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© 2010 by Maria Lorena Lehman, Sensing Architecture | SensingArchitecture.com

BRINGING A RCHITECTURE TO THE NEXT L EVEL

http://sensingarchitecture.com/






BRINGING ARCHITECTURE TO THE NEXT LEVEL

BY

MARIA LORENA LEHMAN

PUBLISHED: JANUARY 28, 2010







COPYRIGHT INFORMATION

Copyright © 2010 by Maria Lorena Lehman. All rights reserved,including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form.No parts of this book may be reproduced in any form without

written permission of the copyright owner, Maria Lorena Lehman.The author and publisher have used their best efforts in preparingthis book and the instructions contained herein. However, the authorand the publisher make no warranties of any kind, express orimplied, with the regard of the information contained in this book,and specially disclaim, without limitation, any implied warranties ofmerchantability and fitness for any particular purpose.

NOTICE OF LIABILITY

In no event shall the author or the publisher be responsible or liablefor any loss of profits or other commercial or personal damages,including but not limited to special incidental, consequential, orany other damages, in connection with or arising out of furnishing,performance or use of this book.

TRADEMARKS

Throughout this book, trademarks are used. Rather than put a

trademark symbol in every occurrence of a trademarked name, westate that we are using the names in an editorial fashion only and tothe benefit of the trademark owner with no intention of infringementof the trademarks. Thus, copyrights on individual diagrams,illustrations, trademarks and other images reproduced in this bookare retained by the respective owner.

SAVE AND SHARE

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How To Reach True Architectural Innovation

What you are about to read is the result of years ofresearch and experience. With this book I intend to revealwhat I think is of critical importance to help advance thearchitectural design discipline today.

We live in an era where there are many wonderfuladvancements taking place in different, and seeminglyunrelated fields. I believe such advancements hold withinthem great opportunity, once “bridged” cleverly with keyingredients of architectural design.

It is my goal with this book, Bringing Architectureto the Next Level , to introduce insights that open theeyes and expand the mind of architecture professionals,scholars and design enthusiasts. Prepare to be energized

with new workable design strategies that will lead you totrue architectural innovation.

Here’s to designing a better world,

Maria Lorena LehmanSensingArchitecture.com







About the Author 9

Maria Lorena Lehman 9

Founder of Sensing Architecture 9

Occupant-Centered Design 1

Your Own Design Process 1

The Trust of Your Client 2

Expanding Your Building’s Potential 3

The Significance of Your Occupant’s Lens 4

Balancing Architecture with Technology 5

Towards an Innovative Architecture 7

Is Technology Your Weakest Link? 7

Four Major Challenges for You to Tackle 8

Finding Your Innovation Point 11

Master Design Communication 13

Simplifying the Design Progress 13

What is Your Relationship with Architectural Technology? 14

Boosting Your Architectural Ingenuity 15

Your Design as a Communication Portal 16

Neuroscience: Your Building’s Effect 17

A Cross Disciplinary Approach 17

Why Neuroscience? 18Bridging the “Gap” Between Architecture and Technology 18

What Does Neuroscience Reveal? 19

Adaptive Architecture for Tomorrow Can Help You Today 20

How to “Position” Your Architecture 21

Can Architectural Technology Increase Your Creativity? 21

Building Upon Your Previous Works 23

Finding Architectural Meaning 24

Building Purpose Rests Upon these Three Foundational Pillars 25

Your New Role as “Sensemaker” 27

Why Buildings Today Fail and What You Can Do 27

The Key to Your Occupant’s Many Dimensions 28

How to Drill into a Design Problem to Spark New Opportunity 29

CHAPTER 1

CHAPTER 2

CHAPTER 3

CHAPTER 4

CHAPTER 5

CHAPTER 6

INTRODUCTION





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About the Author

Maria Lorena Lehman

Founder of Sensing Architecture

Maria Lorena Lehman is the founder and author of Sensing

Architecture, an authoritative online resource for architectural design— giving you free access to cutting-edge ideas to help you become amore innovative architectural designer.

By creating this international portal, Maria pursues her particularinterest in teaching her theories and findings which focus onstrategic links between neuroscience (the human sensory system),new technologies and architecture. She also runs a popular SensingArchitecture Newsletter , which you probably subscribe to already. Ifnot, subscribe for free at SensingArchitecture.com.

Maria holds a Bachelor of Architecture with Honors from Virginia Techand a Master in Design with Distinction from the Harvard University

Graduate School of Design (GSD).

Maria has received a wide-range of scholarly honors and has servedas an instructor and returning critic at the Harvard University GSD.

Prior to her research in academia, Maria Lorena Lehman worked as Junior Partner for Boggs and Partners, an award-winning architecturefirm based in Annapolis, Maryland.

M ARIA L ORENA L EHMAN

FEATURED IN

ARCHITECT M AGAZINE

(Sensing Architecture was also featured.)

A BOUT THE A UTHOR



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Occupant-Centered DesignSo much of your building’s potential depends on your ability to meet your occupant’sneeds. As an architect your focus should always include your occupant in addition todesigning for your building’s budget, code regulations, developer’s requirements andclient’s goals. Through your design solutions you can become an important advocatefor your building’s occupant, incorporating their perspective as you design for theirexperience.

Your Own Design Process

As an architect today, you mustsolve complex problems in creative,resourceful and aesthetic ways.With each project comes newdesign challenges, new constructionmethods and new technologieswhich all call for a continuous

advancement in your way ofthinking.

But how can you make your designsbetter? How can you improve fromone project to the next? And howcan your building designs go from

CHAPTER 1

1

W HAT HINDERS Y OU THE MOST?

Your Weakest Link.

When analyzing your own design process it isoften helpful to take a serious look at finding yourbiggest constraint.

I’m sure you’ve heard this old saying...“You’re onlyas strong as your weakest link.” Well, this is true.

By figuring out what is holding your designsback the most, you can make effort to eliminatethat constraint. In doing this, your overall designprocess and end-product will improve dramatically.

This is actually a business concept, but I find itholds true for design as well.

OCCUPANT-CENTERED DESIGN






simply being good...to being great ? To help us get to the bottom of this, I will simplystart by posing the following question:

“W hat is your greatest challenge when

designing architecture?”

This is a question I also recently asked to many of my readers at Sensing Architecture.Of course, there were a variety of responses; but there were some that I kept receivingover and over again. Hence, the following is my synopsis of the primary six challengesarchitects today told me they face when it comes to architectural design:

1. Innovation: Generating fresh ideas to create something new and useful

2. Originality : Avoiding unnecessary repetition, but still having a collectivebody of work

3. Awareness: Removing bias so, as an architect, my own experiences don’tblur the correct answer

4. Authenticity: Filtering poor external influences and fads that can oftenfind their way into my designs

5. Selflessness: Taming my ego by approaching each project with an openmind, ready to listen to other’s ideas as well as realizing that architecturaldesign is not simply about building a monument to myself

6. Communication: Improving the relationships with my clients, which canmake or break a project.

Within this book I will address these challenges by providing you with key conceptsand mindset shifts so you can bring your architecture to the next level. The goodnews is that there is a key underlying factor which runs through each of the abovechallenges. It affects all of them; thus, creating a domino effect.

By solving for this, you will see improvements rippling through your work. And it allbegins by seeing your building designs through your building occupant’s lens.

The Trust of Your Client

No doubt, clients play a critical part in your design process. After all, it is yourrelationship with them that can really make your job just that much easier. Ideally,they should trust you and your expertise to carry out their needs successfully through your design.

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The problem; however, arises when you as an architect neglect the actual people thatwill use your building from day to day. Sometimes your client is one of those people,other times they are not.

It is important to remember that just because you design for your client successfully,does not automatically ensure that you did the same for your future building occupants.

As an architect, you need to keep both in mind as you design. That means reallydelving into the day to day functions and needs of your building occupants — howthey perceive, think, feel and behave.

So, if you do your job well, your designs will ultimately meet the needs of both yourclient and your day to day building occupants. Both will be happy and your designswill be that much stronger.

Expanding Your Building’s PotentialBuildings have an impact. Once they are built, they can transcend scale, time andeven culture. Although it sounds simple, it is important to remember that building’sare for people. They are for the people that inhabit them as much as they are forthe people that pay for them. As a designer of built environments, it should be yourmission to design to optimize occupant experience — helping to transform a so-called“basic building” into great architecture , no matter what the project size.

When you design from the occupant’s

perspective, your building will functionbetter and take on a more profound beauty.Conversely, if you do not seriously consider your occupant’s experience, your design will yield a simplistic environment — not trulyhealthy, aesthetically pleasing, safe or veryfunctional.

In the following diagram you can seewhy it is so important to incorporate youroccupant’s needs throughout your design

process. You see, your building’s potentialdepends upon your design process and yourdesign process’ success depends upon yourability to meet your occupant’s needs.

I know this concept may sound obvious, butwhen you look at how many buildings today

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Diagram: Drivers that Determine Building Potentia







are “simplistic” and not “great”, you begin to realize that occupant needs are all tooften not a primary concern.

When you seriously integrate your occupant’s perception into your building’s design you will begin to notice how other factors determining your building’s success areaffected. The preceding diagram shows this type of domino effect where your

occupant’s needs constrain your design process and your design process constrains your building’s potential. In other words, the greater your ability to successfully andcreatively meet your occupant’s needs, the greater the chances are for your buildingto achieve its potential for success. This ultimately is a major factor in separating the“simplistic” from the “great”.

The Significance of Your Occupant’s Lens

As you design, you must consider so many requirements, meet so many different

needs and still make this all happen within budget and on time. Furthermore, yourdesign must be “approved” through so many phases that your initial creative gesturecan get stripped away during the design “process”. So, you may ask yourself:

“H ow can I design “great” architecture that

offers something “new” with each project?”

An interesting thing happens when you begin to consider your occupant’s lens more

heavily during your design process. Like a chain reaction of events, many of the

4

TOWARD A W ELL ORCHESTRATED DESIGN

There are many simple instances where you can see that a designer didn’t follow through in fullyunderstanding and incorporating their occupant’s perspective. For instance, HVAC vents inappro-priately located within a school’s classroom can often emit interrupting noise that conflicts withteaching and disrupts other student learning activities.

While designing, these details might seem minor, but they all add up. As an architect, it is important

to think of your occupant as not just a user that carries out one or two tasks at a time. Try to thinkabout how all of the details in your design come together — as perceived by your occupant whoinhabits your building day in and day out.

By really delving into what you can do for your occupant with your design, you will find that yourdesign thinking will free up. You will begin to see more possibilities. And you will begin to generatebetter ideas that creatively solve problems and make occupants’ lives better.







factors that typically contribute to a “great” design, like aesthetic beauty, seamlessfunctionality, economic strategy and cultural presence, suddenly all fit into place.

You will find that all six of the challenges architects face (innovation, originality,awareness, authenticity, selflessness and communication) stem from your ability tounderstand and execute a design that enhances your occupant’s experience. The

more you know about how building occupants perceive and experience space, themore empowered you will be as an architect.

Your designs will naturally yield spaces that engage your occupants to think, feel andbehave where they want to and in the way they want to. Your designs will be morefunctional, timely and beautiful.

One by one, you’ll be better able to tackle your biggest design challenges — you will be better able to innovate, avoid repetition, filter internal bias, get rid ofexternal preconceptions, be open to more possibilities and even develop a betterrelationship with your client. In fact, your building’s success can be proportional to theunderstanding you have regarding your building occupant’s experience.

So, to keep your designs fresh, unique and helpful to those that inhabit them, youshould be continuously asking yourself:

“H ow can I learn more about how building

occupants perceive my architectural designs?”

Balancing Architecture with Technology

It is important to remember that the definition of “occupant” encompasses a lot morethan simply the people that physically inhabit your built works. In today’s age, your“occupant” can mean anyone who “uses” your built environment — physically,virtually, individually and/or collectively.

Your occupant’s needs actually go beyond mere programming, and today there are awide variety of methods and tools that you can use to transform your multi-dimensional

occupant requirements into state-of-the-art, new and innovative, architectural works.

New technologies are surfacing and changing the face of what architectural spacecan do for its occupants. Emerging technologies like nanotechnology with its smartmaterials or sensing ubiquitous computing technologies with their goal-orientedapproach to new interactive and adaptive environments are just two examples oftechnologies that are impacting architectural design today.

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Similarly, there are now new technological systems making information visualization,augmented reality and virtual simulation possible. As is typical with such innovativetechnologies, they continue to refine themselves while also making their way into ourfield of architectural design.

Architecture and technology are most definitely linked — and have been for a

very long time. Today we see technology positioned to affect almost every aspectof architecture, from the way we build with new materials to embedding sensorsand actuators for interactive and adaptive spaces. Such technological advances arewonderful, but it is important to realize that architecture and technology do not easily integrate.

Today, there are many good buildings that stop short of being “great” becausetechnology was added on “after the fact”, not fully understood and not unified witha building design’s overarching ability to meet occupant needs. Unfortunately, whentechnology is not fully integrated into an architectural design it not only looks like anafter-thought, but it also functions like one too.

Additionally, the improper incorporation of technology can often feel invasive andintrusive for building occupants. Consequently, this often results in “painful” architecturalenvironments where a lack of true balance and integration between architecture andtechnology causes many problems, especially for unsuspecting building occupants.

Now, new technology is not all bad. In fact, it can be quite a powerful complement toarchitecture — an integral part of it.

“Y ou must understand what technology does,what you want to make it do and what affect that

will have upon your occupants.”

As an architect, technology can be your best friend or your nemesis.

6






7


Towards an Innovative ArchitectureA problem arises when we begin to look at more specific aspects of the relationshipbetween architectural design and emerging technology. As technology develops, itevolves differently as compared to architecture — and the two do not often cometogether in complementary ways.

Is Technology Your Weakest Link?A lack of design integration betweenarchitecture and technology will ultimatelyaffect the overall functionality and beauty of anarchitectural space. Occupants will suffer astechnologies get in the way of what a designis meant to accomplish. Can you imagine ahospital that does not foster healing? A schoolthat does not foster learning? Or an officebuilding that does not foster productivity?

Technology is frequently the weakest link ina building’s design — which is unfortunatebecause it holds so much potential. Thus, byimproving your implementation of architecturaltechnology during your design process, your

CHAPTER 2

THE “MOST B ANG FOR THE BUCK ”

It is in your design process that youhave the most leverage to build asuccessful building.

I have often heard that “it takes a lotof money to build a poor building,but it doesn’t take that much more toget it right”.

This “little bit more” is all about“leverage”. And to maximize yourleverage, you need to focus yourdesign efforts on “occupant-centered”

design.

Doing this will help to open yourmind to new possibilities that willactually work — by honing in on theright problem at the right time.

A key catalyst for this is technology.

TOWARDS AN INNOVATIVE A RCHITECTURE





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buildings will improve throughout, particularly since today technology will beeverywhere, and it is gaining more transient abilities.

Four Major Challenges for You to Tackle

So why is it so difficult for some architects to fully take advantage of what architecturaltechnology can do? First, technology is everywhere and; yet, it has its own limitations.Second, architects do not fully understand it, think it is important or foresee its potential.

Without an educated approach to designing with architectural technology, yourdesigns will likely be limited as you strive to incorporate it, but do not understand orforesee its full effects upon your building occupants.

There are; however, those of you who do strive to incorporate technology into yourarchitectural designs in healthy and innovative ways. Still, there are many significant

challenges that you need to hurdle:

• Challenge One: Designing for Different Lead Times

It is no secret that architecture takes a long time to build. It can takeup to five years to construct just one building, while technology seemsto be upgrading quickly — at faster and faster rates. Consequently,architecture and technology evolve in different ways, without much crosscommunication during the design stages of each. Thus, technology is often“added” to architectural designs, like an after-thought.

• Challenge Two: Building Construction versus Mass Production

Technology is mass-produced while architecture is usually one-of-a-kind.Technology seems to “spread” just about everywhere, while a successfularchitectural work is more difficult to reproduce or “share” globally.Consequently, architects get less feedback about how their designsactually work. Technology goes through a certain type of “user testing”which architecture does not. Hence, problems can arise when the two areset to actually work together in real-time and in the actual space.

• Challenge Three: Keeping Up with New Technological Capabilities

Architecture that does not integrate technology well remains predominantlyinflexible — bringing with it a lack of varying “mobility” for occupant use.It is important for architects to understand the capabilities of emergingtechnologies because releasing “flexibility” within architecture helps a builtwork with factors like accessibility, sustainability, functionality, aestheticsand so on.






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• Challenge Four: Negotiating Customization with Standardization

Buildings are often “customized” as architects design for a client, occupant,community, culture and so on. This personalization is embedded by thearchitect into the design solution itself. On the other hand, technologymaintains a mass customization approach where certain “modules” can

be personalized within the framework of an already designed system.

Often, merging the two without compromising your design eitheraesthetically or functionally can be difficult.

As you can see, these four challenges have consequences which can affect yourdesign and your process in both broad and specific terms. The key, however, is toknow that they exist and to do your best to design consciously. That means stayinginformed and educated about architectural technologies as they develop, learning tothink about fresh ways to incorporate such technologies to unleash your designs andfinding good ways to create, strategize, plan, test and customize your building for your occupant.

Although technology may be your building’s weakest link, it is important to rememberthat it is only one part of a complex equation that makes “great” design. However,another significant part to that equation is your occupant. In fact, not knowing enoughabout your future building occupant may be your weakest link as you design.

A deep understanding of how your occupants will perceive, think, feel and behavewith your spaces cannot be overemphasized. After all, when you are better able tohone your design talents to tap into technology’s potential, you are better prepared to

bring your architecture to the next level for your occupant.

“Y ou must do more that simply keeping your

occupant in mind while you design — you must

understand what it is like to be them.”

Design Problems that Get Past the Drawing Board

Can a lacking architectural design bring your occupants pain?

When architecture and technology do not fully fit, occupants can experience many“symptoms” as a result. A “symptom” is how I describe a negative effect yieldedfrom the unsuccessful integration between architecture and technology. I also refer to






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such negative effects as “symptoms” because they are typically perceived and felt byoccupants. Unfortunately, they are indeed often a source of pain.

The following are three primary ways “symptoms” can develop when technology isnot integrated properly with architecture:

• The Sensory Deprivation Symptom

Most buildings that you see today do not truly consider all of anoccupant’s needs. Occupant experience is intrinsically linked with anoccupant’s senses, and often such senses are neglected during design.When occupant senses are neglected, your occupant’s experience willdeteriorate and your design will not reach its full potential. The key isfor you, as the designer, to understand how the senses work and how toapply this knowledge into your designs.

You can think of a simple example of sensory deprivation by lookingat how lighting technologies are often incorporated into some buildings.Often, natural and artificial lighting have not been well coordinated. Inaddition, the artificial lighting feels terrible for occupants as they mustshop for items within fluorescent lit retail store, or suffer from not havingenough task lighting within an otherwise flexible space.

As you can well imagine, sensory deprivation can “make or break” aspace. Thus, by deepening your understanding of how your occupant’ssensory processes work, you will be better equipped to make the right

design decisions.

• The Cognitive Overload Symptom

As we all know, we are living in an age where information is growing atexponential rates. With such an abundant amount of information and theemergence of virtual, interactive and adaptive architectural spaces, youas an architect, should consider how your approach to incorporating sucharchitectural advancements will affect your occupant.

A simple example that illustrates why your approach can “make or break” your design is seen within office buildings — places where occupants areconsistently experiencing cognitive overload.

Workers are frequently bombarded by an array of incoming and outgoinginformation which they have to understand, filter and react to. Instead ofallowing technology to simply act as a gateway for all this information, a






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forward-thinkning architect can use interactive, visualization, orientationor other techniques to help workers make “sense” of this information onthe fly — without always having to be tethered to a desk or other immobileoffice space anchor.

Architecture can take on a more proactive role to help occupants —

particularly when it comes to cognitive overload.

• The Overlapping Technology Symptom

The overlapping technology symptom is simple to understand but tricky tosolve globally throughout your building.

Integrating multiple building technologies quite often means that meetingone demand will sacrifice another. A very simple example of this can beexperienced through sound — actually, through noise. In more complex

building types, like a hospital, it becomes quite easy for technologies to“overlap”, causing adverse experiential “side-effects” for patients.

Creating state-of-the-art environments can be a great thing, if you do it well. In fact,with the right design approach, you can resolve many design problems with newtechnologies. The key is to shift your architectural technology mindset and gain moreknowledge about what it means to design for your occupant.

Finding Your Innovation Point

As technology continues to propagate and embed itself in a multitude of objects andenvironments around us, architecture will need to take a lead so technology does notjust infiltrate environments; thus pushing occupant-centered design by the way-side.

O VERLAPPING TECHNOLOGIES POLLUTE M ANY HOSPITAL DESIGNS

To help you better visualize how overlapping technologies can be detrimental to architectural de-sign, let me continue with the hospital example. Did you know that sleep is a critical factor thathelps a patient to heal? Within hospitals, patients have a difficult time getting the sleep they needbecause noise is a major problem — doors open and close, hospital carts roll down the hallways,in-room medical technologies are continuously making sounds, TVs are on and HVAC systems hum.

Some may say this is just bad architectural design, but you would be surprised by how often thistype of overlap with technology actually happens, even in those “high-end” design situations.






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Creating state-of-the-art environments can be a great thing, if you do it well. In fact,with the right design approach, you can resolve many design problems with newtechnologies. The key is to shift your architectural technology mindset and approachwhile also deepening your knowledge about what it means to design for your occupant.

The good news is that we can uncover and develop many tools, findings and methods

available today to tackle many of these problems. I believe that by honing these, weas designers can bring architectural design to the next level.

“W ith technological growth, there should also

be meaningful architectural growth. Fusing these

with occupant-centered design is a healthy way

to achieve architectural innovation.”

New applications for technology are constantly emerging inarchitecture. The question is whether or not architects knowhow to effectively design for them and then push that boundary.

Diagram: Finding an Innovation Point






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Design visions guide architectural technology, while architectural technology informsdesign decisions. All three parts work together and play a major role in helpingdesign progress take place.

What is Your Relationship with Architectural Technology?As an architect, you should guide and learn from new architectural technology. Why?

For starters, it makes sense to take a closer look at what happens when architectureand technology evolve; in particular, focusing on when they are in a state of designsynergy — a timely and timeless innovation point.

To help us visualize this, lets separate them out as shown in the design synergydiagram below. Of course, they do not actually evolve at exactly the same time or inthe same way. But it is interesting to simply explore what happens between the two

when each informs the other.

Diagram: Design Synergy Towards Architectural Innovation

M ASTER DESIGN COMMUNICATION





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As you can see, a positive feedback loop forms; thus, helping to pull the bestadvantages from the other’s key developments. So, to take architecture to the nextlevel, it is important for you to think about how you will both “feed” and “guide”technology through your designs.

Once you realize that it is you, the architect, who is responsible for bridging the gap

between architecture and technology, then you will be in position to hone your skillsso you can create moments where design synergy can flourish.

Again, this involves refining what I call your architectural ingenuity .

“Y our relationship with architectural technology

will directly impact your ability to achieve greater

innovation through your design work — in an

original , aware , authentic , selfess , clear andhelpful way.”

Boosting Your Architectural Ingenuity

Tackling such profound and meaningful principles as innovation, originality,awareness, authenticity, selflessness and communication is fundamental to “great”design. All six of these challenges, experienced by so many architects, are difficult

to conquer because they involve a continuous process — one which you will practicethroughout your career, no doubt.

The important thing to remember is that if you begin to get these right early-on, youare well on your way to contributing meaningful architectural work for the world touse. Needless to say, you will also be building an accomplished architectural careerin the process.

So, how can you work on all of these principles at once? Well, the key is communication.

It is key for you to learn how to simply exchange information. Not just any informationat any time, but the right information at the right time. When reading what I just wrote,this may look simple, but in the real world it is not so cut and dry.

It is no accident that communication is at the heart of the design synergy diagram.You see, it is communication that really facilities design progress, which in turn, leadsto innovation.

M ASTER DESIGN COMMUNICATION





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Neuroscience: Your Building’s Effect By learning from other disciplines, you as an architect will become a more innovativeand visionary thinker — particularly when delving into a field like neuroscience whichcan teach you not only about scientific ways to be creative, but also about the innerworking of the human mind and behavior.

Both are keys to deeply understanding how to meet your client’s and occupant’sneeds, and then being able to design architectural form that communicates with them

on innovative levels.

A Cross Disciplinary Approach

Just imagine if you could design buildingsthat foster your client’s larger goals every time— like boosting productivity of employees,improving socialization that leads tocollaboration or healing patients in less time

and with higher quality of care.

Well, as an architect it is evermore importantfor you to reach across into other disciplines togain a deeper understanding into what makes your building occupants “tick”. After all, they

CHAPTER 4

THE POWER OF THE HUMAN BRAIN

The human brain is one of the mostcomplex designs on earth. Whatbetter design model to take queuesfrom as you innovate?

From the air quality your buildingcreates, to the aesthetic appeal is

exudes, your building breathes just asthe human brain thinks.

For your designs, the brain can teach you how to guide but not control, howto inspire but not to tire, and how topersonalize but not forget the commongood.

NEUROSCIENCE: Y OUR BUILDING’S EFFECT





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are the ones that use your buildings; thus, they are the ones that ultimately will deemthe success of your built work.

When you truly stop to think about how to unleash your innovative talents, just thinkof how great it is when you design something that works in multi-dimensional ways.When that happens, you have reached a state of design synergy within your built form

— and often, that synergy involves an almost magical experience for your buildingoccupants.

Design has the power to reach deep within a person’s experience, most of which ismade possible due to the existence of their experiential center, the human brain.

Why Neuroscience?

As an architect, you should understand how the human brain works, how it affects your

occupants and how its extremely complex systems can inform your own architecturalsystems — especially as they become more intricate with new architectural technologies.

One of the most complex designs on earth is the human brain. It works seamlessly andthe design ideas that it holds within it continue to fascinate on a daily basis.

The human brain directly affects the work that you do as an architect, and the workthat you do as an architect directly affects the human brain. As a designer, it makessense for you to learn more about the neuroscience discipline.

Bridging the “Gap” Between Architecture and Technology

Thinking about neuroscience as it relates to architecture actually makes your job asan architect much easier. New possibilities surface by allowing you to think of uniqueways to bridge the “gap” between architecture and technology. Those four majorchallenges, described earlier in Chapter 2, now become quite doable.

Of course, many architects can simply merge architecture with technology to make abuilding work, but few can fuse the two together to allow the rest of their design effortsto make their building a beautiful and meaningful experience.

Achieving true design innovation is more than just erecting new forms that work, it isalso about designing environments that are humane and lift the human spirit.

That is a key difference between most architects and the innovative few.






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“T echnology is not an excuse to sacrifce

humane architectural design, instead it should

contribute toward its advancement, and for this

Neuroscience is a bridge.”

Technology is a good thing. We as architectsneed to master how to guide its developmentas it relates to built form, and the field ofneuroscience can help our discipline greatlywith this.

In the diagram to the right you can see howneuroscience can support a more humaneand high-tech architectural design. The

point where architecture and technologymeet with neuroscience is likely to help youunleash design innovation by Bringing YourArchitecture to the Next Level .

A key goal to reach that point is to get yourbuildings to have design synergy, wherearchitecture, technology and neurosciencefuse.

What Does Neuroscience Reveal?

By learning about and applying neuroscience to your architectural designs, yourarchitectural projects will become stronger both functionally and aesthetically. You willfind that your design process yields an architecture with more streamlined complex andflexible systems, greater aesthetic sensibility and greater opportunity for meaningfuloccupant experience.

Neuroscience touches upon many dimensions that relate to architectural design, and

what is even more amazing is that neuroscience holds answers that can help architectsmore truly integrate technologies that are emerging today.

The reason neuroscience can offer so much to architecture is because it deals witha common theme that unites both architecture and technology — literally forminga “bridge” so each may fuse with the other. This commonality is what the brain isdesigned for. It is what helps us all to perceive the world around us.

Diagram: Intersection for Reaching Design Synerg






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It is all about transience and dynamics, or very simply put — CHANGE .

Adaptive Architecture for Tomorrow Can Help You Today

Architecture is gaining increasing ability to change dynamically in real-time, at manyscales. The role of architect is changing. Buildings and the processes that go into theircreation are changing. As new technologies arrive, lead designers need to be well-equipped.

Designs will focus more on dynamic architectural behavior that contributes to anoccupant’s most meaningful experiences. And, as you can see in the diagram above,it is through the human senses that such architectural sensing technologies will work

best.

As an architect, you design change — through expressed forms, useful functions,fused technologies and sensed information. The architecture of tomorrow will call foran architect that can embed new kinds of rules and design behaviors together withdesign ingenuity. Neuroscience completes this picture, ultimately maximizing yourdesign’s potential by increasing your ability to improve life for your occupants.

Diagram: The Behavioral Cycle Between Your Building and Your Occupant






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How to “Position” Your ArchitectureArchitect’s roles are changing as architecture, itself, is morphing into spatialconfigurations that offer greater flexibility, personalization and globalized mobility.But specifically, how can you enter into an innovative design “state”?

Can Architectural Technology Increase Your Creativity?

Technological breakthroughs are changing the landscape of architectural design,and your role as “architect” is evolving as well. In order to not only keep up, but toalso stay relevant and fresh, you need toenvision what a future would be like for your occupants, both with and withoutsuch developments.

The question remains, are you on top of whatall of these technological developmentsare capable of doing? Which ones will

you integrate, and specifically for whatarchitectural purposes? How will you usethem in your designs to improve life for your occupants?

Virtual reality, sensing devices, nanotech-nology, ubiquitous computing, and new

CHAPTER 5

TECHNOLOGY = M ASS CUSTOMIZATION

New technologies that drive Design onDemand are important because they cangive designers more control and flexibilityover small details which they previouslycould not specify due to budgetary,schedule or fabrication constraints.

By putting new mass customization methodson the forefront, Design on Demand is anexample of how technology, when usedwisely, can help architects design smarter(and faster) for their clients and occupants.

HOW TO “POSITION” Y OUR A RCHITECTURE





22


visualization technologies each bring a set of principles and capabilities just waitingfor you, as a designer, to release their potential. Without good design integration, yourarchitecture cannot flourish — and you may experience difficulty transcending what you “typically” do with features like light, material, acoustics and even accessibility.

It is good practice for you to think “outside of the box”, as emerging technologies

continue to enter the picture. Although you may not utilized every idea that you havethat defies convention, it builds your creativity to develop design “freedom” when itcomes to integrating technology into architecture.

As you design with all of the other factors you must consider for a “grade A” buildingproject, it helps to think about what qualities new technologies can bring to yourdesign palette that were not there before. Then, as you design you can pick andchoose which one is most appropriate for your intended function — and which onecan be “pushed further” to fuse with your architectural vision.

The following are ten prime characteristics to “rethink” as you ask yourself how toinnovatively integrate new architectural technologies into your design process.

Diagram: Ten Prime Characteristics to “Rethink” as You Integrate New Technology






23


Building Upon Your Previous Works

The key to all of this is the phenomenon of “sensing”. Sensing involves communication,and communication involves behavior. As an architect, you are able to “optimize”,“guide” and bring “meaning” for your occupant in unique and clever ways. Just aboutevery time you make a critical design decision involving technology, you can insertneuroscience into the equation.

As you can see in the design cycle diagram above you will be better equippedto make informed decisions for the best well-being of your occupant. The smaller

Diagram: How to Innovate Each Time You Make an Occupant-Centered Design Decision






25


In the diagram on the previous page, you can see that your design’s meaning (orpurpose) can be a fusion between sustainability, health and evolution. By incorporatingthis type of architectural meaning, your buildings will be both relevant to our times,but also forward-thinking.

Of course, you have your own design talent, way of thinking and unique perspective

of today’s world. But this diagram is meant to serve as a starting point to get youthinking about where your architecture stands, both literally and figuratively.

It is important for you to grasp that the three main areas shown in the diagram(sustainability, health and evolution), each have sub-disciplines within them that canand will contribute greatly to the architecture profession as you know it.

Architectural meaning, in this simple diagram, stands upon three “states”, or conditions.Thus, to achieve your design’s purpose, you should incorporate each of these threestates: maintenance, energy and movement. By honing your design abilities to captureeach of these architectural pillars, your buildings will stand to best serve the needs ofnot only your occupants, but of our planet as a whole.

Building Purpose Rests Upon these Three Foundational Pillars

The three pillars shown to support you architecture’s purpose really all tap into “nature”in one form or another. For, in nature, you can learn about the states of maintenance,energy and movement. As a designer, and particularly as an architect, nature servesas a resource that is both inspirational and vital to future innovation.

Understand that designing your architecture means working with nature at deeperlevels. Not just harmonizing with it, but also researching it to understand what makesits life forms work.

Yes, there is science to this. There is technology to this. And there is design.

It can be said that disciplines like biomimicry, nanotechnology and neuroscience alldeal with issues of maintenance, energy and movement. After all, each of these fieldsinvolve in depth research targeting issues like life-cycle, economy and even aesthetics.

“A cross-disciplinary approach to fnding your

architectural meaning can often jolt you in the

right directions.”






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Biomimicry, which is a direct study of how to imitate nature to draw inspiration intocurrent designs involving issues like self-organization, survival and efficiency, alsorelates to neuroscience because the brain also beautifully works with these issuesevery day.

Similarly, neuroscience, which is a direct study of how the brain works physiologically

and perceptually also couples well with the pillar of evolution because both involvegrowth, development and decay every day.

The point is that it can help you, as an architect, to look into other seemingly unrelateddisciplines to make new connections. As you gain a better comprehension of cutting-edge work in new technologies, biomimicry and neuroscience you will find that youwill begin to think differently. You will design more effectively and the collection of your architectural body of work will more significantly impact the world.

Then, as your architecture’s purpose evolves from project to project, you will foster your own mindset shifts, which in turn, spark more breakthrough ideas. So for now,keep nature in mind. Learn to think of it in its fullest dimensions, for it makes up andinforms just about all that you do.

“N ature gives us a real look into how processes

can optimize, guide and have meaning, and it

is upon this that architecture, technology and

its design can advance and evolve for building

occupants and our planet by teaching us how to foster good health.”






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Your New Role as “Sensemaker”By taking steps to improve your design process, you will undoubtedly be takingaction toward providing environments with real value for your clients and futureinhabitants. Ideally, your most valuable design solutions will stem from striving tofoster good “health” — from helping your occupants to live healthier, to making sure your design solutions contribute to a healthier planet.

Why Buildings Today Fail and What You Can Do

In many ways, good design can yield good health. But good health can often declinewith the emergence of bad design. For example, designing an office building thatbrings value to your occupants by promoting productivity can be done in two ways:the unhealthy way, or the healthy way.

In the unhealthy instance, an architectmight primarily design for corporate costsavings with flexible spaces that can

change as the employees’ projects andteams evolve. However, in the healthierinstance, a more innovative architect mightalso design for minimizing employee stresswhile also reinventing good socialization,communication, scheduling and projectmanagement building design systems.

CHAPTER 6

PROVIDING V ALUE AS “SENSEMAKER ”

As a forward-thinking architect in the 21st

century, you will not only have to design for your occupant’s senses, but you will alsohave to integrate sensing technologies into

your building designs.

Thus, the “rules” by which you design willact as behavioral thumbprints that carry out

your vision as “Sensemaker”.

Y OUR NEW R OLE AS “SENSEMAKER ”





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As you can see in these two examples, what you know about how employees perceive,experience and behave in their workplace can really couple nicely with what newtechnologies can do. The key is to know how to focus and inject them into yourdesigns.

As a designer, you should build a design process for yourself that emphasizes health

as an undercurrent when making your design decisions. Both your client and youroccupant will thank you for its aesthetic, functional and healthy innovative qualitiesthat make your design valuable to their specific needs.

The key to designing for health is to really consider how your design can care for youroccupants more fully, while also asking what can your design can do that others arenot doing.

The first step is to realize that your occupants have many dimensions. Usually so manymore than most architects even think about because they are under pressure to meeta lot of other demands — like budget caps, code requirements, zoning laws, reviewboard approvals and so on.

The Key to Your Occupant’s Many Dimensions

Most buildings today predominantly bias the sense of vision. Some do incorporateattention to the aural sense, but most rely heavily on the visual to get their building’s“message” across.

“Did you know that you have a better chance

of providing real value to your occupants by

considering all of their senses while you design?”

Doing this will have a ripple effect throughout all of your work. Your buildings willbe more functional, more beautiful, more cost effective, more sustainable and moremeaningful.

Plus, you will create a stronger “connection” between your occupants and your wayof designing because they will feel great when they experience it.

It has been said that “touch” is the greatest of all the human senses. After all, whenwe touch something we often say that we “feel” it. In reality, we feel with all of oursenses, so there is actually “touch” involved however we navigate and experiencearchitectural space.






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So, if your occupants use all of their senses to “touch”; then, your architecture shouldappeal to not only their visual sense, but to their aural (hearing), haptic (touch),olfactory (smell) and taste. In fact, these are only five from a multitude of sensesexperienced by the human body.

The sense of touch, alone, includes sensory modalities like temperature, body positionand pain. Now, wouldn’t it be helpful to you as a designer to understand why certainlighting types, for instance, can cause “painful” experiences for your occupants?Think of patients in a hospital, children in a school, employees at work or evenshoppers in a retail store.

First, you must master orchestrating your designs,so they communicate helpful and healthyarchitectural stimuli to your occupants. The keyis to learn how your occupants physiologically and perceptually respond to architectural space.In doing this, your occupants will flourish whenengaging with your creations.

This is one reason neuroscience is a gold-mine,and a definite resource you should tap into tonot only prevent your building from failing, butto propel it toward a building with real value forthe people, and cultures, it affects.

How to Drill into a Design Problem toSpark New Opportunity

When designing for occupants you mustconstantly observe, and then ask “Why?” Whydon’t they heal in that hospital? Why can’t theyget sleep in their patient room? Why is there somuch noise in the hallway? And why does theirdoor keep opening and closing throughout thenight?

Asking “why” will help you to become abetter designer, by getting you to more subtlyunderstand the nature of cause and effect. Youwill then see that you need to design for your

Diagram: Reinvent Your Process






30


occupant’s problems by learning about their root causes. So many times a problem isreally a symptom of something else.

That’s why the right tactics can teach you how to properly “drill” into those contextualissues to spark innovative solutions; in effect, impacting the overall effectiveness of your entire design.

Thus, context is critical to figuring out why your occupants feel, think or behave theway they do when within your space. Again, it is neuroscience that can lead you totruly understand your occupant’s context — and how design for it.

Neuroscience can help you figure out how to spot those critical design problems, turnthem into design opportunities and then orchestrate your own architectural designlanguage — all so you can start Bringing Architecture to the Next Level .

With practice, you will innately be able to carry most all of the principles, methodsand tactics explained in Bringing Architecture to the Next Level .

For instance, you will be able to determine your project’s contextual core problems,elegantly communicate your own design meanings, fully integrate cutting-edgearchitectural technologies, wisely interpret and design for behavioral response andvaluably “position” your work to create new and innovative design opportunities.

“T he key is to reinvent the design aspects which

you currently take for granted, and question the

design aspects you use everyday.”

PLEASE TELL ME W HAT Y OU THINK

I would really like to hear what you think. If you have any questions, insights or would simply liketo tell me what you think about what you just read, please feel free to contact me, Maria LorenaLehman, at the following email address: mll(AT)sensingarchitecture.com

I look forward to working with all of you to continue Bringing Architecture to the Next Level .



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