A
two-decade-old research partnership focused on the emerging understanding
of the relationship between the brain and the built environment has culminated
in the Academy of Neuroscience for Architecture, the Legacy Project of
the 2003 AIA National Convention in San Diego. The new formal collaboration
of architects and scientists to study how the human brain perceives and
responds to cues from architecture, which itself has been in the works
for 18 months, marks a “new beginning bursting with potential,”
said Alison M. Whitelaw, San Diego Architectural Foundation president,
who announced the legacy project at the convention’s May 9 general
session.
The foundation, with the support of AIA national component and its leadership,
established the not-for-profit academy to collect and disseminate hard
scientific data on links that, Whitelaw said, will validate existing hypotheses
or provide new findings to bridge neuroscience research and architecture
studies. The academy’s San Diego location will take advantage of
the area’s nexus of neuroscience experts and activities.
An advisory committee of architects and neuroscientists is developing
short- and long-term planning goals and, with an organizing committee
primarily composed of San Diego architects, is working out the academy’s
management, communication, and business matters. Among them are plans
to identify potential funding sources, establish workshops, line up projects
in architecture education, and develop videos and an Internet site.
Copyright 2003 The American Institute of Architects.
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