International Society of Biourbanism

Summer School on “Neuroergonomics and Urban Design”

International Society of Biourbanism

Summer School on

Neuroergonomics and Urban Design

Biourbanism for a Human-Centered Sustainability and Effectiveness

Norma, Italy  - 2012 

An authentic sustainable design must consider not only energy- and environment-saving technical solutions, but a functional and restorative connection to human neurophysiological system. Psychology and Medicine show that space design can nurture or damage our body. A scientific knowledge, both theoretical and practical, of how human neurophysiology reacts to the organization and the shapes of space, is the first step for producing a really sustainable new design for the 21^st century.  This residential course is aimed at giving participants (architects, designers, engineers, psychologists, social scientists and policy makers) a unique competence in a new field of practice and research, with relevant professional opportunities.

  «A fundamental issue in design is to find creative and body friendly solutions, which could be neurologically functional and sustainable, and not only visually catchy for the eyes»

Neuroergonomics studies how our nervous system reacts to different spatial patterns, therefore organizing the body response in different, but specific, ways. Nervous system’s evolution through ages has selected proper responses to specific qualities of spaces, that get activated by default, and often unconsciously. People, as well animals, interact with environment in terms of operative and cognitive affordances, nourishment, stress or relax, and this affects body sensations, humor, effectiveness, health. Understanding the relationship between design and our nervous system provides designers the possibility to ‘read’ and evaluate spaces, at a fundamental level of perception, cognition, and experiential knowledge; to design neuro-sustainable spaces which, instead of distressing our nervous systems, merge naturally and functionally with it; to correct unhealthy and non-functional spaces, by using criteria grounded on biological laws.

Main issues

• Mimesis and Environment: Students will be introduced by practical experiments and scientific literature review to the acknowledgment of how forms and space affects cognitive abilities and psycho-biological conditions, in order to perform friendly and comfortable design.
•  Design patterns and neurological patterns: Right brain/left brain, cortical/subcortical, sympathetic/parasympathetic, and neuro-developmental phases affinities. Mirror neurons and Neuro-esthetics. Stress and Design. Over the Sick Building Syndrome.
• Toward an Algorithmic Sustainable Design: Cutting-edge mathematical techniques to produce architectural and urban design. Evidence-Based Design. Biophilic Design. Fom Kaplan’s Savanna theory to Isomorphism.
•  Body Consciousness and Neuroergonomics Space Analysis: Breath, Grounding, Equilibrium, Posture, Movement in Space, Active Listening, Refinement of the Senses. Centers, Wholeness and Visioning according to Christopher Alexander.
• Practice drawing: According to the level of each students, an introductory/middle/advanced practice of freehand drawing will be offered, focusing on urban volumes, personal perception of space and colors, and emotional nuances. How space perception influence our drawings, and how design can influence space perception.

Teaching methodology  

Daily lectures will be accompanied by practical experiences, including drawing sessions, guided visits to important examples of Architecture, Urbanism and Built Landscapes of different ages, perception and psychometric exercises. Time will be devoted to enhance participants’ innate abilities; to study how environment effects human beings; to analyze the relation between mimesis and creativity, and employ it for producing forms that elicit wellness. Fundamentals of Neurology, Environmental Psychology, Anatomy, Architecture and Art related to the topics will be provided. In particular, class will work to recognize specific design patterns related to different neurophysiologic condition. Different groups findings, and the social and cultural implication of specific design choices, will be actively discussed.

Teachers

Jader Tolja (Course’s Director): MD, psychotherapist, and Experiential Anatomy trainer, is professor of Body Conscious Design at the University of Bratislava, at the Domus Academy of Design in Milan, and at other universities and design schools in Europe, Asia and the US (since 1984, at the Pratt Institute for Arts and Design in New York). The main focus of his research has been the relationship between body, mind, and culture. He started this inquiry in 1979 at one of the first departments for psychosomatic medicine in Europe, and has since been interested in the role played by the connective tissue interfacing these aspects. For this reason he has studied advanced bodywork and movement techniques, and directed several Master programs of Experiential Anatomy. He is author and co-author of several books on the subject. Among them, Bodythinking is the most known and translated.

Nikos A. Salingaros: World-wide recognized Urbanism theoretician, he teaches Mathematics at the University of Texas at San Antonio, US, and has been listed among the 100 Most Influencing Architecture Thinkers in the World. His thoughts about biophilic architecture and human-oriented urbanism are milestones in the topic. Among his publications edited by Umbau, Germany, and translated in several languages: Twelve Lectures on Architecture, 2010; A Theory of Architecture, 2006, Principles of Urban Structure, 2005; Anti-Architecture and Deconstruction, 2004.

Carla Fioravanti: Artist, stage director and journalist, disciple of J. Lecoq and M. Painieaux, Carla is an expert of Feldenkrais Method, Alexander Technique, and Bioenergetics for artists; moreover she practiced Hatha Yoga for thirty years, and is a member of the Italian National Association of Yoga Teachers (Y.A.N.I.). She directed workshops and courses in Italy, France and Germany, alternating teaching and professional engagement with theatre, cinema, and the Italian Radio and Television Broadcast (RAI). Carla’s pedagogical research aims at creating dynamical connections between different psychophysics techniques in order of developing sensorial capacities.

Gilberto Scaramuzzo: Pedagogist, Theatre director and author, Professor of Philosophy of Education and Pedagogy of Expression at University Roma Tre, and of Drama and Body Expression at University LUMSA in Rome. Gilberto is the director of the MimesisLab – Laboratory of Pedagogy of Expression of the Department for Educational Design (Diped). He has been the Art Director of the Triennale Body & Word Theatre Laboratory, the creator and coordinator of the Mimopaideia Project and of the Body-Theater Therapy, and has cooperated with the psychiatric dept. of the Policlinic Umberto I in Rome. He is a member of the Scientific Committee of the Department of Juvenile Justice of the Italian Ministry of Justice. Among his more recent publications: Paideia Mimesis. Attualità e urgenza di una riflessione inattuale, Rome: Anicia 2010; «Mimesis: from theoretical perspectives to educational practices», Cadmo, XVIII, 2, 2010.

Stefano Serafini: Philosopher and Psychologist, Stefano is a researcher in the field of Epistemology, with a special interest in Intentionality, Form, and Biological Evolution. As founder member and Research Director of the International Society of Biourbanism, he takes part in studies and debates about biophilia in architecture, urbanism and living systems, in Italy and abroad. Former managing editor of the Angelicum University Press at the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas in Rome, Italy, where he has also taught, his works have been edited in several reviews, miscellaneous books, and Italian national newspaper. He is the co-author of terms “Biourbanism” and “P2P (Peer-To‐Peer) Urbanism”, and related definitions.

Alessandro Pierattini: Architect and visual artist, Alessandro is s an expert in traditional and ancient building techniques, author of Manuale del Restauro Archeologico di Ercolano (2009), and director of the series “Vitruvio e i suoi eredi” for the publishing house Dedalo, Rome. He worked as a restorer in Pompei, and as professor at the Sapienza University of Rome and the University of Notre Dame School of Architecture. As an artist he performed with videos and drawings in Italy and abroad, at the Venice Biennale, the Cinema festival of Rome, the Festival of Annecy, and others.

Main references

Students will be provided with complete lecture notes, so no book reading or purchase is requested. Nevertheless an indicative literature, related to the subject of the Summer School, is given down here.

•  Ch. Alexander, The Nature of Order, Berkeley, Ca.: Center for Environmental Structure 2002-2005 .
• C. De Zegher (ed.), The Stage of Drawing: Gesture and Act, Tate Publishing and The Drawing Center, 2003
• S. Kaplan, «Aesthetics, affect and cognition: Environmental preference from an evolutionary perspective», Environment and Behavior, 19 (1987) , pp. 3-32
• S. R. Kellert – J. Heerwagen – M. Mador (eds.), Biophilic Design: The Theory, Science and Practice of Bringing Buildings to Life, New York: John Wiley 2008
• S. R. Kellert, Building for Life: Designing and Understanding the Human-Nature Connection, Washington: Island Press 2005
• J. Rose (ed.), Human Stress and the Environment: Health Aspects, Philadelphia: Gordon and Breach Science 1994
• N. Salingaros, Twelve Lectures on Architecture. Algorithmic Sustainable Design, Solingen: Umbau Verlag 2010
• J. Tolja, F. Speciani, Pensare col corpo, Milano: Baldini & Castoldi 2001
• J. Tolia, Il cervello destro e i giardini zen, Milano: Riza Scienze 1983

Material

Students are requested to get provided with personal drawing blocks, pencils, charcoals. Gym or comfortable clothes will be helpful.

Schedule

 Sunday 17^th

• Arrival in hotel
• 6:30 pm Participants and staff introduction. Guidance and assessment briefing about the Summer School. Questions. Possible variation of schedule, according to participants needs.
• 7:30 Dinner
• 8:30 Optional activity: welcome party

Monday 18^th

• 7:30 am – 8:30 am Optional activity: body and breath training [professor Fioravanti]
• 9:30 am – 01:00 pm Classes [professor Tolja]
• 01:00 pm Lunch
• 3:30 pm – 7:00 pm Classes/Activity [professor Scaramuzzo, Pierattini, Fioravanti]
• 7:00 pm Dinner
• 8:00 Optional activity: concert / briefing on biourbanism [professor Serafini]

Tuesday 19^th

• 7:30 am – 8:30 am Optional activity: body and breath training [professor Fioravanti]
• 9:30 am – 01:00 pm Classes [professor Tolja]
• 01:00 pm Lunch
• 3:30 pm – 7:00 pm Classes/Activity [professor Scaramuzzo, Pierattini, Fioravanti]
• 7:00 pm Dinner
• 8:00 pm Optional activity: concert / guided excursion to the ancient town of Norma

Wednesday 20^th

• 7:30 am – 8:30 am Optional activity: body and breath training [professor Fioravanti]
• 9:30 am – 01:00 pm Classes [professor Tolja]
• 01:00 pm Lunch
• 3:30 pm – 7:00 pm Classes/Activity [professor Scaramuzzo, Pierattini, Fioravanti]
• 7:00 pm Dinner
• 8:00 pm Optional activity: dancing and games / briefing on biourbanism [professor Serafini]

Thursday 21^st

• 7:30 am – 8:30 am Optional activity: body and breath training [professor Fioravanti]
• 9:30 am – 01:00 pm Classes [professor Tolja]
• 01:00 pm Lunch
• 3:30 pm – 7:00 pm Classes/Activity [professor Scaramuzzo, Pierattini, Fioravanti]
• 7:00 pm Dinner
• 8:00 pm Optional activity: concert / briefing on environmental psychology [professor Serafini]

Friday 22^nd

• 7:30 am – 8:30 am Optional activity: body and breath training [professor Fioravanti]
• 9:30 am Departure for a guided excursion with stages of drawing/photography, to the medieval city of Sermoneta and the Caetani Castle, studying its urban and architectonic solutions (like the ancient roof-garden), the fabulous Garden of Ninfa designed by Lelia Caetani, the fascist “city of foundation” Sabaudia, and the beach of Sabaudia next to the Mount Circeo, where we will enjoy a few hours of crystalline sea, sun, and relax [professor Pierattini].
• 7:00 pm Dinner in hotel
• 8:00 pm Optional activity: photographs / drawings analysis [professor Pierattini]

Saturday 23^rd

• 7:30 am – 8:30 am Optional activity: body and breath training
• 9:30 am – 01:00 pm Classes [professor Tolja]
• 01:00 pm Lunch
• 3:30 pm – 7:00 pm Classes/Activity [professor Scaramuzzo, Pierattini, Fioravanti]
• 7:00 pm Dinner
• 8:00 pm Optional activity: dancing / guided excursion to the characteristic town of Bassiano

Sunday 24^th

• 7:30 am – 8:30 am Optional activity: body and breath training
• 9:30 am – 01:00 pm Classes [professor Tolja]
• 01:00 pm Lunch
• 2:30 pm – 6:00 pm Classes/Activity [professor Scaramuzzo, Pierattini, Fioravanti]
• Departure

Summer School’s location:  Course will be hold at Villa del Cardinale Hotel, in Norma (Latina), Italy. Norma is a beautiful historical little town, provided with fine infrastructures for sport and cultural activities, placed on the hills of the Lepini Mountains at 435 mt above the sea level, 18 km far from the head town Latina. Its position over the naturalistic landscape, gives Norma the appellative of “Lepini’s Balcony”, offering a suggestive view embracing the whole Pontina lowland,  from Ostia to Terracina, through Anzio and the “Sleeping Man” of the Circeo Promontory, including the Pontina Islands. Climate is mild, and makes summer very pleasant. A notorious paragliding location (flight is averagely possible 300 days per year), with its own flight school, it offers many climbing and riding areas, with beautiful and safe natural paths. The Hotel Villa del Cardinale is a modern and comfortable hotel placed on the higher point of Norma, located in a 30000 meter square park with secular oaks. It offers a gym room, a congress room, a pool, a sauna and a steam bath. How to reach the place by car from Rome: Highway “Del Sole” – A1: exit to VALMONTONE, get to ARTENA and at first traffic-lights  turn to GIULIANELLO, DOGANELLA DI NINFA, NORMA. By railroad: ROME-NAPLES Line Station LATINA (about 3 trains every hour), free pick up on request.  Info: for information please contact our help desk from 8 am to 11 pm. Phone: +39/773/354611

For more  information: info@biourbanism.org

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