Space for the Brain / Ruimte voor het Brein

Space for the Brain / Ruimte voor het Brein: Ground for focus and creativity for every brain

Broshuis, Lauren (TU Delft Architecture and the Built Environment)

van de Pas, Roel (mentor)
van Dorst, Machiel (graduation committee)
van der Meel, Hubert (graduation committee)
Bobbink, Inge (graduation committee)

Delft University of Technology

Architecture, Urbanism and Building Sciences | Explorelab

2020-04-02

We can all relate to the experience of wanting to shut of all the environmental stimuli around us, as our brain is overwhelmed and overstimulated by it all. Our surrounding environments can be improved if architects and designers learn more about how multi-sensory stimuli can enrich our perception of space, and when these triggers can take a back seat. Hence, we should strive for a well-balanced design regarding sensory stimuli, instead of creating overwhelming environments that are unnecessarily stressing ourselves. Buildings affect behaviour and wellbeing of its users. The goal of my research to make architects and designers more aware that creating spaces has certain effects on mental health of perceivers. And more importantly, that these effects can be different for each person. A design for a building should serve every user, instead of designing for the average person. Architects should take into account that every individual perceives a space differently and reacts differently to environmental stimuli. They should implement this varying demand for environmental stimuli in the building/environment, based on an individual’s needs. A stimulating space is an environment that stimulates a person’s way of working, thinking and being, whether it is stimulated by internal or external factors. The role of the architect is getting more multidisciplinary, but the way students are educated at our faculty is falling behind this multidisciplinary approach. My design for an interdisciplinary design school at the TU Delft campus will contribute to this collaboration between students of various faculties. Besides that, it will show how we can design for every user, instead of for the average one, by offering a gradation of spaces, based on the order of interaction with the environment and the degree of environmental stimuli included.

stimuli
perception
space
personality
design school
school buildings
overstimulation
environmental stimuli
mental health
well-being
brain
TU campus
focus
creativity
stimulation

http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:c5340750-3938-4d6c-b592-859dad6271c9

Student theses

master thesis

© 2020 Lauren Broshuis