Nowadays, we spend over 90% of our time indoors, and it is becoming increasingly evident that architecture has a profound influence on our brains and bodies. The interest in comprehending how the environment affects human well-being is on the rise, with a growing number of new studies on this subject emerging each year. Moreover, architecture firms are increasingly enlisting the expertise of researchers and human experience design consultants to explore and optimize these effects.
Architects and scientists are currently pinpointing the environmental factors in optimizing human performance within the built environment. While this research is ongoing, studies have already indicated the potential benefits of "Environmental Enrichment" for brain health based on promising results observed in animals with DNA similar to humans.
Enriched environments can maintain healthy brain stimulation, resulting in increased brain activity. Over time, such environments facilitate the strengthening of our nervous system and the generation of new neurons. This, in turn, enables us to continually learn, be more creative, stay engaged, and build resilience against illnesses throughout our lives.
These environments are defined by four key elements: offering motor, cognitive, sensory, and social stimulation. These fundamental conditions have been an integral part of our human nature since the beginning of our existence. On the other hand, when we find ourselves in deprived or impoverished environments, they can lead to a deterioration in brain health. This decline may have a lasting impact on our overall well-being, potentially affecting our ability to maintain autonomy and independence as we grow older.
There are three essential stages that you need to know to apply this:
Neuroarchitecture, Why Should You Know It?
“The architecture's spirituality was incredibly inspiring, leading me to an intuitive insight that surpassed all my previous experiences.”
The beauty and architectural inspiration found in the Basilica of San Francisco de Assisi in Italy played a significant role in Jonas Salk's discovery of the polio vaccine. This accomplishment prompts us to consider the potential of architecture to impact and mold our behaviors and emotions in the world.
Nearly a decade following his passing, the Academy of Neuroscience for Architecture (ANFA) was established. John Eberhard emphasized that integrating neuroscience knowledge into architectural design can lead to the creation of hospitals where patients recover faster, schools where students retain information more effectively, and offices where people collaborate more successfully.
However, the question remains: How can neuroarchitecture contribute to the development of spaces that promote both well-being and creativity while fostering a positive human experience?
Creativity and Architecture
In Western contexts, creativity is defined as the capacity to "generate ideas." The findings of numerous studies indicate that creativity is associated with, among other factors, the following:
- Cognitive Stimulation: Moderate levels of stimulation enhance creativity, while very high or very low levels inhibit it.
- Fun and Social Interaction: Creative thinking is facilitated by a variety of opportunities to choose who to interact with and where to be.
- Ambivalence: People who experience opportunities to choose between opposites tend to recognize unusual connections between concepts and the environment.
- Change and Novelty: These factors positively influence our ability to seek, interact, and generate ideas.
The conditions that foster creative thinking need to be dynamic, facilitating a seamless transition of our attention between our surroundings and our inner thoughts. These spaces should be enriched environments that engage users on sensory, cognitive, physical, and social levels.
The sensations of ambivalence and surprise can be linked to using art objects, artistic installations, or interactive elements in spatial design. These elements operate by eliciting emotions that, in return, prompt reflections, arouse curiosity, and disrupt habitual patterns.
Users often experience ambivalence and creativity when encountering unconventional and unexpected spatial solutions that diverge from conventional expectations for a specific function, which includes non-obvious behaviors and emotions that deviate from the anticipated norms.
Nature, Positivity and Movement
Incorporating elements like vegetation into architectural design is a valid approach. Biophilic Design, which focuses on integrating nature, whether directly or indirectly, into the built environment, has the potential to enhance creativity and is linked to the Attention Restoration Theory. This theory, developed by Rachel and Stephen Kaplan, suggests that interacting with natural elements can improve a person's ability to concentrate.
Even after prolonged periods of intense focus and activity, simply gazing at nature can rejuvenate our ability to concentrate. This is why natural environments often make us feel more at ease and welcomed.
Another dimension of this interaction involves the presence of organic shapes, scents, sounds, textures, and structures. These elements, coupled with the relaxation they bring, serve as sources of inspiration and stimulation for thinking and creativity.
To enhance creativity, it is not limited to incorporating biophilic design into architecture and interior spaces alone; it also involves providing views of vegetation through windows and creating green surroundings around buildings.
Environments conducive to creativity facilitate interactions among individuals with diverse perspectives. Another aspect emphasized by neuroarchitecture is the promotion of social integration and positivity. The built environment can enable chance encounters, spontaneous conversations, engaging discussions, and the inspiration that often arises from such encounters.
Designers can enhance well-being and concentration by encouraging movement and offering several seating options, desks, and tables in workplace design. These options facilitate postural changes, including standing, rocking, rotating, and traditional sitting.
As a result, over the long term, enriched environments promote the preservation of mental health, creativity, and a positive human experience. In contrast, impoverished environments have the opposite effect, gradually undermining our overall quality of life. Maintaining a healthy mind is undoubtedly complex, but it's achievable through the principles of neuroarchitecture.
For those seeking longevity, it is essential to spend more extended periods in enriched environments, as this allows for continuous and lasting biological, psychological, and social changes to take place.
