ANFA Interfaces
May 25, 2011
Great Expectations: Architecture in the Age of Neuroscience
Presented by: Alison Whitelaw, FAIA LEED ap BD+C
Sustainable design practices and metrics have focused on designing and measuring "High Performance Buildings." As neuroscience research increasingly informs us about how the human brain responds to the built environment, how can architects increasingly design for, and measure, "High Performance Occupants?"
University of California, San Diego
Calit2 - Atkinson Hall
La Jolla, CA 92093
Sponsors
- Dougherty + Dougherty Architects
- Gilbert Cooke, AIA
- Gordon H. Chong, FAIA
- Hearthstone Alzheimer Care
- HMC Architects
- Kornberg Associates
- Platt/Whitelaw Architects
- NewSchoolArts Foundation
- San Diego Architectural Foundation
- Salk Institute
- UC San Diego, Calit2
Alison Whitelaw, FAIA LEED ap BD+C is the Senior Principal of the firm Platt/Whitelaw Architects, located in North Park, San Diego. She received her architectural degree from the University of Edinburgh, Scotland. During her 30 years of architectural practice in the San Diego region, Ms. Whitelaw has become recognized for her award winning work on sustainably designed projects for private, governmental and institutional clients. For ten years she has taught Sustainable Design classes at the NewSchool of Architecture & Design and has lectured on Sustainable Design across the country. She is a Fellow of the American Institute of Architects and the current President of the Academy of Neuroscience for Architecture. She is also Past President of the AIA San Diego Chapter, Past President of the San Diego Architectural Foundation, and a member of the NewSchool of Architecture & Design Advisory Board.
Commentary by Eduardo Macagno, PhD:
Dr. Macagno, the immediate past president of ANFA, is on the faculty of the University of California, San Diego, where his research focuses on how nerve cells grow and connect to appropriate targets and on how the human brain responds to environmental stimuli, particularly the built environment. With seed funding from HMC Architects, he and colleagues have been developing wearable sensor arrays that use wireless technology to record human neurological and physiological responses within a human scale immersive VR facility (CAVE).
The mission of the Academy of Neuroscience for Architecture is to promote and advance knowledge that links neuroscience research to a growing understanding of human responses to the built environment.