Archinect - News

Architects + artists conceive of the world differently than other people, study reveals

2017-07-06T12:39:00-04:00

In a study conducted by UCL and Bangor University researchers in which people were shown a Google Street View, a painting of St. Peter's Basilica and a surreal computer generated image, architects, sculptors and painters consistently conceptualized of the space differently than those with no background in these professions. As this article in Science Daily explains:

The painters tended to shift between describing the scene as a 3D space or as a 2D image. Architects were more likely to describe barriers and boundaries of the space, and used more dynamic terms, while sculptors' responses were between the two. Painters and architects also differed in how they described the furthest point of the space, as painters called it the 'back' and architects called it the 'end.' The control participants gave less elaborate responses, which the authors say went beyond just a lack of expert terminology.

Tinkering connections between architecture and neuroscience

2017-06-06T15:54:00-04:00

The importance of urban design goes far beyond feel-good aesthetics. A number of studies have shown that growing up in a city doubles the chances of someone developing schizophrenia, and increases the risk for other mental disorders such as depression and chronic anxiety.

While it might appear as common intuitive knowledge, humans are strongly influenced by their context. In recent years, there has been a significant increase in studies on the connection between neuroscience and architecture.

Last month, London's Conscious Cities Conference brought together architects, designers, engineers, neuroscientists and psychologists to encourage more multidisciplinary engagement. Some of the recent psychological studies focus on defining a stimulating space through the use of wearable devices that monitor skin conductance, various apps, VR and EEG headsets for either visualizing or measuring brain's activity and mental states. Other findings include data on the impact of building facades on our moods, green space on our health, and urban environments on our social interactions.

Analyzing the ways in which the built environment affects our brains through evidence-based research can grant architects the insight needed for making healthier and more socially-consc...

"Sculpting the Architectural Mind" conference examines neuroscience's effects on architecture education

2015-03-04T21:19:00-05:00

Last August, on the Apollonian campus of the Salk Institute for Biological Studies in San Diego, neuroscientists and architects came together to flush the architecture profession with a bit more cerebral rigor. Under the guidance of the Academy of Neuroscience for Architecture (ANFA), that 2014 conference hoped to provide architects with salient neuroscientific data to use in practice. While still considered somewhat of a niche agenda, advances in brain science and brain-computer interfaces have already been adopted by architectural research; if not for scientific experimentations, then design ones. And that research is happening thanks to the experimental frontiers only possible in academia. But aside from experimental novelty, neuroscience stands to help architects better understand not just their process, but subsequently, how the discipline is taught.

A new conference hosted by the Pratt Institute’s School of Architecture, “Sculpting the Architectural Mind: Neuroscience and the E...

Smart buildings: Architects using brain science for design guidance

2015-02-26T12:14:00-05:00

The push is on to incorporate brain science into design and architecture... Hopefully, the days of windowless classrooms to prevent vandalism and distraction are over.

Science once agains confirms what we already know, and architects turn it into a marketing tool.