Online ‘Space for the brain’
With her graduation project ‘Space for the brain’, Lauren Broshuis is the first student to graduate online from the MSc Architecture, Urbanism and Building Sciences. Her project advocates the inclusion of varying environmental stimuli in the built environment to account for individual preferences, guaranteeing grounds for focus and creativity for every brain.
Due to the measures taken to combat the spread of the coronavirus, all education at the faculty of Architecture and the Built Environment is offered online. This includes the graduation ceremonies. Here, candidates typically present their project to the graduation committee and an audience of friends, family, and peers. Through an online group meeting, the public character of the graduation ceremony has been maintained.
‘Space for the brain’ dives into the way individuals react different to environmental stimuli. The surrounding environment can be improved if architects and designers learn more about how multi-sensory stimuli can enrich the perception of space, concludes Lauren. “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.”
The project has resulted in a design for an interdisciplinary design school at the TU Delft campus, contributing to the collaboration between different students of various faculties.
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The master thesis ‘Space for the brain: Ground for focus and creativity for every brain’ can be found here and was conducted within the Explorelab graduation studio. The graduation committee consists of Roel van der Pas, Machiel van Dorst, Pierre Jennen, and Inge Bobbink.