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. All rights reserved. Home Page