When design meets neuroscience, the outcome is wonderfully human(e)

If architects and designers can avoid misinformation about neuroscience, their spaces can add beauty to life in unexpected ways

As I write this, attempting to flip between multiple responsibilities, I’m trying to channel my creative right brain while tapping into the unused 90% of what’s left. Actually, none of that is true – despite what we’ve been told, the brain doesn’t work that way.

According to brain science, it’s not possible for our brains to multi-task, we use both sides of our gray matter for creativity and logic, and the brain is always a very active place (between 60-80% of the energy we consume occurs when the brain doesn’t seem to be doing anything at all. In this era of ubiquitous information – and our increasing desire for data and instant knowledge – it’s easy to see how what we read from various sources influences our thoughts, beliefs, and often our actions. The misinformation we encounter about brain science likely hasn’t impacted someone’s life negatively. But designing around it could.

To provide a strong foundation for design – and avoid the mythology that often overshadows true research – my firm, NBBJ, has been working with Dr. John Medina, a developmental molecular biologist and New York Times bestselling author of Brain Rules. We initially approached Dr. Medina with both curiosity and naiveté around how the brain reacts to the physical environments we design. John responded as any grumpy scientist would – with a healthy dose of skepticism. Yet three years later, we have together discovered meaningful overlaps between neuroscience and the built world.

SOME CONTEXT: MIND THE GAP

Some 2.6 million years ago, our ancestors discovered the benefit of using stones as tools. It then took 1.8 million years for fire to become integral to our routine. 200,000 years ago, our brains as we know them developed. And just 40,000 years ago, we began to culturally express ourselves through art and community. Over two millennia, that’s a fairly gentle evolutionary slope.

In contrast, just 600 years ago the invention of the printing press revolutionized communication and learning. 200 years later came the telescope, followed in a short span of 150 years by the steam engine. The telephone and car developed in even less time. And in the past 50 years, we’ve put a man on the moon, built a computer – then shrunk it to fit on your wrist – and turned our vehicles into an automated driver service. Suffice it to say we might be fascinated by this constant newness, but our brains are struggling to keep up. 

While we can’t close the gap between human evolution and technological evolution – if Moore’s law is any prediction, that gap will continue to widen – we can use design to better connect our physiological progression with our technological ambition. Here’s how:

DESIGN TO PROVOKE

Humans don’t pay attention to boring things. In contrast to living forms and natural spaces, most built objects and spaces are readily knowable at first glance, and thus do not motivate exploration. It’s easy to habituate to them, grow used to them, and lull our minds into sleepy, boring familiarity. Not all is lost, though. The spaces we inhabit can improve our brain activity. Designs that encourage exploration or reveal themselves over time can activate our malleable brains. Unexpected experiences do the same – Frank Lloyd Wright mastered this as he played with compressed spaces that opened to giant volumes. The “Cathedral Effect” – the direct impact ceiling height has on our ability to focus or be creative – influences how our brain fires. Varying ceiling heights in our spaces is obviously a good first step; that said, based on the science above, imagine how brain-provoking moving ceilings would be.

DESIGN TO CONNECT

In using our five senses, sight has become the most dominant. More than ever, visibility factors into how we choose to communicate (in person or by email): the more turns it takes a person to get from one part of a floor to another, the less likely they will be to venture beyond familiar territory. Fortunately, floorplans designed around people – not systems – are overcoming these obstacles: features like elevators and stairs at the perimeters or even outside of buildings allow greater interior sight lines between teams for improved interaction, idea sharing, awareness, and camaraderie.

We can also use design to better connect teams socially. Theory of Mind – the awareness that others hold different thoughts than you – has proven to aid a team’s ability to problem-solve. Quiet spaces to read (fiction, ideally) and to experience non-habituating elements (like running water or fauna) are ideal. We know from research that the greater the number of women present in a conversation, the better we solve complex problems; sensors can help us understand gender participation though the pitch of voices during collaborative sessions.

DESIGN TO DE-STRESS

Biophilia – or humanity’s instinctive connection to plants and animals – may sound like a newer term, yet it was extensively studied and written about by E.O. Wilson some 30 years ago. Our innate desire to connect to nature can be directly correlated to how our cortisol levels fall when we’re in a natural environment. Our positive responses to the colors green, blue, and orange should come as no surprise given their presence in nature. We’ve spent 99.987% of our evolutionary history out of doors; therefore we must continue finding ways to live, work, and heal in outdoor environments – or at least near them. Mechanical systems and building materials must move us closer to nature instead of separating us from it.

DESIGN TO REMEMBER

Around age 20, we begin to forge our personal identity. Evolutionarily, this timeframe was crucial for both passing on our genes and ensuring the safety of our descendants. In that moment, the music we listen to and the books we read factor into our future points of reference. So does the art and architecture we enjoy. When a song plays from this time in your life, that visceral response you experience is known as a “reminiscence bump.” It might flood you with memories, but it can also help turn your aging clock backward. Ellen Langer’s experiment in the lives of seventy- and eighty-year-old men provides fascinating insight on how we should rethink our elderly care. Improved cognition, motor skills, and eyesight alone are surprising yet powerful outcomes from that test; the flag football game that ensued at the end is what sold me. Removing prompts of aging – mirrors, evidence of the present day, and physical means of assistance – and replacing them with evocations of specific reminiscence-bump eras can improve the quality of life for our aging population. 

SOME CONVICTION: CLOSE THE GAP

In my professional work, my pulse quickens when we uncover opportunities to better partner physiology with technology. In my personal world, I can’t help but be moved just as much. Here’s an example that hits close to home: scientifically we’re finding it harder to discern between the brains of an Alzheimer’s patient, a 30-year old linebacker, and a combat veteran. We’re on the verge of an epidemic that cuts across generations, and we’re unprepared to address it. Neuro-sensitive design may be the one progressive yet human-first approach that enables people to make connections they’re unable to create on their own. 

This article originally appeared in Metropolis Magazine's June 1st, 2017 print edition