Routledge Handbook of Neuroscience and the Built Environment

According to the OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development), in the

21st century, we are living in a New Age of Biology, acknowledging the rapid development

of transformative findings in the life sciences. The Routledge Handbook of Neuroscience and

the Built Environment shows how these new findings impact architecture, planning, and

design, changing our understanding how people respond to their surroundings, and how

these environments can be optimized for human well-being.

A total of 31 chapters, presented in six sections, discuss human perception, the need

for connection, and how design impacts health and well-being, through topics such as

neuroaesthetics, color, memory and place, proportion, sound, neurophenomenology,

neurodiversity, biophilia, beauty, artificial intelligence, among many others. Expert

international contributors look to answer key questions as follows: What do architects and

designers need to know about neuroscience? How does architecture and design impact us

non-consciously? Why is acknowledging the human subliminal experience important? What

tools can designers use to “see” our subliminal behaviors?

This volume will be important reading for the design community, whether practicing,

educating, or studying, as well as policy makers and public health professionals.

Alexandros A. Lavdas is a tenured Senior Researcher Neuroscientist at Eurac Research, Bolzano, Italy, an Assistant Professor and Head of Psychology at Webster University, Athens Campus, Greece, and a member of the Board of Directors at the Human Architecture and Planning Institute, Concord, MA, USA. He holds an MSc and PhD from University College London. He has worked extensively in nervous system development and regeneration, and in more recent years, he has been especially interested in examining elements of visually organized complexity, such as those found in nature and pre-modern architecture, and exploring the psychophysiological correlates of exposure to environments incorporating such patterns.

Ann Sussman, an architect, author, researcher, and teacher, is passionate about understanding how buildings impact us. She serves as President of the Human Architecture + Planning Institute (theHapi.org), a nonprofit devoted to improving the design of the built environment through education and research. Her book Cognitive Architecture: Designing for How We Respond to the Built Environment (Routledge, 2015, 2021) won the 2016 Place Research Award from the Environmental Design Research Association (EDRA). She has taught a course on human perception of architecture, Buildings, Biology + the Brain, at the Boston Architectural College (BAC) since 2018.

A. Vernon Woodworth is a registered architect and member of the Faculty at the Boston Architectural College with a BA in Urban Design from the New College in Sarasota, FLA, a Master of Theological Studies from the Harvard Divinity School, and a Diploma in Analytical Psychology from the C.G. Jung Institute Boston. He co-edited a volume of essays titled Programming for Health and Wellbeing in Architecture. His design firm Urban Determination, LLC focuses on small-scale residential and commercial projects in the Mattapan neighborhood of Boston.