course description
Neuroscience is a rapidly emerging field. It is the study of the brain, the mind, and the nervous system addressing how we think, move, perceive, learn and remember. As neuroscience knowledge increases, we are poised to understand how and why architecture affects human perception, and therefore experience. The connection of neuroscience and architecture is one that needs to be better understood because of its potential implications to public health, safety and welfare. This intersection also has the potential to engage and amplify the imagination in the design process just as new computer technologies allowed architect Frank Gehry to experiment with new structural systems and form. Similar to the influence of physics on the architecture profession in the past, we cannot know at the present the significance of this work on how architecture will be practiced in the future. The advancements in physics have changed how architects and engineers address issues of acoustics, lighting, structures, and building performance among others. It has brought an ever increasing level of consideration of economy to the design process. Neuroscience research has the potential to influence the practice of architecture by providing a new body of knowledge.
