated as
more oppressive and were associated with higher arousal levels as compared to low building environments. In a
follow up study, we are exploring how high oppressive (Mgure 1.a) and low oppressive (Mgure 1.b) environments
influence affect as measured by the Positive And Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS) and the Affective Slider Scale.
As in the first experiment, participants are monitored for skin conductance. In addition to the affect variables, we
are examining egocentric distance estimation of objects and avatars within the environment. Lappin et al (2006)
suggest the context in which objects are perceived can influence accuracy of distance estimation. Given this,
we predict that environmental oppressiveness will influence estimates of distance. Furthermore, little research
has been done on whether distance estimation is influenced by the nature of the target, specifically whether
the target is an object or a person. We will explore this by asking participants to estimate their own distance from
a telephone booth and an avatar. We hypothesize (1) participants in oppressive environments will have higher
negative affect, (2) that the feeling of oppressiveness will influence spatial perception as measured with the
distance estimation task and (3) that the influence of oppressiveness on perception will be stronger for avatars
than for inanimate environmental objects. This work sets the foundation for future research on how the urban built
environment impacts the distance people keep between themselves and others.

(google doc with Mgure available here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1JZglnw9viEKeMSJ14UT8ueeBA

08t5E_nOKlGIcVO2 Xk/edit?usp=sharing)

REFERENCES:

Asgarzadeh, M., Lusk, A., Koga, T., & Hirate, K. (2012). Measuring oppressiveness of streetscapes. Landscape and
Urban Planning, 107(1), 1-11.

Lappin, J. S., Shelton, A. L., & Rieser, J. J. (2006). Environmental context inruences visually perceived distance.
Perception & psychophysics, 68(4), 571-581.

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 ANFA 2018 CONFERENCE

AUTHOR BIOS:

COLIN ELLARD is a cognitive neuroscientist in the Department of Psychology at the University of Waterloo, and the
director of its Urban Realities Laboratory, which focuses on research at the intersection of experimental psychology
and architectural and urban design. Ellard conducts research on the human response to built spaces both using
simulations in immersive virtual reality and in real settings using Meld methods. In both streams of his research,
Ellard combines traditional psychological methods with data from psychophysiological sensors to develop rich
characterizations of the interplay between an individual and their surroundings. In addition to his basic research,
which he has published in peer-reviewed journals for 30 years, Ellard contributes to the public discussion of urban
and architectural design through his work with museums and the media. Most recently, Ellard’s Psychology on the
Street installation (psychologyonthestreet.com), based in Toronto, consisted of a series of experiments designed
to gather Meld data on the psychology of urban design, and an opportunity to engage the general public in
a dialogueabout the work of the Urban Realities Lab. Ellard’s most recent book is Places of the Heart, Bellevue
Literary Press, 2015.

ROBIN MAZUMDER B.Sc, MSc. OT, is a doctoral candidate in cognitive neuroscience in the Department of
Psychology at the University of Waterloo, where he is studying the psychological impacts of urban design. He
is particularly interested in how the built environment of the city inruences emotion and proxemics. Prior to
beginning his doctorate, Robin worked in clinical mental health as an occupational therapist. This front-line work
in urban areas greatly inspires his current research interests. In addition to research, Robin advocates for better
urban design through blogging and speaking at conferences around the world. His blogs can be viewed at his
website www.robinmazumder.com. Robin’s research is funded by the Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarship,
Canada’s most prestigious doctoral award.

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 ACADEMY OF NEUROSCIENCE FOR ARCHITECTURE

Legibility, Orientation and the Mantle of the ‘Other’

Elizabeth McNicholas, AIA, Matthew McNicholas, AIA

ABSTRACT:

Hippocrates’ directive “first, do no harm” has application beyond the field of medicine. Neuroscience provides
new and novel ways to monitor stress, and architects who aim to serve as good stewards of the built environment
ought to seek to minimize the causation of chronic stress upon its inhabitants and end-users.
In this session, we present the most practical architectural design considerations relevant to the useful inquiry and
input of Neuroscience.
The multitude of aspects that must be considered for individual projects and building types present a distinct
challenge to an architect when undertaking the planning of buildings and places. The consummate designer
mindfully inhabits each space during the design process, prior to any construction. Users of buildings also intuitively,
if not explicitly, understand the designer’s intentions via a Theory of Mind.
Through this phenomenon, this exchange of mind, the designer and user have an interaction on an intangible
(but not immeasurable) level. As such, there is an ethereal, but nonetheless actual, exchange of cognition
between the user and the designer, inside and out of every created space. This exchange is not limited by time
or astral plane but embodied in place and in space.
The idiomata of architecture that have the most significant positive neurological impact on the human condition
are by and large excluded from neuroscientific research. The characteristics that define “humane” architecture
are numerous and varied, and all have lasting beneficial effects on the mind, and accordingly on the body.
We focus on two specific elements largely ignored or used without sophistication in contemporary architecture:
Orientation and Legibility. In order to have a complete conversation about the impact of neuroscience on
architecture these characteristics must be studied further.
“Orientation” impacts use, exploration, Theory of Mind, and wayfinding; “Legibility” impacts function, organization,
memory, and hierarchy. The detrimental repercussions and chronic stress caused by the lack of these attributes
are cumulative – increasing with time and with their systematic elimination from the architectural environment.
We show that employing these specific elements in architecture has neurological and physiological benefit,
specifically in the typologies of health care, institutional, academic, and office settings.

REFERENCES:

Alexander, C., Ishikawa, S., Sliverstein, M. (1977). A Pattern Language: Towns, Buildings, Construction. New York: Oxford
University Press.
Balu DT, Lucki I. (2009). Adult hippocampal neurogenesis: regulation, functional implications, and contribution to disease
pathology. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 2009; 33: 232– 252.
Berman, M. G., Jonides, J. and Kaplan S. (2008). The Cognitive BeneMts of Interacting With Nature. Association for Psychological
Science, Vol. 19, No. 12
Csikszentmihalyi, Mihaly. Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience. Harper Perennial Modern Classics; 2008.
Conrad, Cheryl D. (2010). A Critical Review of Chronic Stress Effects on Spatial Learning and Memory. Progress in Neuro-
Psychopharmacology and Biological Psychiatry, Vol. 34, Issue 5
Fields RD. (2008). White matter in learning, cognition and psychiatric disorders. Trends Neurosci 2008; 31: 361-370.
Gage FH. (2000). Mammalian neural stem cells. Science 2000; 287: 1433–1438. 171
Gillespie CF, Phifer J, Bradley B, Ressler KJ. (2009). Risk and resilience: genetic and environmental inruences on development
of the stress response. Depress Anxiety 2009; 26: 984–992.
Kahneman, D. (2011). Thinking Fast and Slow. Macmillan.
Kaplan, S. and Berman, M.G. (2010). Directed Attention as a Common Resource for Executive Functioning and Self-Regulation.
Perspectives on Psychological Science Vol. 5, No. 1

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 ANFA 2018 CONFERENCE

Kaufer D, Friedman A, Seidman S, Soreq H. (1998). Acute stress facilitates long-lasting changes in cholinergic gene expression.
Nature 1998; 393: 373–377.
Lyons DM, Yang C, Eliez S, Reiss AL, Schatzberg AF. (2004). Cognitive correlates of white matter growth and stress hormones in
female squirrel monkey adults. J Neurosci 2004; 24: 3655–3662.
Nave KA. (2010). Myelination and support of axonal integrity by glia. Nature 2010; 468: 244–252.
Mallgrave, Henry Francis. The Architect’s Brain. Wiley-Blackwell; 2011.
McEwen BS. (2007). Physiology and neurobiology of stress and adaptation: central role of the brain. Physiol Rev 2007; 87:
873–904.
Parker, R. D. (1997). The Architectonics of Memory: On Built Form and Built Thought. Leonardo, Vol. 30, No. 2
Pinker, S. (2003). The Blank Slate: The Modern Denial of Human Nature. Penguin. Pinker, Stephen. How the Mind Works. W. W.
Norton & Company; 2009.
Pinker, Stephen. The Language Instinct: How the Mind Creates Language. William Morrow & Co., 1994.
Salingaros, Nikos A. A Theory of Architecture. Vajra Books; 2013.
Salingaros, N. (2014). Complexity in Architecture and Design. Oz Journal, University of Texas at San Antonio, Vol. 36
Salingaros, N. (2012). Fractal Art and Architecture Reduce Physiological Stress. Journal of Biourbanism, JBU II
Snyder JS, Soumier A, Brewer M, Pickel J, Cameron HA. (2011). Adult hippocampal neurogenesis buffers stress responses and
depressive behaviour. Nature 2011; 476: 458– 461.
Spalding KL, Bergmann O, Alkass K, Bernard S, Salehpour M, Huttner HB et al. (2013). Dynamics of hippocampal neurogenesis
in adult humans. Cell 2013; 153: 1219–1227.
Spence, Jonathan D., The Memory Palace of Matteo Ricci. Penguin Books; 1985.
Starkman MN, Giordani B, Berent S, Schork MA, Schteingart DE. (2001). Elevated cortisol levels in Cushing’s disease are
associated with cognitive decrements. Psychosomatic Medicine 2001; 63: 985–993.
Sussman, Ann, Justin B. Hollander. Cognitive Architecture: Designing for How We Respond to the Built Environment. Routledge;
2014.
Taylor, R.P. (2005). Perceptual and Physiological Responses to the Visual Complexity of Fractal Patterns. Nonlinear Dynamics,
Psychology, and Life Sciences, Vol. 9, No. 1
Wise, J. A., Rosenberg, E. (1986). The Effects of Interior Treatments on Performance Stress in Three Types of Mental Tasks.
Technical Report, Space Human Factors Okce, NASA-ARC.
Wise, J.A., Taylor, R.P. (2002). Fractal Design Strategies for Enhancement of Knowledge Work Environments. Proceedings of the
46th Meeting of The Human Factors and Ergonomics Society, 2002, Baltimore, MD.
Wong EY, Herbert J. (2006). Raised circulating corticosterone inhibits neuronal differentiation of progenitor cells in the adult
hippocampus. Neuroscience 2006; 137: 83– 92.
Ziegler DA, Piguet O, Salat DH, Prince K, Connally E, Corkin S. (2010). Cognition in healthyaging is related to regional white
matter integrity, but not cortical thickness. Neurobiol A1gin7g 1 2010; 31: 1912–1926AUTHOR BIO:

AUTHOR BIOS:

ELIZABETH MCNICHOLAS, AIA

MATTHEW MCNICHOLAS, AIA
Elizabeth McNicholas, AIA & Matthew McNicholas, AIA co-founded MGLM Architects in 2007. Elizabeth recently
retired as Education Chair for the Chicago Chapter of the Institute of Classical Architecture & Art, and Matthew
serves on the Board and is Chair of Facilities for the Adler and Sullivan-designed Auditorium Theatre, and is a
highly- sought expert in Architectural Copyright Law. Both hold Certificates in Neuroscience for Architecture from
NewSchool of Architecture & Design, and Bachelor and Master’s degrees in Architecture from the University of
Notre Dame. They cut their teeth in the London practice of Demetri Porphyrios, and later in the graduate design
studio of Leon Krier, spent some years living in and studying Rome, and have undertaken several Grand Tours.

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 ACADEMY OF NEUROSCIENCE FOR ARCHITECTURE

Assessing Architecture Students’ In The Moment Creativity

Alexandra Mesias, Developing Scholars Program, Masters of Architecture, Candidate; [email protected]: Bob
Condia, AIA, Architect, Professor of Architecture, [email protected];
The College of Architecture, Planning & Design, 2003A Seaton Hall |2003S Perceptions Lab, Kansas State
University, Manhattan, KS 66506-2902, USA; (785) 532-5953.

ABSTRACT:
We report a new study of biological correlates of creativity in architectural design, which tests the effect of
experience in reaching a creative state. Our study to build on an experiment conducted on 40 top architects
(1958-9) by Berkeley’s Institute of Personality Assessment and Research.2 Allied is the work of E. A. Carroll’s “In
the Moment Creativity” (ITMC), which proposes creative evaluation as a measurable biological response, in turn
eliciting decreased arousal level during ITMC.”3 Our experiment tests for differences in arousal levels of graduate
students (in their last semester of education) versus sophomores (at the end of their first year of architectural
education). Our hypothesis is that older students will more quickly enter ITMC, the designer’s frame of mind,
because of experience in a design curriculum.

In April 2017, we tested eighteen second-year and twenty fifth-year architecture students. Participants first
completed a Keirsey Bates Temperament Sorter which provides an alphabetical notation in sequence of
Extrovert versus Introvert (E or I), Sensing versus Intuitive (S or N), Thinking versus Feeling (T or F), and Judging
versus Perceiving (J or P), from which we noted correlations between personality types and the statistical results
for thinking like an architect. We also asked them about their confidence levels in sketching with a pencil. We
question their confidence in their abilities to create throughout the experiment to suggest the direct relationship
between confidence and “thinking like an architect.”2 The arousal stimulants were six design tasks in two forms:
1) the creativity test used in the Serraino’s The Creative Architect, regarding itself as a warm up and cool down
in relationship to 2) the iterative test utilizing a repetitive system that requires varied solutions to the same formal
inquiry (figures la and lb). The iterative tests were (by necessity) of our own invention, as current science sees
iteration as a problem to be solved rather than a fundamental method or craft. Architects use iteration to discover
a problem. The four repetitions of the single task allow the subject to enhance their design skills upon each task
until a desired result is achieved. We believe by the fourth iteration they will have felt at the height of their creative
capabilities. Biological correlates were measured using a BioGraph Infiniti System’s finger temperature-measuring
sensor, Galvanic Skin Response (GSR), and Electromyography (EMG). During testing, at the end of each task,
we asked the subjects for a self-assessment to gauge how creative they felt during that task. Based on these
self-reports and the sensory recordings, we were able to compare when and at which task, the participant
demonstrated “in the moment creativity.”

Observations during experimentation bear out that arousal significantly reduces when subjects enter the focused
frame of mind we associate with designing, especially evident in the INTP personality type (one who is an
introvert, intuitive, a thinker, while also being perceptive suggesting a curious and ambitious attitude) from the
temperaments. Preliminary inspection of the data shows qualitative differences between second and fifth year
students, and between temperaments, which we think a generalized additive model and statistical analysis will
display a signature or line of best fit for ITMC (figure 2). We are currently testing self-proclaimed ‘non-creative
persons’ as a control group. We think we can suggest from our data that tutorial experience in design studios can
produce quicker access into the creative frame of mind, although personality or temperament might be more
important.

REFERENCES:
1
Schön, Donald A. “The Architectural Studio as an Exemplar of Education for Reflection-in-Action.” Journal of Architectural
Education (1984-) 38, no. 1 (1984): 2-9. doi:10.2307/1424770.
2
Serraino, Pierluigi. The Creative Architect: Inside the Great Midcentury Personality Study. The Monacelli Press, 2016.
Carroll, Erin A., and Celine Latulipe. “Triangulating the personal creative experience: self-report, external judgments, and
3

physiology.” In Proceedings of Graphics Interface 2012, pp. 53-60. Canadian Information Processing Society, 2012.

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 ANFA 2018 CONFERENCE

FIGURES 1A AND 1B: Figure 1a (the bar graph)

represents the number of fifth-year students
(orange bar) versus second-year students (blue
bar) who possess the specific letters found in the
Kiersey Bates Temperament Sorter. We are most
interested in the S versus N (Sensing or Intuitive)
because it exhibits the preference to the think
based on concrete facts and details (sensing)
or to pursue an idea based on one’s “gut”
inquiry and thinking in a bigger picture context
(intuitive). This innate ability to use one’s intuition is
unique and most associated with the “architect”
personality type. Between the eighteen second
and twenty, fifth year temperament results, there is
no significant difference, but among the opposite
types (for example S and N) the difference is rather
distinct. To further demonstrate, the analogue
data of the drawings the participants selected as the time they felt the most creative amongst the four iteration
tasks as well as their final creativity task of the experiment (the nine boxes). The drawing tasks elicited a creative
mentality. These are the physical results. When presented with the iteration task and the creativity task, second
and fifth year students approached the tasks differently, but upon further analysis, the differences appear in
their creations. These four subjects were selected as the second and fifth-year students who fit the “architect”
personality type (the two sets to the left of the dividing line) and the second and fifth-year who closely resembled
the opposite of the “architect” personality type (ESFJ) found to the right of the dividing line. Though only four
subjects represent the broader pool of subjects, this trend appears amongst the other twenty-four participants.
From left to right, the images depict the design tasks of a second-year architecture with the personality type of
the INFJ; a fifth-year architecture student with the INTP personality type; a second-year architecture student with
the personality type of ISFJ; a fifth-year architecture student with the personality type of the ESTJ.

FIGURE 2: We concerned ourselves with the biological reactions recorded from the biofeedback machine. These
readings align themselves with the same subjects from figures 1a and 1b. The orange line aligns with the second-
year students who exhibits a creative personality; blue is a fifth-year student with the architect personality type.
On the other spectrum, the yellow path represents a second year who is the opposite of the architect type;
likewise, the grey line is a fifth-year with the same personality type. Among the same years, the second-year who
demonstrates creative tendencies enter a creative frame of mind more quickly than the second year without
that inherent trait. When basing the data on our initial hypothesis, fifth-year enter a creative frame of mind slightly
quicker than the participants with less experience. Although this is what we hoped to discover, we were surprised
to find the dramatic differences are apparent in the personality realm.

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 ACADEMY OF NEUROSCIENCE FOR ARCHITECTURE

Color Contribution to Environmental Legibility, Relations of Objective

Performance and Subjective Perception in Wayfinding
Young-Hee Min, Ph.D.
Mi-Kyoung Ha, Ph.D., Professor
Department of Interior Architecture and Built Environment, Yonsei University, Seoul, Korea.

ABSTRACT:

A large-scale indoor environment cannot be recognized at a single vista, and navigation requires more abstract
understanding of spatial interrelationship (Peponis, Zimring, & Choi, 1990). Spatial knowledge is hierarchically
acquired with the information of landmark, route, and topological layout (Siegel & White, 1975; Tversky, 2000).
Recent neuropsychological evidences show that spatial cells in hippocampus react to the specific location
in place cell, orientation in head direction cell, at regular distance in grid cell, and spatial edges in boundary
vector cell (Hartley et al., 2014). To understand complex built environment, we conceptualize and categorize
spaces according to the equivalence and distinctiveness of environmental attributes, however cognitive effects
of environmental colors are largely unknown (Arthur & Passini, 1992).

Using the contrast of environmental colors, this research aims to investigate the correlations of objective and
subjective color contribution to wayfinding and environmental legibility. Through wayfinding experiments in the
virtual environment with twelve different scenarios (three plan configurations * four color schemes), sketching
errors and navigation errors were measured as objective performances. After the experiment, subjects fulfilled
self-report about the virtual environment they experienced. These subjective measures included the perceived
environmental legibility and color contribution to wayfinding. By examining the correlations of objective
performance and subjective assessment, how the level of color contribution was engaged the unconscious and
conscious level in subjects’ minds is investigated.

In results, there were significant, yet very weak correlations between spatial knowledge acquisition and
environmental legibility perception. The correlation between the spatial knowledge acquisition and perceived
color contribution to wayfinding was not significant. However, wayfinding performance had significant correlations
with two subjective measures.

REFERENCES:
Arthur, P., & Passini, R. (1992). Wayfinding: people, signs, and architecture. New York: McGraw-Hill, Inc.

Hartley, T., Lever, C., Burgess, N., & O’Keefe, J. (2014). Space in the brain: how the hippocampal formation supports
spatial cognition. Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B, 369(1635), 20120510.

Peponis, J., Zimring, C., & Choi, Y. K. (1990). Finding the building in wayfinding. Environment and Behavior, 22(5),
555-590.

Siegel, A. W., & White, S. H. (1975). The development of spatial representations of large-scale environments.
Advances in child development and behavior, 10, 9-55.

Tversky, B. (2000). Levels and structure of spatial knowledge. In R. Kitchin & S. Freundschuh (Eds.), Cognitive
mapping: Past, present, and future (Vol. 4, pp. 3). London and New York: Psychology press.

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 ANFA 2018 CONFERENCE

AUTHOR BIOS:
Young-Hee Min

Ph.D., Department of Interior Architecture and Built Environment, Yonsei University in Seoul, Korea. Young-Hee
Min is a professional lighting designer, and also a researcher in environmental psychology and architectural
design. She is constantly searching for the dialogue between the design practices and empirical research to
achieve evidence-based design. Her current research interests include the environmental legibility, cognitive
architecture, spatial cognition and neuropsychology, and environmental affordance such as colors and lighting.

Mi-Kyoung Ha

Ph.D., Professor
Department of Interior Architecture and Built Environment, Yonsei University in Seoul Korea. Mi-Kyoung Ha is a
currently dean of the College of Human Ecology in Yonsei University, and a chair of Korea CPTED Association.
Her research interests cover wide range of environmental design including CPTED, community safety design, and
lighting design.

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 ACADEMY OF NEUROSCIENCE FOR ARCHITECTURE

“I spy with my little eye”

A child-led Assessment of the School Built Environment
Marianne Halblaub Miranda1, [email protected]
Maria Ustinova2 [email protected]
Thomas Tregel1 [email protected]
Martin Knöll1 [email protected]

(1) Technische Universität Darmstadt, Germany

(2) World Bank, Russia Country Office, Moscow, Russia

EXTENDED ABSTRACT:
It has been 40 years since Kevin Lynch and colleagues presented their studies on children’s perception of
cities. Still, the question of how the built environment influences child development remains both for
architects and urban designers as well as for the young users very relevant. Such is the case for schools,
important “settings” (fields of action) able to foster physical activity and healthy behaviors, including active
transport such as walking or cycling to and from the school facilities (Audrey et al., 2015).

A growing body of international studies underlines the importance of designed spaces on the learning
progress, social interaction, and physical and cognitive development of young pupils. In pedagogy, the
physical environment is already understood as a “third teacher”: a spatial framework for learning processes
that can independently facilitate the development of children (Mau et al., 2010). Recent studies show that
high quality designed classrooms can explain up to 16% of learning improvements over a year (Barret et al.,
2015). However, empirical research on the specific role of design concerning children’s learning
achievements, health, and health-related behavior remains very fragmented and unexplored (Saarloos et
al., 2009; Nigaglioni, 2016).

The presented investigation is lead by the questions of how can we design more livability, physical activity,
and mental well-being into school environments, and how can children play a more vital role in the process.
We argue that enabling pupils to participate in research and design processes is key to developing more
active and health-promoting learning environments1.
For young people and children, participating in projects in which they can design spaces has several
positive effects on learning, identification, better catering and acceptance of their needs, and better well-
being. At the same time, it is widely accepted that the projects benefit from young peoples’ expertise in
local knowledge and their age-specific needs (Driskell, 2002).

This presentation discusses the results of a pilot study in an elementary school in the city of Darmstadt
(Germany), where pupils from the 1st to 4th grade (aged 6-10 years, n=74) assessed their school’s indoor
and outdoor environment using a smartphone game prototype based on the principle of the game “I spy
with my little eye” (Halblaub Miranda et al., 2017). The data collection included several interactive
workshops, in which the children documented their favorite spots – e.g., to become active, to read or to
chat with a friend – and places they disliked, producing maps, photos, and drawings to discuss the existing
spatial environment and illustrate visions of possible future spaces. The collected data helped to identify a
set of active areas in the school, the need for restorative niches, communal spaces of different sizes, and
the importance for the participants to be part of the process of improving their environment. Other results
outline pupils’ use and understanding of the urban context in which their school is embedded. The method
is inspired by Lynch’s work and reflects on how a new generation of (digitally supported) surveys, mapping,
and co-design tools can encourage pupils to participate in improving their learning spaces and bring
forward their expectations and needs. The game app and co-design toolbox presented will be of interest to
planners and architects of learning environments seeking to engage children in the process.

The overall aim of the research project is to better understand the influence of the built environment on
pupils’ learning, physical activity, and well-being. This entails identifying discrete architectural elements and
configurations, which encourage specific behaviors. In a further step, architecture students of the Technical
University of Darmstadt will redesign the evaluated elementary school taking into account the results of the
pilot study, and including a new group of pupils into the design process.
____________________________
1The World Health Organization (WHO, 1995) defines a health-promoting school as an institution that creates a healthy environment by
providing programs and services that support physical and mental health for the staff, the children, their families, and community
members.
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REFERENCES:

Audrey S., Batista-Ferrer H. (2015). Healthy urban environments for children and young people: A systematic
review of intervention studies. Health & Place, Bd. 36, Nr. 11 (November 2015): 97-117.
Barret P., Davies F., Zhang Y., and Barret L. (2015). The impact of classroom design on pupils' learning: Final
results of a holistic, multi-level analysis. Building and Environment. Volume 89 (July 2015), 118–133.
Driskell D. (2002), Creating Better Cities with Children and Youth. Earthscan Ltd and UNESCO, London.
Halblaub Miranda, M., Ustinova, M., Tregel, T., Knöll, M. (2017). MoMe@school – A pilot study on a analytical
and participatory tool for active learning spaces design.
Lynch, K. (Ed.). (1977). Growing Up in Cities: Studies of the Spatial Environment of Adolecence in Cracow,
Melbourne, Mexico City, Salta, Toluca, and Warszawa. The MIT Press, Cambridge.
Mau B., O'Donnell, Wickl, Pigozzi and Peterson. (2010). The Third Teacher – 79 Ways You Can Use Design to
Transform Teaching and Learning. Cannon Design, VS Furniture, Bruce Mau Design.
Nigaglioni I. (2016). Neuroscience in School Design. School Construction News; Jan/Feb2016, Vol. 19 Issue 1,
p6-6.
Saarloos D., Kim J., Timmermans H. (2009). The Built Environment and Health: Introducing Individual Space-
Time Behavior. Int. J. Environ., Res. Public Health, 6(6), 1724-1743
Word Health Organisation (1995). Health Promoting Schools: A Healthy Setting for Learning, Living and
Working.

AUTHOR BIOS:

Marianne Halblaub Miranda is a research associate at the Urban Health Games research group,
Department of Architecture at the Technische Universität Darmstadt. Her research focus is on user-centered
architecture and urban design and the dynamics of the built environment and human behavior, including
navigation and orientation, cognition and perception, and the influence of the built environment on its
users. She leads the project Active Learning Spaces, and co-developed the research tool MoMe@school, a
context-sensitive mobile application to assess spatial perception.

Maria Ustinova is an Education Consultant at the World Bank’s office in Russia. Her areas of professional and
research expertize include early childhood development, education facilities design (kindergartens and
schools) and education quality assurance. In 2015 she received a German Chancellor Fellowship from
Alexander von Humboldt Foundation and completed a research on education facilities design in Germany
at the Technische Universität Darmstadt.

Thomas Tregel studied computer science at the Technische Universität Darmstadt and is a research
associate at the Multimedia Communications Lab at Technische Universität Darmstadt. His main research
focus lies in the fields of automated personalization of multiplayer serious games and procedural content
generation for context-based games.

Martin Knöll is professor and head of the Urban Health Games research group, Department of Architecture
at Technische Universität Darmstadt. He leads new transdisciplinary collaborations between urban designers
and health experts to address global health challenges such as more sustainable mobility systems, inclusion,
physically inactive lifestyles, diabetes and urban stress.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES:

- To understand the influence of built environment on children’s learning, physical activity and well-being in
schools, based on pupils’.
- To include children in the school design and evaluation process through participatory approaches.
- To promote architectural knowledge and understanding amongst school-aged children.

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 ACADEMY OF NEUROSCIENCE FOR ARCHITECTURE

Childhood Memories and Their Influences for the Architect’s

Cognition
Ana Mirea

ABSTRACT:

Research studies in psychology explain that we are influenced by our social environment from childhood,
especially by our parents or by the persons we grew up with. Unless we try to change ourselves in a conscious
way, the influence will follow us the entire life. But does this also apply to the build environment? How does the
brain of the architect function? Are his childhood memories and the environment he grew up in linked with his
way of approaching architecture?

In our study, we are trying to answer to the questions above by using two methods: interviewing architects
(Juhani Pallasmaa, and Dorin Stefan) and by filling questionnaires about the childhood memories of the
architects. Neuroscience teaches us that our cognition is enriched when inhabiting a complex environment.
Either perceived consciously or not, with all our senses, these surroundings affect us on a mental and emotional
level. Perceptions are translated later into memories and consequently a question is raised: in which way do they
affect the architect’s brain? Later on, can we trace any patterns and correlations between the environment
they lived in and their cognition? Juhani Pallasmaa, and Dorin Stefan, are going to answer to these questions in
the interview, and their responses will be compared with the survey’s results. For the moment, at the survey will
take part only Romanian architects, but in the future, the target is to compare the responses of the Romanian
architects with the ones in foreign countries, and also with people who have no tangencies with the field.

The final aim of this study is not only to discover if the architect’s brain is influenced by the built environment from
his early life, but also to identify in which manner does these connections influence his future designs. Moreover,
by understanding the experiences embodied in one’s childhood, we as architects could approach differently
the designs we propose. Design implications? The ultimate goal of architecture should be a transcendental one,
to make us better human beings, so if we improve our buildings, they will eventually complement our lives.

REFERENCES:
Eberhard, J.P. (2008). Brain Landscape: The Coexistence of Neuroscience and Architecture. Oxford, New York:
Oxford University Press.

Mallgrave, H.F. (2010). The Architect’s Brain Neuroscience, Creativity and Architecture. Chichester, West Sussex:
Willey-Blackwell.

Pallasmaa, J. (2011). Lampi di pensiero Fenomenologia della percezione in architettura, Bologna: Editura
Pendragon. http://anfarch.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/Helsinki-2013-Architecture-Neuroscience.pdf

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AUTHOR BIOS:
ANA MIREA – Contacts: [email protected], +40720018090

I graduated from the University of Architecture and Urbanism “Ion Mincu”, Faculty of Architecture, in Bucharest,
in 2016. Now I am continuing my Phd. Studies at the same university, with a thesis which is trying to connect
architecture and neuroscience: “The Significance of the Built Environment for the Brain”, coordinated by two
professors, Professor Architect Dorin Stefan and Associate Professor Andrei Miu, with a Ph.D in Psychology. My thesis
will be a continuation of my dissertation thesis, where I studied the notion of place, from a phenomenological
point of view, and I used as a case study, my hometown, Constanta. Apart from my academical studies, from
March 2017 I am working in Iasi, as an architect, at multinational company based in Netherlands. We are delivering
concept design solutions for the automotive industry, and we pay special attention to the customer’s journey,
which is of great help for my Ph.D. research, as it increases my beliefs in architecture as a sensorial experience.

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 ACADEMY OF NEUROSCIENCE FOR ARCHITECTURE

"Here and beyond":

Synergies between Gordon Cullen’s townscape qualities and
Environment / Behavior / Neuroscience Paradigm
Evandro Z. Monteiro1; Cláudio Lima Ferreira2; Rachel Zuanon3; Sidney P. Bernardini4
1, 2, 3, 4
UNICAMP, Campinas, Brazil
[email protected], [email protected] 2, [email protected], [email protected] 4

ABSTRACT:

For architecture and urban studies learning processes, it is important that students acquire a diverse repertoire of
knowledge and experience in the most diverse spaces of the city. Such diversity may be well covered once a complete
range of old and new regions of a city is considered. In this context, Cullen's book "Townscape" is considered an
architecture and city planning classic in its approach and seek of qualities and beauty of the urban fabric at pedestrian
level. On the other hand, critics often argue that its approach is limited to very specific areas of a city or unsuitable to a
contemporary urban context. This research aims to enlarge the perspectives of the concepts and "standards" proposed
by Gordon Cullen by associating them with the concepts of the Environment / Behaviour / Neuroscience Paradigm
(E/B/N), described by Zeizel [10]. Thus, the methodology here proposed articulates the 46 "place" qualities and the 32
"content" qualities as categorized by Cullen [3] with the E/B/N concepts, such as: Place [5-7;10]; Personalization [9;10];
Territory [10]; and Wayfinding [5; 10]. This articulation is structured as a perceptive game (gymkhana) [2] focused on
introducing the students into activities addressed to analysis of spaces, environments and places in the historical center
of the city of Campinas, Sao Paulo, Brazil. As results we highlight: a) an expressive contribution to reinforce the
importance of the field activities (T5 and T6 spectrums/urban center and urban core [4] respectively) as a way to
compensate for the new generations of students' lack of repertoire [8], often restricted to the landscape of non-central
areas (T3 spectrum/sub-urban) in their daily lives [1;4]; b) a strong engagement of the students to experience the city's
space reached from E/B/N paradigm contributions [10] to Cullen approaches [3], which provide them with a rich
diversity of spatial, interpersonal and perceptual experiences of the contemporary urban landscape; and c) a new
model of understanding for architecture and urban studies learning processes based on neuroscience knowledge and
focused on renew standardised methods in this field.

Figure 1. Map of the 'gymkhana' performed at the city of Campinas, Sao Paulo, Brazil, and executed to the "Fundamentals of
Urbanism" course, in the Bachelor's degree programme in Architecture and Urbanism, Unicamp University, in 2016. The icons indicate
points where possible synergies between the E/B/N concepts and Cullen standards can occur.

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Figure 2. Students of the Fundamentals of Urbanism" course is receiving the maps and directions of the gymkhana. The "start" was in the
Carlos Gomes Square, in the city of Campinas, Sao Paulo, Brazil, 2017.

REFERENCES:

[1] Caldeira T (2000) Cidade de muros: crimes, segregação e cidadania em São Paulo. Edusp, São Paulo

[2] Chee YS (2007) Embodiment, embeddedness, and experience: Game-based learning and the
construction of identity. In: Research and Practice in Technology Enhanced Learning, vol 2, n 1, pp
3-30

[3] Cullen G (1971) The Concise Townscape. Architectural Press, Oxford, UK

[4] Duany A, Talen E (2002) Transect Planning. In: Journal of the American Planning Association, vol 68, n 3,
pp245-266

[5] Gazzaniga MS (1998) The Mind’s Past. University of California Press, Berkeley

[6] Hershkowitz N, Kagan J, Zilles K (1997) Neurobiological Bases of Behavioral Development in the First Year.
In: Neuropediatrics, vol 28, pp 296-306
[7] Kagan J (1997) Temperament and the reactions to unfamiliarity. In: Child Development, vol 68, pp 139
-143
[8] Rocha-de-Oliveira S, Piccinini V, Bitencourt B (2012) Juventudes, gerações e trabalho: é possível falar em
geração Y no Brasil? In: Organizações & Sociedade, vol 19, n 62, pp 551-558.
https://dx.doi.org/10.1590/S1984-92302012000300010

[9] Schacter DL (1996) Searching for Memory: The Brain, the Mind, and the Past. Basic Books, New York

[10] Zeisel J (2006) Inquiry by Design: Environment/Behavior/Neuroscience in Architecture, Interiors,

Landscape, and Planning. W.W.Norton, New York

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 ACADEMY OF NEUROSCIENCE FOR ARCHITECTURE

A New Shelter Typology Fostering Mutual Child/Animal Rehabilitation:

The Neuroscientific Connection
Sabrina Nagel & Madlen Simon AIA

ABSTRACT:
This research explores how design settings can foster rehabilitation in children and companion animals through
mutual interaction. Human-animal interaction has been researched since the 1970’s, offering insights into powerful
effects of one on the other (Morrison 2007, Barker and Wolen, McCardle et al 2011). Research in environmental
and behavioral psychology underscores beneficial healing qualities of this interaction, highlighting the potential
for healing environments to improve overall well-being by accommodating humans and companion animals on
a neurobiological scale. This project draws upon recent work on the use of animal assisted therapies in counseling
(Chandler 2017) to propose a new setting for this type of therapeutic interaction in a youth population. This
paper examines physical design implications embedded in research on animal assisted therapy and the use
of space by animals and humans (Esser 1971) to examine how architecture can improve overall well-being
of both children and companion animals, fostering mutual rehabilitation through the human-animal bond in
accommodating environments.

Through an understanding of the neuroscientific linkage between child and animal and surrounding environment,
we formulate design principles for spaces that promote mental and physical healing. These include providing
opportunities for both exploration and interaction, balance of interior and exterior spaces, choices between
interaction and solitude, connection to nature, and exposure to natural light. Architectural precedent studies
of both animal shelters and healing spaces expands upon these various principles and either showcases their
translation into architectural expression or highlights their exclusion from facilities whose inhabitants would have
otherwise benefitted.

Based on this research, we find that architecture has the potential to facilitate rehabilitation, and in conjunction
with the bond formed between human and animal can expedite the healing process in an abandoned animal
or troubled child. The purpose of this paper is to provide a set of guidelines that can inform architects designing
facilities to further the mental and physical well-being of humans and animals. This study is a component of a
Master of Architecture thesis that will expand upon these healing principles and apply them to a design for child/
animal therapy, which will act as a precedent for future rehabilitative and facilities.

REFERENCES:
Barker, S.B. and Wolen, R., “The Benefits of Human–Companion Animal Interaction: A Review” Journal of Veterinary
Medical Education. Vol. 35 No. 4. http://jvme.utpjournals.press/doi/abs/10.3138/jvme.35.4.487

Chandler, Cynthia K. Animal-Assisted Therapy in Counseling. 3rd ed. Routledge, 2017.

Esser, Aristide H. Behavior and Environment: The Use of Space by Animals and Men. New York-London: Plenum
Press, 1971.

McCardle, Peggy, Sandra McCune, James A. Griffin, and Valerie Maholmes. How Animals Affect Us: Examining the
Influence of Human-Animal Interaction on Child Development and Human Health. Washington D.C.: American
Psychological Association, 2011.

Morrison, M.L., 2007. “Health Benefits of Animal-Assisted Interventions” Journal of Evidence-Based Integrative
Medicine. Volume: 12 issue: 1, page(s): 51-62, Issue published: January 1, 2007
https://doi-org.proxy-um.researchport.umd.edu/10.1177/1533210107302397

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AUTHOR BIOS:

Sabrina Nagel
Master of Architecture candidate, anticipated graduation May 2018
School of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation
University of Maryland
3835 Campus Drive
College Park, MD 20782
[email protected]
516-754-1325

Sabrina Nagel is an architecture student from Long Island, New York in the graduate program at the University of
Maryland, College Park. She completed her undergraduate degree in May of 2016 at the University of Maryland
with a Bachelor of Science in Architecture and a minor in Sustainability, and will complete her graduate degree
in May of 2018 with a Master of Architecture degree. In her Master’s thesis, Nagel is conducting design research
that underscores the role of architecture in fostering human/animal relationships and mutual healing. Based upon
a literature review of human/animal interaction and environmental behavior, healing theories, and precedent
studies, Nagel is identifying relationships between environmental features and human/animal responses, deriving
relevant design principles and applying them to the design of a facility for mutually beneficial interaction of
abandoned animals and troubled children.

Madlen Simon AIA

Associate Professor and Associate Dean
School of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation
University of Maryland
3835 Campus Drive
College Park, MD 20742
[email protected]
202-330-2912
http://www.arch.umd.edu/arch/faculty/madlen-simon

Madlen Simon AIA is an Associate Professor of Architecture at the University of Maryland’s School of Architecture,
Planning, and Preservation and a registered architect. Professor Simon’s scholarship, research, and creative
practice are in the area of design – design thinking, design process, design education, design of buildings,
and the application of design to issues in the area of environment and behavior. Her architectural design work
includes over 50 built projects for private and corporate clients plus planning studies for community organizations
and institutions. She presents her research and design work at conferences including ANFA, the Association
of Collegiate Schools of Architecture (ACSA), the Architectural Research Centers Consortium (ARCC), and
International Making Cities Livable (IMCL). The present research draws upon and extends Simon’s work with
graduate students in the area of sensory perception of and user response to the built environment.

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 ACADEMY OF NEUROSCIENCE FOR ARCHITECTURE

Is there anybody out there?

Anonymity and Aesthetic Emotions in Music and Architecture

Aishwarya Narayana, IGNCA Bangalore

Anirudh Gurumoorthy, GSD Harvard University

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe said, ‘Music is liquid architecture and architecture, frozen music’.
Architecture has been exploring musical influences through projects like Coca-Cola’s Beatbox Pavilion1,
Dithyrambalina’s Music Box2, Star Wars Barrel Organ3, Court of Water Wall4, Frank Gehry’s Walt Disney
Concert Hall5etc. Whereas theatres, auditoriums, and concert halls have been musicians’ second home
and architecture has always aided the evolution of music6. Both music and architecture thrive in the glory
of mathematics7, 8’ – Geometry and material as well pitch and rhythm are objective elements in space-time
that elicit a subjective phenomenal experience in the inhabitant/user and audience/listener. We have
found that this relationship between the music and architecture (that are also a product of technological,
cultural and psychological factors) has a lot to offer to our understanding of how the artist, art, and the
observer work together.

Further on, we critically analyzed music and architecture as art forms that on three fronts – Firstly, the ‘Artistic
Creation’ that involves a cognitive abilities like intelligence, creativity, memory, attention etc. Followed by
the ‘Artistic Expression’ -the interpersonal phase engages the creation with the medium and collaborators.
Finally, the ‘Aesthetic Experience’ in which the observer/user/audience/listener becomes a part of a
reciprocal dynamic, mediated through with cognitive and affective empathy9, 10.

This paper has been motivated by the question - Is it the art or the artist that an observer ‘empathizes with’
in an aesthetic experience?

This grounded research project addressed the conundrum of ‘anonymity and signature’ and
‘intersubjectivity11 and individualistic experience’ with regard to the aesthetic emotions elicited by musical12
and architectural experiences13.We conducted a pilot survey (across 49 respondents) to study the variations
in the emotions ‘felt’ when exposed to architecture (photographs of spaces) and music ‘intended to
induce similar aesthetic emotions’. Six such pairs of ‘Intended Aesthetic Emotions’ were selected; two for
Happiness (Relaxation vs Joy), two for Sadness (Melancholy vs Boredom) and two for Awe (Fascination vs
Vitality). Key observations upon comparing the intensities of felt emotions were that ‘joy’ in Symphony 2 and
‘melancholy’ in Symphony 3 and 4 were consistently recognized in music whereas ‘Awe’ was a aptly
recognized in spaces 5 and 6. The pilot has made us wonder - How does one’s mood, personality and
memories make a difference? What kind of emotions do architectural spaces explicitly express and how is
their perception affect by the cultural symbolism, function and activity associated with the spaces? And are
there behavioral, cognitive, neural or cultural patterns in these responses that we can systematically study
to apply in architectural design and pedagogy?

In the poster, these space-music pairs have been further juxtaposed with thematically coherent examples
of films (space, characters and instrumental background scores) to further examine the differences in the
emotional experience in the aftermath of aesthetic works, speculating whether we readily respond to
intellectual content and emotions or just empathize with the people/characters in such scenes. The scope
of this study extends beyond Neuroaesthetics, emotion and empathy research; it has direct applications in
Neuromorphic architecture14, affective computing15, emotion/mood related parameters in Building
Information Modeling, human-centric analysis of Design Performance, ‘Affective’ design pedagogy, and
practice. As aspiring academicians we are enthusiastic about exploring this interdisciplinary channel for
engaging Theory of Architecture and Phenomenology with a holistic body of knowledge curated through
experimental psychology and neuroscience.

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AUTHOR BIOS:

Aishwarya Narayana

As an architect and a student of psychology, I am driven by an elvish curiosity to explore

how emotions, empathy and consciousness relate to architecture. My current work with
Dr. Deepti Navaratna at the ‘Music, Culture and Cognition Lab’ at IGNCA, Bangalore
deals with the perception of emotions and complexity in the multi sensory experience of
temple architecture.

Anirudh Gurumoorthy

All of my thoughts originate from and land on Architecture. But I often take a few
interdisciplinary diversions, where I delve into History, philosophy, theory, and psychology
of art and architecture. Currently, I’m looking forward to being a part of the M.Des.
program at Harvard Graduate School of Design where I intend to explore the idea of
“Utopia” in Architecture.

REFERENCES:
1. https://www.archdaily.com/256946/coca-cola-beatbox-pavilion-pernilla-asif
2. http://www.neworleansairlift.org/index.php/musical-architecture
3. https://newatlas.com/star-wars-barrel-organ/22175/
4. https://inhabitat.com/funky-blue-court-of-water-wall-plays-music-when-it-rains-video/
5. https://www.archdaily.com/441358/ad-classics-walt-disney-concert-hall-frank-gehry
6. David Byrne (2010), TED Talks,
https://www.ted.com/talks/david_byrne_how_architecture_helped_music_evolve/transcript?referrer=pl
aylist-the_emotional_impact_of_archit
7. Beilharz, Kirsty. (2004). Designing Sounds and Spaces: Interdisciplinary Rules & Proportions in Generative
Stochastic Music and Architecture. J. of Design Research. 4. 10.1504/JDR.2004.009838.
8. Salingaros, Nikos. "Architecture, Patterns, and Mathematics". Nexus Network Journal. Retrieved 9
October 2015.Updated version of Salingaros, Nikos (April 1999). "Architecture, Patterns, and
Mathematics". Nexus Network Journal. 1 (2).
9. Kawakami Ai, Katahira Kenji (2015), Influence of trait empathy on the emotion evoked by sad music and
on the preference for it, Frontiers in Psychology VOLUME-6, PAGES=1541, DOI=10.3389/fpsyg.2015.01541,
ISSN=1664-1078
10. Greenberg, David & Rentfrow, Peter & Baron-Cohen, Simon. (2015). Can Music Increase Empathy?
Interpreting Musical Experience Through The Empathizing–Systemizing (E-S) Theory: Implications For
Autism. Empirical Musicology Review. 10. 80-95. 10.18061/emr.v10i1-2.4603.
11. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intersubjectivity#Phenomenology
12. Meyer, L. B. (1956). Emotion and Meaning in Music. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
13. Daniel Libeskind (July, 2015), “We mustn't forget the emotional impact of the buildings around us”,
https://edition.cnn.com/style/article/daniel-libeskind-architecture-emotions/index.html
14. Rana el Kaliouby (Nov–Dec 2017). "We Need Computers with Empathy". Technology Review. 120 (6).
p. 8.
15. Arbib, Michael. (2012). Brains, machines and buildings: Towards a neuromorphic architecture. Intelligent
Buildings International. 4. 1-22. 10.1080/17508975.2012.702863.

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 ACADEMY OF NEUROSCIENCE FOR ARCHITECTURE

Applied Cognitive Architecture:

The Restorative Impact of Perceived Open Space
Bill Witherspoon | Debajyoti Pati, PhD | David A. Navarrete

ABSTRACT:
A growing understanding of the neurobiology of spatial cognition will enable architects to superimpose a
cognitive architecture over its conventional counterpart, effectively altering the psycho-physiological experience
of the observer in the built environment. Collaborating with an architect, a neuroscientist, and an environmental
psychologist, this study identifies the neural correlates of multisensory imagery, revealing how illusions of nature
modify perception of place to generate a restorative, biophilic experience of vastness that yields therapeutic
benefits.

By understanding the malleable nature of the body schema—the integrated neural representation of the
body—neurobiology has established that the separation between the observer and the environment is arbitrary
(Robinson, 2015). That is, the separation between our cognitive experience of body, peripersonal space, and
extrapersonal space is subject to constant revision depending on the attributes or atmosphere of place.

The Biophilia Hypothesis proposes a kinship with living systems that presupposed an elemental separation between
the observer and nature. However, the notion of embodied perception and the discovery of MN (mirror neurons)
reveal that our perception is action-oriented perception (Arbib, 2015). That is, our neural simulation of action and
movement in others also extends into a dynamic interaction with our environment.

Our emotional assessment of place leads us to extend our sense of self into our environment, or retract from it,
into our body proper. This newfound neurobiology of human perception unveils a remarkable opportunity to
use cognitive architecture—re-wiring our experience of real space in thought—by tapping our memory’s spatial
maps.

Given that the sensorimotor systems we use to navigate space share the same neural infrastructure we employ
for higher cognitive functions, including memory, can architects and neuroscientists tap this two-way (‘wetware’)
street to evoke embedded (biophilic) spatial reference frames and thereby alter the occupant’s experience of
enclosed interiors?

We used 3.T fMRI technology to address this hypothesis. Ten participants belonging to five age groups were
subjected to short (25 seconds) exposures of 32 images while their brain activation was monitored via the BOLD
response. In a separate run, participants were subjected to extended exposures (12 minutes) of photographic
Open Sky Compositions (multisensory illusions), and an image of a traditional ceiling, in an effort to demonstrate
that sky imagery can be: 1) composed to engage our memory’s spatial maps, and 2) evoke an experience of
vastness.

The study found activity patterns in the brain consistent with our theorizing that multisensory Open Sky Compositions
not only share the same patterns produced by positive images, but also produced unique areas of activation,
including those associated with spatial cognition and the expansion of space.

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REFERENCES:

Arbib, Michael (2015). “Towards a Neuroscience of the Design Process.” Mind in Architecture, Neuroscience,
Embodiment, and the Future of Design. Eds. Sarah Robinson and Juhani Pallasmaa. MIT Press. Cambridge. 75.

Groh, Jennifer (2014). Making Space: How the Brain Knows Where Things Are. Cambridge, Massachusetts. The
Belknap Press of Harvard University Press.

Mallgrave, H. F. (2013). Architecture and Embodiment: The implications of the new sciences and humanities for
design. New York, NY. Routledge.

Pati, Debajyoti, O’Boyle, Michael, Amor, Cherif, Hou, Jiancheng, Valipoor, Shabboo & Dan Fang (2014). “Neural
Correlates of Nature Stimuli: an fMRI Study.” Health Environments Research & Design. Winter 2014; 7 (2): 9–28.

Robinson, Sarah (2015). “Nested Bodies.” Mind in Architecture, Neuroscience, Embodiment, and the Future of
Design. Eds. Sarah Robinson and Juhani Pallasmaa. MIT Press. Cambridge. 139-141.

AUTHOR BIOS

BILL WITHERSPOON, Chief Designer. Bill is an experienced visual artist and creator of Sky Factory’s Open Skies
Compositions, which have earned multiple awards from leading healthcare design organizations, including
the International Academy of Design & Health, the Environmental Design Research Association (EDRA), and
Planetree International.

DEBAJYOTI PATI, PhD. Dr. Pati chairs the Rockwell Professorship in the Department of Design, Texas Tech University.
He has written and published extensively on healthcare design research, serving as VP and director of research
at HKS Architects before moving to Texas Tech in 2011.

DAVID A. NAVARRETE, Director of Research Initiatives, Sky Factory. David is a writer and researcher in Cognitive
Biophilia. He has written for Human Spaces and Conscious Cities Journal. He’s the co-author of the AIA/RIBA/
USGBC course, The Restorative Impact of Perceived Open Space.

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 ACADEMY OF NEUROSCIENCE FOR ARCHITECTURE

Topological Anticipation of Modern Paterns and Visions in Baroque

Jaroslav Nešetril and Tomáš Vlcek

Interdisciplinary Seminar of Tocpological Studies in Poetics of Art, Landscape and Architecture, Faculty of
Mathematics and Physics of Charles University -
Faculty of Art and Architecture of Technical University in Liberec

Contact: [email protected]; [email protected]

ABSTRACT:
These: In the history of creativity and thinking, the roots of paradigm shifts are deeper than expected. Traditional
ways of interpretation of the history of art are focused on formal appearance of works of art and architecture,
or their symbolic meaning. Such approaches are however inadequate to the task of understanding of art as a
creative process of interaction of senses with the intellect. Inspired by a rather provocative hypothesis by Gilles
Deleuze identifying a fold as a key shape of birth of Modernity in the Baroque Leibniz mathematics we are studying
some other stimuli of changes in cultural history of Baroque. We believe that this these can be interpreted in the
context of neurosciences, mathematics, architecture and biology.

Theme: In the centre of our attention is a network of attempts of the intellectuals of Baroque time to understand
science and art as something much more complex than are only isolated disciplines of creativity and knowledge.
There were much more significant motives of Baroque to develop a manifolded cultural discourse consisting of
interactions and penetrations of artistic and scientific disciplines than use to be taken in account in the majority
of approaches to Baroque art in the history of art since 19th century up today. Athanasius Kircher’s concepts of
Museum Kircherianum, Giambattista Vico’s role of poetic wisdom in Scienza Nuova, Blaise Pascal meditation on
two meaning of geometry, Cesare Ripa’s emblemata together with Amos Comenius Orbis pictus are some of the
cases of interacting disciplines and areas of Baroque discourse.

Case study: the Santini-Aichel’s works of architecture as a subject of an interplay of divers knowledges and skills,
as well as in architectural and mental construction of shapes in mind and space, in the combination of cabala-
mathematics and linguistics, in the combination of the new, or personal architectural elements together with
vocabulary of the historical manifestation of architectural language and visions, particularly with Gothic art. This
analysis does not just involves genius loci and history account but the whole mind set and socio-economical
setting of middle Europe in transition from distant past towards future. The subject of Santini Aichel architecture
calls for an innovative topological approach thus revealing the latent, processing structure. This kind of research
may be as well interesting from contemporary scientific point of view and undertaken deconstruction of the
whole cultural context.

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REFERENCES:

Damish, H.,Noah’s ark, (MIT Press, 2016)

Nešetril, J., Vlcek, T., Topological Seminar of Poetics, (in preparation)
Kalista, Z., The Face of the Baroque, (Munich, 1982)
Petrícek, M., Filosofie en noir, (Prague, 2018)
Sarti, A., Citti, G., Piotrovski, D., Differential heterogenesis and the emergence of semiotic function, (Semiotika,
2018; in press)
Vlcek, T., Vojtech Preissig, (Kant, 2018)
Onions J., Rykwert J., Veselý D, Vidler A., Vlcek T., ed., Column, Vase, Obelisk (Prague, 2005)

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 ACADEMY OF NEUROSCIENCE FOR ARCHITECTURE

Beyond Survival Through Design:

Lessons from Evidence Based Medicine
Raymond Richard Neutra MD Dr.PH

ABSTRACT:
By choosing the word “Survival” to be in the title of his 1954 book “Survival Through Design,” (1) Richard Neutra was
signaling the potentially dire consequences of moving ahead without design, or with designs that didn’t consider
consequences and were not evidence based. He really meant “flourishing” through design, and although he
was focusing on the survival and flourishing of humans, his same principles would apply to the flourishing of
humans and their surrounding ecological system. He envisioned a profession of architecture that would come
closer to the practice of medicine. The word “design” was meant to apply equally to an unchanging structure
like the Taj Mahal or Neutra’s Boomerang Chair as well as to a structure or a designed process that anticipated
the possibility of change to accommodate biological individuality (2) or changing functional demands as would
be the case in convention centers, schools and dwellings(3).

In environmental medicine as with environmental design, evidence may be gathered about end-points that:
the patient/client is aware of (satisfaction surveys, Yelp comments or anthropological interviews), that require
professional categorization (epidemiological case definitions, behavioral observations) or that are important
even when not evident ( blood lead or blood pressure levels.) Some of the evidence may be about “upstream”
events, thought to be relevant to “downstream” consequences of value to flourishing. While laboratory and
statistical evidence has prestige value, some of the most important impacts 49 of design decisions may best be
captured in simpler and less expensive ways, with a potential for a much wider application. (4)

In large community-based health care systems that target a defined population, there is a budget and an
organization with a variety of professionals to provide the feedback to practitioners to guide prevention, cure
and care (5)(6). What are the institutional and organizational challenges to evidence-based practice in industrial
and software design, city and landscape planning and architecture?

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REFERENCES:

(1)Neutra RJ, Survival Through Design, New York, Oxford 1954

(2)Williams R, Free and Unequal, Austin University of Texas Press 1953

(3)Neutra, RJ, The Changing House, Los Angeles Times Sunday Magazine June 22, 1947 p 72

(4)Zeisel, J, Inquiry by Design, New York, W.W. Norton, 2006

(5) https://share.kaiserpermanente.org/article/evaluation-and-learning/

(6)http://www.commonwealthfund.org/~/media/Files/Publications/Case%20Study/2009/Jun/1278_McCarthy
Kaiser_case_study_624_update.pdf

AUTHOR BIO:
RAYMOND NEUTRA, MD DrPH

Raymond Richard Neutra MD DrPH taught Epidemiology at Harvard and UCLA before heading an environmental
and occupational research unit at the California Department of Public health for nearly 30 years. He has been
interested in the application of scientific evidence to environmental policy. He will present case studies of program
and architectural evaluation. He is the youngest son of architect Richard Neutra

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Home as Health Intervention

Winifred E. Newman, Ph.D., Kinsuk Maitra, Ph.D., OTR/L, FAOTA, andSonit Bafna, Ph.D.

ABSTRACT:

What kind of knowledge is needed to inform building design in an effort to address the issues related to cognitive
disability? According to the International Classification of Functioning, Health, and Disability Framework (ICF), the
functioning of an individual—which can be described in terms of bodily functions, individual activities, and social
participation— is related to personal and environmental factors (WHO 2001). Much of the current intervention
relies on personal factors (See Levasseur et al 2015a for a review); our research program, in contrast, is an attempt
to explain how home environmental factors can influence an individual’s functional ability [Foley et al, 2014,
Levasseur et al 2015b]. The central premise behind our approach is people function in their environment not just
by negotiating directly with the physical constraints and affordances of the environment, but also indirectly by
working with mental or cognitive models extracted from the physical environment. From an empirical research
perspective this means rather than seek direct associations between aspects of the physical environment and
human behavior and perception, the better approach is to seek associations of behavior, perception, and even
psychosocial health attributes with mental constructs that capture distinctive aspects of the built environment.
The intellectual case for this premise comes from recent work in architectural morphology or the evolution of
form in the built environment, some of it conducted by us (Bafna 2003, Peponis 2012, Peponis and Wineman
2002). In a recent study we found classifying the arrangement or room layout in apartments of a low-income
Latino community into two kinds using models of spatial and social arrangement—circulation- centered and
living-centered—could account for almost 40% difference in the risk of depression of women in these households
(Chambers, Bafna, et al. 2017). In this paper, we outline a program of research in a NORC community in Atlanta
where physical models of inhabitants’ homes and the mental constructs derived from them will be used to explain
the degree to which the home environments support or augment mobility and health. We end by discussing how
studying perceptual -cognitive constructs of space can help us acquire better understanding of the mental
models people create of their domestic environments.

REFERENCES:

Bafna, S. (2003). Space Syntax: A Brief Introduction to Its Logic and Analytical Techniques. Environment and
Behavior, 35(1), 17–29. https://doi.org/10.1177/0013916502238863 Chambers, E. C., Bafna, S., & Machry, H. (2017).

The Association between Apartment Layout and Depressive Symptomology among Hispanic/Latino Residents in
Low-Income Housing: the AHOME Study. Journal of Urban Health. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11524-017-0216-4

Choudhary, R., Bafna, S., Heo, Y., Hendrich, A., & Chow, M. (2010). A predictive model for computing the influence
of space layouts on nurses’ movement in hospital units. Journal of Building Performance Simulation, 3(3), 171–184.
https://doi.org/10.1080/19401490903174280

Foley, K.-R., Girdler, S., Bourke, J., Jacoby, P., Llewellyn, G., Einfeld, S., Leonard, H. (2014). Influence of the
Environment on Participation in Social Roles for Young Adults with Down Syndrome. PLoS ONE, 9(9), e108413.
http://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0108413

Hendrich, A., Chow, M. P., Bafna, S., Choudhary, R., Heo, Y., & Skierczynski, B. A. (2009). Unit- Related Factors
That Affect Nursing Time with Patients: Spatial Analysis of the Time and Motion Study. HERD: Health Environments
Research & Design Journal, 2(2), 5–20. https://doi.org/10.1177/193758670900200202

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Levasseur, M., Généreux, M., Bruneau, J.-F., Vanasse, A., Chabot, É., Beaulac, C., & Bédard, M.-M. (2015a).
Importance of proximity to resources, social support, transportation and neighborhood security for mobility and
social participation in older adults: results from a scoping study. BMC Public Health, 15, 503. http://doi.org/10.1186/
s12889-015-1824-0

Levasseur, M., Cohen, A. A., Dubois, M.-F., Généreux, M., Richard, L., Therrien, F.-H., & Payette, H. (2015b).
Environmental Factors Associated With Social Participation of Older Adults Living in Metropolitan, Urban, and
Rural Areas: The NuAge Study. American Journal of Public Health, 105(8), 1718–1725. http://doi.org/10.2105/
AJPH.2014.302415

Peponis, J. (2012). Building layouts as cognitive data: purview and purview interface. Cognitive Critique, 6, 11–49.

Peponis, J., & Wineman, J. (2002). Spatial Structure of Environment and Behavior. In R. B. Bechtel & A. Churchman
(Eds.), Handbook of environmental psychology (p. 27`1-291). New
103 York: J. Wiley & Son

World Health Organization. The International ClassiMcation of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF). 2001;
Geneva, WHO (http://www.who.int/classiMcations/icf/en/).

AUTHOR BIO:

KINSUK MAITRA, Ph.D., OTR/L, FAOTA Professor, Occupational Therapy

Chair, Department of Occupational Therapy, Byrdine F. Lewis College of Nursing & Health Professions

SONIT BAFNA, Ph.D. Associate Professor, Architecture

School of Architecture, College of Design, Georgia Institute of Technology

WINIFRED E. NEWMAN, Ph.D. Professor, Architecture

Head Department of Architecture at Fay Jones School of Architecture, University of Arkansas
Dr. Newman concentrates on space perception, ecological psychology, and neuroaesthetics with active
research in neuromorphic architecture, mapping and data visualization, STEM learning environments and
histories of technology and science. She received funding from the NSF, FIU, the Graham Foundation and others.
Dr. Newman was a Fellow at the Max Planck Institute for the History of Science in Berlin with additional fellowships
from the Harvard Faculty of Arts and Sciences.

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Shaping the Human Biosphere:

A Systematic Review of Research on Visual Attributes of the Built
Environment and Their Applicability in Architectural Practice
Dr. M Dana Oprisan, Interior Architect, Assoc. AIA
Biophilic DC Practice Group

EXTENDED ABSTRACT:

SUMMARY:
Any space we create is an interface between the outside world and our inside nature. The key to a health-
promoting built environment is achieving harmony between those two. Research in environmental psychology,
neuroscience, biology, and medicine reveals that the physical environment appears to be a significant
determinant in how people feel and act.

Neuroscience research is expanding our understanding of human brain response to the built environment. It has
the potential to inform architectural practice in the creation of environments for promoting health, wellbeing,
stress relieve, increased performance and productivity. There has been considerable progress in this direction,
and a growing number of studies address the connection between architecture and neuroscience. The current
body of research already is very informative.

People communicate with the external world through the senses: sight, smell, taste, hearing, and touch. The
signals perceived from the environment follow a complex path in the brain and generate intricate responses to
the environmental attributes.

Out of the five senses, the visual perception has the strongest and most complex impact. More than half of the
brain is devoted to processing visual information. Brain activity in response to visual stimuli is comparable to that
of an orchestra, whose clusters of cells in different parts of the brain cooperate to process various components of
visual information (Katz and Shatz 1996). Understanding from a psychological and neurophysiological perspective
how visual attributes impact humans may be a valuable “tool” for designing in a conscious and intentional way
to meet people’s needs in specific instances. For this reason, it was considered useful to investigate the body
of knowledge regarding the visual attributes of the environment and their role in spatial perception as primary
designing tools of architectural practice.

METHODOLOGY AND RESULTS:

This work is a quantitative literature review of the correlations between Artificial and Day Light, Color and Indoor
Nature Exposure as visual attributes of the environment and their impact on how humans feel, act and perform.
(Oprisan 2017)

The literature search identified 325 articles in peer-reviewed medical, psychology, neuroscience, architectural
research, and human ecology journals and selected 88 relevant articles addressing daylight, artificial light, color,
views, and indoor nature exposure covering 11,052 participants.

Despite the lack of standardization of tests or of systematic methodology and differences in how terminology
is used it was possible to categorize and sum up the relevant evidence currently available. Almost fifty percent
of the selected studies addressed the impacts of artificial light while the impacts of color, daylight and indoor
nature exposure covered the other half of the studies. The impacts of the visual attributes were grouped in
psychological impacts, environmental psychological impacts, and physiological impacts.

The leading theories of environmental psychology were considered: The Kaplan’s Mystery/Complexity/Legibility/
Coherence (Informational Variables) Model (Kaplan, Kaplan et al. 1989, Stamps Iii 2004), Attention Restauration
Theory (Kaplan 1995, Kaplan and Berman 2010) and The Prospect-Refuge Theory (Dosen and Ostwald 2013,

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Dosen and Ostwald 2016)

The analysis of the results explores how the visual attributes, regarded as architects’ tools, may best be handled in
the design process to create spaces that meet specific humans psychological needs, promote wellbeing, health,
performance, and create salutogenic environments (Golembiewski 2012).

REFERENCES:

Dosen, A. S. and M. J. Ostwald (2013). Prospect and refuge theory: constructing a critical definition for architecture
and design.

Dosen, A. S. and M. J. Ostwald (2016). “Evidence for prospect-refuge theory: a meta-analysis of the findings of
environmental preference research.” City, Territory and Architecture 3(1): 4.

Golembiewski, J. A. (2012). “Salutogenic design: The neurological basis of health-promoting environments.” World
Health Design: Architecture, Culture, Technology 5(3): pp. 62-69.

Kaplan, R., S. Kaplan and T. Brown (1989). “Environmental preference: A comparison of four domains of predictors.”
Environment and Behavior 21(5): 509-530.

Kaplan, S. (1995). “The restorative benefits of nature: Toward an integrative framework.” Journal of Environmental
Psychology 15(3): 169-182.

Kaplan, S. and M. G. Berman (2010). “Directed Attention as a Common Resource for Executive Functioning and
Self-Regulation.” Perspectives on Psychological Science 5(1): 43-57.

Katz, L. C. and C. J. Shatz (1996). “Synaptic activity and the construction of cortical circuits.” Science 274(5290):
1133-1138.

Oprisan, M. D. (2017). Shaping the Human Biosphere: A Systematic Review of Research on Visual Attributes of the
Built Environment MSSD.

Stamps Iii, A. E. (2004). “Mystery, complexity, legibility and coherence: A meta-analysis.” Journal of Environmental
Psychology 24(1): 1-16.

AUTHOR BIO:

DR. DANA OPRISAN, EDAC, LEED AP BD+C, Assoc. AIA is an interior architect and researcher. She holds an
M.D. Degree, a B. Arch and an MS in Sustainable Design. Her work is focused on innovative, creative design
and communications across disciplines for improving healthy building practices, and human-centered and
salutogenic design. She is a member of the Biophilic Practice Group in Washington, DC. Currently, her work
explores the biological mechanisms of biophilia and how this body of knowledge can be applied to architectural
practice.

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Emotions and Senses:

The Relation between Architecture, Emotion and Perception
Andrea de Paiva

ABSTRACT:

The built environment impacts behavior. Neuroscience applied to architecture has proved that different
environments can evoke emotions and influence brain processes. Can a building arouse negative or positive
emotions? If individuals feel different, will that change their behavior? As a sequence of the poster presented at
2016 ANFA Conference (neuro architecture & workplace design: how space can affect performance and
well-being), this paper intends to discuss the built environment impacts on emotions and, consequently,
behavior.

The brain is hardwired to provoke emotions in response to stimuli from outside and inside the human body.
According to Damasio [1], emotions are generated in the brain and experienced by the whole body. These
are innate reactions of the brain that are expressed on facial expressions, body language and attitudes [3].
They affect the way people feel (consciously or unconsciously) since feelings are mental experiences of body
states, which arise as the brain interprets emotions [1]. That, in turn, triggers changes in behavior and wellbeing.

But what environmental features will change emotional states? And how does it happen? The brain uses the
information brought by all senses to create its own perception of reality And it is hard-wired to respond to some
stimuli with emotions to help survival. Sizes, shapes, colors, proportions, temperatures, smells, movements,
sounds, body states, those are some of the features that alone or combined can induce the brain to react
generating a specific emotional state.

How can architects use such knowledge on the buildings they design? Which emotions should be evoked or
avoided? If architecture is evoking an emotion, will it impact on wellbeing, socialization and the use of space?
This paper intends to discuss some of the findings that show how architecture can impact emotions and to
inspire architects and neuroscientists about future researches.

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REFERENCES:

[1] Damasio, A. (1994) Descartes’ Error. São Paulo: Companhia das Letras
[2] Eberhard, J.P. (2009) Brain Landscape: The Coexistance of Neuroscience and Architecture. Oxford: University
Press
[3] Ekman, P. (2007) Emotions Revealed: recognizing faces and feelings to improve communication and
emotional life. New York: Times Books
[4] Mallgrave, Harry Francis (2009) The Architect’s Brain: Neuroscience, Creativity and Architecture.

AUTHOR BIO:

ANDREA DE PAIVA
55 11 950324481
[email protected]
Architect, Urban Planner

Professor of NeuroArchitecture and Consultant at Fundação Getulio Vargas
Master of Arts in Architecture and Design at Middlesex University, London, UK.
Graduated in Architecture and Urban Planning at USP (Universidade de São Paulo) in Brazil.
Lecturer and professor of neuroarchitecture, with publications about neuroarchitecture,
smart cities and construction industry. Working as a consultant in the biggest think tank in
South America – Fundação Getulio Vargas. Main areas of research are neuroscience
applied to architecture; neuroplasticity; the brain on communication and emotions.

Poster presenter at the ANFA Conference in 2016 - neuro-architecture & workplace design:
how space can affect performance and well-being.

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 ACADEMY OF NEUROSCIENCE FOR ARCHITECTURE

Impact of Face-to-Face Social Interaction on Performance in the

Workplace
Stephanie Park

ABSTRACT:

The workplace across industries has drastically changed over the last few decades due to rapid changes in
the technology development, communication tools, and general work culture. In order to support such
transformation with structural organization changes, cross- displace collaboration and dynamic work processes,
the physical environment of the workplace has been positioned as a vital part of the company’s success. Social
interactions in the workplace can help build social cohesion and sense of belonging to the organization, which
can impact employees’ work productivity. Therefore, the design of the physical settings in the workplace that
fosters social interactions can have a crucial impact on the employees’ performance. This study seeks to examine
the behavioral and physical impact of face-to-face interactions on employees’ productivity by using wearable
electronic badges (sociometric badge) that are capable of measuring the amount of face-to-face interaction.
Prior studies using this data found positive correlation between amount of face-to-face interaction in general,
both work related and non-work related, and task performance (Wu 2008). The goal is to build on the existing
studies using the sociometric badge data and examine the implication of casual and social interaction that
happen in different physical settings in the workplace. This study seeks to find if the amount of social face-to-
face interaction is positively correlated with higher worker productivity, and more speciMcally, amount of social
interactions is compared with tasks that have higher complexity.

REFERENCES:

Wu, Lynn, Benjamin N. Waber, Sinan Aral, Erik Brynjolfsson, and Alex Pentland. “Mining Face- to-Face Interaction
Networks using Sociometric Badges: Predicting Productivity in an IT ConMguration Task.”SSRN Electronic Journal.
doi:10.2139/ssrn.1130251.

AUTHOR BIO:

STEPHANIE PARK
Stephanie Park is a senior lead workplace strategist at WeWork, where she develops strategies to enhance the
user experience, using her multidisciplinary background and expertise in design, psychology, and data science.

Stephanie earned her dual-degree in Architecture and Psychology from Carnegie Mellon, where she worked with
both architecture and cognitive neuroscience faculty to explore ways that design decisions can be informed by
neurological and physiological data. After few years of applying the research strategies as a design strategist at
Gensler, she earned her Master’s degree in Data Science at Columbia University to further pursue her passion in
using data and research to understand users and design an ideal experience.

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Strengthening the Physical and Mental Health of Children

Means of Environmental Design:
The Method Of Forming A Therapeutic Landscape
Evgeniia P. Petrashen, Saint-Petersburg State University, [email protected],
Kristina K. Vardanyan, PhD, Yerevan State Medical University after M. Heratsi.
Kirill A. Alferovskii, Saint-Petersburg State University,
Alexandra A. Tolstova, Saint-Petersburg State University,
Victoria G. Makarova, Saint Petersburg State University, master student,
Ani S. Stepanyan, Yerevan State Medical University after M. Heratsi, master student

Abstract:

Lack of physical activity and contacts with nature negatively affect the health of the younger generation.
This raises serious concerns among pediatricians and sharpens the issue of creating conditions for
strengthening and preserving the health of the child population.

Since the soviet period in Russia and Armenia the network of institutions of restorative and preventive
medicine, such as sanatoriums and dispensaries, struggles with this problem. Recently there appeared a
tendency for redevelopment of such facilities. The factors affecting children's health, in particular, the role of
architecture and design of the environment [6, 7] especially landscaping [1, 4], in strengthening the health of
children are considered.

Our research is based on the analysis of examples of international experience in development of therapeutic
gardens in children's hospitals, using various types of play-ground equipment, their impact on children health
as well as the impact of contact to nature [13, 14, 16, 17].

The hypothesis of the study is the assumption of the importance of educating the child for the desire to interact
with nature at an early age, because "the ecological education in childhood creates the basis for treatment
with landscape therapy in sickness and in older age <…> This hypothesis requires significant studies in different
regions to identify the nature of this dependence” [22].

Based on the research, a method for developing therapeutic landscape projects for children from 2 to 7 years
is proposed, taking into account the potential of play-ground equipment, planting and hard-scape design
to stimulate the perception of the environment and the activity of children, which can be applied both in
healthcare institutions, residential areas and kindergartens, as well as children's hospitals, if adopted to their
profile.

Approbation of the methodology is carried out on model projects which are planned to increase the
therapeutic potential of landscapes in children's health centers in St. Petersburg and Yerevan.

In St. Petersburg, the work is based in the DESIS laboratory of St. Petersburg University, in Yerevan – in the
Department of Hygiene and Ecology of Yerevan State Medical University.

References:
1. Chun-Yen Chang, Ping-Kun Chen, William E. Hammitt, Machnik L. Psychophysiological Responses and
Restorative Values of Wilderness Environments //USDA Forest service Proceedings RMPS. - 2007 . PP. 479-484.
http//:www.fs.fed.us/
2. Cooper-Marcus, Clare, Sachs, Naomi A. Therapeutic Landscapes: An Evidence-Based Approach to
Designing Healing Gardens and Restorative Outdoor Spaces 1st Edition.
3. Diette B.G. Lechtzin N., Haponik E., Devrotes A., Haya R.R. Distraction Therapy with Nature Sights and Sounds
Reduces Pain During Flexible Bronchoscopy //CHEST. - 2003. - Vol. 123. – № 3. - PP. 941-948.

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4. Grindle B., Grindal G.P. Biophilia: Dose Vizual Contact with Nature Impact on Health and Well-Being?
//International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. - 2009. - №. 6. - PP. 2332-2343.
5. Hämmerle I., Röderer, K. & Cervinka, R. Evaluation of clinical gardens with classical semantic differential //
Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria, http://proceedings.envpsych2011.eu/files/doc/234.pdf (дата
обращения 16.08.2016), 2011 г.
6. Jackson E.L. The relationship of urban design to human health and condition // Landscape and Urban
Planning. - 2003. – № 64. – PP. 191-200.
7. Maller C., Townsend M, Pryor A., Brown P., Lawrence St L. Healthy nature healthy people: “contact with
nature” as an upstream health promotion intervention for populations //Health Promotion International. -
2006. - Vol. 21. - № 1. - PP. 45-54.
8. Joe Manganelli, Designing for Complex, Interactive Architectural Ecosystems Developing the Ecological
Niche Construction Design Checklist, Academy of Neuroscience for Architecture ANFA 2016 Conference
https://www.brikbase.org/sites/default/files/2016-09-16%20ANFA%20Conference%20Abstract_42.pdf
9. Shanahan D. F. et al. Health Benefits from Nature Experiences Depend on Dose. Sci. Rep. 6, 28551; doi:
10.1038/srep28551 (2016).
10. Ulrich R.S. View through a window may influence recovery from surgery. // Science, 224: 42-421., 1984.
11. Ulrih R.S. Health Benefits of Gardens in Hospitals //Plants for people. International Exhibition Floriade, 2002. –
10p. // http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.541.4830&rep=rep1&type=pdf, (дата
обращения 29.08.2016).
12. Van den Berg Magdalena M.H.E. et al. Autonomic Nervous System Responses to Viewing Green and Built
Settings: Differentiating Between Sympathetic and Parasympathetic Activity. - [б.м.] : Ed. Paul B.
Tchounwou. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 12.12 (2015): 15860–15874.
PMC. Web. 31 Aug. 2016.
13. Kalina Vander Poel, Corey Griffin, Portland State University, Portland, Oregon ALIGNING THE DESIGN INTENT
WITH THE ACTUAL USE OF A GARDEN IN A PEDIATRIC HOSPITAL URL:
https://www.brikbase.org/sites/default/files/ARCC2017_Session1B_VanderPoel_Griffin.pdf
14. Vardanyan K.K. Hayrapetyan, A.K. Evaluation of the Results of Yerevan State Medical University (YSMU)
HOSPITALS’ Landscaping Reorganization According to Climate and Acoustic Level. // Global Journal of
Botanical Science, 2014, 2, 60-64.
15. Vardanyan K.К.Gardening as an important condition for hospital area optimization // The New Armenian
Medical Journal. - Yerevan, 2010. - Vol. 4. - № 1. - March. - PP. 141-142.
16. Vardanyan K.K., Ghazaryan G.A. The study of patient’s mental state by color diagnostic metod //
Psychology Research. June 2013, Vol. 3. №6. P. 350-357. https։//doi.org/10.17265/2159-5542/2013.06.006
17. Vardanyan K.K., Hayrapetyan A.K. Ghazaryan G.A. Investigation of the phsycho-emotional status of
children by color diagnostics // The New Armenian Medical Journal. 2015.Vol. 9. №3. September. P. 24 - 29.
18. Velarde Ma. D. Fry G., Tvei M. Health Effects of Viewing Landscapes – Landscape Types in Environmental
Psychology. Urban Forestry & Urban Greening 6 (2007) 199–212, Available from:
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/223358151 Health Effects of Viewing Landscapes - Landscape
Types.
19. Whitehouse S., Varni, J. W., Seid, M., Cooper-Marcus, C., Ensberg, M. J., Jacobs, J. J. and R. S. Mehlenbeck
Evaluating a children’s hospital garden environment: Utilization and consumer satisfaction. Journal of
Environmental Psychology, 21: 301- 314 https://www.researchgate.net/publication/222834053 Evaluating a
children%27s hospital garden environment Utilization and consumer satisfaction), 2001.
20. Petrashen E, Tolstova A., Alferowski K., Students research group: Makarova V., Finova A., Nechai D., Amirian
S., Fomina M., Romanenko I., Ostapchuk K., Kurochkina A. Enhancing the therapeutic potential of
landscapes: a new research and design project at SPBU// International conference proceedings. Three
pillars of landscape architecture: design, planning and management. New visions. // Saint-Petersburg,
Russia 7-8 June 2017. Saint-Petersburg State Polytecgnical University, Polytecgnic University Publishing House,
2017.
21. Petrashen E. Makarova V., Tolstova A., Alferovskii K., Weber J. Healthcare environment in Russia before, after
and hundred years after the Revolution. Poster presentation. 14th International Conference on Urban
Health. ICUH2017 I Health Equity: The New Urban Agenda and Sustainable Development Goals. Coimbra,
Portugal. September, 26-29, 2017
22. E. Petrashen, LANDSCAPE DESIGN FOR HUMAN HEALTH AND THE PROJECT METHOD OF ITS MASTERING. Green
journal – Bulletin of the Botanical Garden of Tver State University: Scientific journal / Ch. Ed. Yu.V.
Naumtsev.Issue 4. Tver: 2018, 84 pages. P. 71-84

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Cognitive Architecture: A Model for Professional Practice

Sarah Petrocelli, RA, LEED AP and Luke Petrocelli, RA

ABSTRACT:

The question regarding architectural experience has long been addressed by architects and theorists. Central to
the debate is an attempt to identify a universal order found within architectural form. At one end of the extreme
is a philosophical discussion about the phenomenology of architectural expression, described by Christopher
Alexander as being “inextricably connected to the innermost nature of human feeling.”(2) At the other end,
is a highly categorical approach tightly ordered by guiding principles, as evident in Alberti’s “concinnitas”.(1)
Both views arguably lack a contemporary scientific understanding of human experience. Recent developments
in the cognitive sciences have made significant advances in this regard. However, the question remains: how
can architecture fulfill its role in accommodating human need and enhancing the human experience through
practical application?
This question defines the two-phase analytical process of Prospect Cognitive Architecture & Design, an architecture
and research group in Brooklyn, NY. Central to Prospect’s research is a desire to align abstract architectural
principles with findings in cognitive science. The first phase of research classifies the built environment into spatial
categories. These formal groupings are derived from a range of contributions to architectural theory, and are
aimed at deciphering intuitive aesthetic preferences regarding the built environment. Sources include Humanist
views on geometry and proportion; Embodiment theory, including work by Thiis-Evensen, Moore, and Bacon;
Neutra’s views on biorealism; and Alexander’s “Pattern Language”.
The second phase of research evaluates each of these findings through three main branches of the cognitive
sciences: Anthropology, including evolution, social behavior, and linguistics; Biology, incorporating neuroscience
and biochemistry; and Psychology, exploring perception and emotion. Research draws from Edelman’s theory
of Neural Darwinism, Zeki and Ramachandran’s work in Neuroaesthetics, and Proshansky’s contributions to
environmental psychology.
Outcomes of this research seek to generate a scientific basis for architectural intention and provide the
infrastructure for design decisions in Prospect’s professional work. The goal is not to impose a set of formal rules
upon the design process, but to provide a framework for understanding and to radically inform the discourse
between architects and their clients.

REFERENCES:
1. Alberti, Leon Battista. On the Art of Building in Ten Books. Trans. Joseph Rykwert, Neil Leach, and Robert Tavernor. Cambridge: MIT Press,
1988.

2. Alexander, Christopher. The Nature of Order, Book 4. Berkeley, CA: The Center for Environmental Structure, 2004.

3. Alexander, Christopher. Notes on the Synthesis of Form. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1964.

4. Appleton, Jay. The Experience of Landscape. New York: John Wiley & Sons, ¬¬¬¬1975.

5. Bacon, Edmund. Design of Cities. New York: Penguin Books, 1976.

6. Bejan, Adrian and Lorente, Sylvie. Design with Constructal Theory. Hoboken, NJ: John

Wiley & Sons, Inc, 2008.

7. Banich, Marie and Compton, Rebecca. Cognitive Neuroscience 3rd Edition. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, 2011.

8. Bossomaier, Terry R. J. Introduction to the Senses. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2012.

9. Changeaux, J.P., et al. Neurobiology of Human Values. Germany: Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg, 2005.

10. Eagleman,David.Incognito.NewYork:PantheonBooks,2011.

11. Edelman,GeraldM.NeuralDarwinism:TheTheoryofNeuronalGroupSelection.New York: Basic Books, 1987.

12. Kalat,JamesW.BiologicalPsychology9thEdition.Canada:ThomsonWadsworth,2007.

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13. Kallai,Janos,etal.SpatialorientationstrategiesinMorris-typevirtualwatertaskfor humans. Behavioral Brain Research, 159, 2, (2005): 187-96.

14. Kallai,Janos,etal.Cognitiveandeffectiveaspectsofthigmotaxisstrategyinhumans. Behavioral Neuroscience, 121, 1, (2007): 21.

15. Kellert,Stephen,etal.BiophilicDesign:TheTheory,Science,andPracticeofBringing Buildings to Life. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons Ltd, 2008.

16. Kellert,Stephen.Birthright:PeopleandNatureintheModernWorld.NewHaven,CO: Yale University Press, 2012.

17. Lynch,Kevin.TheImageoftheCity.Cambridge,MA:TheMITPress,1960.

18. Mallgrave,Harry.TheArchitect’sBrain.Malden,MA:JohnWiley&SonsLtd,2011.

19. Mallgrave,Harry.ArchitectureandEmbodiment.NewYork:Routledge,2013.

20. Moore,Charles,etal.Body,Memory,andArchitecture.NewHaven,CO:YaleUniversity Press, 1977.

21. Neutra,Richard.SurvivalThroughDesign.NewYork:OxfordUniversityPress,1954.

22. Oatley,Keith.BasicEmotions,Rationality,andFolkTheory.CognitionandEmotion,6,3- 4, (1992): 201-223.

23. Pallasmaa,JuhaniandRobinson,Sarah.MindinArchitecture.Cambridge,MA:TheMIT Press, 2015.

24. Pinker,Stephen.TheBlankSlate:TheModernDenialofHumanNature.NewYork: Penguin Books, 2002.

25. Proshansky,Harold.EnvironmentalPsychology.NewYork:Holt,RinehartandWinston, 1970.

26. Ramachandran,V.S.andHirstein,W.TheScienceofArt:ANeurologicalTheoryof Aesthetic Experience. Journal of Consciousness Studies, 6, 6-7,

(1999): 15-51.

27. Rasmussen,Steen.ExperiencingArchitecture.Cambridge,MA:MITPress,1964

28. Sussman,AnneandHollander,JustinB.CognitiveArchitecture.NewYork:Routledge, 2015.

29. Thagard,Paul.Mind:IntroductiontoCognitiveScience.Cambridge,MA:TheMITPress, 2000.

30. Thiis-Evensen,Thomas.ArchetypesinArchitecture.Oslo:NorwegianUniversityPress, 1987.

31. Weyl,Hermann.Symmetry.Princeton,NJ:PrincetonUniversityPress,1952.

32. Young,KayandSaver,JeffreyL.TheNeurologyofNarrative.Substance,30,94-95, (2001): 72-84.

AUTHOR BIO:

LUKE PETROCELLI is an architect and researcher based out of Brooklyn, NY. He completed his Master of
Architecture at the University of Maryland in 2015. His thesis dissertation, titled “A Neuroethical Architecture: ANFA
NYC”, explored the challenges facing neuroarchitecture and proposed an intervention on Roosevelt Island in
New York City. This work received the Architectural Research Centers Consortium King Student Medal. It was
presented as a poster presentation during the ANFA 2016 BridgeSynapses conference. It will also be presented
during the IAPS 2018 conference in Rome as an oral presentation. He holds a position as adjunct faculty for the
University of Maryland’s study abroad programs in Southern Italy and Turkey. His research includes archaeological
excavations in both regions, with preference to the psychological implications of experiencing ruins. His research
interests have broadened to include cognitive science as a basis for decision making in design. He has over eight
years of professional experience and holds an architecture license in New York State. He is one of two founding
principles for the design and research firm Prospect.

SARAH PETROCELLI is an architect and researcher based out of Brooklyn, NY. She completed her Master of
Architecture at the University of Maryland in 2013. Her thesis dissertation, titled “Architecture & the Senses: A Sensory
Musing Park”, studied architectural experience through sense-stimuli relationships within the built environment.
Her proposed intervention explored user interaction through a series of hypothetical installations in Parco della
Rimembranza, Rome. This work received the Architecture Thesis Award. It was presented as a poster presentation
during the ANFA 2016 BridgeSynapses conference. It will also be presented during the IAPS 2018 conference in
Rome as an oral presentation. Her research interests have broadened to include cognitive science as a basis for
decision making in design. She has held an adjunct faculty position at New York City College of Technology as
well as mentorship positions with Architecture in the Schools, a program of the AIA DC. She has over ten years
of professional experience, including several years of experience in the affordable housing industry. She holds
architecture licenses in the state of New York and New Jersey and is one of two founding principles for the design
and research firm Prospect.

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A Neuroaesthetics of Ionian Capital

Bianca Predoi, PhD, architect, enterprise BPArchitecture, 1050 Brussels, Belgium

ABSTRACT:

Key: spatial cognition, visual imagery, reward, memory / patrimoine, Ionian capital

Specific to the architectural representations across time, the image of the ‘Ionian capital ‘ marched alongside
all expressions of humanity related to the universally acknowledged values of built space. The aim of this
presentation is to outline the current meaning of the patrimonial architecture in humankind’s imagery through a
new lens of cognitive development applied in thinking the architecture today. Be it neoclassical references or
fictitious anticipations in cinematography, the classical elements of Greek antiquity still constitute a model base
for archetypal memory with a widespread global significance in expressing immutable human values. These
values are used, as well as manipulated in visual imagery, in order to recall perennial values, security and trust.
We are inquiring here through a comparative method of research whether the visual fulfillment that a historical
architectural reference generates on a wide social scale is due to the activation of the neural centre of reward1
in individual cases of visual perception of the same element.

We seek to determine whether the Western visual culture, due to two thousand years of experience, has
established itself as a learning ang cultural cognitive model relevant for advancing references and defining tools
for communicating power, stability, or wealth; we propose as example the Ionic order around the world – temple
of Priene, 340 BC (ca) – 140 BC, ‘White House’ eclectic architectural neoclassicism 1792 – 1800, gypsy villas in
Eastern Europe etc.

Here we open a discussion on the basic reward model already developed in the neuroesthetic literature and other
experiments capable of synthesizing memory studies, identity studies and egocentric representations of sensory
states and actions. The relationship between the existing formal models / visual elements in terms of imagery,
planning, memory (the “Ionian Capital” iconic model) and the recurrent revival elements of refurbishment
renewing ‘classical’ architecture always enriches the development of spatial cognition despite it often constrains
the relationship itself from a critical thinking perspective.
Although often decontextualized and rarely linked to its original emergence, our cultural experience still allows us
to understand the iconic “Ionian capital” as a perennial element of architecture (in terms of intangible heritage).
It radiates significance in all domains influenced by architecture, from artistic, to sociological and cognitive
sciences. But for how much longer?

It is still present in contemporary architecture within the new aesthetics of transparency, used as a decorative
element beyond a sheet of photovoltaic glass, revealing both the beauty of a technological structure, as well as
recalling the contradictory rearrangements of the deconstructivists years2.

However, beyond the stylistic statement that surrounds it, beyond its grace and elegance, the “Ionic Capital” has
a deeper meaning from a paradoxical perspective, as the icon of a humanistic approach to the built realm in a
posthuman3 era. To be more explicit, the implication for our socio-affective development is related to education.
Thus, inherited neurobiological abilities of the human brain (as part of all species) are correlated with the complex
cultural variability of acquired traits leading to specific neuronal responses as a function of cultural nurture. In
our case, visual activation of the brain, as well as emotional feeling while contemplating an iconic element of
classical architecture, vary according to cultural learning, sociality, and identity.

So, should we consider its perpetuity as the expression of a more complex phenomenon occurring above
its ornamental appearance whose beauty is able to tickle, or not, the reward centre of our brains? On one
hand, it looks like an object in a museum, the incarnation of the highest aesthetic achievements of humanity,
capable of accommodating the ultimate meaning of the architectural understanding as public art; on the other

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hand, from a sustainable discursive point of view, in the urgent conditions of human precariousness, a critical
perspective associates its still vibrant relevance with a specific oriented language capable of transforming it into
a communication vehicle of power4 or steadiness, yet not related to its original significance, but with its role in
the machinery of manipulation.

But we do not intend to refer to global areas of emerging economies of the world where, for example, the clash
of cultures destroys local heritage in favor of kitsch pastiche made on a “dollar bill”; or the poor appropriation of
the cultural heritage in cases of accidental proximity to immense patrimonial values, ending to be forgotten in
ruins just because the absence of their “commercial relevance”. The study is meant to pursuing the research of
neural processes and analysis of the visual cortex within social contexts which implies such conducts.
We examine the way of thinking about architectural heritage in megalopolises such as Rome or Athens where,
in addition to the scholars’ discourse, different meanings, depending on the perception and emotions of the
individual status/person5 coexist.

Overcoming disputes over taste6, this proposal brings into discussion the idea of a new legitimacy of the
architectural practice from a perspective offered by its interaction with the human brain7 which sees the
perennial built environment.

By articulating this proposal on the semiotics of architecture in a neuroscientific setting, its relevance would be
to explain why and how developments in neuroscience could be applied to advance affective, social, cultural,
political (‘belonging to the polis’) and, above all, architectural consideration for the material and the intangible
cultural heritage.

REFERENCES:

1 Ishizu T, Zeki S (2011) Toward A Brain-Based Theory of Beauty. PLoS ONE 6(7): e21852. doi:10.1371/journal.
pone.0021852 http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0021852

2 As example, Charles Moore’s Piazza d’Italia is an ironic/random recomposal of elements belonging to the
Italian Renaissance

3 James, Paul: “Alternative Paradigms for Sustainability: Decentring the Human without Becoming Posthuman”. In
Karen Malone; Son Truong; Tonia Gray. Reimagining Sustainability in Precarious Times , Ashgate,2017;

4 B J Graham; Greg Ashworth; John Tunbridge; G J Ashworth; J E Tunbridge: A geography of heritage : power,
culture, and economy, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon ; New York : Routledge, 2016;

5 Bradley D. Mattan, Jennifer T. Kubota, Jasmin Cloutier; How Social Status Shapes Person Perception and
Evaluation: A Social Neuroscience Perspective,SagePub,Perspectives in Psychological Sciences,Volume: 12 issue
468-507, 2017;

6 Hume, David, „Of the Standard of Taste” trad.fr. „De la norme du goût”, Essais esthétiques, Vrin, Paris, 1974;

7 Mary Helen Immordino-Yang, Rebecca GotliebEmbodied Brains, Social Minds, Cultural Meaning, Integrating
Neuroscientific and Educational Research on Social-Affective Development, April 11, 2017;

AUTHOR BIO:

BIANCA PREDOI, PH.D

BPArchitecture, entreprise d’architecture BE 0683.658.572
https://unibuc.academia.edu/biancapredoi/CurriculumVitae

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 ACADEMY OF NEUROSCIENCE FOR ARCHITECTURE

Applying Neuroscience Research to Boost Creativity

Bianca Predoi, Ph.D

ABSTRACT:

NTA Neuro-Test for architecture is a multidisciplinary tool thought to provide quantitative and qualitative
research support in order to anticipate how the architectural project design impacts people on a variety of
levels; Engaging the role of the aesthetics, planning and engineering of the project is inevitable related to the
neuronal vs. psychological factors that influence humans and their well-being. The aim of NTA is to advance
and disseminate in the process of the architectural design the importance of the brain response interacting
with a 3D architectural synthese image. NTA is meant to provide an efficient complementary tool consisting in
a computational cognitive/neural model related to spatial memory in order to improve the design of the built
environmental context.

In few words NTA addresses the purpose of architecture as it relates with our brain.

The human reaction to the architectural design is not a matter of disinterested aesthetics, but a result of mutual
exchange of information. In the past it has been researched through multidisciplinary methods, social and
psychological survey research, Meld observation, interviews or data sources and measurements etc.

The architects could be often absorbed by an overwhelming project process and management related to
technical, environmental, legal, and contractual demands; once a building is ended it serves functionally as
well as physically; despite that, people don’t respond all the time as planned expectancy/supposition levels.
Sometimes these suppositions could be deceiving, even related to proper analysis methods of reading the
architecture; in years living, having the spatial experience during a long amount of time within an inappropriate
built environment could become a nightmare. Nevertheless, like in a polygraph test, the brain gives an
immediate response in contact with such spaces, un-mediately involved in the spatial perception. The question
if certain architectural or urban conMgurations correspond to our real needs becomes legitimated.

NTA is meant to answer to this question.

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REFERENCES:

Spatial Cognition for Architectural Design SCAD 2011 Symposium Proceedings, Mehul Bhatt, Christoph Hölscher,
Thomas F. Shipley (Eds.)

Chersi Fabian, Burgess Neil, The Cognitive Architecture of Spatial Navigation: Hippocampal and Striatal
Contributions, Neuron 88, October 7, 2015 Elsevier Inc. 65-77

O’Keefe J, Nadel L. 1978. The Hippocampus as a Cognitive Map. Oxford: Clarendon Pennartz, C.M.A., Ito, R.,
Verschure, P.F.M.J., Battaglia, F.P., and Robbins, T.W.The hippocampal-striatal axis in learning, prediction and
goal-directed behaviour. Trends Neurosci. 2011; 34: 548–559

Wills TJ, Lever C, Cacucci F, Burgess N, O’Keefe J. 2005. Attractor dynamics in the hippocampalrepresentation
of the local environment. Science 308:873–76 http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.neuron.2015.09.021

AUTHOR BIO:

BIANCA PREDOI, PH.D

BPArchitecture, entreprise d’architecture BE 0683.658.572
https://unibuc.academia.edu/biancapredoi/CurriculumVitae

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 ACADEMY OF NEUROSCIENCE FOR ARCHITECTURE

Effects and Influence of Entrance and Lobby Design on the Care of

Mental Health Clients
Nadia Rachel

ABSTRACT:

This study explored the shared behavioral outcomes, the phenomenon of feeling serviced and returning, of mental
health clients within the context of community mental health centers. Today, a community-based approach
has become the standard model of care where clients receive services at their local community mental health
center or CMHC. The goal of this study was to investigate the inruence of exterior entrance and interior lobbies’
physical design features on the process of initially perceiving mental healthcare services. An ethnographic study,
entering and waiting within CMHCs in Washington, USA was observed on two separate days during the month
of September in 2016. Data was collected through the direct observation of both the researcher and the clients’
use of space and movement behaviors prior to, during, and after entering the following existing CMHCs: (1) Site
A in Everett, WA; (2) Site B in Seattle, WA; (3) Site C in Everett, WA. The results demonstrated one optimal CMHC
environment and two that failed to meet the expectations of a supportive environment thus contradicting
the community-based care model in which the facilities were programmed. Finally, the results, assessed via a
Salutogenic approach, informed the psychosocially supportive design proposal of a CMHC entrance and lobby.

AUTHOR BIO:

NADIA RACHEL: Psychologist, Psychotherapist, and Environment Health Designer

Nadia Rachel is an early career Psychologist, Psychotherapist, and Environment Health Designer, currently living
and working in Dublin, Ireland. She provides trauma-focused psychotherapy and trauma-informed design
consultation for clients across the lifespan. Nadia specializes in utilizing a combination of clinical verbal and
nonverbal communication techniques to optimize long-term healing. In 2015, she was project lead for the
redesign of a residence for Bay Cove Human Services clients living with neurodevelopmental delays and early-
onset Alzheimer’s, in Boston, Massachusetts. In 2016, she was a special presenter at the Design and Emotion
Conference for “Laban Movement Analysis in Design Research: An Embodied Experience” in Amsterdam,
Netherlands. In 2017, she consulted in the redesign of Stanford University’s Okce of Sexual Assault and Relationship
Abuse Education and Response. This year’s ANFA conference seeks to provide examples of behavioral outcomes
in various building types, thus serving as a platform to share her thesis from the Boston Architectural College,
“The Effects and Inruence of Entrance and Lobby Design on the Care of Mental Health Clients.” The study uses
Salutogenic principles to outline the successes and pitfalls of three separate community mental health centers
located in Washington, followed by the design proposal for a psychosocially supportive center.

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 ACADEMY OF NEUROSCIENCE FOR ARCHITECTURE

A School designed to improve student’s brain activity using integrated Neuro-architectural design aspects
(QEEG-VR)
Mahmoud Ragai Turk, Architectural designer in A.C.H , Grad student, Department of Architectural Engineering In Future University In Egypt

Ahmad Amr, Virtual Reality Designer in A.C.H , Grad student, Department of Architectural Engineering In Future University In Egypt.

Osama Al Rawi, Professor of Architecture, Department of Architectural Engineering In Future University In Egypt

1. Abstract:
1.1.Purpose:

Here we demonstrate a recorded (EEG-VR) method to improve middle school student’s brain activity (11-14 years) through designing the learning environment by
integration of different Neuro-aspects by practical application. So that A middle school was designed as an application of the following design methods.
1.2.Methodology / Procedure Purpose :
1.2.1.The Research Aim: Improving student’s brain activity by urban spaces are designed by different design aspects :
1-Physiological Environmental Green Aspects:
Environmental interaction & Control (Exposure to enriched environments increases the birth of new neurons (Neurogenesis)+Air quality &
distribution+Sun+Acoustics+Day lighting+Temp+River+ Natural materials+Sensory rich-environment+Shade & Shadow+courtyards
2-Aesthetics and golden ratio Aspects:
Void Boxes+Ratios+Angles+ Bio geometry Principles
3-Emotional Design Aspects:
Directionality+Places for group learning—alcoves+Different Levels,Shapes,Sizes and Views+Void boxes+Diversity+Landmark+Symbolism+Out & Indoor interaction
between spaces+Contrast between solid & void+Harmony with nature+Movement & experience Individualization: Low Space Density, Inappropriate Scale,
Personalization, Flexibility)
4-Archeoastronomy Aspects:
Linking the buildings to Orion Nabula by shafts directed to it (Multidimensional power spots )
5-Biogeometry Aspects Ratios, rotation, interfacing, shifting and transparency.

1.2.2. The Design Process:

This project aims to make an interaction between students and the environment and to make the urban and architectural spaces an effective element in the process
of emotional rehabilitation of these children so that the psychological state is changed to become their scientific a spontaneous step after the process of
psychological & mental rehabilitation. The school designed to give the sense of a free space in addition to a group that gives a sense of containment and cosmic
continuity with the artificial river that has been added to the mountain site of the project for making the required contrast between the hard dry stones & The
element of flowing water represented in the river water. Through following and integration between the previous literary theories and by a practical EEG recording
during a real time virtual reality simulation, an elementary school was designed to accomplish and evaluate this process.

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1.2.3. The Evaluation Process:

QEEG recording during virtual reality simulation was tested on 10 middle school students’
1.2.4.Inclusion criteria:
· Age 11:14 years-Normal IQ-No medical comorbidities-Acceptance of enrollment
1.2.5. Outcome / Discussion:
The measurements of QEEG recording during Virtual reality simulations for 2 models (Traditional school Vs Neuro-
Aspects designed school) showed that 80% of the cases had the frontal lobe activation Which has been reflected by
the increase of alpha and beta waves in the frontal areas in their brain,
And It has been scientifically proven that the frontal lobe is responsible for concentration, attention, problem solving
and judgment of things,
The measurements also showed that the brain produced alpha waves and produced less beta waves,
It has been scientifically proven that beta waves express the concentration, focus, cognition and the five physical
senses
Therefore the alpha and beta waves indicates the person's willingness to receive information.

1.3. Future Steps:

Applying the school design in a virtual reality environment used by students in schools to make a positive impact on the brain to help them receive
study information
1.4. References:

Ref: Eberhard, John P., ed. Brain landscape the coexistence of neuroscience and architecture. Oxford University Press, 2008. Eberhard JP (2007)
Architecture and the brain: A new knowledge base from neuroscience. Atlanta, GA: Greenway Communications. Robinson, Sarah and Pallasmaa
[Eds.] – Mind In Architecture. Neuroscience, Embodiment, and the Future of Design. Cambridge, MA,
London, UK: The MIT Press, 2015. Sussman, A. And Hollander, J.B.. (2015) Cognitive Architecture. New
York: Routledge Williams. Back To a Future for Mankind: BioGeometry,Ibrahim Karim, Ph.D. /Dr.Sc. Gage F
(2003). Neuroscience and Architecture. In: AIA Convention. San Diego, CA: AIA. Akshoomoff N, Stiles J,
Wulfeck B (2006). Perceptual organization and visual immediate memory in children with specifi c
language impairment. International Neuropsychology Society 12(4):465–474. Sejnowski TJ, Churchland PS

1.5. Author Bios:

Mahmoud Ragai Turk, Architectural designer in A.C.H , Grad student, Department of Architectural Engineering In
Future University In Egypt

Ahmad Amr, Virtual Reality Designer in A.C.H , Grad student, Department of Architectural Engineering In Future
University In Egypt.

Osama Al Rawi, Professor of Architecture, Department of Architectural Engineering In Future University In Egypt

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 ACADEMY OF NEUROSCIENCE FOR ARCHITECTURE

How Buildings Teach Kindness:

social emotional learning across generations in neuroscience and
architecture
Robin R. Randall, AIA, LEED BD+C
Loren D. Johnson, Associate AIA, LEED BD+C, Pamela Harwood, AIA, Dr. Marcel André Robischon

Neuroscience data shows that social emotional learning and relationship building is the core to healthy and
happy learning for all generations. Research from the neurosciences has greatly improved our understanding
of how architecture shapes behavior, how multisensory experiences create meaning essential for learning, and
how architectural space and form express emotions that can enhance or impede social interaction. Educator
and author Patricia Wolfe discusses how the brain encodes and stores information and why meaning is
essential for social emotional learning. Because a building is multi-sensory in its perception, involving all of our
senses over a temporal span through our movements within and around three-dimensional space, scholar and
architect Harry Mallgrave describes architecture as an embodied experience in which we perceive, feel and
sense. This experience engages neural mechanisms creating the embodied simulation of materials, forms,
spatial relationships, sounds, smells, tactile qualities, scales, textures, patterns, and atmosphere that impact
social emotional learning.

Linking neuroscience and architecture, we will identify the precepts of social emotional learning in and explore
how early learners and elderly interactions benefit both age groups promoting brain growth. Experiential
learning and environmental education examples that have the potential to engage neural mechanisms to
create architectural embodiment will be considered in ways to demonstrate how buildings can teach kindness.
Essential to this social emotional learning is that we “feel” or project ourselves emotionally into the actions of
other people and empathize with the forms of our built environment.

As architects, we observe that buildings can teach and be part of the curriculum inspiring learning across
generations, that the environment can influence the way we feel, think, and learn. So how do buildings teach
kindness? What does kindness look like in architectural space?

The built environment embodies the connection between space, time, and pedagogy. We will present a
consideration of five attributes of an architecture that teaches:

1. Exposure, relating to the visibility of architectural elements within a building and in nature, the corporeality of
the body’s time and space is engaged when in the midst of learning
2. Diversity, across different learning styles and learning space typologies, architecture is an assemblage of
mind, brain, and body
3. Adaptability, design must allow for flexibility, re-imaging of space, a flow of ideas, technologies, and ever-
changing needs
4. Interactive design relates to how we alter our environments to create the mysterious and curious, to extend
the boundaries of space into the interior and exterior, the public and private, the active and focused worlds of
learning
5. Immersion in space is intentional through the qualities and sequence at which spaces are revealed;
immersion allows the inhabitant to fully engage and embody social emotional learning

Implications of architecture and neuroscience for design include opportunities to create and evoke the
following five topics:

1. Embodied Simulation Embodiment has far-reaching consequences in architecture for it not only defines “our
identification with and connectedness to others, but also forms the basic ground of our development and
being, how we grow and construct our social relations with others and ourselves.” Theorist and architect Harry

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Mallgrave discusses an essential nature in this embodied simulation is that every “reading” of one’s intentions (in
design) at the same time provides space for one’s self-exploration. Neuroscientific evidence supports the
relationship between the motor system, the body, and the perception of space, objects, and the actions of
others. Architecture of embodied simulation constitutes a basic characteristic or our brain and makes possible
our rich and diversified experiences of space, objects, other individuals, and our capacity to empathize with
them.
2. Multisensory Experiences Hapticity in architecture allows us to read something of our humanity into the
materials with which we build. Sensory appeal should have a human fingerprint, as it were, etched into its
surfaces. Memory is what enables us to learn by experience and our starting point in understanding learning
and memory is sensory perception. Everything in our memory begins as a sensory input from the environment.
The role of sensory memory is to take the information coming into the brain through sensory receptors and hold
it for a fraction of a second until a decision is made about what to do with it. All sensory input arrives
simultaneously! Perception is the meaning we attach to information as it is received through the senses.
Architecture that engages multi-sensory experiences will be most embedded and therefore most remembered.
3. Spatial Ambiguity Perceptual richness can be produced by a continually changing sensory experience
found in architecture. Spatial conditions in design with varying levels of ambiguity and tension create a
neurological event open to multiple interpretations. Referred to in Semir Zeki’s neuroaesthetics, this
“neurological play” engages and challenges the brain to allow multiple meanings to be decoded. It evokes
something that forces the brain to pause, engage multiple areas, and reflects upon the unfamiliar
phenomenon it encounters. This ability to represent simultaneously on the same canvas, not one, but several
multiple interpretations of space and form is an important way to enrich and enhance the brain’s neural
efficiency. We can explore this theme of ambiguity, in Zeki’s specific sense of a neurological event open to
multiple interpretations, as an integral part of architectural spatial design. Spaces that bleed into one another,
forming a public and private overlap, or half-inside, half-outside interstitial space, are examples of spatial
conditions that invite an ambiguity of relationships.
4. Movement and Form The fact that architecture requires movement around and through combinations of
form presents a very different experience of form than other arts as we do not perceive a building in static
manner. Through eye-tracking devices, we learn that most people look at the same formal features of a
building or street scene, often in the same sequence. In a remarkable verification of formal insights, we
apparently gaze at regions with contrast, curves, detail and ornament. Additionally, neuronal architecture
discussed by Thomas Albright suggests that the existence of the cortical system for organizing visual information
facilitates the processing of commonly occurring relationships between visual features. Implications of this for
architecture are that when people view random patterns of line segments, any collinear, or nearly collinear
relationships within those patterns tend to stand out perceptually from a background of noise. Repeating lines
in collinear, curvilinear, parallel and radial patterns in human-made designs benefit detection facilitated by
tapping into the highly organized neuronal system. This formal sense of order and pattern is exemplified in Fay
Jone’s Thorncrown Chapel as well as the Rue de Rivoli arcade in Paris. Both architectural examples support the
ways that humans walk and encourages movement forward through the space. The part of the brain that is
important to architects, the hippocampus, is one of the principal sites or our spatial navigation and
imagination.
5. Biophilia and Atmosphere The qualities that are embedded within a space and the sensorial qualities that a
space emits are referred to as “atmosphere.” Theorist Juhani Pallasmaa and architect Peter Zumthor discuss
“building atmospheres” as the craft of creating, capturing and understanding sensorial qualities of space in
physical construction. Atmospheric attributes in architectural design, such as light, sound, color, wind, water,
matter, vegetation, and landscapes constitute ways we can better create the human-nature connection.
There have been measured physiological and neurological effects of nature and “atmosphere” on the human
body and the brain. Biophilia is a term used to explain how humans are innately drawn and biologically
encoded to be attracted to natural settings and elements (be it direct, indirect, or symbolic). This has proven
instrumental in enhancing human physical, emotional, and intellectual well-being. Architectural theorist Juhani
Pallasmaa argues that the experience of atmosphere is related to the concept of space. “The quality of a
space or place in not merely a visual perceptual quality. The judgment of environmental character is a
complete multi-sensory fusion of countless factors, which are immediately and synthetically grasped as an
overall atmosphere, feeling, mood or ambiance.”

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 ACADEMY OF NEUROSCIENCE FOR ARCHITECTURE

The Criminalization of the Mentally Ill within the US Prison System

David Redemske

ABSTRACT:

BACKROUND: “Mass incarceration” has been the description of the recent dramatic expansion of the criminal
justice system in the U.S. Research has shown that most of the increase in the prisoner populations is due to
the “war on drugs” and mandatory minimum sentencing laws. Underserved communities disproportionately
have born the burden of mass incarceration. Among incarcerated adults, rates of mental illness and suicide
are at least double compared to the general population (Cropsey et al., 2012). Over 50 % of the incarcerated
population suffers from psychiatric symptoms and up to 25% suffer from a serious mental health problem such as
schizophrenia, as compared to an estimated 10 % and 5 % of the general population, respectively (Macmadu
2015). Many inmates also suffer from substance abuse disorders, with prevalence rates four times as high as that
of the general population (Cropsey et al., 2012). Even though half of U.S. inmates have a psychiatric disorder,
and they have prevalence rates of major depression and psychotic disorders four to eight times as high as the
general population, only 22% of state prisoners receive treatment while incarcerated (Rich et al., 2011). The cost
of incarcerating inmates with severe mental health disorders is estimated at $15 billion annually (Kinsella, 2004). As
a comparison, it costs approximately $60 per patient per day for community mental health programs, versus $137
per inmate per day to house a mentally ill inmate in prison (Kinsella, 2004). The purpose of this literature review
was to shed light on the healthcare process and settings for prison inmates with mental illness, and to generate
recommendations for the future.

METHODS: A systematic review of the literature was conducted, including key word searches of several relevant
databases, title and abstract reviews, and full text review of 169 pertinent sources.

RESULTS: The radical reduction in the number of long-term, intermediate, and short-term inpatient mental health
beds under the jurisdiction of mental health providers dramatically affected the corrections system (Lamb &
Weinberger, 2005). There are three times more mentally ill people in prisons in the U.S. than there are in mental
health facilities (Abramsky, 2003; Reingle Gonzalez & Connell, 2014). Because of this paradigm shift in the U.S., many
people now get their inpatient mental health treatment in prisons (Lamb & Weinberger, 2005; Reingle Gonzalez
& Connell, 2014). In fact, Los Angeles County Jail, Chicago’s Cook County Jail and New York’s Riker’s Island
now house more people with serious mental illness than in any of the nation’s psychiatric hospitals (Macmadu
& Rich, 2015). The lack of adequate community mental health resources shows a direct link to the number of
incarcerated individuals with a mental illness (Abramsky, 2003). Thousands have been prosecuted for crimes
they would have never committed if they had access to adequate mental healthcare in their communities
(Abramsky, 2003). Prisons were never intended to be care centers for the mentally ill; however, that is one of
their primary functions today (Abramsky, 2003). Prisons have been described as “toxic” environments for the
seriously mentally ill by many mental health providers (Abramsky, 2003). They are overcrowded and tense places
where all prisoners struggle to maintain stability, despite the presence of violence, the lack of privacy, limited
family contact, and few, if any, educational and work opportunities (Abramsky, 2003). In addition, mentally ill
prisoners are typically housed in segregated units, even though the isolated confinement can cause psychiatric
breakdown (Abramsky, 2003).

CONCLUSIONS: The U.S. prison system is at a crossroads. Funding was never provided for community-based mental
health services after the deinstitutionalization of the 1960s. Because of this, there has been a criminalization of
mental health disorders. In order to provide adequate, compassionate, and ethical care for mentally ill inmates,
funding must be provided to construct appropriate housing; develop programs, treatments, and therapies;
train correctional officers on the signs and symptoms of mental health disorders; and to increase staffing for
mental health professionals. In addition, there are alternatives to the incarceration for the mentally ill. Policies
such as diversion programs that redirect patients to treatment centers, and increasing funding for community
care programs either through new funds, or redirecting some of the money from corrections to mental health
treatment, can all be used to decriminalize and destigmatize mental illness, as well as reduce the burden on the
corrections system.

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REFERENCES:

Abramsky, S. (2003). Ill-equipped: US prisons and offenders with mental illness Human Rights Watch.

Lamb, H. R., & Weinberger, L. E. (2005). The shift of psychiatric inpatient care from hospitals to jails and prisons. The
Journal of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law, 33(4), 529-534. doi:33/4/529 [pii]

Macmadu, A., & Rich, J. D. (2015). Correctional health is community health. Issues in Science and Technology,
32(1), 26.

Reingle Gonzalez, J. M., & Connell, N. M. (2014). Mental health of prisoners: Identifying barriers to mental health
treatment and medication continuity. American Journal of Public Health, 104(12), 2328-2333.

AUTHOR BIO:

DAVID REDEMSKE is an Architect and Health Planning Principal at HDR, with over 27 years of industry experience.
He has designed facilities throughout the U.S., Canada and Middle East. An expert in the design and planning
of correctional health facilities, Mr. Redemske has designed health facilities for many State Departments of
Corrections, including Illinois, California, and Texas, as well as for the country of Kuwait. He is also a Certified
Correctional Health Professional (CCHP) from the National Commission on Correctional Health Care (NCCHC).
Mr. Redemske was the recipient of HDR’s first Research Fellowship, and spent a year examining health care in the
U.S. prison system. His research focused on the complexity of the environments in which health care is delivered to
U.S. prison inmates, including the prison clinic or infirmary, regional correctional medical facilities, and community
hospitals.

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 ACADEMY OF NEUROSCIENCE FOR ARCHITECTURE

The Student Experience:

The Future of the Academic Library
Mark Thaler, Maddy Burke-Vigeland, Kimberly Hickson, Ben Regnier
Gensler

ABSTRACT:

How are academic libraries currently being used? What spaces are popular? What kind of activity is taking
place? How much has technology penetrated this ancient space? What inferences can we draw from these
observations that can help drive the design of future libraries? While there is a wealth of intuitive knowledge
about use patterns in academic libraries, there is very little observational study of how these critical spaces are
actually used.

Using digital observational tools that allow for direct recording of use space-by-space over time, Gensler has
conducted a “time lapse” site surveys of a wide variety of college and university academic libraries, observing
focused and collaborative activity, space qualities, and tools used. Direct observational data collected hourly
over several weeks at each site provides data on occupancy, activity, and context. Combined with student and
faculty surveys, and librarian round tables, this has provided insight into not only use patterns and occupancy
rates, but how students and librarians differ in how they perceive the value of the academic library.

The collection of academic institutions was broad, ranging from community colleges to 4-year research universities,
and the results were likewise diverse. Each library demonstrated a different rhythm of use pattern that remained
consistent over time, as it was tied to the other scheduled activity and nature of the student body (resident or
non-resident). At each library there was an observed “social period” where group interaction spiked, normally
near meal times or later in the evening.

The dominant finding was a confirmation, supported by surveys and interviews, that individual focus work is still
the dominant use of libraries, with 73% of students and faculty performing this activity. Despite this finding, the
most common seating type observed at these libraries was aggregate seating at large tables. Visitors to the
library performing focus work were unlikely to sit at a 4 or 6 seat table if another student had occupied the table,
even when the library was acting “at capacity.” When study carrels or divided tables were provided these were
far more popular as they are designed to support focused activity.

Group work was also common, with 10% of observed users working in groups of 2 and another 15% in groups of
3 or more. The most popular locations for group work were in dedicated conference rooms or in informal lounge
areas outside the main stacks, not the large tables mentioned above.

Tool use confirmed the librarian “common sense” answer provided in round tables that, while computers and
digital devices are very common, many students still use physical books and pen and paper in library activities.
Physical note taking with digital reading was the most common combination observed. This accommodation of
both digital and physical tools is a key aspect library use that should be highlighted.

The study also tracked access to amenities (food, power, daylight) to attempt to see if any of these factored into
seat choice. No observable connection was found, instead the seat type and privacy or suitability to activity as
mentioned above was the primary driving factor. This suggests that providing furniture more closely matched to
user needs could help drive occupancy for the academic library.

Student and librarian interviews and surveys provided some additional qualitative information to the quantitative
data from the observation reports, particularly in a discrepancy between the two groups on the future of library
use. While librarians see a future “learning commons” with a broad and vibrant array of engagement methods
and a focus on navigating new digital resources, students see continued value in libraries as a bastion of quiet,
and a prime place to complete individual work. Negotiating this base difference is crucial to the future of
these core academic spaces, and as the research suggests successful design plays a large part in determining
occupancy and use rate. Providing spaces tailored to focused work, collaborative activity, and social gathering,

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that support both physical and digital tools, in proportions that match the expectations of the use base, are a key
starting point to reevaluating library design.

REFERENCES:

Thaler, Mark et al (2015). Academic Libraries at a Crossroads. Gensler Research, retrieved March 3, 2018 from
https://www.gensler.com/research-insight/gensler-research-institute/future-of-the-academic-library

Thaler, Mark et al (2015). Librarians on Libraries. Gensler Research, retrieved March 3, 2018 from https://www.
gensler.com/research-insight/gensler-research-institute/librarians-on-libraries

Thaler, Mark et al (2015). Students on Libraries. Gensler Research, retrieved March 3, 2018 from https://www.
gensler.com/research-insight/gensler-research-institute/students-on-libraries

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 ACADEMY OF NEUROSCIENCE FOR ARCHITECTURE

Cognitive Differentiation and Design Thinking –

Louis Kahn as an Early Pioneer – Next Directions
John Roth

ABSTRACT:

The achievements of the architect, Louis Kahn, continue to receive acclaim and admiration. Yet the
prevailing tendency has been to focus recognition more on physical artifacts and less on conceptual
means and methods. Louis Kahn approached his work like a scientist. He would consistently declare
assumptions and intentions as he began a project. He would enforce that hypothesis with rigorous
detachment. Afterword he would recognize what actually what went well and not so well. Then he would
revise his assumptions and intentions for the next endeavor.

Clearly, Louis Kahn and Jonas Salk shared a strong rapport with the construction of the Salk Institute for
Biological Sciences, in La Jolla, California.

Considering several decades of his working career, Louis Kahn’s primary motivations changed perceptively
and dramatically over time. The particular response to each successive challenge would concentrate
on an immediate motivating theme, later becoming continually modiMed and adjusted, effort after
effort. And, those prevailing motivations can be seen to be related to basic human cognitive capabilities
in general. While externalizing emphatic architectural possibilities, Kahn was also continually examining
the internal experience of his own mind. The results can be seen as manifestations of distinctive patterns
of perception and realization. Progressing forward, it may now be possible to discern and to measure
emergent cognitive patterning through the means and methods of neuroscience – (Dario Nardi, Ph.D.,
UCLA.)

The practice of thoughtful design can be characterized as an awareness of idealized cognitive stances –
that will systematically vary throughout the course of a complete cycle of activity. Today, this approach is
often described as Design Thinking and usually explained in the context of collaborative teamwork. But it
may also be recognized that truly accomplished architects or designers will be capable of shifting personal
awareness through an extended spectrum of cognitive stances, apart from any inruence or pressure of
interactive group dynamics. The beneMts of thoughtful design can be balanced against the insights of the
thoughtful designer. Through the deliberate pursuit to be more and more thoughtfully inclusive, Louis Kahn
may be regarded as an important early pioneer of Design Thinking.

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REFERENCES:

Burnett, W. (2017, May 5). Cultivate your creativity. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/
watch?v=cOCcCaAxSNw. Stanford University, stanfordonline.

Burnett, W. (2017, March 8). Need Mnding and empathy. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/
watch?v=iPEsVB8G4xQ. Stanford University, stanfordonline.

Giurgola, R., & Mehta, J. (1976). Louis I. Kahn. Boulder, CO: Westview Press.

Kelley, D., & Kelley, T. (2013). Creative conMdence: Unleashing the creative potential within us all. New York:
Crown Business.

Keogh, R. (2018, February 04). The human brain’s bandwidth for visual images is severely limited. Retrieved
February 04, 2018, from https://aeon.co/ideas/the-human-brains- bandwidth-for-visual-images-is-severely-
limited. Rebecca Keogh | Aeon Ideas.

Liedka, J. (2018). Exploring the impact of design thinking in action. Retrieved from https://designatdarden.
org/app/uploads/2018/01/Working-paper-Liedtka-Evaluating-the- Impact-of-Design-Thinking.pdf. University
of Virginia, Darden Working Paper Series.

Liedtka, J. (2014). Perspective: Linking design thinking with innovation outcomes through cognitive bias
reduction. Journal of Product Innovation Management, 32(6), 925-938. doi:10.1111/jpim.12163

Owen, M. M. (2018, February 04). Can neuroscience rehabilitate Freud for the age of the brain? Retrieved
from https://aeon.co/essays/can-neuroscience-rehabilitate-freud-for-the- age-of-the-brain

M M Owen | Aeon Essays.

Von Franz, M. L. (1974). Number and time: Rerections leading toward a uniMcation of depth psychology
and physics. Evanston: Northwestern University Press.

Wertheim, M. (2018, February 02). How many dimensions are there, and what do they do to reality?
Retrieved from https://aeon.co/essays/how-many-dimensions-are-there-and-what- do-they-do-to-reality.
Margaret Wertheim | Aeon Essays.

AUTHOR BIO:
JOHN ROTH
John Roth has earned a B. A. degree with a major in architecture, a M. Arch. degree, and also an M.B.A.
degree (M.M.) A formal thesis paper was entitled, “Works of the Architect, Louis Kahn, in Relation to
Psychological Principles of Integration.” Associate Member, AIA.

ANFA Conferences 2014, 2016

NewSchool Summer Intersession 2017

There has been a long-standing interest in objective decision management, especially concerning insights
based in psychology. There has also been a long-standing involvement with the Salk Institute for Biological
Sciences, especially since 1990, including direct conversations with Dr. Jonas Salk during a period of
controversy over the expansion of the building complex.

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 ACADEMY OF NEUROSCIENCE FOR ARCHITECTURE

Contemplating Temporal Architecture:

Toward better buildings and deeper neuroscientific study of
architectural experience and perception.
Alissa Rupp, FAIA, LEED BD+C
Principal, MIG | Portico
Seattle, WA

ABSTRACT:

The premise for this poster presentation is that the perception of architecture is not possible without the perception
of time. The relationship between architecture and cognition or perception may be studied through the lens of
our experience of space over time.

Architecture (that works well for humans) is sensitive to, and reflective of, its place; the site, climate, patterns
of habitation, cultural context and built context contribute to good design. The design of a built space must
emerge from the context in which the building will live its life.

Tied to the idea of place is the question of whether a building is suitably designed to be understood over time.
Such an evaluation considers how the built space accounts for our experience of the day, the season, the year,
the era in which we encounter it, as well as the path of travel and duration of the individual experience. This
presentation will suggest that human understanding of architectural space considers both place and time, and
that we can improve design outcomes by accounting for how humans perceive and report on the passage of
time.

When we think of what makes a good building, particularly in the modern era of sustainability, and design for
human health, we think of factors that are primarily spatial. If we consider factors that are temporal as well as
spatial, we may then expand the list of qualitative assessments of the space. We may find new ways to evaluate
occupants’ experience of the space. We will then need to consider the ability of the built environment to absorb
and reflect change. Time and change are inextricable from each other, so architecture that accounts for both
place and time (change) will take us toward a temporal architecture.

Users of our built environments change over time. They grow, gain experiences, and have different needs
depending on age, activity, ability and mood. If our buildings are to reflect time, or afford change, then the
materiality matters, and the organization of the space matters. Materials and program facilitate change (or
changing perceptions); just as they allow us to be grounded to place, they allow us to be aware of, and
responsive to, time - both in the design of buildings and in the design of scientific studies around architecture and
neuroscience.

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REFERENCES:

Referenced studies/papers will include the following:

-- Studies of how acoustics and soundscapes affect people’s perception of space (sighted and low
vision subjects);

-- Subjects’ estimates of how much time has passed in a real or virtual environment; studies of people
who report being “in the zone” during a task;

-- Studies of individuals working night shifts or in underground/non-daylit environments;

-- Quality of task performance or learning outcomes in spaces with access to daylight;

-- Use of “landmarks” in mapping spaces;

-- Discussions of learning, to reflect the process of apprehension, organization, use, recall and
retention over time, and how our brains are changed by learning (Albright);

-- Work by Thomas Albright: our brains are already set up to find order, to appreciate pattern, to
notice change and variance in specific ways relevant to our survival;

-- Lecture and writings by Pallasma: Architecture requires the Body, Memory, Imagination, not
the instantaneous gratification of the captured photograph;

-- Lecture and writings by Holl: The whole of the building vs. the lived experience: this may be the
central question of how architecture should work;

-- Lecture and writings by Gage: our buildings are changing people, and this may be where the
capacity of architecture to generate meaning or emotion comes from.

AUTHOR BIO:

ALISSA RUPP, FAIA, LEED is a registered architect with more than 20 years of professional experience. Bringing
a range of skills to the practice, Alissa focuses on places for informal education and public learning. Her work
on visitor centers, children’s museums, and zoological facilities includes both architecture and exhibit design,
with strong roots in sustainable building practices and interpretation. To achieve this mix, she draws from her
unique background in music, museum education, and developmental psychology. Alissa holds a BA in Cognitive
Science from Vassar College (1989) and a Master of Architecture from University of Washington (1996), as
well as executive certificates in Design Firm Leadership and Management (UW, 2006) and Architecture and
Neuroscience (New School of Architecture and Design, 2017). Significant design credits include: Pearl Harbor
Visitor Center in Honolulu, Hawaii and KidsQuest Children’s Museum in Bellevue, Washington. Alissa has presented
at numerous regional and national conferences, including AIA Northwest Region, Association of Children’s
Museums, Greenbuild, National Children’s and Youth Gardens Symposium, Western Museum Association, and
the Symposium on Systems Research in the Arts in Baden Baden, Germany.

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 ACADEMY OF NEUROSCIENCE FOR ARCHITECTURE

Tuning Design
Davide Ruzzon TUNED Lombardini22 Milan
How Architectural Settings of Interior Spaces Can Enhance Users’ Experiences

ABSTRACT:
1. Inside the different places in the city, every human experience involves the “system of seeking”, from
which spring several background feelings of anticipation. (1,2)

2. There is an intertwining among the Phenomenological Essence of the human experiences PE in interior
spaces, the Sensori-Motor Programs SMP and the Background Feelings BF (9,10,13)

3. Along the evolution, each body gesture created cortical maps featured by their particular relationships with
space, by their development phases in the time, and by the flow and direction of the light perceived. (3,4,5,6,7,11)

4. An architectural setting (of a particular topology, geometry, proxemics, lighting, or rhythm) can activate
analogous signals belonging to a specific sensorimotor program, involving proprioceptive, vestibular, and visual
dimensions.(12,15)

5. Organisms are driven by evolution to seek quicker and more efficient ways to attain homeostasis. The awaited
emotion or background feeling acts as a filter and catalyst. It encourages the recognition and selection of
architectural environments able to embed emotional, sensorimotor, and visual components proper to the bodily
gestures related to the awaited emotion. (12,14,15)

6. Within the experience of a particular place, this bodily perception enacts (through the process of embodied
simulation) the gesture associated with the anticipated feeling. This coupling—the “nesting mechanisms”
regulated by more ancient parts of the brain— focusing the attention enhances cognitive processes, and
produces wellbeing. (10,12,14,15)

7. This recognition of bodily gestures is transformed into an attunement of input signals from the environment with
output elements of memories related to the anticipated feeling. (12,15)

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REFERENCES:
1. Jak Pankseep ‘The Archaeology of Mind: Neuroevolutionary Origins of Human Emotion’ (chapther about ‘seek
system’) 2012,

2. Antonio Damasio ‘The feeling of what happens’1999;

3. Rodolfo Llinas ‘I of the Vortex: From Neurons to Self’ 2001;

4. Merlin Donald ‘Origins of the Modern Mind: Three stages in the evolution of culture and
cognition ‘ 1991;

5. Maxine Sheets-Johnson ‘The primacy of movement’ 1999;

6. Vittorio Gallese e George Lakoff ‘The Brain’s Concepts: The Role Of The Sensory-Motor
System In Conceptual Knowledge’ 2005;

7. Daniela Sacco ‘The Braided Weave of Mnemosyne: Aby Warburg, Carl Gustav Jung, James
Hillman’ 2014,

8. James J. Gibson ‘The ecological approach to visual perception’ 1986;

9. Francisco Varela, Evan Thompson, Eleanor Rosch ‘The emobodied mind’ 1991;

10. Evan Thompson ‘Mind in life’ 2007;

11. Alain Berthoz ‘The Brain’s Sense of movement’ 1997;

12. Davide Ruzzon, Vittorio Gallese ‘Tuned Architecture’ 2016;

13. Sarah Robinson ‘Nesting’ 2011;

14. Antonio Damasio ‘Self comes to mind’ 2010;

15. Davide Ruzzon ‘Tuning Design’ 2017;

AUTHOR BIO:
DAVIDE RUZZON, TUNED Scientific Responsible, Architect, graduated from Iuav in Venice. Scientific Responsible of
the NAAD Master ‘Neuroscience Applied to Architectural Design’ at the Iuav University of Venice. Director with
Sarah Robinson and Alessandro Gattara of the new architecture magazine ‘Intertwining’ for Mimesis International.
Author with Vittorio Gallese of ‘Tuned Architecture’ for 2016 Overview Publisher Padova and of ‘The architecture
of the differences’ for TArch Edizioni 2013 Padua. He has written and edited collections of essays, coordinated
the editorial board of Anfione and Zeto and organized seminars and conferences. He has carried out public and
private construction projects and participated in International Competitions.

LOMBARDINI22, a leading group on the Italian architecture and engineering scene, operate internationally
through three brands: L22, specialising in architectural design and engineering for the Retail, Office, Hospitality and
Data Center markets; DEGW, a leading company in strategic consultancy about work methods and interaction
between physical space and corporate performance; FUD Brand Making Factory, focusing on Physical Branding
and Communication Design. Lombardini22 is now a workshop employing over 160 people, a dynamic and
creative workplace, which is the fourth-ranked architecture firm in Italy in terms of turnover.

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 ACADEMY OF NEUROSCIENCE FOR ARCHITECTURE

The Biological Effects of Materials: Visual and Tactile Perception of

Environment
Lucille Z. Sadlon, Assoc. AIA, M.Arch, Associate at Hartshorne Plunkard Architecture, Chicago IL, [email protected]

Bob Condia, AIA, Architect, Professor of Architecture, [email protected]

The College of Architecture, Planning & Design, 2003A Seaton Hall | Perceptions Lab, Kansas State University, Manhattan,
KS 66506-2901, USA; (785) 532-5953

ABSTRACT:
“It is in the very nature of science that it succeeds by focusing on parts of the whole. The challenge is to determine
which the ‘right’ parts are, and how lessons gained from the study of separated parts may provide a firm basis for
study of the larger system formed when the parts are combined.” M.A. Arbib (2013)

Responding to Dr. Arbib’s challenge, which is the ANFA’s desire for the vital exchange between architects and
neuroscientists, we will sketch a protocol to investigate how MATERIALS biologically affect the individual (i.e.
heart rate, galvanic skin response, etc.). We propose that just as various environments have distinct impacts on
man, so do various materials leave a measurable imprint as they are experienced through vision and touch.
To understand this would be to better understand how we experience architecture—for, to paraphrase Harry
Mallgrave, architecture is nothing if not materials touching.

Since many variables can influence our spatial experiencesi we must examine material because it is the most
common variable. Indeed, it takes more than “thingness” to define environment because the power of suggestion
can play a larger role; a Berkley studyii explored the effects of workspace dividers and discovered that office
employees found the symbology of their environment to be more important than physical considerations. Material
can be bold or subtle in its physical and suggestive abilities as it precipitates form, interacts with light, and creates
color. Therefore, it is reasonable to surmise that material perception (that is, our understanding of the origin or
composition of materialsiii) can influence our bodily experience and perception of environment.

Various studies have explored some aspects of materiality. “The Physiological effects of Shinrin-yoku” iv entailed
biofeedback experiments demonstrating that a natural environment (a forest) was more physiologically relaxing
than an urban cityscape. Students at the Tokyo Institute of Technologyv created a virtual walk-through among
high-rise buildings to understand how different architectural treatments could help reduce feelings of oppression.
“Touching Materials Visually”vi revealed that tactile assessments of material samples could significantly alter
perceptions gathered from visual assessments. Each study suggests a different potential of material’s influence,
but we are proposing a new, all-encompassing procedure. We propose an experiment that would include
various categories of materials, each category within its own virtual environment which the seated participant
would evaluate through verbal description, vision, and touch. In the latter case he would be asked to reach out
and “touch” a virtual wall while a research assistant held up a correlating physical material sample, providing
the participant with the illusion of touching a “real” surface within the virtual simulation. Biofeedback monitoring
could be used in combination with functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) to evaluate the potential for
embodied simulation in visuotactile mirroring mechanismsvii. Our expectation is that an experiment of this caliber
could reveal the biological impact of material on Man and his spatial experience in a way which has not been
previously done, and therefore could have powerful ramifications on how we approach architectural design in
the future.

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Figure 1: There could be four categories of materials: NATURAL (wood, brick—suggesting a raw, “earthy” origin), MIXED
(plaster, concrete—suggesting the human gestures of a craftsman), MANUFACTURED (steel, glass—suggesting an artificial
origin), and GARISH (shag carpet and short carpet with intentionally “ugly” choices of color and pattern, chosen with the
intention to provoke a negative response for means of data comparison).

Figures 2a-2c: Begin and end the sequence with a “neutral” space,
and have each tested room alternated by a “neutral” hallway. The
actual “movement” through the sequence would be a predetermined
path of travel created within the simulation, activated by a
researcher with the click of a button. There would be three “Stopping
Points” in each room: VISUAL Assessment (near the entry point; a
comprehensive “first impression” of the overall space), TACTILE
Assessment One (touching the first wall + material) and TACTILE
Assessment Two (touching the second wall + material). At each
stopping point, the participant will answer a scripted list of questions
which will ask him to describe the environment by choosing between
offered adjectives (e.g. Warm or Cold? Friendly or Aggressive?)

Figure 3: The proper use of lighting would be important in the setup. An unobtrusive light
source within each virtual testing room would have to be determined—imagined here as a
neutral panel suspended from the ceiling. Lighting should also be carefully paired with each
material category; for example: NATURAL with daylight temperature (5000K-6500K),
MIXED with a soft fluorescent tone (2700K-3000K), MANUFACTURED and GARISH with a
cool incandescent light (3500K-4100K). We imagine a setup in which the brightness would
vary with the movement through the sequence: each room would be darkened until the
participant “approaches”, and as he enters the space the light would slowly rise (and then
dim when he exits).

i
Pallasmaa, Juhani. (2005). The eyes of the skin: Architecture and the senses. London, UK: Wiley-Academy.
ii
Goins, J.; Jellema, J.; & Zhang, H. Architectural enclosure's effect on office worker performance: A comparison of the
REFERENCES: physical and symbolic attributes of workspace dividers. ScienceDirect, (2009)
i
iii
Anderson, Barton L. "Visual perception of materials and surfaces." Current Biology 21, no. 24 (2011).
Pallasmaa,iv Juhani. (2005). The eyes of the skin: Architecture and the senses. London, UK: Wiley-Academy.
ii
Park, B.J.; Tsunetsugu, Y.; Ishii, H.; Furuhashi, S.; Hirano, Hideki; Kagawa, T.; & Miyazaki, Y. Physiological effects of
Goins, J.; Jellema, J.; & Zhang, H. Architectural enclosure’s effect on office worker performance: A comparison of the physical and symbolic
attributes of workspace(taking
Shinrin-yoku in the
dividers. atmosphere(2009)
ScienceDirect, of the forest) in a mixed forest in Shinano Town, Japan. (2008). Scandinavian
iii Journey of Forest Research Vol. 23,
Anderson, Barton L. “Visual perception of materials Iss. 3. and surfaces.” Current Biology 21, no. 24 (2011).
iv
v
Soeda, Masashi; Ohno, Ryuzo; Ryu, Jaeho;
Park, B.J.; Tsunetsugu, Y.; Ishii, H.; Furuhashi, S.; Hirano, Hashimoto, Naoki (2003).
Hideki; Kagawa, The effects
T.; & Miyazaki, of architectural
Y. Physiological treatments
effects on (taking in the
of Shinrin-yoku
atmosphere reducing
of the oppressed
forest) in a feelings caused
mixed forest by high-rise
in Shinano Town,buildings. Proceedings
Japan. (2008). of HCI Journey
Scandinavian International 2003,
of Forest Vol. 4. Vol. 23, Iss. 3.
Research
v vi
Wastiels,
Soeda, Masashi; Lisa;Ryuzo;
Ohno, Schifferstain, Hendrick
Ryu, Jaeho; N.J.; Wouters,
Hashimoto, Ine; &
Naoki (2003). Heylighen,
The effects ofAnne. (2013). treatments
architectural Touching materials visually:
on reducing oppressed feelings
caused by high-rise buildings. Proceedings of HCI International 2003, Vol. 4.
About the dominance of vision in building material assessment. International Journal of Design, 7(2), 31-41.
vi
Wastiels,vii
Lisa; Schifferstain, Hendrick N.J.; Wouters, Ine; & Heylighen, Anne. (2013). Touching materials visually: About the dominance of vision
Ebisch, assessment.
in building material Sjoerd J. H.,International
et al. “The Sense of Touch:
Journal Embodied
of Design, Simulation in a Visuotactile Mirroring Mechanism for
7(2), 31-41.
vii Observed Animate or Inanimate Touch.” Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience,
Ebisch, Sjoerd J. H., et al. “The Sense of Touch: Embodied Simulation in a Visuotactile vol. 20,
Mirroring no. 9, 2008
Mechanism for Observed Animate or Inanimate
Touch.” Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, vol. 20, no. 9, 2008

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 ACADEMY OF NEUROSCIENCE FOR ARCHITECTURE

Intentional Designs of Classrooms Support Student Behavioral

Changes in Academic Engagement Experiences |
SigniMcant Findings
Lennie Scott-Webber, PhD

ABSTRACT:

Evidence suggests the design of active learning educational spaces make a difference in student learning
outcomes. Yet this evidence has been primarily garnered in higher educational settings, and no one survey
instrument has been developed to measure perceived changes in student academic engagement behaviors
by both the students themselves and the educators teaching in them. Thus, our multi-disciplinary research team
is working to establish a statistically reliable and valid survey instrument for use in post building occupancy for
schools housing students and educators in grades nine to twelve. A Student Engagement Index© (SEI) is being
developed. Our research question is, “Can we demonstrate that the design of the built environment for grades
9-12 impacts student academic engagement levels?” This research is the second trial of the instrument, and the
convenience sample was four high schools in the USA. Both students and educators self reported on a variety of
questions gauging the impact of behavioral changes in students’ academic engagement levels. Findings had
strong indicators showing the buildings’ design makes a statistically signiMcant difference in these levels. Results
were excellent on reliability and have convergent validity, with the exception of the last two questions – to be
reworked in the Mnal iteration. Statistical evidence from students and educators across all schools, grades, and
genders showed that in fact the buildings’ designs impact their academic engagement levels (p<.0001). When
active learning is used as a strategy, in a setting that is designed to support this strategy, students recognize
the impact as a positive. Seen as a real effect, all respondents acknowledged that the physical environment
impacted engagement in their teaching and learning practices (p<.0001). This SEI tool upon completion may be
used consistently post-occupancy to measure this type of student success.

REFERENCES:

Barrett, P., Davies, F., Zhang, Y., & Barrett, L. (2017). Vol. 49(4), pp. 425-451. UK: Sage Publications.

Granito, V.J., & Santana, M.E. (2016). Psychology of learning spaces: Impact on teaching and learning. Journal
of Learning Spaces. Vol. 5(1), pp.1-8.

Lewinski, P. (2015). Effects of classrooms’ architecture on academic performance in view of telic versus paratelic
motication: a review. Frontiers in Psychology, 6:746.

Martin-Kniep, G.O. (2013). Neuroscience of engagement and SCARF: why they matter to schools. In Handbook
of Neuroleadership, (Eds. D. Rock & A. H. Ringleb, 2013). NY: NeuroLeadership Institute. pp 507-524. From http://
lciltd.org/WebsitePublications/HandbookNeuroleadership_EngagementArticleGMK.p df

Nissim, Y., Weissblueth, E., Scott-Webber, L. & Amar, S. (2016). The effect of a new stimulating learning environment
on pre-service teachers’ motivation and 21st century skills. Journal of Education and Learning: Vol. 5, No. 3. pp.

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29-39.

Scott-Webber, L., Konyndyk, R., French, R., Lembke, J., & Kinney, T. (2017). Spatial design makes a difference in
student academic engagement levels: A pilot study for grades 9-12. European ScientiMc Journal. 13(16), ISSN:
1857-7881.

Scott-Webber, L., Strickland, A. & Kapitula, L. (2013). Built environments impact behaviors | Results of an AL-POE.
Planning for Higher Education Journal. MI: Society for College and University Planning, pp 16-34.

Scott-Webber, L., Marini, M., & Abraham, J. (Spring, 2000). Higher education classrooms fail to meet needs of
faculty and students. Journal of Interior Design, 26, (1), 16-34.

Wills, J. (2007, Summer). Engaging the whole child. The neuroscience of joyful education. Educational Leadership
Online, Vol. 64. From http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational-leadership/summer07/vol64/num09/The-
Neuroscience-of-Joyful-Education.aspx

AUTHOR BIO:

Lennie Scott-Webber, PhD, Owner/Principal

INSYNC: Education Research + Design, NCIDQ, AIA Akliate [AIA/CAE + Research Think Tank
Member]
https://independent.academia.edu/LennieScottWebber

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 ACADEMY OF NEUROSCIENCE FOR ARCHITECTURE

Comparing Physiological Responses to Modes of Spatial

Representation
Jennifer A. E. Shields, AIA
Assistant Professor of Architecture, California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo

Tiff Thompson, PhD

Marriage and Family Therapist, Santa Barbara, CA

ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND. Architects design with a range of 2D modalities including rough sketches, precise line drawings,
and renderings from digital models. The resulting built works are new configurations of spaces and forms, which
humans respond to physiologically. But how does the built work compare with its earlier representations? This
project aims to relate physiological responses in the embodied experience of the built space with the responses
evoked when looking at architectural representations. Our research questions include: Do viewers consistently
respond, physiologically, to the same modalities? Can physiological response to a drawing predict response to
the built space?

METHODOLOGY. This project has produced two pilot studies investigating the relationship between 2D
representations of 3D space and physiological response. Building on the research paradigm of Scene
Perception (Rensink, 2000), researchers have been interested in how designers look at scenes. Experiments
typically present the scene on a computer screen, allowing for a high level of control over variables of
the scene (Holmqvist, 2011). Our initial pilot studies follow this methodology. Our first pilot study was a
comparative study, in which architecture students at UNC- Charlotte and Harbin University in China were asked
to look at two modalities of representation: a perspectival line drawing and a photograph of the built
space. Optical tracking recorded eye movement. A second pilot study attempted to replicate this with
architecture students at Cal Poly, and collected EEG data in addition to eye tracking data.

OUTCOME. Results suggest that there are statistically significant differences in how the spaces are looked at in a
drawing as compared with a photograph. Results from both pilot studies show that participants spent more
time looking at the area of the drawing with the greatest graphical complexity (density of linework), while they
spent more time looking at the area of the photograph with the greatest spatial complexity. This study helped
us to determine the equipment appropriate for data collection, and to develop a protocol for both the study
and the data analysis, utilizing a MANOVA method.

FURTHER RESEARCH. We will be conducting an expanded study in which we ask: Do emotional response
differences parallel these visual behavior differences? This will be measured with EEG, Skin Conductance
Response, and Heart Rate Variability, in addition to eye tracking. This study will be constrained to 2D
representations of space. We intend to then expand the study to include the embodied experience of space.
An anticipated outcome of a future large-scale study would be the identification of representation modalities
that correlate with the embodied architectural experience.

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REFERENCES:
Arnheim, R. 1977. The Dynamics of Architectural Form, Berkeley: University of California Press. Blume W., Kaibara,
M., & Young, G. 2002. Atlas of adult electroencephalography (2nd ed.). New York, NY: Lippincott Williams
Wilkins.

Buzsaki, G. 2006. Rhythms of the brain. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.

Gibson, J.J. 1986. The Ecological Approach to Visual Perception. New York: Psychology Press. Holmqvist, K. et al.
2015. Eye Tracking: A comprehensive guide to methods and measures. New York: Oxford University Press.

Kaufman, L. & Richard, W.: 1969, Spontaneous fixation tendencies for visual forms, Perception and
Psychophysics, 5, 85-88.
Rensink, R.A., 2000. The Dynamic Representation of Scenes. Visual Cognition, 7(1-3), pp.17–42.

Rentfrow, P. J., Gosling, S. D., & Potter, J. (2008). A theory of the emergence, persistence, and expression of
geographic variation in psychological characteristics. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 3(5), 339-369.

AUTHOR BIOS:
JENNIFER A. E. SHIELDS, AIA, is an assistant professor of architecture at California Polytechnic State University in
San Luis Obispo and a practicing architect with flux Design. Her research, design, and pedagogy focus
on issues of architectural perception and representation. Her first book, Collage and Architecture, was
published by Routledge in 2014. Currently, her research employs eye tracking and EEG technologies to
compare how we perceive architectural space across representation modalities, including line drawings,
renderings, and photographs. She earned both her Bachelor of Science in Architecture and Master of
Architecture degrees from the University of Virginia.

TIFF THOMPSON, PhD, is a Marriage and Family Therapist, a board certified Neurotherapist, a Registered EEG
Technician license (a medical credential bestowed by the American Society of Electrodiagnostic Technicians),
and a Quantitative EEG Diplomate from the Quantitative EEG Certification Board. She owns and runs Neurofield
Neurotherapy with her husband and business partner, Dr. Nicholas Dogris. She has composed research on the
intersection of EEG and psychodynamic theories of consciousness and is currently researching the profile of
Grief in EEG, as well as the application of neurostimulation on various pathological states.

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 ACADEMY OF NEUROSCIENCE FOR ARCHITECTURE

Implementation of Neurofeedback Paradigms to the Generation of

Design & Architectural Features
Nastaran Shishegar, Ph.D. Student

ABSTRACT:

Sleep disorders and poor sleep quality are extremely common among older adults and inruences up to 50
percent of individuals over the age of 65. Poor sleep quality among older adults is associated with higher risk of
heart disease, memory and cognitive impairment, depression, anxiety, falls, and accident (Al-Jawad et al., 2007).
These will result to poor quality of life. Therefore, sleep quality has been demonstrated as one of the main factors
in affecting quality of life among older population (Dam et al., 2008). With life expectancy rising, the number of
individuals suffer from poor sleep quality will increase in future years; yet no effective and applicable solution
have been found. Proper lighting condition is one of the non-pharmacological solutions that can improve sleep
quality of individuals including older adults (Friedman et, 2009; Sloane et al., 2014). In fact, light is the main
stimulus for synchronizing the circadian rhythms (biological clock) and hence it impacts sleep quality. The best
lighting source to improve circadian rhythms is the one that provides individuals with exposure to light with the
right spectra and intensity at the right time (Figueiro et al., 2015). Timing and duration of exposure are two light
characteristics that are usually not taken into account in the process of lighting design. The main purpose of this
concept paper is to describe an ongoing research project on the impacts of a 24-hour lighting schedule with
varying illumination and Correlated Color Temperature (CCT) on older adults’ sleep quality, mood, cognitive
performance, and quality of life. This will be an A-B-A study with quasi-experimental design that employs wrist
actigraphy and standard questionnaires to measure objective and subjective sleep quality as well as subjective
mood, cognitive performance, and quality of life of older adults before, during, and after a 2-week lighting
intervention. We hypnotize that daily exposure to an ambient lighting with varying illumination and CCT will
improve sleep quality, mood, and cognitive performance of older adults which results in better outcomes for
quality of life.

REFERENCES:

Al-Jawad, M., Rashid, A. K., & Narayan, K. A. (2007). Prevalence of undetected cognitive impairment and
depression in residents of an elderly care home. Medical Journal of Malaysia, 62(5), 375–379.

Dam, T. T. L., Ewing, S., Ancoli-Israel, S., Ensrud, K., Redline, S., & Stone, K. (2008). Association between sleep and
physical function in older men: the osteoporotic fractures in men sleep study. Journal of the American Geriatrics
Society, 56(9), 1665-1673.

Figueiro, M. G., Hunter, C. M., Higgins, P. A., Hornick, T. R., Jones, G. E., Plitnick, B., ... Rea, M. S. (2015). Tailored
lighting intervention for persons with dementia and caregivers living at home. Sleep Health, 1(4), 322–330. https://
doi.org/10.1016/j.sleh.2015.09.003

Friedman, L., Zeitzer, J. M., Kushida, C., Zhdanova, I., Noda, A., Lee, T., ... Yesavage, J. A. (2009). Scheduled bright
light for treatment of insomnia in older adults. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, 57(3), 441–452. https://
doi.org/10.1111/j.1532- 5415.2008.02164.x

Sloane, P. D., Figueiro, M., Garg, S., Cohen, L. W., Reed, D., Williams, C. S., ... Zimmerman, S. (2014). Effect of home-
based light treatment on persons with dementia and their caregivers. Lighting Research and Technology, 47,
1–16. https://doi.org/10.1177/1477153513517255

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AUTHOR BIO:

NASTARAN SHISHEGAR, Ph.D. Student; Mohamed Boubekri, Ph.D., Professor

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

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 ACADEMY OF NEUROSCIENCE FOR ARCHITECTURE

HOW FRANK LLOYD WRIGHT USED FUNDAMENTAL MECHANISMS OF

PERCEPTION TO GENERATE HIS UNIQUELY POWERFUL AESTHETICS
John H. Shoaff, June 28, 2018

ABSTRACT:

Frank Lloyd Wright insisted that a most “severe” discipline, by which his designs emerged from “The
differentiation of a single, certain, simple form”, was responsible for “such vitality, integrity, and magic as [his
buildings] have” (FLlW, An American Architecture, 17-52). He urged followers to find its “basic principles” in his
buildings—but never explained them with more than a few cryptic aphorisms.
This presentation reveals by case studies the differentiation process in action; suggests an explanation for its
powerful aesthetic consequences that is based on recent theories in the visual sciences; and, finally, argues
that the discipline and its aesthetic consequences provide tangible evidence for a theory of aesthetics, one
based on the principle of maximum aesthetic impact derived from least effort.
For the first time in print (to my knowledge), this presentation graphically demonstrates, by analyses of his plans,
how “the differentiation” unfolds by the multiplication and rescaling of a simple, symmetrical form to generate
other forms that overlap and interweave, in accordance with their shared axes of symmetry. These forms retain
their integrity, remaining pleasingly simple and aesthetically rewarding even when woven into the fabric of an
elaborate design in which they are “nested.” The forms can retain their integrity because they overlap in time;
the process is dynamic; the forms the percept exists in a duration of time as well as in space.
I then show how Wright’s forms, in their development about axes of symmetry and in their modular organization,
share essential characteristics of the object-centered coordinate primitives with which, the late MIT scientist
David Marr theorized (DM, Vision, 295-328), the eye and brain begin the process of recognizing forms. In Marr’s
formulation, large primitives encompassing the spatial distribution of a whole form combine with small primitives
that begin to articulate its components; both are retained in the final percept, the combination, as it does in
Wright’s works, allowing apprehension of the details while maintaining stability for the whole.
Marr’s primitives begin what will be an elaborate process if there is to be full delineation of their object;
but freed of this requirement, Wright’s primitives remain limited to their simple formal beginnings and their
development dominated by manipulations about their axial symmetries. With these limited means, but with
great sensitivity, inventiveness, and discipline, he generates a virtually limitless variety of rich, complex, but
harmonious forms.
His method and its success, I argue, supports a time-honored, if often casually articulated Theory of Aesthetics
that connects visual science and art. In a determined search for simplicity, Wright intuitively went to the heart
of the perceptual process itself, and thereby he reaped the reward of great riches from the simplest means—
achieving maximum effect from least effort: here in a nutshell is restated a well known theory of aesthetics
variously stated as ‘unity in variety’, or of the greatest multiplicity of effect from the simplest of means. (Wright
himself expressed it metaphorically when he wrote of Beethoven’s 5th Symphony: “Supreme imagination
reared...four repeated tones, simple rhythms, into a great symphonic poem that is probably the noblest thought
built edifice in our world.”) The formulation was given a rigorous treatment in the 1920s by the important
mathematician George Birkhoff. After taking care to differentiate between aesthetic feeling due to the direct
sensory experience of an object, to which his theory applies, and aesthetic feeling engendered by associations
that attach to the object, to which it does not, Birkhoff argued that Aesthetic measure M equals the art
object’s “harmony, symmetry, or order O”, divided by complexity
C:M = O/C.
(Because “Order”, which he referred to as “the density of order relations in the aesthetic object” is the
numerator, and “complexity” the denominator, the less the complexity and the greater the density of order, the
greater the aesthetic satisfaction.) Birkhoff assumed the level of complexity would correlate in some manner
with the level of physiological effort required to process the perceived forms; but for a fuller explanation he
lacked the knowledge we now have about the neuronal means and psychological devices by which the
eye and brain generate perception. Now perhaps we can pursue his formula with hope of giving it a secure
foundation.

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For the architect, this connection of perception theory to Frank Lloyd Wright’s method offers a discipline by which
the architect can improve his skills. For the scientist, it offers aesthetic experience as a new source of insights for
his exploration of the visual process. Aesthetic experience of course is inherently individual and not susceptible to
the kind of verification needed for scientific proof; but it can reinforce discoveries already made, and should be
able to lead the scientist along pathways that will lead to insights provable by other means.
Fuller exploration of Wright’s works reveal how he achieves economies of expression by employing other well-
known visual mechanisms: for example, the completion of implied forms, a la the Kanizsa triangle, and the
phenomenon of grouping. The clever ways in which he interweaves asymmetry and symmetry teaches lessons
that may suggest a powerful role for symmetry in the the perceptual process; and the expressive power in his
uses of repetition may suggest a powerful role for top down processing. What I have presented here I hope is the
beginning—at least for me—of further explorations that will build a bridge between neuroscience and the arts
that can be crossed in both directions, to the further understanding and enrichment of both sides.

REFERENCES:

Frank Lloyd Wright, An American Architecture. Ed. Edgar Kaufmann, Pomegranate Communications, Inc.,
Petaluma CA, revised edition 1998.
Frank Lloyd Wright, The Natural House, Horizon Press Inc., New York, 1954. 1957.
Frank Lloyd Wright, A Testament, Bramhall House, New York,
Frank Lloyd Wright, The Complete Works, Volumes 1-3, Taschen, 2009
David Marr, Vision, W.H. Freeman and Company, New York, 1982.
George David Birkhoff, “Mathematics of Aesthetics”, p. 2185 ff., in The World of Mathematics Volume Four,
James R. Newman ed.,
Simon and Schuster, New York 1956.
Stephen E. Palmer, Vision Science, The MIT Press, Cambridge, MA, 1999
Irving Biederman, “Visual Object Recognition”, pp.121-166, in Visual Cognition, 2nd Edition, Volume 2, Daniel
Osherson ed.,
The MIT Press, Cambridge, MA, 1995
Steven Pinker, How the Mind Works, W.W.Norton and Company, New York, 1997.

AUTHOR BIOS:

John H. Shoaff, AIA, Architect

[email protected] 4646 W. Jefferson Boulevard, Fort Wayne, Indiana 46804
cell: 260 413 6076

John Shoaff is an architect practicing in Indiana and Michigan.

Educational Background:
Williams College, B.A. 1962
Harvard Law School, 1962-1963
Rhode Island School of Design, summer 1963
Yale University, School of Architecture, M.Arch. 1969

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 ACADEMY OF NEUROSCIENCE FOR ARCHITECTURE

EEG Monitoring of User Experience in Controlled Virtual Environments:

Emerging Methodology to Inform Design Decision-Making
Madlen Simon AIA and Ming Hu AIA

ABSTRACT:

When we experience the built environment, we often do this in rich settings where we can use many cues to
understand what we are experiencing. However, it has traditionally been difficult to figure out which design
features or design strategies are most effective and which are less so, due to the complexity and multiple
distractions in the real world. The predominant tools for evaluation of built environment features have been
user response surveys and expert panel scoring, applied to actual environments or to visual representations of
urban environments in drawing or model form (Nasar 1994, Ewing and Handy 2009, Adkins et al 2012). Here we
propose to test the validity of combining electroencephalography (EEG) and virtual reality (VR) to overcome the
problem of confounding variables in real environments or their representations and to elicit actual user responses
in real time. This research combines a neuroscientific technology with an emerging design technology to record
electrophysiological brain activity of participants in a well-controlled three-dimensional virtual audiovisual
environment. Experimental subjects will be immersed in three different virtual urban settings while wearing
EEG equipment. A device called Emotive EPOC Insight, a low-cost mobile EEG recorder, will be employed to
monitor the brain activities. This device measures six dimensions of user experience - Excitement (Arousal), Interest
(Valence), Stress (Frustration), Engagement/Boredom, Attention (Focus) and Meditation (Relaxation) (Emotiv
website). Outfitted with this recording device, experiment subjects will encounter a set of virtual design features,
such as sidewalks, storefront, urban landscape. Brain activities will be recorded and analyzed to identify the
reaction pattern toward certain design elements and sequences. The aim of this research project is to develop
a methodology using physiological, rather than user-reported, responses for evaluation of built environment
design features. This research builds upon emerging studies using EEG in the study of human behavior in outdoor
environments (Mavros et al 2016), and extends the research by studying the potential for application to design
decision-making.

REFERENCES:
Adkins, A., Dill, J., Luhr, G., and Neal, M., 2012. “Unpacking Walkability: Testing the Influence of Urban Design
Features on Perceptions of Walking Environment Attractiveness” Journal of Urban Design Vol. 17, Iss. 4

Emotiv website, “The Science” https://www.emotiv.com/the-science/ accessed 2/8/18.

Ewing, R., and Handy, S., 2009. “Measuring the Unmeasurable: Urban Design Qualities Related to Walkability”
Journal of Urban Design v14 n1 (February 2009): 65-84

Mavros, P., Austwick, M.Z., and Smith, A.H., 2016. “Geo-EEG: Towards the Use of EEG in the Study of Urban
Behaviour” Applied Spatial Analysis and Policy v9 n2 (201606): 191-212.

Nasar, J.L., 1994. “Urban Design Aesthetics: the Evaluative Qualities of Building Exteriors” Environment and
Behavior; Beverly Hills, Calif. Vol. 26, Iss. 3, (May 1, 1994): 377

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AUTHOR BIOS:

Madlen Simon AIA

Associate Professor and Associate Dean
School of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation
University of Maryland
3835 Campus Drive
College Park, MD 20742
[email protected]
202-330-2912
http://www.arch.umd.edu/arch/faculty/madlen-simon

MADLEN SIMON AIA is an Associate Professor of Architecture at the University of Maryland’s School of Architecture,
Planning, and Preservation and a registered architect. Professor Simon’s scholarship, research, and creative
practice are in the area of design – design thinking, design process, design education, design of buildings,
and the application of design to issues in the area of environment and behavior. Her architectural design work
includes over 50 built projects for private and corporate clients plus planning studies for community organizations
and institutions. She presents her research and design work at conferences including ANFA, the Association
of Collegiate Schools of Architecture (ACSA), the Architectural Research Centers Consortium (ARCC), and
International Making Cities Livable (IMCL). The present research draws upon and extends Simon’s research in the
area of design decision-making by bringing neuro-science techniques to the study of human response to specific
aspects of urban form.

Ming Hu AIA
Assistant Professor
School of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation
University of Maryland
3835 Campus Drive
College Park, MD 20742
[email protected]
301-405-4386
http://www.arch.umd.edu/arch/faculty/ming-hu

MING HU is an Assistant Professor at School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation, University of Maryland,
College Park, affiliate faculty in the National Center for Smart Growth. She teaches technology courses focus on
the integration of architectural design with structural, materials and building performance assessment. She is an
architectural practitioner, educator and researcher with vast experience in high-performance building design,
lifecycle assessment and building performance measurement and benchmarking. She has more than fourteen
years’ experience working on international high-profile projects with HOK from the firm’s Washington, D.C. office.
Her background includes training in the architectural discipline and years of practice across disciplines, which
gives her a unique perspective and ability to weave these fields together in her research.

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 ACADEMY OF NEUROSCIENCE FOR ARCHITECTURE

Architecture, Psychology and Cognitive Functions in Confined

Spaces:
Comfort, Appropriation and Habitability

Skantzi, Rengina-Theodora, main author, [email protected]

Dr. Oungrinis, Konstantinos-Alketas, co-author, [email protected]

ABSTRACT:

The presented research was done in the context of a diploma research project by Theodora-Rengina Skantzi, at
the Architectural Engineering Department of the Technical University of Crete.

The scope was to pursue greater insight on the psychological implications occurred when living in confined spaces
and address these issues through the specific spatial interventions that can mitigate the negative symptoms,
through an interdisciplinary framework, based on Psychology and Architecture.

What does comfort and appropriation mean in a confined living space? Living at a time when the available urban
living space continuously decreases and people are called to live in increasingly smaller homes, it is essential to
research and develop strategies and intervention methodologies that can increase qualitative factors, which
enhance the sense of comfort and appropriation.

This specific research is the first step of a longitudinal study to achieve the aforementioned goals, conducted
through literature review combined with a field research on the crew of a submarine crew. The presentation
includes the data found through the quantitative survey on the reports of the submarine crew, and is examined
in conjunction with the visual analysis of the spatial characteristics identified from the on-site research in the
submarine of the Greek Navy. The information was gathered through a questionnaire distributed to participating
crew and the observation protocols set up for this research. The results of this pilot case study helped significantly
to clarify the issues that must be addressed, as well as identify potential counter- measures.

From the initial conclusions of the field research, the project moved towards a proposal that gave emphasis on
spatial qualities such as visual “temperature”, intensity and color of light, audio landscape, tactile textures and
generally spatial features/characteristics that contribute to the sensation of the habitation archetype. A rough
retrofitting framework was produced that led to a proposal of a different type of utilization of submarine chassis.
The proposal presents an alternative use of a submarine, as a novel habitation “nest” , focusing in the design of
spaces that exhibit the qualitative elements of “place”, using narrow spaces as an advantage.

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 ANFA 2018 CONFERENCE

REFERENCES:

Canter, D. (1970). Architectural psychology. London: Royal Institute of British Architects.

Craik, K. H. (1973). Environmental psychology. Annual Review of Psychology, 24,

http://www.annualreviews.org/doi/pdf/10.1146/annurev.ps.24.020173.002155

Harrison, A. (2010). Humanizing outer space: architecture, habitability, and behavioral health. Acta
Astronautica 66

Harrison, A.A. (2005). Behavioral health: integrating research and application in support of
exploration missions. Aviation, Space and Environmental Medicine 76(6) http://docserver.
ingentaconnect.com/deliver/connect/asma/00956562/v76n6x1/s2.pdf?expires=1475433241&id=8
8767713&titleid=8218&accname=ANKARA+UNIVERSITESI+KUTUPHANE+VE+DOKUMANTASYON+DA
IRESI+BASKANLIGI&checksum=A2F00A7B3E719CD1E4CCE2FF06ECC574

Seligman, M.E.P. (1998). What is the ‘good life’? / Suedfeld, P. & Steel, G. D. (2000). The environmental
psychology of capsule habitats. Annu. Rev. Psycho.

Steel, G. D. (2005). Whole lot of parts: Stress in extreme environments. Aviation, Space, and Environmental
Medicine

Suedfeld, P. & Steel, G.D. (2000). The environmental psychology of Capsule habitats. Annu. Rev. Psychol.

AUTHOR BIOS:
SKANTZI RENGINA-THEODORA: main author. Architect Engineer, Researcher at the Department of Architectural Engineering,
TU Crete Lab, Mental Health Councelor and Volunteer in Humanitarian Activities

DR. OUNGRINIS, KONSTANTINOS-ALKETAS, Lab Director, Department of Architectural Engineering, TU Crete

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 ACADEMY OF NEUROSCIENCE FOR ARCHITECTURE

A Culture of Experimentation: From the Torrey Pines Living Lab to

Emerging Neuro-Architecture Lab
Matt Smith, Upali Nanda, Eduardo Macagno, Thom Greving

ABSTRACT:

An owner, a professor of neuroscience, an architect and a researcher in practice will come together to discuss
how a real-life project situated in a university setting, can become a testing ground for neuro-architecture
hypothesis.

North Torrey Pines Living and Learning Neighborhood is a 1.6 million GSF project currently in design at UC San Diego.
It will be the new home for Sixth College, including housing, academic buildings, retail, dining, administration,
a crat center, parking, residential life and public realm improvements. The project enhancements included
research in the scope of work, in addition to the Detailed Project Program and design competition. Construction
begins June 2018. Once completed in 2020, students will move from the old buildings to these new buildings,
which provide the rare opportunity for a longitudinal study in real-life settings. This live-learn community will seek
to constantly learn and evolve, serving as a living lab—that is “a user-centered, open-innovation ecosystem ...
integrating concurrent research and innovation processes... ”[1].

Some high-level conclusions on changes from current to future state may be possible; however, many
environmental variables change between an old and new building, making causation (a direct cause-effect
relationship between architectural features and human brain/behavior) difficult to establish.

In this study, there exists an opportunity to narrow down some key hypothesis from the “living lab” and test them
in a new neuro-architecture test lab. By measuring participants’ physiological and neurological responses to
the new built environment, data can be obtained to support (or not) some design concepts. For example,
gaze monitoring can reveal dwell time and therefore feature interest and physiological/neurological activity
can reveal effects on stress and attention. Data can be gathered through wearable instruments in the real
environment or in VR, which allows more experimentation.

This project is a prototype project- that is just in its beginning stages – which will explore how the practice of
architecture can intersect with the structure of academia in innovative ways, ranging from real-life to lab-based
experiments, so that we can make meaningful (and actionable) contributions to the field of neuroarchitecture in
service of creating better environments for human beings.

REFERENCES:

[1] RETRIEVED FROM: HTTPS://EN.WIKIPEDIA.ORG/WIKI/LIVING_LAB

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 ANFA 2018 CONFERENCE

AUTHOR BIO:

MATTHEW SMITH, RA, NCARB, LEED®AP, EDAC

After Graduating in 2001 from Virginia Tech College of Architecture, Matthew moved to California and has
since practiced Architecture in San Diego, with some time spent in San Francisco. Healthcare and Civic projects
have been his primary focus, and he has endeavored to incorporate sustainable principals as well as Evidence
Based design tenets into public spaces and healing environments. In 2013, he joined UC San Diego as a Principal
Architect, looking to help develop a thriving Capital program, and engage the vibrant academic and research
environment

UPALI NANDA, Ph.D., Assoc. AIA, EDAC

Dr. Upali Nanda is Director of Research for HKS, a global architectural firm. She is responsible for spearheading
and implementing research projects globally. She also serves as the Executive Director for the non-profit Center
for Advanced Design Research and Education. Her doctoral work on “Sensthetics” has been published as a book
available on Amazon.com, and she has published extensively in peer-reviewed journals and main stream media.
Widely published and quoted, her research has been awarded the European Healthcare Design Research Award
and two Environmental Design Research Association (EDRA) CORE awards. In 2015, Dr. Nanda was recognized
as one of the top 10 most influential people in Healthcare Design by the Healthcare Design Magazine. Most
recently, she was honored by Architectural Record with the 2018 Women in Architecture Innovator Award.

EDUARDO MACAGNO, Ph.D.

Dr. Macagno is Distinguished Professor in the Division of Biological Sciences at UC San Diego. After receiving his
Ph.D. in Physics at Columbia University in 1968, he shifted to research in Neuroscience during postdoctoral training.
He joined the Biological Sciences faculty at Columbia in 1973 and became full professor in 1985, chair of the
Department of Biological Sciences in 1990, and Dean of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences in 1993. In
2001, Macagno moved to UC San Diego as Founding Dean of Biology, a position he held until 2006, when he
returned to the faculty full time. His current research interests include neural development and regeneration,
particularly the formation of synaptic circuits. Since arriving at UCSD, he has also initiated novel studies at the
interface between architecture and neuroscience using immersive 3D virtual reality approaches to study how
older and cognitively impaired humans interact with and navigate in the built environment. Macagno is a past
president of the Academy of Neuroscience for Architecture (ANFA) and presently serves on ANFA’s Board of
Directors.

Thom Greving, ARCHITECT

HKS Architects

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 IN TRANSITION ZONES OF AMSTERDAM-SOUTHEAST
ACADEMY OF NEUROSCIENCE
dr. Frank Suurenbroek FOR
and Gideon ARCHITECTURE
Spanjar Ph.D.
Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences
(AUAS), Faculty of Engineering, Research Program
Urban Technology and Research Program Urban
(Eye)Tracking Users’ Patterns:
Management, The Netherlands, Europe
Visual Experience and Choice Behavior in Transition Zones of
Amsterdam-Southeast
1. ABSTRACT Dr. Frank Suurenbroek and Gideon Spanjar Ph.D.
Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences (AUAS), Faculty of Engineering, Research Program Urban Technology
and Research Program Urban Management, The Netherlands, Europe
Over the next 10 years, the City of Amsterdam plans to develop major housing schemes to
provide 90,000 new homes within the existing urban fabric. At the same time, an urban
ABSTRACT:
renewal program is being launched to revitalize the most deprived neighbourhoods.
Together, these challenges call for more evidence based design-principles to secure liveable
Over the next
places. 10 years,
Recent the City ofinAmsterdam
development neuroscience,plansprovides
to develop major housing
innovative toolsschemes
to examineprovide
in a90,000 new
homes within the existing urban fabric. At the same time, an urban renewal program
measurable, cause-effect way, the relationships between the physical fabric, users’ (visual) is being launched to
revitalize the most deprived neighbourhoods. Together, these challenges call for more evidence based design-
experience and their behavior in public spaces. In neuroscience, eye-tracking technology
principles to secure liveable places. Recent development in neuroscience, provides innovative tools to examine
in (ET) complements
a measurable, brain and
cause-effect behavioral
way, measures
the relationships (for overview
between seefabric,
the physical Eckstein et (visual)
users’ al. 2017).
experience
andET their
is already used
behavior to evaluate
in public spaces.the spatial orienting
In neuroscience, of attention,
eye-tracking behavioral
technology response and
(ET) complements brain and
behavioral
emotional and cognitive impact in neuroscience, psychology and market research (Popa et al. of
measures (for overview see Eckstein et al. 2017). ET is already used to evaluate the spatial orienting
attention,
2015). ET behavioral
may alsoresponse and
radically emotional
change the and
waycognitive impactand
we (re)design in neuroscience, psychology
thus, experience citiesand
(Sitamarket
et
research (Popa et al. 2015). ET may also radically change the way we (re)design and thus, experience cities (Sita
al. 2016; Andreani 2017). Until now, eye-tracking pilot studies collected eye fixation patterns
et al. 2016; Andreani 2017). Until now, eye-tracking pilot studies collected eye fixation patterns of architecture
of architecture
using using images
images in a lab-setting (Lebrun in2016).
a lab-setting (Lebrun 2016).
In our research project Sensing Streetscapes, we take eye-tracking outdoors and explore the potential ET may offer
forIncity
our research
design. project Sensing
In collaboration with theStreetscapes, we take eye-tracking
municipality of Amsterdam and the localoutdoors
community,and
the explore the
H-neighborhood
potential ET may offer for city design. In collaboration with the municipality of Amsterdam
is used as a single case study. The main focus for urban renewal lies in the “transition-spaces”. They connect the
neighborhood
and the local with the rapidly developing
community, adjacent areas
the H-neighborhood and are
is used asvital for improving
a single the weak
case study. The social-economic
main focus
status.
for urban renewal lies in the “transition-spaces”. They connect the neighborhood2014;
The commonly used design principles are validated (Alexander et al. 1977; Gehl 2011, withPallasmaa
the
2012) and the consistency of ET is tested, alongside (walk along) interviews and behavioral observations. In the
rapidly developing adjacent areas and are vital for improving the weak
next phase, the data will be analyzed by a panel of applied psychologists and urban designers.
social-economic
status. The commonly used design principles are validated (Alexander et al. 1977; Gehl 2011,
The initial results provide valuable lessons for the use of eye-tracking in urban design research. For example,
a 2014; Pallasmaa
visual pattern 2012)
analysis andmore
offers the consistency of ETofisthe
accurate images tested, alongside
spatial (walk
key-elements along)
that matter interviews
when moving
and behavioral
through observations.
transition spaces. In the nextcity
More sensory-based phase,
designthe data will
research be analyzed
is needed bya afullpanel
to gather of
understanding of
applied
the psychologists
relationships between and urban designers.
the configuration of space, users’ (visual) experience, behavioral responses and in
turn, perceptual decision making.
The 1initial
Figure – Gazeresults provide
plot from valuable
a single lessons
participant takenfor thetransition
in the use of zone
eye-tracking in urban
at the underpass designthe business
between
district and H-neighborhood.
research. For example, aEye fixation
visual on movement
pattern analysis(cars andmore
offers pedestrians),
accuratebalconies
images and
ofthe
thetop of buildings.
spatial
key-elements
Figure that matters
2 - The H-neighborhood in when moving
the southeast of through transition
Amsterdam. spaces.
Railways and Moreroads
elevated sensory-based
are barriers in socio-
spatial interaction. Despite these barriers, the advanced network of footpaths and strategic
city design research is needed to gather a full understanding of the relationships between location of the
H-neighborhood offers opportunities for revitalization.
the configuration of space, users’ (visual) experience, behavioral responses and in turn,
perceptual decision making.

Figure
Figure 1 – Gaze
1 – Gaze plota from
plot from single a single participant
participant taken in thetaken in the
transition zonetransition zone between
at the underpass at the underpass
the businessbetween the
district and business
H-neighborhood.
Eyedistrict and H-neighborhood. Eye fixation on movement (cars and pedestrians), balconies and the top of buildings.
fixation on movement (cars and pedestrians), balconies and the top of buildings.

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 ANFA 2018 CONFERENCE

a
are
ure
leis

ict
istr
sd
ines
bus

ret
ail a
rea

ood
orh
eighb
H-n

k
par

Figure 2 - The H-neighborhood in the southeast

Figure 2 - The H-neighborhood in theofsoutheast
Amsterdam. RailwaysRailways
of Amsterdam. and elevated roadsroads
and elevated are barriers in socio-spatial
are barriers in interaction. Despite
these barriers, the advanced
socio-spatial network Despite
interaction. of footpaths and strategic
these barriers, location
the advanced of the
network of H-neighborhood offers
footpaths and strategic opportunities
location of the for revitalization.
H-neighborhood offers opportunities for revitalization.
REFERENCES:
2. REFERENCES
Alexander, C., S. Ishikawa, M. Silverstein, M. Jacobson, I. Fiksdahl-King & S. Angel (1977), A Pattern Language: Towns,
Alexander, C., Buildings,
S. Ishikawa,Construction. Oxford: Oxford
M. Silverstein, University Press.
M. Jacobson, I. Fiksdahl-King & S. Angel (1977), A Pattern Language: Towns, Buildings,
Andreani, Oxford
Construction. Oxford: S. & A. Savegh (2017), Press.
University Augmented Urban Experiences. Technologically Enhanced Design Research Methods
for Revealing Hidden Qualities of the Built Environment, IAAC Active Public Space Conference Proceedings, 124-132.
Andreani, S. &Eckstein,
A. Savegh M.K., B.(2017), Augmented
Guerra-Carrillo, Urban
A.T.M. Singley Experiences.
& S.A. Technologically
Bunge (2017), “Beyond Enhanced
eye gaze: What else can eyeDesign
tracking Research Methods for
Revealing Hidden
revealQualities of the
about cognition andBuilt Environment,
cognitive development?” IAAC Active Public
In: Developmental Space
Cognitive Conference
Neuroscience, vol. 25,Proceedings,
pp. 69-91. 124-132.
Gehl J. (2011), Life Between Buildings: Using public space. Washington: Island Press.
Eckstein, M.K., B. Guerra-Carrillo, A.T.M. Singley & S.A. Bunge (2017), “Beyond eye gaze: What else can eye tracking reveal
Lebrun, C., A. Sussman, W, Crolius, G. van der Linde (2016), Eye tracking architecture: A Pilot Study of Buildings in
about cognition andSan
Boston. cognitive
Diego: ANFAdevelopment?” In: Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience, vol. 25, pp. 69-91.
2016, Conference Proceedings.
Pallasmaa, J. (2012), The eyes of the skin.
Gehl J. (2011), Life Between Buildings: Using public space. Chichester: JohnWashington:
Wiley & Sons. Island Press.
Popa, L., O. Selejan, A. Scott, D.F. Mureanu, M. Balea & A. Rafila (2015), “Reading beyond the glance: Eye tracking in
Lebrun, C., A. Sussman,
neurosciences.” W, In:
Crolius, G. vanvol.
Neurol Science, der Linde
36(5), (2016), Eye tracking architecture: A Pilot Study of Buildings in Boston. San
pp. 683-8.
Diego: ANFA 2016,
Sita, J.,Conference
C. McCarthy, E.Proceedings.
Parmehr & M. Amati (2016), How ‘eye-tracking’ could change our experience of cities: For better
or worse.The
Pallasmaa, J. (2012), London:
eyesTheof
Guardian.
the skin. Chichester: John Wiley & Sons.
Popa, L., O. Selejan,
3. AUTHORS A. BIO’S
Scott, D.F. Mureşanu, M. Balea & A. Rafila (2015), “Reading beyond the glance: Eye tracking in
neurosciences.”- dr.In: Neurol
Frank Science,
Suurenbroek vol. 36(5),
is Professor pp.Urban
of Spatial 683-8.
Transformation at the Faculty of Engineering at the AUAS. The
new research project Sensing Streetscapes is in collaboration with several universities, SMEs, housing corporations
Sita, J., C. McCarthy, E. Parmehr & M. Amati (2016), How ‘eye-tracking’ could change our experience of cities: For better or
and municipalities, and aims to connect directly to the field of neuro-architecture. Frank is also responsible for the
worse. London:multidisciplinary
The Guardian. research-track Inclusive Area-development.
- Gideon Spanjar holds a PhD in Landscape Architecture from the University of Essex. Gideon is currently senior
researcher at AUAS, member of the research-track Inclusive Area-development and project manager of the action-
research in the H-neighborhood, Southeast Amsterdam. He is an associate fellow of the Centre for Econics and
AUTHOR BIOS: Ecosystem Management.

Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences (AUAS), Faculty of Engineering, Chair of Spatial Urban Transformation.
DR. FRANK SUURENBROEK
Weesperzijde 190,is1097
Professor of Spatial
DZ Amsterdam/ POboxUrban Transformation
1025, 1000 at the
BA Amsterdam. Phone: Faculty of Engineering at the AUAS. The
+31621157563|
new researchE:project Sensing Streetscapes
[email protected]; [email protected] is in collaboration with several universities, SMEs, housing corporations
and municipalities, and aims to connect directly to the field of neuro-architecture. Frank is also responsible for the
multidisciplinary research-track Inclusive Area-development.

GIDEON SPANJAR holds a PhD in Landscape Architecture from the University of Essex. Gideon is currently senior
researcher at AUAS, member of the research-track Inclusive Area-development and project manager of the
action-research in the H-neighborhood, Southeast Amsterdam. He is an associate fellow of the Centre for Econics
and Ecosystem Management.

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 ACADEMY OF NEUROSCIENCE FOR ARCHITECTURE

Physical Environment and Brain Health

Larry Speck, FAIA
Senior Principal, Page
The W.L. Moody, Jr. Centennial Professor in Architecture, The University of Texas at Austin

Sandra Bond Chapman, PhD

Founder and Chief Director, Center for BrainHealth at The University of Texas at Dallas

Robert Doane, AIA, AHCA

Principal, Page

Ricardo Muñoz, AIA

Associate Principal, Page
Lecturer, The University of Texas at Arlington

ABSTRACT:

How does the physical environment affect brain health? How can architects create spaces that boost brain
performance? This presentation will focus on the collaboration between the design team and client in the
development of the recently completed Center for BrainHealth’s Brain Performance Institute at the University
of Texas at Dallas. The mission of the newly developed Institute is to educate and train people to improve brain
health through scientifically validated programs and assessments that enhance individual mental capabilities.
The building’s design aims to create a connection between the research arm of the Center for Brain Health and
the public, while providing a new front door for the Institute.
Its program focuses on outreach and community education; individual and group testing; and training for PTSD
victims, NFL football players with brain injuries, autistic children and people suffering from dementia —as well
as individuals who just want to improve their overall brain health. Accommodating this diverse community of
individuals and groups required a design that facilitated quite intimate spaces, such as the Quiet Entry and Warrior
Lounge, and with a balance of community-centric, inviting spaces, such as the “Live” Lobby and Multifunction
Room, and workplace solution in support for the Institute’s research.
The new facility demonstrates an instance of the increasingly important connection between university research
and community application of advances created through that research. The building’s location on the site allows
for BPI to be connected to the Center for Brain Health (CBH) via a common landscaped courtyard, creating that
connection back to the primary research arm and physically connecting the two programs. Visibility is a key
component to communicating the Institute’s mission to the community, which is highlighted with the north face
of the building fronting a major arterial in Dallas.

REFERENCES:

Bond Chapman, Sandra. Make Your Brain Smarter. New York: Simon & Schuster, Inc., 2013.

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 ANFA 2018 CONFERENCE

AUTHOR BIOS:
LARRY SPECK
Larry is well known equally for his diverse portfolio of award-winning architecture and his distinguished career
as an inspiring educator. As a prolific author and influential critic, Larry also has contributed significantly to the
development of ideas that have broadened the general public’s understanding of the impact that buildings
have on their communities and the way they live, work and play.

• Dr. Sandra Bond Chapman –

Dr. Chapman is founder and chief director of the Center for BrainHealthTM at The University of Texas at Dallas, where
she holds the Dee Wyly Distinguished University Chair. She is committed to maximizing cognitive performance
and improving healthy brain development across the lifespan. A cognitive neuroscientist with more than 40
funded research grants and more than 200 publications, Dr. Chapman conducts scientific studies that apply
novel approaches to advance creative and critical thinking, strengthen brain resilience and incite innovation
throughout life.

• Robert Doane –
As a project director and Healthcare team leader with Page for more than two decades, Robert is dedicated to
fostering an office environment where collaboration results in the best solution to any problem. His understanding
of sustainable architecture allows for a unique integration of technology and site producing efficient buildings
while preserving the environment.

• Ricardo Muñoz –
Ricardo is currently director of design with the Dallas Page office. He specializes in a variety of project types from
Civic/Government to Healthcare and Corporate/Commercial and Academic and brings and equally varied
background to his work. In addition to his role at Page Ricardo has been an adjunct faculty member at the
University of Texas at Arlington for the past 6 years where he teaches design studios and BIM courses.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES:
-- Discuss how architecture and design supports the relationship and translation between research and
clinical application
-- Provide insight on synthesizing the needs and viewpoints of multiple stakeholders to create an
environment that serves a large variety of clientele
-- Consider how healthcare expertise can be applied to create informed decisions for facilities outside
the traditional environment

After attending this program, participants, will be able to:

-- Identify environmental strategies to increase cognitive function in all facility types

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 ACADEMY OF NEUROSCIENCE FOR ARCHITECTURE

Place, Peripheral Vision, and Space Perception: A Pilot Study in VR

Jatheesh Srikantharajah, Dr. Colin Ellard, Bob Condia

ABSTRACT:

Through architectural design, information from the built environment has substantial effects on human thoughts,
feelings, and behaviour. In recent years, theory in neuroscience has begun to investigate the inruence of the
location of information in the visual field. Though both colour vision and fine details are most efficiently processed
in central vision, information from the built environment is largely experienced in the peripheral visual field. In order
to understand the mechanisms through which the built environment elicits reactions, it is important to understand
the capabilities of the visual periphery. In a pilot study using virtual reality (VR), we employ a novel method to
assess the contributions of central and peripheral vision to physiological and cognitive evaluations of the built
environment. Recent theory (Rooney et al., 2017) argues that central vision dictates conscious processing of
fine details, while peripheral vision is involved in preconscious responses to architectural atmosphere. Our study
isolates central and peripheral vision when people view stimuli over an extended period, testing their impact on
experiences of architecture. While wearing VR headsets, participants view and appraise two different models of
public squares designed in a classical or modern style viewed through either the central, peripheral, or entire visual
field. Results demonstrated the power of the visual periphery in generating architectural experience. Cognitive
and physiological experiences were largely similar in full and peripheral vision, while central vision was associated
with finding the task effortful and unpleasant, along with experiencing higher initial arousal responses to the
models. Using only central vision, participants had difficulty understanding visual information and they found
the legibility of the models to be limited. Measurable differences between the classical and modern models
were more subtle. Our psychophysiological results indicated higher arousal in central vision for both the modern
and classical models when compared to peripheral and full vision. However, there were substantial differences
between the two models, with the classical model producing the lowest levels of arousal. Ultimately, the most
parsimonious explanation for these results is that cognitive processing and effort were the strongest influences on
the psychophysiological signatures of our experimental conditions.

REFERENCES:

1. Rooney, K. K., Condia, R. J., & Loschky, L. C. (2017). Focal and ambient processing of built environments:
Intellectual and atmospheric experiences of architecture. Frontiers in Psychology, 08. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2017.00326

FIGURES:

Figure 1 (left to right). View of the classical plaza looking back toward the Beaux-Arts facade and, behind the
chrome egg, the ‘Arch of Inquires.’ The middle image shows central vision only, with the rest of the scene masked.
It is dikcult to determine your location in this view. The right image shows peripheral vision only, with central vision
obscured by an obstruction. It is much easier to see where you are with peripheral vision than with central vision
alone.

Figure 2. The psychophysiological results of the main experiment - each bar represents the average value for
skin conductance over a ten-second epoch beginning with the presentation of the model. The eight sets of bars
arrayed on the horizontal axis show the eight different epochs of the experiment. There are separate bars for the
two models (classical and modern) and for the three viewing conditions (central, control, and peripheral), as
indicated in the accompanying legend.
Figure 3. (Left). Self-assessed legibility scores for the three viewing conditions. Participants found the central
condition signiMcantly less legible than the other conditions. There were no differences between the legibility

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 ANFA 2018 CONFERENCE

of the control and peripheral conditions. (Right graph). Effect of viewing conditions on Han’s emotion subscale,
plotted separately for the classical and modern models.

AUTHOR BIO:

JATHEESH SRIKANTHARAJAH, Masters in Cognitive Neuroscience, Candidate

Department of Psychology, University of Waterloo, Urban Realities Laboratory

DR. COLIN ELLARD, Professor

Department of Psychology, University of Waterloo, Director of Urban Realities Laboratory

BOB CONDIA, Architect, Professor

Department of Architecture, Kansas State University, 2003S Perceptions Lab, AIA

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 ACADEMY OF NEUROSCIENCE FOR ARCHITECTURE

Designing Great Memories in the Hospitality and Entertainment

Environments
John Stewart, AIA, DBIA

ABSTRACT:
Our Company, Encompass Develop, Design, and Construct, has assembled a team of Architects, Scientists, Data
Analysts, and Property Operators to study how the built environment in the Hospitality Industry impacts us and
creates memories that make us want to tell the stories and come back for more of those experiences.
We are collecting sensory data about the environments and about those that experience those built environments.
We then partner the data with existing behavioral data, with available neuroscience research to be able to
inform architects on design.
We are working with Casinos to develop databases deeper than ‘how often does someone visit and how long
do they stay’, to, ‘what does the space smell like in an area where they stay longer? And others like: what is
the ceiling height?, what is the carpet pattern and color?, what are the ambient sounds?, what is the local
sound(s)? Touching on as many senses as possible. We believe that the more data that we have about the built
environment, coupled with the data from the experiencer, and understanding how these impact our brain and
speciMcally creating memories, the more we can inform the design community.
We are doing this same thing in Hotel Room Design. As our memories all have a “place” we know we can make
these “places” more impactful to our experience of the world around us, but until recently, we haven’t seen the
research that would give us the ability to understand how these “places” actually change our brains. Architects
have designed around “theories” and studies of human behavior, but because of our capability to see inside our
brains more clearly, we can and should test those theories.
Design should enhance our experiences. We chose to focus on Hospitality as an industry that we are deeply
imbedded in and surrounded by the teams that know it well. Ultimately our goal is to create and enhance
spaces/places/touch points that couple with our senses to form great memories and inform architects using real
data to shape and enhance the lives of others that anticipate, experience and then tell stories about them.

AUTHOR BIO:

JOHN STEWART, AIA, DBIA is an award-winning registered architect, licensed contractor, and licensed authority
in the hospitality and gaming industries across the United States, Canada, Aruba and Jamaica. He founded
Encompass Develop Design and Construct, LLC in 1999 with offices in LaGrange, KY, Cincinnati, OH, and Gulfport,
MS. John’s experience includes project development in industries including hospitality and gaming, restaurant
and food service, retail, healthcare, religious, and manufacturing. His focus is on Sensory Informed Design and
developing an understanding of how Neuroscience can inform design and memory formation trough human
experiences in built environments.

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 ACADEMY OF NEUROSCIENCE FOR ARCHITECTURE

Using Biometric Software to Understand the Architectural Experience

and Improve Design
Ann Sussman, AIA, Justin B. Hollander, PhD, AICP, Hanna Carr, Tufts ‘20

ABSTRACT:

While the environmental psychology literature is rich with evidence about ideal street widths, signage and
landscaping, this study is one of the first to show how biometric tools can increase understanding of how people
respond to the places around them. It provides new kinds of data on hidden, ‘unseen’ experience that determine
human behavior. This information turns out to be remarkably useful to help us understand specific things, such as
how difficult it might be to find the front door of a new house, how confusing someone might find signage on an
unfamiliar street and how likely it would be for a visitor go for a stroll in a new neighborhood.
In this study, we used a relatively-new off-the-shelf biometric tool, 3M’s Visual Attention Software (VAS), introduced
in 2011, to measure the unconscious visual responses people make when presented with images of houses and
streetscapes. The results suggest new parameters for quantifying our response to buildings and more broadly
indicate how biometric tools including eye-tracking emulation software, provide a means of predicting the
human experience of place and helping designers create architecture more responsive to intrinsic human needs.

STUDY PROTOCOL
We collected 70 site-specific, color images for the study of a new neighborhood. To analyze them, we used 3M’s
VAS (Visual Attention Software) which emulates eye tracking, a biometric tool that maps the path the human eye
takes looking at something. VAS’s algorithm is based on 30 years of eye-tracking research and predicts responses
to visual stimuli within the first 3 to 5 seconds, or during pre-attentive processing. It assesses study images for
five “visual elements” known to draw attention; these are, “edges,” “faces”, color “intensity,” “red/green color
contrast” and “blue/yellow color contrast.”
The data that VAS produces for each image appears as compelling graphic representations: heat maps, which
glow reddest where people look most, visual sequence diagrams, which track the most likely path eyes take
and regions of interest diagrams, which with enclosed lines, delineate areas that draw the most attention. The
software makes these in under a minute, once an image is uploaded to the 3M site.

FINDINGS
The regions of interest diagrams suggest how front porches with white columns attract attention (Figure 1); lack
of detail on garages in alley behind does not. The heat maps (Figure 3,4) glow brightest where viewers look most,
fading black in areas ignored. The visual sequence diagrams (Figure 5) suggest why visitors will stroll down the
street (it easily draws their attention) but not the back alley which cannot.

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For more information on this study, including neuroscience and architectural literature references, please see:
http://www.devensec.com/news/Eye_Tracking_Devens_1_11_18%20report.pdf

Justin B. Hollander: http://emerald.tufts.edu/~jholla03/

Ann Sussman: http://annsussman.com

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Emerging Methodologies of Neuro-Urbanism: Operationalizing

Neuroscience in Architecture and Urban Planning Practice
Amelia Taylor-Hochberg

ABSTRACT:

The emergence of affordable and accessible brain monitoring technologies (e.g. EEG machines) has allowed
urbanism practitioners and researchers alike to consider the built environment through neuroscientific and
cognitive science models. Large architecture firms and small research initiatives alike are constituting a growing
collection of institutions interested in improving the human experience of the built environment through a better
understanding of its cognitive effects, building on precedents of environmental psychology and urban sociology.
These organizations also recognize the demand for evidence-based design as well as the growing potential of
“smart city” applications for technology to improve human wellbeing in cities. However, the construction of a
“neuro-urbanism”1 lacks a coherent disciplinary method and objective, and there are myriad contentious issues
in a humanistic discipline such as urbanism co-opting scientific research — especially one as quickly-evolving as
neuroscience. My research objective is to identify and investigate the methods being used by these institutions,
to help illustrate the growing use of neuroscience and cognitive science experiments in urbanistic practice.

Through my prior experience reporting on this subject for Archinect.com and The Journal of Urban Design and
Mental Health, I’ve become familiar with a variety of organizations involved in neuro-urbanism practice, and
stayed professionally acquainted with them throughout my time at MIT. My research questions will focus on clearly
illustrating, for the layperson, the firms’ methods for applying (and/or running) cognitive- and neuro-scientific
experiments within their urbanistic practice. I plan to do this through site visits, photographic documentation
and qualitative interviews. While there is no comprehensive listing of neuro-urbanism practitioners, the following
covers a variety of sizes, geographies and professional intentions:

- Environmental Neuroscience Lab (Chicago, IL)

- Cloud Lab (New York, NY)
- Centric Lab (London, UK)
- Spatial Cognition Lab (London, UK)
- Human Experience Lab at Perkins+Will (San Francisco, CA)
- NBBJ (multiple locations including Boston, MA and San Francisco, CA)

My questioning will focus on the following: What are their goals for applying neuro-urbanistic research? Who
precisely is in charge of these initiatives? Do they conduct their own experiments, and if so, what are their
methodologies? How do they implement such research into their practice? Additionally, my research will also
consider the historical context and promise of such practices within the demands of a rapidly urbanizing world.
I’ll also seek commentary from neuroscience and cognitive science experts within the Boston area, and other
authorities with a stead in sociological urban research.

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REFERENCES:

1
​http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanpsy/article/PIIS2215-0366(16)30371-6/abstract

AUTHOR BIO:

AMELIA TAYLOR-HOCHBERG
Master of City Planning Candidate 2018, MIT

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Ambiance in Spiritual Spaces:

Examination of Themes of Light & Nature in Student Design Proposals
Judy Theodorson, M.Arch
Associate Professor, Washington State University

ABSTRACT:
This research is concerned with ambiance in spiritual spaces. For the purpose of this abstract, ambiance is
described as spatial and sensory qualities that shape a phenomenological experience. In the broadest of terms,
spiritual spaces embody the metaphysical to deliver a higher order experience. Such experiences vary widely,
ranging from a sense of connection, to a quiet moment of contemplation, to enlightenment. From a neurological
perspective, the goal could be described as reseting one’s mental and/or emotional state.

The method for exploring ambiance in spiritual spaces is to analyze conceptual design proposals produced for
a 2018 IDEC Interior Design Student Competition titled Fundamental Atmospheres: Designing for Spatial and
Spiritual Experiences.* The brief was purposefully broad, asking student designers to provide for the empowerment
of users to grow intellectually, spiritually, mentally, or metaphysically. The program could be a religious practice
(traditional or emerging), a secular space of reflection or mindfulness, and/or places for commemoration. The
students were to define the specific use and to develop an atmospheric intervention. Furthermore, they were
encourage to engage experiential and primary research methods and to use light as a material of design.

The top 25 projects (out of 155) were examined to uncover the presence and potency of two architectural
themes that link ambiance to known neurological outcomes: light and nature. The human relationship to light
is partially biological: humans are drawn to light and fear the dark. Moreover, daylight is critical in regulating
our circadian system and therefore our well-being, performance, and mood (Edwards & Torcellini, 2002). More
significant to spiritual spaces is the aesthetic and transformative powers of light, described by Plummer (1992) as
“almost magical” with the capacity to endow ”material form with the wholly immaterial force of the human spirit”
(p.19). Over history of architecture, light has played a critical role in spiritual spaces, a transforming ambiance
that serves as a conduit to divinity or a shift in mood / consciousness. The nature theme includes a wide array
of sensory inputs including air movement, thermal variation, natural light, water and plant features, and natural
materials. Exposure to nature is widely accepted as beneficial to human neuro-function, a calming influence in a
modern world of cognitive overload. Theoretical foundations include the “biophilia hypothesis” which establishes
that humans have the urge to affiliate with other forms of life (Wilson, 1984); furthermore, Wilson describes nature
as holding the” key to our aesthetic, intellectual, cognitive and even spiritual satisfaction.” Kaplan’s (1995)
Attention Restoration Theory (ART) suggests that certain nature experiences are restorative in that they support
concentration, leading to recovery from mental fatigue.

The value of examining student proposals is to understand the processes and inputs students use in developing
the ambiance of spiritual spaces. Ultimately, the data extracted from the student proposals confirms the
existence and potency of light and nature themes; they were prominent in more than 75% of the projects. Did
the students arrive at this direction experience, intuition, and/or evidence? Did they uncover the neurological
connection? Most of the students did engage in traditional research such as precedent, evidence-based design,
and theoretical foundations. Surprisingly, a minority of the students engaged in meaningful experiential research
despite the fact the most of the projects aimed to achieve an experiential space. This suggests a disconnect
between traditional and phenomenological methodology. On the other hand, many of the renderings indicate
rich atmospheres of light and nature and materiality and nearly all of the top selections show humans in some
sort of contemplative pose; this indicates the students understood how to produce an abstract representation
of ambiance.

While several of the projects had a specific program (teahouse, community kitchen, spa, experiential art gallery),
most aimed for a non-defined meditative space with multiple use options. What differentiates a “meditative
space” from a multi-use space is a sense of ambiance. In these projects, the ambiances was produced by
integrating aspects of light, nature, and / or water, and a spare palette of natural materials. This suggests a future
direction for interiors, one that finds aesthetic and neurological value in the light-nature ambiances for a variety
of interior programs.

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REFERENCES:
Edwards, L. & Torcellini, P. (2002). A literature review of the effects of natural light on building occupants. Golden,
CO: National Renewable Energy Laboratory.

Kaplan, S. (1995). The restorative benefits of nature: Toward an integrative framework. Journal of Environmental
Psychology 15(3), 169-182.

Plummer, H. (1992). Light and the soul of architecture. Oz: Vol. 14. h ps://doi.org/ 10.4148/2378-5853.1232
Wilson, E.O. (1984). Biophilia. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. *the author was the co-author of the
competition

AUTHORS BIO:
Theodorson is Associate Professor at Washington State University School of Design + Construction where she
teaches interiors studios, environmental systems, and interdisciplinary electives around light | lighting. From 2004-
2009, she founded and directed the WSU Betterbricks Integrated Design Lab where she consulted and conducted
research around daylit interiors and the experience of the occupant. Her interests around light | lighting range
from building performance to health and well-being to aesthetics and poetics.

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 ACADEMY OF NEUROSCIENCE FOR ARCHITECTURE

The Benefits of Thermal Sequence & Variation on Comfort 

Signo Jesse Uddenberg, EIT LEEDAP, Director Research, Development & Innovation
Nate Goore, Principal

ABSTRACT:

Diversity makes life interesting, and it also makes thermal sensation more interesting. Experiments show that
a person putting each of their hands, one previously dipped in a cold liquid and one previously dipped in a
warm liquid, in lukewarm water will experience conricting feelings about the warmth of the water. The hand
previously dipped in cold water will feel that the water is warmer. The hand previously dipped in warm water will
feel that the water is colder. And over time the hand will experience no sensation as the thermoreceptors in the
hand become accustomed to the steady-state environment.

The same thermal phenomena occur everyday in our buildings. We design to create static, unchanging
thermal environments, rarely considering the previous environment from which occupants came and how
it affects their thermal sense. Furthermore, when it comes to thermal design, we ignore our variety-seeking
tendencies. Buildings create a wealth of visual and aural stimulation, but miss the opportunity to create a range
of thermal experience.

Our insistence on designing for static, one-dimensional thermal sensation almost guarantees thermal discomfort
instead of thermal comfort. Today’s architect needs to understand how human perception is influenced by
thermal experience.

We will demonstrate a process by which thermal sequencing and variation can be used to solve situations of
thermal discomfort and promote improved thermal comfort perception. The result will be dynamic thermal
design for the whole self -- physical, physiological and psychological -- employing an understanding of
neuroscience and the tools of architecture (buildings and systems), operations management (protocols and
schedules), and product design (tools and equipment) to optimize desired results through an interconnected
experience design.

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AUTHOR BIO:

SIGNO JESSE UDDENBERG

With a background in human-centered design, natural science and engineering, Signo brings a scientiMc
research approach to projects spanning strategy and innovation. He leads the Innovation and Experience
Design practices at MKThink, and has worked locally and globally for organizations including Pepsico, Hewlett
Packard (HP), the Okce of Naval Research (ONR), the Hawaii Natural Energy Institute (HNEI), and International
Development Enterprises (IDE); and recently has been working with HNEI to measure thermal comfort ekciency
(how much comfort is delivered per unit of resource consumed) across high- performance and traditional
buildings in Hawaii. He received a Masters in Sustainable Design & Construction from Stanford University, a BS in
Civil Engineering from USC, and a BA in Natural Science from Pepperdine University.

NATE GOORE
Nate Goore’s diverse work history gives him a multifaceted background spanning architecture, psychology
and information technology. Throughout his career Nate has worked with many leading academic institutions
relating institutional performance to the sensory experience of their environments. His primary focus is on
integrating business processes, technology, and organizational changes with the physical environment to
improve personnel performance, and has recently been working with Hawaii Department of Education on
a comprehensive thermal comfort strategy for 256 schools across the islands. Nate received a Masters in
Architecture from Harvard University and a Bachelors Degree in Psychology from Cornell University. He is a
principal at MKThink.

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 ACADEMY OF NEUROSCIENCE FOR ARCHITECTURE

More Than Feelings: Examining Child and Parent Affective Responses

to the Ambulatory Surgical Environment
Deborah Wingler, Ms.

ABSTRACT:

The outpatient surgical experience can be a stressful event in a child and their parent’s life that produces
feelings of anxiety, depression, and fear [1,2]. For children undergoing an outpatient surgical procedure and
their parents, the preoperative phase can be especially stressful, as it is the time when the child undergoes
anesthetic induction [3,4]. Moreover, the healthcare environment itself can contribute to these feelings [5,6,7,8].
The operating room (OR), where the majority of children are induced, can further contribute to a child’s level of
anxiety due the imposing, sterile environment [9,10]. Induction rooms are considered to reduce patient anxiety
by buffering patients from the sights and sounds of the OR [11,12,13]. However, no empirical studies have been
conducted, to date, that investigate the effect of using an induction room vs. the operating theatre on child and
parent anxiety, respectively, during the ambulatory surgical process.

As part of a larger multiple-case study, research was conducted to examine how the use of induction rooms vs.
operating theater for anesthetic induction impacts child and parent physiological, psychological, and neural
responses to the ambulatory surgical environment, utilizing real-time data collection techniques that extend
equal regard to both child and parent perspectives. To gain deeper insight into child and parent affective
responses to thephysical environment during anesthetic induction, non-invasive devices were utilized to 161
capture child and parent neural responses, respectively, during this critical juncture in the surgical process.

In this paper, findings from three child parent dyads within each environment (N=12) will be explored to understand
how their respective and collective affective responses converge and diverge within and across each environment
(induction room vs. OR). While analysis is currently underway, preliminary findings suggest that child and parent
neural responses align in some respects within each environment, while they differ across environments. Findings
from this study can be practically applied to the design of ambulatory surgical environments that more effectively
support the psychological and psychological needs of both the children who experience those procedures and
their parents.

REFERENCES:

Ahmed, M. I., Farrell, M. A., Parrish, K., & Karla, A. (2011). Preoperative anxiety in children risk factors and non-
pharmacological management. Middle East Journal of Anesthesiology, 21(2), 153-164.

Fich, L. B., Jönsson, P., Kirkegaard, P. H., Wallergård, M., Garde, A. H., & Hansen, Å. (2014). Can architectural
design alter the physiological reaction to psychosocial stress? A virtual TSST experiment. Physiology & Behavior,
135, 91-97.

Kain, Z. N., & Mayes, L. (1996). Anxiety in children during the perioperative period. Child Development and
Behavioral Pediatrics, , 85-103.

Lander, J., & Warnock, F. (1999). Supporting the parents of children in day surgery. The Canadian Nurse, 95(2),
29-33.

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Kain, Z. N., Caldwell-Andrews, A. A., Krivutza, D. M., Weinberg, M. E., Gaal, D., Wang, S., & Mayes, L. C. (2004).
Interactive music therapy as a treatment for preoperative anxiety in children: A randomized controlled trial.
Anesthesia & Analgesia, 98(5), 1260-1266.

Sjöberg, C., Amhliden, H., Nygren, J. M., Arvidsson, S., & Svedberg, P. (2015). The perspective of children on factors
inruencing their participation in perioperative care. Journal of Clinical Nursing, 24(19-20), 2945-2953.

Norton-Westwood, D. (2012). The health‐care environment through the eyes of a child— Does it soothe or
provoke anxiety? International Journal of Nursing Practice, 18(1), 7-11.

Joseph, A., Keller, A., & Kronick, K. (2008). Transforming care in children’s hospitals through environmental design:
Literature Review. In NACHRI (Ed.), Evidence for Innovation: Transforming Children’s Health Through the Physical
Environment (pp. 18-47).

Alexandria, VA: National Association of Children’s Hospitals and Associated Institutions (NACHRI). Sternberg, E. M.
(2009). Healing spaces Harvard University Press.

Sternberg, E. M., & Wilson, M. A. (2006). Neuroscience and architecture: Seeking common ground. Cell, 127(2),
239-242.

Bromhead, H., & Jones, N. (2002). The use of anaesthetic rooms for induction of anaesthesia: A postal survey of
current practice and attitudes in great britain and northern ireland. Anaesthesia, 57(9), 850-854.

Soni, J., & Thomas, D. (1989). Comparison of anxiety before induction of anaesthesia in the anaesthetic room or
operating theatre. Anaesthesia, 44(8), 651-655.

Torkki, P. M., Marjamaa, R. A., Torkki, M. I., Kallio, P. E., & Kirvelä, O. A. (2005). Use of anesthesia induction rooms can
increase the number of urgent orthopedic cases completed within 7 hours. The Journal of the American Society
of Anesthesiologists, 103(2), 401-405

AUTHOR BIO:

DEBORAH WINGLER, MS.

Clemson University, Ph.D. Candidate, MSD-HHE, EDAC

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How Does Visibility in Urban Settings Change Human Perception of

Urban Design?
Semiha Ergan, Hongting Chen, Zhengbo Zou

ABSTRACT:

Research on environmental psychology and neuroscience indicates that spaces designed in a stimulating
way improve human performance (Oseland 2009, Haynes 2008, Raisbeck 2006, Davies 2010). Various
physical design characteristics are discussed in the literature that can enhance performance and
motivation to work in office spaces, such as layout, ease of access to spaces, color and texture of surfaces,
sequence in spaces for common use (circulation routes, social interaction spaces) (e.g., Altman 1975, Duffy
et al. 1993). Although architectural design characteristics has long been argued as enablers for motivation
to work, limited studies exist in the literature on how much such design characteristics impact human
experience. This study aims to identify the relationships between human experience and architectural
design quantitatively from the perspective of approach motivation. This quantification is done through a
novel experiment setup that integrates virtual worlds with body area sensor networks (BSN), composed of
various non- invasive biometric sensors such as EEG, GSR, EMG, and eye tracking. This paper reports findings
on analysis of experiment data captured from twenty participants. Different configurations of architectural
spaces with variant design features (e.g., color coding, texture, space layouts, connectivity of spaces) were
provided to users in virtual models for navigation and performing tasks, and data was captured from the
BSN simultaneously.

Results provide evidences on the impact of architectural design on motivation to work. SCR25 scores from
GSR show that stimulating environments create 19% increase in arousal level as compared to less-stimulating
environments. EMG data shows that respondents show a 69.5% increase zygomaticus activity (smile) in the
stimulating environment with comparison to 38.5% increase in the opposite environment. Additional data
captured from participants as self-reports supports the differences in each environment captured with BSN.
More than 60% of the respondents felt more engaged under the stimulating environment, found it easier
to perform the task, and preferred to stay more as compared to the less-stimulating environment. Results
can be used by practitioners for quantified impact of design on human experience, and utilize the design
characteristics identified in this work as factors to consider for enhancing human experience in designed
spaces..

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REFERENCES:

1. Altman, I. (1975). “The environment and social behavior.” Brooks/Cole, Monterey, CA.

2. Davies, H. (2010). “The psychological and physical needs of workers impacting okce
design.” In COBRA 2010: Proceedings of the RICS Foundation Construction and Building Research
Conference, COBRA, Paris, France, September 2-3, 2010, pp. 1-15.

3. Duffy, F., Laing, A. and Crisp, V. (1993). The responsible workplace – the redesign of work and okces.”
London, Butterworth Architecture.

4. Haynes, B. (2008). “The impact of okce comfort on productivity.” Journal of Facilities Management, 6(1),
37-51.

5. Oseland, N. (2009). “The impact of psychological needs on okce design.” Journal of Corporate Real
Estate, 11(4), 244-254.

6. Raisbeck, K. (2003). “Productivity in the workplace.” MBA Dissertation, Henley Management College,
Henley upon Thames, September

AUTHOR BIO:

SEMIHA ERGAN, Assistant Professor

HONGTING CHEN, Research Scientist
ZHENGBO ZOU, PhD Student

New York University, Department of Civil and Urban Engineering, Computer Science and Engineering

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 ACADEMY OF NEUROSCIENCE FOR ARCHITECTURE

Suppressing the Visual Sense to Enhance the Experiences of Spiritual

Spaces
Diane Zoura

ABSTRACT:

Spirituality is the quality of valuing the human spirit or soul instead of material or physical things. So how do we
design a space, which is made up of material and physical “things”, that enhance the experiences of spiritual
spaces? A spiritual space should help the user to look within, to connect with their sense of self. “In heightened
emotional states and deep thought, vision is usually repressed” (Pallasmaa 28). Imagine a space where the
“other” senses are so heightened that the visual sense slowly fades out, contrary to the way that most buildings
and spaces are designed today.

The way people perceive the world is through the senses. Our perception of the world is a rerection of who we
are. How we perceive the world affects everything we do or say. “The things that we experience inruence what
we will do next” - Michael Arbib. By suppressing the visual sense, the quickest sense, we are also inviting patience
- a key factor in spirituality.

Spaces should invite people to look into the world, not just with their eyes, but with their whole body. Spiritual
spaces that are designed so that the user is inspired to feel, hear, smell and taste will encourage the suppression
of vision. When the architectural experiences are more than just visual perceptions, the user unites with the space
and the environment, thus leading them deeper into their spirituality. “Good and thoughtful design can not only
awaken our senses, but reconnect us to place and to ourselves.” -David Darling

There have been recent findings in the neural systems and the complexities of the brain that highlight the impact
of multi-sensory experiences to our behavior, mood and knowledge of one’s self. In a spiritual space, by providing
a multi-sensory environment, where the senses are introduced in a collaborative and subtle way, the user can
connect to themselves rather than being distracted by their environment. The environment becomes the teacher,
but the answers are all within the self.

REFERENCES:

Juhani, Pallasmaa. The Eyes of the Skin: Architecture and the Senses. Wiley, 2014.

AUTHOR BIO:

DIANE ZOURA, Designer

domusstudio architecture

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Cultural heritage and memories of places: convergences and divergences

between the legacy of the ‘physical’ sites of memory and the memories of places
evoked in the neural architecture
Rachel Zuanon1, Melissa Ramos da Silva Oliveira 2, Haroldo Gallo 3, Cláudio Lima Ferreira 4

UNICAMP, Campinas, Brazil

1,3,4

2
Anhembi Morumbi University, Sao Paulo, Brazil

[email protected], [email protected], [email protected] 3, [email protected] 4

Halbwachs [9] stated that there is no collective memory that does not occur in a spatial context. He argued that space
offers an image of permanence and stability through signs left by social groups. These signs can assist in arousing
memories and evoking the past [16] and thus represent valuable testimony since they involve the retrieval of
information about people and significant social facts about the groups [11]. In this way, the ‘sites of memory’ [12] can
be shaped – places that are appropriated and preserved by the existence of a shared meaning that distinguishes them
from others.
At the same time, the ‘physical’ sites of memory are connected to the ‘neurophysiological’ places of memory, described
by Damásio [3-5] as ‘convergence-divergence zones’. These zones can be defined as a set of neurons where a large
number of handle signals make contact in feedforward-feedback loops, which assist the neural architecture responsible
for the evocation of memories and hence the recognition of all our surroundings.
This research explores the relationships between people, place and memory and involves discussing the links between
the ‘sites of memory’ [9] and the ‘convergence-divergence zone’ [5], which constitute the spaces for images and
dispositions that are bound up in the perception and evocation/recognition of fleeting memories, as experienced by the
residents [15] of the central district of the town of Campinas - Sao Paulo - Brazil. A field research was carried out with
a sample of 266 participants from the central area of this town [1-2;10;13;14], who agreed to take part in interviews and
produce drawings on the basis of which it was possible to identify the ‘memories of places’ mediated by the
‘convergence-divergence zones’.
The results [4-7; 14] show the close ties between the individual, the urban/architectural space created and the
recognition of the value of the constructed urban identity that is based on the memory that the participants had of their
city, cultural heritage, symbolic reference points and representations. These representations provide evidence of a lack
of “resonance” [8] between the places of memory that tell the history of Campinas and the memories of places retained
by the inhabitants of that city, and underpin the discussions about the way cultural heritage and memory are endowed
with legitimacy and preserved in the present.

Figure 1: Campinas in 1929. Source: Oliveira, 2012 [13]

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Table 1: Answers to the questions of the questionnaire that was applied in the research field study.
Source: Oliveira, 2016 [14]

Questions Subcategories Specific Subcategories/ Directions

When one speaks of the Religious buildings Cathedral (14), churches (4).
center, what is the first (18)
thing that comes to your Buildings/monuments Old buildings (4), the demolished theatre (2), the central
mind? (8) market (2).
Others Tradition/history/cultural heritage (7), childhood (2), trams
(10) (1).

What do you most like in Religious buildings Cathedral (11).
the center? (11)
Buildings/monuments Historic building (6), Fepasa Railway Station (4), monuments
(12) (2).
Others Architecture (7), the railway (1).
(8)
What things that have been Religious buildings Igreja do Rosário [Rosário Church] (1).
lost did you like in the (1)
Center? Buildings/monuments Fepasa Railway Station/ passenger trains (3), the Carlos
(10) Gomes Theatre (3), the Public Library (1), historic buildings
(1), the Hotel Terminus (1), monuments (1).
th
Streets/squares Rua Treze de Maio [13 May Street] (2), streets with paving
(3) stones (1).
Others Romanticism (3), traditions (2), history (1), trams (1), the
(10) Fountain of Rua Treze de Maio (1), Ezekiel living dead dolls
(1), the Umbrellas of Rua Treze de Maio (1).
What would you like to see Buildings/monuments Buildings/preserved history (9), things as they were in the
in the Center? (12) past (9).
Which spaces/places in the Religious buildings Churches (11).
Center do you make most (11)
use of? Buildings/monuments Centers of culture (4).
(4)
Streets/squares Areas with shade from trees (3).
(3)
What kind of cultural Religious buildings Cathedral (90), Churches (20), Rosário Church (2), Universal
heritage is there in the (122) Church (1).
Center at present? Buildings/monuments Culture of the FEPASA station (30), Palace of Azulejos
(169) [glazed tiles] (22), Palace of Jequitibás (19), Jockey Club (12),
Statue of Carlos Gomes (12), monuments (11), buildings
(10), the Town Market (8), Carlos Gomes College(7), The
Forum (5), Museums (5), PUC Central [Catholic
University](5), CCLA [Latin American Cultural Center] (4),
Carlos Mendes Theater (4), the Post Office (3), MACC
Building [Medical/Scientific Computing Center] (3), Health
Center (3), Mogiana (2), Headquarters of the Carlos Gomes
Band (1), Carlos Salles Monument 91), Giovanetti (1),
Niemeyer Building (1).
Streets/squares Carlos Gomes Square (24), Community Center (17), Squares
(64) (10), Carmo Square/ Bento Quirino Square (5), Rosário Place
(3), Jequitibás Wood (2), Pará Place (2), Parks (1).
Others Railway (10), Bars (2), Hotels (2), Pedestrian tunnel (1),
(16) Bandstand (1).

Figure 2: Glicério Avenue: skyline of tall buildings and the Cathedral tower. Source: Oliveira, 2016 [14]

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Figure 3: Building of Fepasa Station and its tower with a clock and Carlos Gomes Square with its
bandstand and imperious palm trees. Source: Oliveira, 2016 [14]

References
[1] Badaró RS (1996) Campinas: o despontar da modernidade [the emerging dawn of modernity], Coleção Campiniana, n 7. Centro
de Memória/UNICAMP, Campinas

[2] Badaró RS (2002) O Plano de Melhoramentos Urbanos de Campinas: [The Plan for the Improvement of Campinas] 1934-1962.
Dissertação (Mestrado em Arquitetura e Urbanismo) - Faculdade de Arquitetura e Urbanismo da Universidade de Sao Paulo, Sao
Paulo

[3] Damásio A (2004) Em busca de Espinosa: prazer e dor na ciência dos sentimentos [In search of Espinosa: pleasure and pain in
the science of feelings]. Companhia das Letras, Sao Paulo

[4] Damásio A (2009) O mistério da consciência [The mystery of consciousness]. Companhia das Letras, Sao Paulo

[5] Damásio A (2011) E o cérebro criou o homem [And the brain created man]. Companhia das Letras, Sao Paulo

[6] Ferrara LDA (2000) Os significados urbanos [Urban meanings], Acadêmica, 31. EdUSP/FAPESP, Sao Paulo

[7] Gallo H (2015) Arqueologia, arquitetura e cidade: a preservação entre a identidade e a autenticidade [Archaeology, architecture
and the city: preservation of the difference between identity and authenticity] In: Patrimônio: atualizando o debate, 9ª SR, 2ª Edição
Ampliada. IPHAN, Sao Paulo

[8] Gonçalves JRSantos (2005) Ressonância, materialidade e subjetividade: as culturas como patrimônio [Resonance, materiality and
subjectivity: the cultures as a heritage], vol 11, n 23. Horizontes Antropológicos, Porto Alegre, pp 15-36

[9] Halbwachs M (1990) A memória coletiva [Collective memory]. Trad. Laurent Leon Schaffer. Vértice/ Revista dos Tribunais, Sao
Paulo

[10] Lapa JRA (1996) A cidade: os cantos e os antros [The City: the nooks and crannies] Campinas 1850-1900. Edusp, Sao Paulo

[11] Menezes UTB (1999) Os usos culturais da cultura. Contribuição para uma abordagem crítica das práticas e políticas culturais
[The cultural uses of culture: contribution to a critical approach to cultural practices and policies] In: Yázigi E (ed). Turismo: espaço,
paisagem e cultura. Hucitec, Sao Paulo

[12] Nora P (1993) Entre memória e história: a problemática dos lugares [Between memory and history: the question of places].
Revista Projeto História, n 10. PUC-SP, Sao Paulo

[13] Oliveira MRS (2012) Intervenções urbanas e representações do centro de Campinas/SP: convergências e divergências [Urban
interventions and representations at the Center of Campinas: convergences and divergences] Tese (Doutorado em Geografia) –
Instituto de Geociências da Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Campinas

[14] Oliveira MRS (2016) Intervenções urbanas e representações do centro de Campinas/SP:

as inter-relações entre as verticalidades e as horizontalidades nos processos de refuncionalização urbana [Urban interventions and
representations at the Center of Campinas – the interrelations between vertical and horizontal features in the process of urban
renewal] Novas Edições Acadêmicas, Saarbrücken

[15] Pollak M (1992) Memória e identidade social [Memory and social identity], vol 5, n 10. Estudos Históricos, Rio de Janeiro

[16] Santo Agostinho [St Augustine] (1999) Confissões [Confessions].

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Nova Cultural, Sao Paulo
Ampliada. IPHAN, Sao Paulo
ANFA 2018 CONFERENCE
[8] Gonçalves JRSantos (2005) Ressonância, materialidade e subjetividade: as culturas como patrimônio [Resonance, materiality and
subjectivity: the cultures as a heritage], vol 11, n 23. Horizontes Antropológicos, Porto Alegre, pp 15-36

[9] Halbwachs M (1990) A memória coletiva [Collective memory]. Trad. Laurent Leon Schaffer. Vértice/ Revista dos Tribunais, Sao
Paulo

[10] Lapa JRA (1996) A cidade: os cantos e os antros [The City: the nooks and crannies] Campinas 1850-1900. Edusp, Sao Paulo

[11] Menezes UTB (1999) Os usos culturais da cultura. Contribuição para uma abordagem crítica das práticas e políticas culturais
[The cultural uses of culture: contribution to a critical approach to cultural practices and policies] In: Yázigi E (ed). Turismo: espaço,
paisagem e cultura. Hucitec, Sao Paulo

[12] Nora P (1993) Entre memória e história: a problemática dos lugares [Between memory and history: the question of places].
Revista Projeto História, n 10. PUC-SP, Sao Paulo

[13] Oliveira MRS (2012) Intervenções urbanas e representações do centro de Campinas/SP: convergências e divergências [Urban
interventions and representations at the Center of Campinas: convergences and divergences] Tese (Doutorado em Geografia) –
Instituto de Geociências da Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Campinas

[14] Oliveira MRS (2016) Intervenções urbanas e representações do centro de Campinas/SP:

as inter-relações entre as verticalidades e as horizontalidades nos processos de refuncionalização urbana [Urban interventions and
representations at the Center of Campinas – the interrelations between vertical and horizontal features in the process of urban
renewal] Novas Edições Acadêmicas, Saarbrücken

[15] Pollak M (1992) Memória e identidade social [Memory and social identity], vol 5, n 10. Estudos Históricos, Rio de Janeiro

[16] Santo Agostinho [St Augustine] (1999) Confissões [Confessions]. Trad. J. Oliveira e Ambrósio Pina. Coleção os Pensadores.
Nova Cultural, Sao Paulo

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Board of Directors - Executive Committee

Steven Henriksen, Ph.D. President
Frederick Marks, AIA Vice President
Kurt Hunker, FAIA CFO
Betsey Olenick Dougherty, FAIA Secretary
Gilbert Cooke, FAIA Immediate Past President

Board of Directors
John Eberhard, FAIA Founding President
Thomas D. Albright, Ph.D. Past President
Steve Altman, DBA
Gordon Chong, FAIA Past President
Eve Edelstein, Ph.D.
Fred Gage, Ph.D. Past President
Sergei Gepshtein, Ph.D.
Kurt Hunker, FAIA
David Kirsh, Ph.D.
Kenneth A. Kornberg, AIA
Eduardo Macagno, Ph.D. Past President
Satchidananda Panda, Ph.D.
Ramesh Rao, Ph.D.
Marisa Roberto, Ph.D.
Matthew Smith, AIA
Alison Whitelaw, FAIA Past President

Conference Chair
Frederick Marks, AIA

Consultant
Rosie Greenberg, ANFA Executive Administrator

Abstract Reviewing Committee

Thomas Albright, Ph.D.
Betsey Olenick Dougherty, FAIA, LEED AP

Claire Gallagher, Ph.D.

Sergei Gepshtein, Ph.D.
Steven Henriksen, Ph.D.
Kurt Hunker, FAIA
Eduardo Macagno, Ph.D.
Frederick Marks, AIA

Volunteers
Ricardo Aguilar Anna Gabriele
Nastaran Arfaei Hannah Hobbs
Nathaniel Berk Jessica Parker
Teresa Dominguez Mackenzie Sims
Gabe Feeley
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ANFA 2018 CONFERENCE

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ACADEMY OF NEUROSCIENCE FOR ARCHITECTURE

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