NewSchool Summer Program Welcomes Architects and Visionary Leaders as Guest Lecturers

NewSchool of Architecture & Design (NewSchool) has welcomed architects and visionary leaders as guest lecturers at its Neuroscience for Architecture Summer Intersession Program. This four-day executive course provides American Institute of Architects (AIA) continuing education credits for attendees, but more importantly, examines the juncture of brain and the built environment.
 
Leaders in the field of neuroscience for architecture discussed their work as it relates to building bridges between these two fields. Special guest lectures and panel discussions were held, featuring architect Steven Holl, FAIA and Finnish architect/author/critic Juhani Pallasmaa, Hon. FAIA. Joining them was NewSchool neuroscience faculty members Gil Cooke, FAIA and Tatiana Berger, Assoc. AIA, along with guests Gordon Chong, Ph.D., FAIA and Alison Whitelaw, FAIA. Prominent neuroscientists featured in the program include Fred Gage, Ph.D., Thomas Albright, Ph.D., and Sergei Gepshtein, Ph.D. of the Salk Institute, and Eduardo Macagno, Ph.D., Founding Dean of the School of Biological Sciences at UC San Diego.

Special Guest Lectures:

• Juhani Pallasmaa is a Finnish architect, professor of architecture, and dean at the Helsinki University of Technology in Finland. Pallasmaa’s approach to architecture and design is rooted in phenomenology, in which he allows the environment to inform his designs. As an international figure in contemporary architecture, design, and art culture, he has written and lectured extensively throughout the world on architecture and the visual arts, environmental psychology, and cultural philosophy for more than 40 years.
• Steven Holl, who leads an architecture and urban design office with locations in New York and Beijing, is an American artist and award-winning architect. He is known for his organic design approach in which the site itself generates an architectural idea, which he then applies. Holl is recognized for his ability to blend space and light with contextual sensitivity and to utilize the unique qualities of each site to create a concept-driven design. He was one of the keynote speakers at last fall’s Academy of Neuroscience for Architecture conference.
• Sergei Gepshtein is the founding director of the Collaboratory for Adaptive Sensory Technologies at the Salk Institute. With a background in neurobiology, psychology, and vision science, he brings a unique perspective on how visual systems organize information and shape our perception.

The Neuroscience for Architecture Summer Intersession Program included studio work along with other guest lecturers and studio time. This course also featured noted neuroscientists describing current research and discussing its implications for design. This course was intended for licensed architects, urban designers, planners, design professionals, healthcare industry professionals, doctoral candidates, and post-graduate students in architecture and related fields.