Neuroarchitecture in Architecture and Design Magazine

 

The renowned Architecture and Design magazine will publish an article this Monday, May 27, titled Neuroarchitecture: Practical Tips from Two Architecture Firms to Make Your Home Happier. The article features Slow Studio as a firm specializing in creating homes that promote physical and emotional well-being. Architecture and Design magazine is a monthly publication that focuses on the latest advancements and trends in the world of architecture, interior design, and decoration.

In fact, in our Research section, you can find an article that delves deeper into the topic, titled What is Neuroarchitecture?, which details the 10 fundamentals of architecture.

In the article in Architecture and Design magazine, we answer a series of questions about how to design a happy home, taking into account the principles of neuroarchitecture:

 

In your opinion, why is neuroarchitecture currently (and since when) an important aspect of home design?

Neuroarchitecture has become important in home design due to a growing understanding of how the spaces we inhabit and the physical environment affect our emotions, behaviors, and overall well-being. For several decades, the significant influence of space design on our physical, mental, and emotional health has been recognized. This has led to increased interest in creating environments that promote awareness, calm, concentration, and happiness, which is especially relevant in the context of the home, where we spend most of our time.

 

The spatial distribution and its relationship with the outdoors are crucial issues in neuroarchitecture. Feeling comfortable and connected to our surroundings is fundamental. Why is this, and have you noticed a change since the pandemic?

The design of living spaces and built environments, conceiving them holistically by considering the indoor-outdoor continuum, are essential in neuroarchitecture because they directly affect our sense of well-being and connection with the environment. In fact, the connection with nature is the central principle of biophilia, which refers to the innate bond people have with nature and the need to interact with it to maintain emotional and physical balance.

During the pandemic, this need for connection with nature and our surroundings became even more evident, although studies conducted before the pandemic already concluded that we spend more than 90% of our time indoors. This has led to a greater emphasis on creating environments that foster a connection with nature, through strategies such as opening spaces to views, allowing natural light, generating air currents through cross-ventilation, using breathable and natural materials, green roofs that cushion and regulate temperature and humidity, incorporating vegetation indoors, creating semi-outdoor spaces like bioclimatic patios or pergolas covered with deciduous vegetation, and outdoor spaces like gardens or balconies.

 

Sight and touch are especially important in any interior. Specifically, could you tell me three practical ways to incorporate both senses (what colors or accessories to use, materials that make us feel better…) into the home to make people feel more comfortable?

– Use of biomaterials: Incorporating natural materials such as wood, ceramic, or stone, which, in addition to having a minimal ecological footprint, when left exposed, provide qualities of breathability, hygroscopicity, thermal and acoustic damping capacity, and odor absorption. This also reduces the use of planetary resources and allows for an honest architecture that does not hide the qualities of the materials themselves. This is only possible when working with natural and healthy materials.

– Natural lighting: The sun is life; it is an inexhaustible source of energy that provides light and heat to the planet and, consequently, to built environments. Using systems that allow both direct and diffuse light to enter, that allow its entry to be regulated, and that adapt the distribution of rooms according to their orientation and the season we are in—protecting us from radiation in summer and capturing it in winter—creates visually comfortable environments. In addition to visual comfort, solar capture and control naturally improve hygrothermal comfort.

– Natural spaces: Prioritizing biophilia through the presence of indoor plants, bioclimatic patios with vegetation, pergolas protected by deciduous vegetation, preserving existing vegetation in the surroundings while expanding biodiversity through the presence of water, wildlife shelters… not only conditions senses like sight and touch, but also provides relaxing aromas that allow us to reconnect with nature. Furthermore, it improves air quality, absorbs indoor impurities, produces oxygen, and absorbs CO2; it is also very comforting and beneficial for mental health by constantly reminding us that we are all part of an ecosystem and are closely linked to the living beings that coexist on our planet, to whom we owe respect.

 

On your website, you discuss the 10 fundamentals of neuroarchitecture. I understand that all are important, but which would you say are most easily transferable to any home where the well-being of its inhabitants is to be improved?

All fundamentals of neuroarchitecture are important, but those most easily transferable to any home are related to the choice of materials with which we materialize interior environments and the morphology of these spaces, as well as their corresponding lighting.

These aspects can be adapted with relative ease to improve the well-being of those who inhabit the home, either by incorporating natural light, creating functional and comfortable spaces, or selecting natural and renewable materials that promote a sense of warmth and comfort.