The noise of overlapping conversations, the flashing lights of a billboard, hurried footsteps on the sidewalk, and the constant hammering of a nearby construction site: public spaces are sometimes experienced as environments where stimuli accumulate and often overwhelm us. Each person perceives and responds to these sensory inputs differently, and recognizing neurodiversity means understanding that some individuals require more time to adapt, slower-paced journeys, or more gradual interactions with their surroundings. These encounters raise fundamental questions about contemporary public space: how can it accommodate the diversity of ways people perceive and inhabit it? How can we envision it as a space that embraces all ways of experiencing it?
The way we perceive and experience spaces extends beyond aesthetics—they directly influence our emotions, thoughts, and even creativity. Spacious environments with high ceilings often evoke a sense of freedom and inspiration, while smaller, enclosed spaces encourage focus and introspection. This is not merely a subjective impression but a scientifically studied phenomenon. In the 1960s, anthropologist Edward T. Hall introduced the term "Cathedral Effect" to describe how ceiling height impacts cognition and behavior. More recent research has expanded on this idea, demonstrating how architecture shapes decision-making and emotional states in various contexts.
Westmark Lower School / NBBJ. Image Courtesy of NBBJ
Publicly occupied spaces can be overwhelming. Airports, schools, stadiums, and workplaces all feature environments with visual chaos that can be disorienting and stressful for individuals, especially those who are neurodiverse. The bombardment of stimuli, unpredictable movements, and competing visual information can create barriers to occupant comfort. Architects are regularly encouraged to create spaces that recognize and honor individual differences. Designing for neurodiversity is one way of championing inclusivity and extending principles of universal design.
Designing for the human experience has been at the forefront of architect's intentions and motivations behind their work. While traditional processes prove beneficial, the industry is peering over boundaries to find opportunities for collaboration with other design and non-design fields. New approaches have emerged with collaborations between architects and service designers, or even psychologists, to create more human-centric spaces. A new intersection captures the attention of practitioners, especially with a recent installation at Salone de Mobile neuroarchitecture. ArchDaily breaks down the scope and potential for this new field with Federica Sanchez, architect and neuroscience researcher at Italian firm Lombardini22, responsible for revamping the Salone.
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Concept redesign routes Salone del Mobile.Milano - Ph. Cristian Catania, Lombardini22. Image Courtesy of Salone del Mobile.Milano
The 62nd edition of the Salone del Mobile at Rho Fiera brought together designers, architects, producers, and prominent figures from the design realm. With more than 1950 exhibitors, the six-day event, running from April 16 to 21, 2024, emphasized conviviality, well-being, and sustainability. Designed with a human-centric approach, incorporating neuroscience principles to enrich visitor interaction, Salone del Mobile is revolutionizing the future of fairs.
On-site during the event, ArchDaily had the opportunity to speak with Cristian Catania, Senior Architect and Project Director for Reinventing Fairs at Lombardini22, responsible for revamping Salone, about the primary changes in the fair’s layout and the implementation of neuroscience approaches in conceptualizing the exhibition spaces.
Silent and endless hallways, white and cold rooms, an impersonal and distant atmosphere: this is a deeply ingrained image in our cultural conception of hospital environments. The whiteness of these spaces, attempting to reinforce the necessary notions of sterility and cleanliness, may also evoke a sense of discomfort and anxiety for patients and their families.
The importance of humanizing hospital, clinic, and office projects is an increasingly discussed and relevant topic in healthcare, extending far beyond the aesthetics of these buildings. It is necessary to create welcoming environments that promote the well-being of patients, families, and professionals, recognizing that architecture can play a fundamental role in the recovery and comfort of these individuals during moments of vulnerability.
Nowadays, we spend over 90% of our time indoors, and it is becoming increasingly evident that architecture has a profound influence on our brains and bodies. The interest in comprehending how the environment affects human well-being is on the rise, with a growing number of new studies on this subject emerging each year. Moreover, architecture firms are increasingly enlisting the expertise of researchers and human experience design consultants to explore and optimize these effects.
The convergence of neuroscience, architecture, and landscaping has ignited a creative revolution in the design of our built environments. Neuroarchitecture, an emerging discipline that blends principles of neuroscience with architectural design, sheds light on the significant impact of physical spaces on our emotions, behaviors, and overall well-being. Amidst this, sensory gardens emerge as intriguing therapeutic spaces, investigating the distinct interplay between the human brain and nature.
Environmental neuroscience is an emerging field devoted to studying the impact of social and physical environments on brain processes and behaviour. From the various opportunities for social interaction to noise levels and access to green spaces, the characteristics of the urban environment have important implications for neural mechanisms and brain functioning, thus influencing our physical state. The field paints a different image of how cities impact our health and well-being, thus providing a new, scientific layer of understanding that could help architects, urban planners, and decision-makers create more equitable urban environments.
Cognitive decline is a growing public health concern that affects millions of people around the world. Amid an aging population, strategies that help prevent or mitigate cognitive deterioration become increasingly relevant to support healthy aging and maintaining independence for longer. Studies in the field of neuroscience applied to architecture (neuroarchitecture) have shown that the physical environment, both internal and external, public and private, plays a fundamental role in this aspect [1]. In this sense, architects and urban planners can direct their projects to create solutions that significantly contribute to this objective.
https://www.archdaily.com/1007274/architecture-for-preventing-cognitive-decline-contributions-from-neuroscience-to-healthy-agingAndréa de Paiva
Have you ever heard of neuroarchitecture? What would spaces look like if architects designed buildings based on the emotions, healing and happiness of the user? Hospitals that help with patient recovery, schools that encourage creativity, work environments that make you more focused…
This is neuroarchitecture: designing efficient environments based not only on technical parameters of legislation, ergonomics and environmental comfort, but also on subjective indices such as emotion, happiness and well-being.
It is unquestionable that environments directly influence the behavior and emotions of their users. Human beings spend approximately 90% of their lives indoors, making it imperative that the spaces we inhabit stimulate positive behavior and emotions, or at least don't influence us negatively. There exists a specific term describing the stimuli that the brain receives from its environment: neuroarchitecture. Several studies have been published on this topic, most focusing on its impact on work environments. This article approaches this concept through a different, yet essential lens: emphasizing its importance in the design of spaces for children in early childhood.
