In 2020...

A chasm exists between design, neuroscience, and architecture. Limited collaborations between these disciplines exist. Methods for constructing the built environment remain outdated.

TLDR;

In 2050...

Design, architecture, and neuroscience combine into a new discipline that radically reimagines how we construct the built environment. Neuroplastic Architecture is born.

<aside> 💡 Architecture, design, and neuroscience combine to usher in an era of newfound innovation: Neuroplastic Architecture. The built environment is redesigned to mimics the functionality of the human brain, leading to breakthroughs in all disciplines.

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What is neuroplasticity?

"Neuroplasticity: The brain's ability to reorganize itself by forming new neural connections throughout life. Neuroplasticity allows the neurons (nerve cells) in the brain to compensate for injury and disease and to adjust their activities in response to new situations or to changes in their environment."

Principles of neuroplasticity (adapted from Livewired: The Inside Story of the Ever-Changing Brain):

• Unlike computers, brains are very flexible.
• Brains come to the table half-baked and they absorb the world around them.
• Brains match themselves to their inputs & can wrap around new senses.
• The brain changes based on relevance.
• Memory is about changing structure while keeping function.

Neuroplastic Architecture

Example of a few findings and questions at the intersection of neuroscience and architecture (from "Applying Architecture to Architecture" by Dr. Eberhard):

• The brain is hard-wired to respond to proportions based on the golden mean (as illustrated by the architect Palladio)
• A distributed set of brain activities across the entire brain—including the cerebral cortex, the cerebellum, the basil ganglia, the amygdala, and the midbrain—work together to yield a special sense of awe (as in Thorncrown Chapel)
• Facilities for the aging that allow residents to furnish rooms with their personal furniture provide support for episodic memory through links to their autobiographical past
• Neonatal intensive-care units (NICUs) redesigned for premature infant brain and neuronal systems development

<aside> 🌱 How can we better translate neuroscience findings to architecture? Can we extend the above findings to incorporate principles of neuroplasticity into architecture and design?

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