Good morning all!
In anticiaption of further research I am beginning my blog to document what I find out about the connections between Architecture - Education - Neuroscience.
But, to start with let me talk about how I got here...
As indicated in my Bio page I am an Architect working at the University of Maryland Residential Facilities. Mostly it seems my work is of a project management sort. Or maybe better described as design management. I'll develop RFPs and scopes and do some design work. As I have worked at this I have come against various challenges... budgets, maintence of equipment, cleaning of material choices, etc... These are legitimate issues that need resolution. However, more often than not these design challenges were dictated by maintenance and housekeeping rather than looking toward the users of the space - the students.
This was the biggest challange that I faced...how to defend my design choices. My approach was to think logically and in a way that could be factually and substantially supported. In different designs I tried to incorporate a unique material, a different form, something to bring some interest to the space. My attempt was to create some kind of spark without being outlandish or expensive. Not to be different for the sake of being different but to challenge the space. Most (ok, really all) of the time it was shot down. The design didn't fit a 'standard', it wasn't well understood how to maintain it, it would be different to clean. So... I would go back tto the drawing board and come up with the same designs that had already been done. My approach was off but I didn't know how to verifiy that the different design was truly better. That the design would make a difference for the student.
This changed in the Fall of 2014. While attending DesignDC in a mostly melancholy sort of way I went to a lecture by Milton Shinburg and Dr. Bermudez on Neuroscience and Architecture. This was the perspective I was looking for. They outlined a scientific basis for architectural design choices. Though still very early in the research process it was a new way of rationalizing design in a measurable manner... (or at least that is the intent). Mr. Shinburg discussed the perception of beauty as it relates to a neurological/biological sense. Dr. Bermudez discussed his research on using fMRI to discover the relationship of contemplative spaces to contemplative states of mind. He showed using scientific methods and research the evidence of how a space can effect one's mood. This was a fascinating introduction to how design could be defended and substantially supported.
Over the last two years I have read and researched this topic extensively. And, as with anything worth pursuing, every answer brought on new questions. Though I have been reading other's research for two years I know enough to know there is so much more to learn. I have also learned that although I have gained a lot by reading it is necessary to test the theoried nd concepts.
This blog will be a format to share what I am learning and create a community that can help develop methods to support design decisions.