ON THE CONSILIENCE OF ARCHITECTURE AND REAL ESTATE
by Martin Frederick Smith, Jr.
A Real Estate Development Project Presented to The Faculty of Architecture, Planning and Preservation
Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree Master of Science in Real Estate Development
Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation
COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY
May 2015
ABSTRACT This thesis reviews some current literature in the fields of neuroscience, cognition, psychology, biophilic architectural design and real estate in an attempt to construct a case for the valuation of architectural design in terms of the real estate market place. The value created by architecture, specifically by biophilic design, which attempts to replicate a natural balance between order and complexity among various stimuli, is quantifiable through the increasingly measureable promotion of neuronal and cognitive activity. This stimulation leads to better mental performance, socialization and general well-being for inhabitants of enriched spaces. In healthcare, this translates to measurably improved recovery times and patient outcomes. In workplace environments, productivity is raised and absenteeism drops significantly. In the scholastic environment, learning and socialization are improved, producing students with better retention and a higher cognitive reserve. Spaces offering this type of enriched environment see fewer incidents of abuse and defacement, and benefit from use by longer-term occupants and a resultant greater sense of community. These trends create value, in the form of a sense of place, which is yet to be widely recognized and incorporated into real estate development models. While healthcare outcomes and workplace productivity lead the way as measurable and recognized real estate metrics, the greatest impact for cognitive architecture and biophilic design is arguably in public schools and housing. The restorative effects of such neurologically-nourishing environments are most needed and best-received by children and families, and public facilities represent a commitment by society to the health and welfare of those seeking its assistance.
Keywords: spatial intelligence, neuroscience, neurogenesis, neuroplasticity, biophilic design, hedonic pricing models,
Table of Contents I.
Introduction........................................................................................................................................................... 1
II.
Spatial Intelligence ............................................................................................................................................... 4
III.
Cognition .......................................................................................................................................................... 7
IV.
Neurogenesis .................................................................................................................................................... 9
V. Neuroplasticity .................................................................................................................................................... 12 VI.
Environmental Enrichment + Complexity ...................................................................................................... 16
VII.
Architecture and Urban Design ...................................................................................................................... 20
VIII.
A Role for Cognitive Design in Real Estate ................................................................................................... 25
IX.
Figures ............................................................................................................................................................ 33
X. Bibliography ....................................................................................................................................................... 38
I.
Introduction
Architects create ideas, it has been said, not buildings. They research our built past, analyze our psychological present and attempt to delve into our aspirational future to configure environments and meaningful narratives which are meant to enhance our lives through the daily experience of delight. The profession is dividing into two distinct camps; so-called “executive architects” develop the technology of shelter, create detailed instructions for builders, document construction, and manage liability. Meanwhile, “design architects” maintain an image of the profession as a Fine Art, studiously pursuing a tradition of elaboration and cultural narrative interpreted through various mechanisms of computational technology and derived meaning. The academic camp declares the act of building to be an insufficient basis for the practice of Architecture, driving a wedge between themselves and the majority of their potential beneficiaries, the practical producers and consumers of their craft. “Part of our perceptive system looks for information, whereas another part looks for meaning, and in so doing gives rise to cultural, philosophical, and ideological constructs. Architects have come to operate in this second domain almost exclusively, effectively neglecting the first domain.” (Salingaros & Madsen, 2006)
Architecture can and should position itself as the epistemological struggle for the creation of the built environment. Due to the dual prioritization of accumulated knowledge such as culture, aesthetics and iconology as mainstays of its academic dialogue, Architecture tends to look back, rather than lead. The profession reacts to the needs of clients and society, rather than recognizing that “power is everywhere” and “comes from everywhere” as Foucault understood. Rather than rely on the client to visit work upon us, professionals must always research quantifiably better environments, and present to the public accessible, irrefutable arguments for discovered improvements. Such productive activity serves not just the profession, but broadens the base of Smith 1
beneficiaries by making the case that an environment of a certain quality is essential to productive life.
Architecture began in a leadership role, innovating and cataloguing best practices, and systematically borrowing from other industries and technologies to further the quality of our built environment. Green, or high-performance architecture has emerged periodically to focus on the performance of our built environment relative to environmental factors while touching on the physical health of occupants. Green building standards and ratings systems quantify the effects of many architectural decisions, and suggest or incentivize better practices from the singular viewpoint of environmental efficacy. As science has advanced our understanding of ourselves, new avenues of discovery and innovation emerged, rich with the potential to define the quality of built environments in terms of human cognitive performance. New studies of neurogenesis, and neuroplasticity have shed considerable light on how enriched environments and sensory complexity affect constant change on the physiological brain.
The profession of architecture has a distinct opportunity and duty to reframe its foundational purpose: to improve our built environment by revising the definition of how we connect with nature through spatial composition, and sensory prompts informed by what we now know promotes cognitive function. Architects have the nominal professional role, according to the AIA, to review and coordinate building systems, which they manage on smaller projects. But if the architect is primarily concerned with the art of creating spaces for people, exclusive of building technology, exclusive of the natural environment, and exclusive of an ever-urgent priority on an efficient use of resources, then they must begin producing a consumable body of knowledge to maintain its broad relevance as a profession. This process has begun with the efforts of
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psychologists and interior designers who focus on optimizing wellbeing and recovery in healthcare facilities and is today proceeding with efforts to enhance productivity, innovation and creativity in the workplace. With the emergence of a quantifiable neuro-scientific basis for manipulating our cognitive performance through our built environment, Architecture must recognize the insufficiency of aesthetic convention and cultural reference alone, and begin integrating neurological performance parameters to ensure the work of professionals produce measurable benefits and avoid potentially deleterious environments which contribute to social breakdown and impoverishment. The alternative, of continuing to reinvent cultural iconography through the lens of emergent technology, and applying to alien buildings, is already playing out as architects’ progressive formal agendas limit the profession to obscurity in the eyes of an audience that occasionally regards them as celebrities.
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II.
Spatial Intelligence
One of Howard Gardner’s Seven Types of Intelligence, spatial intelligence is rarely the focus of public discourse. (See figure 1.) This may be due to the fact that people use their own ability without conscious effort, or that spatial intelligence is essential today only when people find themselves technologically-untethered. Imagine the sense of panic and desolation some people feel in the absence of a trusted smartphone, which serves to help us navigate spatially as well as socially. Simply, mobile technology such as smart phones and GPS navigation systems have largely replaced the urgent need for spatial intelligence. Spatial intelligence is the ability to think in three dimensions: mentally visualize, rotate and transform images, and solve problems of spatial navigation and manipulation. This form of intelligence has evolutionary importance because humans, as is the case for all mobile creatures, must be able to navigate through their surroundings to survive. The intellectual ability to form memorable images and transform them with accuracy is absolutely required for environmental navigation. (See figure 2.)
Dependent as we are on the mental images we create, they are constantly in flux, being modified by changing information and new experiences. We must, for instance, remember to avoid a construction site or dangerous shortcut once it has been discovered, or react to news of a road accident or other emergent obstacle. We may have two or three different paths from one place to another, our preference for which changes depending on the weather, the time of day or how late we are running for our next appointment. These spatial images carry a variety of sensory and emotional information which informs us as we plot out our daily navigation. This flexibility has been stretched even farther by the proliferation of global travel. “Few of us today have the privilege of living in a homogenous mental space.� (van Schaik, 2008) We migrate and tour and immerse ourselves in the culture of foreign places, which adds layers of spatial information onto our original Smith 4
mental image of spaces and landscapes developed during childhood. This accretion of diverse spatial experience is subtle, emerging only infrequently when our experiences conflict directly with those an acquaintance from a distant place. For some, this awareness of a spatial dissonance between mental image and physical reality occurs when they travel for the first time to a place which was designed and built using a different system of measurement. For instance, travelers from the United States, with a well-developed visual-spatial intelligence may find first experiences in a metric locale to be visually jarring. After immersion, the contrast lessens and the traveler adapts. Memories of past experiences are constantly brought to the forefront of our minds as we project them onto new environments. As each layer is gathered, stored and built, previous layers morph during the action of recollection and comparison. This process is part of our need to participate in local way finding as we orient ourselves in new surroundings, and part of the reason cognition is supported by active neurogenesis and neuroplasticity.
“Environmental images are the result of a two-way process between observer and his environment.” (Lynch, 1960) An environment, through the strength of its sensory hierarchy suggests relationships and compositions of space while the observer organizes and assigns meaning as he forms images suitable to his agenda. Environments can be more or less easily ‘image-able’ based on the composition of major elements and axes and the memory associations of the observer. This gathering of information into a mental space or map is dependent on the spatial intelligence of the image maker as much as the coherent image of the environment they inhabit. Some observers create cogent mental maps, even from the confused, intertwined leftovers which assemble to loosely define places like Lynch’s Jersey City: “The most common response to the question of symbolism was nothing in the city at all, but rather the sight of the New York City
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skyline across the river‌two symbols were the skyline of New York, on the one side, and the Pulaski Skyway, standing for Newark, on the other.� (Lynch, 1960)
Solving spatial problems actively engages the working memory mechanisms of the brain in conjunction with visual-spatial intelligence. This creates a direct, serial relationship between our observed environment and the critical thinking and rule application required to define and interact with sensory stimuli. Correlations between working memory, intelligence and problem-solving have been demonstrated consistently, leading to the conclusion that novel environments and active sensory engagement stimulate cognitive functions. (Buhner et al, 2008)
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III.
Cognition
Cognition refers to all mental processes and abilities concerning knowledge, memory, reasoning, judgement and problem solving. These processes organize and collate received information and generate new information based on that which the sensory neurons gathered. (See figure 3.) An individual’s cognitive development, according to Jean Piaget’s Developmental Stage Theory, begins with the sensorimotor stage from birth until about 2 years of age. Intelligence and motor activity are exhibited but abstract thought is not yet developed. Perception of and facility with symbols and language follows accompanied by some rudimentary problem solving abilities and the recognition of simple relationships. From 7-12 years, logic and symbol manipulation emerge along with operational thinking and the development of empathy. Thereafter, development of cognition focuses on complex reasoning, flexible thinking and problem solving. From early in life, cognitive development and maintenance is essential to our socialization. Human culture is symbol-based and the built environment is constructed of sets of symbols particular to the locallydominant culture, language and social constructs. Systems of education are the most explicit in their mission to socialize and develop cognition, accounting for a considerable social investment in concentrated resources during childhood. As such, educational environments are especially important to cognitive development as children change and develop to a greater degree than adults, and part of this development engrains within them a place within society. A visual primacy on education is borne from this use of symbolism to record and reinforce cultural norms, so nurturing visual-spatial intelligence, and promoting cognition is paramount to the purpose of educational and domestic environments.
Studies show that enriched environments have a positive effect on cognitive function in murine test subjects across age groups. Learning capacity increased in relation to the amount of time each Smith 7
subject was exposed to an enriched habitat. (Kobayashi et al, 2002) These findings appear to extend to young human subjects who showed significant neural development in regions subserving language and executive function which responded positively to training exercises, parental interaction and an enriched home environment. (Hackman et al, 2010)
Our mental processes keep us oriented and interactive with our environment, chiefly by taking in information stored as short term memory and using it to create new information – mental images of the environment - that helps us navigate both spatially and socially/culturally. Neurodegenerative diseases which display as inhibited thought, manifest physically as reduced or altered neurogenesis and neuroplasticity. Cognition depends on these two processes to create memory and provide the brain with basic building blocks for reacting to the physical stimuli of our environment. It is this cognitive disruption of memory formation that so devastatingly separated Alzheimer’s disease suffers from their physical surroundings and from the people and culture they had known throughout their lives.
Studies have shown that experiencing and interacting with enriched environments actually reverses some of the effects of mental degenerative disease through stimulation for the neurgenerative and neuroplastic processes. Longer exposure and greater interaction increases this restorative effect, though modestly.
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IV.
Neurogenesis
In the context of this study, we are interested in neurogenesis because this process denotes change in the brain, and indicates the potential for a measurable rate of change in this organ at the basic cellular level – a phenomenon historically unproven and denied by the scientific canon. It was understood that the neural structures comprising most of the mammalian brain were stable for the life of an organism, except during developmental periods. This inability to regenerate is seen as a principle cause of neurological disease and impairment, so when new neurons were observed not just in rodents and primates, but in the adult human hippocampus [Eriksson, 1998], a wide range of implications emerged. The hippocampus is responsible for the transfer of information from short-term memory to long-term memory, and for spatial navigation. (See figure 4.) Alzheimer’s disease frequently manifests earliest in one of the two adult hippocampi, and if both become impaired, the subject loses the ability to form new memories. Discovery of a process which could slow or reverse this damage, as neurogenesis is seen as being, has led to intense follow-up study.
Neurogenesis is the process through which the brain regenerates itself. Neurons are created from either neural stem cells (NSC) or progenitor cells. The former are self-renewing, with the capacity to differentiate into several cell types, a characteristic referred to as cell potency. NSC generate the primary type of cell populating the brain. As they divide, they create one specialized cell while the second remains non-specialized. NSC’s have the capacity to differentiate into neurons, astocytes and oligodendrocytes. The latter two phenotypes serve physical support roles and are less germane to this study. (See figure 5.)
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The third phenotype, neurons are the core component of our nervous system. These electrically-excitable cells transmit information and structure themselves into extensive, complex networks which record what we perceived as memories and experience. Neurons themselves specialize as sensory neurons, motor neurons or interneurons. Motor neurons receive signals from the brain and spinal cord to cause muscle contractions. They deal with outputs alone, generally speaking while sensory and interneurons deal with input signals. These input signals, inspired by our environment and created by our sensory organs (eyes, ears, skin, nose and tongue) are transmitted to our interneurons via our networks of sensory neurons. Recording memories involves making adjustments between existing neuronal networks, which implies that a memory is a small, accretive building block making up the complex, evolving image of who we are and how the world around us works.
The implications of hippocampal neurogenesis for cognition are potentially profound: “new born neurons might be involved in hippocampal functions that are particularly dependent on [a component of the hippocampus] the dentate gyrus, such as pattern separation.� (Deng et al, 2010) It is also thought to play a role in the formation of new episodic memory, spontaneous exploration of new environments and synaptic plasticity. (Saab et al, 2009) The dentate gyrus has received considerable attention in scientific journals since the discovery in adult rats of a relatively high rate of neurogenesis. Greater understanding the dynamics of this process might enable us to understand its triggers and learn to promote regeneration in subjects. This translates to promoting exploratory behavior, implying a relationship between a subject’s surroundings, and the origin of exploratory behavior and spatial memory acquisition. (Saab et al, 2009) In subsequent sections, this paper looks at the concept of enriched environments and its demonstrated effects on subject behavior. Smith 10
In murine subjects, “adult neurogenesis, originating from neural progenitor cells (NPCs), has been consistently observed in two regions of the adult brain: the subventricular zone (SVZ) of the lateral ventricle and the subgranular zone (SGZ) of the dentate gyrus in the hippocampus. Neurons born in the SVZ migrate through the rostral migratory stream and become granule neurons and periglomerular neurons of the olfactory bulb. Neurons born in the SGZ differentiate and integrate into the local neural network as granule cells of the dentate gyrus.” (Saab et al, 2009) The olfactory bulb in rats, as in many vertebrates is highly integrated with the process of exploration and navigation. We speculate from this relationship, between the enhanced rate of generation and the evolutionary primacy of spatial navigation, that the visual cortex in humans may have developed a similarly heightened rate of neural regeneration which allows for the faster processing and creation of new episodic memory and place mapping. As early as 1974, observations of ongoing neurogenesis in human adults perceived “…the environment might increase the rate of neurogenesis in young adult mammals’ visual cortex.” (Kaplan, 2001) Subsequent study into enriched environments has begun to confirm a relationship between environmental complexity and the rate of neurogenesis in test subjects. That there is a relationship, a strong correlation, between the environment and the rapid renewal and adjustment of the neurological center of navigation and episodic memory should not be surprising given what we know of evolution and the primacy of survival. The relationship between neurogenesis and broader cognitive performance however is a secondary and potentially more significant relationship among primate and human subjects which needs further study, though the pieces of the puzzle appear to be present. The fact that humans have developed visual formats first, and rely on sight so heavily in our academic development and in the majority of our cultural, societal and professional endeavors implies that much of our higher cognition is an extension of our primal selves, rather than a departure from it.
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V.
Neuroplasticity
Neuroplasticity is a concept describing the brain’s “remarkable capacity to undergo activitydependent functional and morphological remodeling via mechanisms of plasticity that form the basis of our capacity to encode and retain memories.” (Bruel-Jungerman & Laroche, 2007) The brain’s neurons and neuronal circuits change not just functionally, but structurally in response to experiences and environmental influences. This plasticity is the physiological foundation for learning and memory formation, and it has been found to vary relative to the amount and type of cognitive activity being performed by the subject over time. The concept is similar to that of exercise relative to muscle development. Recent studies show that experiential influences also have an impact neuroplasticity, activating either growth or recession in various parts of the brain and over time, promoting or inhibiting tendencies towards pro-social behavior and wellbeing. (Davidson & McEwen, 2012) Environmental stressors, with their constant presences can be accounted for and overcome by our brains, but not without a cost in terms of cognitive function. Further, studies show plasticity occurs not only in development, but in adulthood and old age as a continuous, although slowing process of adaptation and evolution. Neuroplasticity as a partner process to neurogenesis in supporting cognitive function and development throughout the human lifetime. Both processes comprise the physical manifestation of human adaptation to environment and experience which is fundamental to maintaining mental orientation in space, culture and time.
The term neuroplasticity describes both synaptic plasticity and non-synaptic plasticity. Observations of these two processes, over a range of species including humans, unseated the longheld belief that the brain was a physiologically static organ of the body, and prompted heightened interest in the dynamics driving capacity and rate of change. While the actual mechanism of connection and disconnection within neural networks is poorly understood, the prevailing Hebbian Smith 12
model describes synaptic change as a series of progressive changes in the efficacy of electrical stimulation between a transmitting synapse and a receiving one. This implies a relative timing is involved as the firing of the pre-synaptic neuron must regularly occur immediately before stimulation of the post-synaptic neuron in order to induce change and create a new association. As stimulation occurs with increased frequency, the connection becomes stronger, eventually altering the contextual neural network. (See figure 6.) Similarly, infrequent cross-stimulation allows connected synapses to drift apart and eventually disassociate. This process is reactionary and constant, though it occurs with varying frequency.
Research observing humans suggests that lack of stimulation allows the brain to operate at a low rate of change thereby delaying and impairing cognitive development. Research also supports the conclusion that engaging in higher levels of education, and experiencing social interactions in which people participate in more challenging, cognitively stimulating activities, results in greater cognitive reserve, the brain’s ability to recover from negative stimulus and environmental stressors. Interventions at a smaller scale have a quantifiable impact as well. Moderate exercise and structured, regular meditation are also shown to induce plasticity in the outcome and support prosocial behavior in practitioners. (Davidson & McEwen, 2012) Actions are not alone in shaping the plasticity of the brain. Enriched environments have been demonstrated across several species to promote synaptic plasticity. Specifically, adding complexity to the housing conditions of rodent subjects delayed onset of Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, Down syndrome, and Fragile X syndrome, the latter being characterized by learning disabilities and cognitive impairment. As compared to subjects in standard housing, those placed in an enriched habitat showed enhanced memory and learning and delayed onset of degenerative symptoms. (Nithianantharajah & Hannan, 2006) Smith 13
While numerous psychological studies demonstrate that our sensory environment definitively impacts our behavior and mood, sustained anatomical change of any kind was an unthinkable phenomenon in mammals, especially primates and humans. In fact, the concepts of neuroplasticity and, in particular neurogenesis were denied consistently throughout the 1950’s and ‘60’s in spite of strongly suggestive “recent auto-radiographic evidence from our laboratory which shows clearly that a large proportion of the short-axoned neurons present in various brain structures are formed after birth in the rat.” (Altman & Das, 1965) Eighteen years later, in 1983 researchers at Rockefeller University in New York reported: “the ventricular zone neurogenesis we have observed in the adult (female canary) brain is both provocative and reassuring of the plasticity that may reside in adult nervous systems.” (Goldman & Nottebohm, 1983) In spite of these reports, the brain was considered a static organ, as recently as the mid-1990’s, unaltered over the course of our lives, except for the scars of trauma. With the re-discovery, most notably by Dr. Elizabeth Gould, of the physiological process called neurogenesis the scientific canon now recognizes the flexibility and plasticity of memory, learning and the physical anatomy of the brain.
“Relatively small numbers of neurons could affect hippocampal circuits and…the magnitude of adult neurogenesis in adult rats and humans is probably larger than generally believed.” (Snyder & Cameron, 2012) The mammalian hippocampus regulates the production and density of neurons in response to, and at rates seemingly correlative to external stimuli. Light intensity, coloration of surroundings, aural stimuli and opportunities for environmental interaction define enriched environments (EE) which can promote neurogenesis and establish new pathways, fundamentally altering neurological anatomy. Conversely, chaotic environments inhibit hippocampal function, which shuts off its neuro-generative processes and triggers a guarded survival mode. This relationship has been intuited and observed at the psychological level, and recorded in qualitative Smith 14
ways. However, with our growing understanding of the physical processes underlying emotional response and neurological function, a new potential emerges to quantify the positive and negative effects of our built environment, and assert that the environments we inhabit have the power to physically alter us by degrees, for better or worse. “We suggest that the modulation of adult neurogenesis, as well as of the micro-circuitry associated with new neurons, by experience prepares the hippocampus to meet the specific demands of an environment that is predictably similar to one that existed previously. Reduced neurogenesis that occurs with persistent exposure to a high-threat environment produces a hippocampus that is more likely to respond with behavior that maximizes the chance of survival. Conversely, enhanced neurogenesis that occurs with continual exposure to a rewarding environment leads to behavior that optimizes the chances of successful reproduction. The persistence of this form of plasticity throughout adulthood may provide the neural substrate for adaptive responding to both stable and dynamic environmental conditions.� (Glasper et al, 2012)
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VI.
Environmental Enrichments + Spatial Complexity
To begin surveying existing cases of neuronal regulation by the environment, this paper focuses on research concerning adult neurogenesis, which is activity-dependent, as opposed to prenatal neurogenesis which is carried out on the molecular level. This means that adult neurogenesis is influenced primarily by how the adult acts within its environment, termed learning. (Kempermann, 2002) A stimulating environment – one that causes a baseline of stress and movement – creates positive effects while an “impoverished environment” which may present little opportunity for interactivity and is often characterized by social isolation, registered corresponding negative effects consistently in test subjects. Stress in this case is any adaptive behavior or interaction that a subject takes in consideration of changes to its environment.
Stresses in this context are positive influences or stimuli including the manipulation of objects, any moderately complex physical movement or navigation around or through obstacles, and socializing and social navigation among peers. Conversely, negative psychosocial stresses can inhibit neurogenesis (Gould, 1997) as can prolonged exposure to impoverished environments where the subject is socially isolated and deprived of physical activity or novel experiences. This reinforces known conditions suffered by sedentary and lonely people, with the deleterious effects intensifying with age – conditions frequently manifest in traditional offices designed to accommodate desktop computing tasks where focus on the terminal requires minimal physical activity and the reduction of the office and workspace to a cubicle paradigm has the effect of isolating workers socially for long periods of each day. With the advent of mobile computing technology, the workplace is becoming more flexible and dispersed. Workers no longer need to sit stationary at their assigned desk. Instead they can work in an environment best suited to their mood
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and task, and they can be more transient, which data suggests increased innovation and creativity. (Waber et al, 2014)
Various studies have shown that environmental stimuli have a structural impact on the brain. Exposure to consistent visual stimulus over a period of mere weeks can alter how we process visual information. “Though much of the earlier work on cortical reorganization has employed various lesioning procedures, it is now evident that altered patterns of sensory stimulation can have profound effects on the functional properties of the cortical cells, without requiring actual damage of the periphery.� (McGaugh et al, 1995) Other studies have replicated adaptive changes to visual receptors during 10-minute trials using non-invasive, reversible stimuli, demonstrating how quickly the brain strives to adapt to different or diminished resources. The brain works to overcome systemic deficiencies and fill in missing information in order to create a single, cogent image of its environment. This speedy response time is on par with that of the hippocampus, or the learning/memory/navigation center where an average conversion rate for information from short term to long term memory is five seconds. Targeting stimuli that promotes activity in the visual and auditory cortices and stimulate, rather than inhibit, hippocampal neurogenesis has a cumulative effect on a daily basis and can help mitigate external antedate negative stimuli, effectively repairing damage done while the subject is away from the enriched environment.
This degree of plasticity suggests some possible architectural interventions such as necessary movement designed into building circulation, and increased frequency of both movement and social interaction embedded into the everyday operations of an office environment. Office developments incorporating Google campus-like atmospheres where ample opportunity for physical exercise and social competition and interaction therefore are far superior in terms of
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generating neuroplasticity in their occupants. Just as important is the promotion of positive and active feedback, and the emotional stability of constructive criticism from those in positions of power over the subject. Negative psychosocial stress engrains itself within the brain and creates a long-term obstacle to cooperative and creative task-focused thought. Positive feedback encourages creative thought and removes the stress embedded in company hierarchies. This in turn translates to mental flexibility, improved training response times and creative problem solving on a daily basis. “Research shows that when people work with a positive mind-set, performance on nearly every level—productivity, creativity, engagement—improves. Yet happiness is perhaps the most misunderstood driver of performance… People who cultivate a positive mind-set perform better in the face of challenge. I call this the “happiness advantage”—every business outcome shows improvement when the brain is positive. I’ve observed this effect in my role as a researcher and lecturer in 48 countries on the connection between employee happiness and success… The benefits of social support are not just physical. In a study of 1,648 students at Harvard that I conducted with Phil Stone and Tal Ben-Shahar, we found that social support was the greatest predictor of happiness during periods of high stress. In fact, the correlation between happiness and Zimet’s social support scale (the academic measure we used to assess students’ positive engagement with their social networks) was a whopping .71—for comparison, the correlation between smoking and cancer is .37.” (Achor, 2012) As office spaces become more flexible and dispersed with the proliferation of mobile technology, architects and developers gain formal freedom, and a compelling argument to promote activity and deconstruct the traditional work station in pursuit of better workflow and productivity.
Continuing to explore the potential of formal intervention towards an enriched environment brings us to a definition of enrichment beyond the laboratory example of any improvement above Smith 18
an impoverished environment. Typically included under enrichment are larger spaces, opportunity for complex social interaction, features which vary over time, foraging for food, equipment and opportunities for play and nesting, and for optional exercise. This set of factors interact to create measurable improvements, though quantifying the effect of just one enrichment factor is not easy to isolate. These enrichment factors manifest as improved neural development and cognitive function, especially improved learning and memory, even in adult and aged lab subjects. (Van Praag et al, 2000) Other studies in isolation and overcrowding tend to suggest that there is an optimal rather than maximal level of environmental enrichment and stimulus. This idea agrees with anecdotal experiences in human overstimulation in crowds and high-intensity environments such as Times Square in New York. Optimal levels of stimulation may be found by approximating naturalistic environments. Areas of study such as biophilic design explore this optimization.
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VII.
Architecture and Urban Design
Perhaps architecture can return to thinking about how space affects us, rather than how the manifestation of surface strikes the eye, how energy consumption can be optimized, or how to minimize material waste and produce a finished product faster. These are all important considerations, and as global resources become dearer, these issues will persistently appear on the agendas of the professionals who collaborate in creating the built environment. Numerous studies have shown that poor design and lack of natural connections and analogs heightens stress, inhibits recovery and creates anxiety. (Browning et al, 2012) As we broaden our understanding of the interaction between our constructed environments and our minds, and we consider the increasingly widespread reliance on and occupation of publicly-funded and common facilities, a supportive, nourishing architecture of our environment must return to the forefront, creating nurturing, enabling environments to mitigate the stresses and alienation of an efficient and abstract world, and ensure that the majority of our population is able to develop and function well enough to thrive in dense urban environment. As material technology develops, offering us increasing formal freedom, the material logic which inspired architectural formalism over past millennia is falling away to be replaced by a design logic centered on the social and mental logic of space and movement as these constructs have evolved in humanity.
“Biophilic design is the deliberate attempt to translate an understanding of the inherent human affinity to affiliate with natural systems and processes – known as biophilia - into the design of the built environment.� (Kellert et al, 2008) Ongoing research in the fields of neuroscience and psychology continue to support the theory of an innate affinity among humans for biologicallyinformed objects and spaces. From the neurological studies reviewed, we can surmise this affinity is emotional, inspired by the sensory information recorded in our brains and the subsequent activity Smith 20
of associating forms and surfaces with past spatial images and mental spaces. “Neurological nourishment depends upon an engagement with information and its organization.” (Salingaros & Madsen, 2015)
If the positive mechanism of biophilic design makes intuitive sense, and is borne out progressively in laboratory trials, we approach a point of translation from the sciences to architecture, where speculating on interventions and degrees of enrichment factors begins to have a sense of scale and quantity. The spiritual, ephemeral qualities of architectural space can be analyzed for the effect they may exercise on observers, based on similar lab-tested observations. “New research supports measurable, positive impacts of biophilic design on health, strengthening the empirical evidence for the human-nature connection and raising its priority level within both design research and design practice; however little guidance for implementation exists.” (Browning et al, 2014) Terrapin Bright Green, a New York based design consultancy investigates and reports on the conceptualization and effectiveness of biophilic design in three categories it names: Nature in the Space, Natural Analogs and Nature of the Space. (See figure 7.)
Nature in the Space refers to direct physical presence of natural elements within a space. This may include plantings, water, animal life, varied breezes and accessible gardens. Put into practice, this strategy attempts to create visual and other sensory connections with nature, stochastic sensory stimulation, varied thermal conditions and air flow, and dynamic, diffuse light. The goal is to bring various sensory stimuli within naturalistic ranges of the biological human body, eliminate long-term coping mechanisms and stimulate constant, short term responses.
Natural Analogs are design features evoking a natural theme or reference, including biomorphic forms, natural patterns or materials or other ornament, typically visual or tactile in Smith 21
nature. These indirect, non-living but naturalistic patterns operate as information fields providing the inputs of biomorphic order and complexity, while still mimicking a material connection with nature. Visual or tactile, the texture of nature lends a familiar, pleasing but stimulating environment for interaction. Natural analogs can incorporate cultural meaning or symbolism as well, still providing the reference to nature while adding a cultural or temporal evocation. (Kellert et al, 2008)
Finally, configuration of space in addressed under the heading of Nature of the Space. Ideas of prospect, refuge, mystery and risk – all ideas associated with a larger scale connection to and memory of the landscape, provide necessary emotional support for occupants, including aspiration, introspection, hope and evocations of a fear/security dialectic. These elements can be composed to inspire engagement and exploration. (Browning et al, 2014)
Alternatively, public schools, housing projects and other public institutional facilities infrequently succeed in maintaining levels of design quality and innovation, especially outside major design centers such as New York City. Meanwhile architects, like so many other artists and craftspeople, have an innate understanding of the value of their craft. Their perpetual struggle is in defining that value for a public audience for whom philosophy, aesthetics and spatial composition are more often than not, impressionistic esoterica left behind back in their college days. “It is impossible to explain precisely what it is – its limits are by no means well-defined. On the whole, art should not be explained; it must be experienced.” (Rasmussen et al, 1962) Simply, there is not a broadly accessible and consistent dialogue addressing the finer points of the evolving process of design. Architects must therefore become experts in extracting some of the subjectivity and alien priorities inherent in their process. This is where advances in neuroscience can inform, legitimize
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and relate the value of architectural work product to the broadest audience. Few people have trouble understanding the value of memory creation, spatial navigation and stress regulation. These are quotidian concerns we generally relate to, and even if we do not think of them in abstract terms, we can all empathize with stress and disorientation, and the feeling of helplessness or disjointed thought these conditions bring with them.
In the field of psychology, numerous studies have shown that visual stimuli can have an immediate and profound effect on mood and behavior. One study in the Procedia Journal of Social and Behavioral Sciences reported: “Despite giving character to space, colour is also useful in influencing human behavior, decision making, health and more, with or without our realization.” (Jalil et al, 2012) Architectural design specifically has been correlated to occupant preference in a study which found “people tend to prefer ceilings that are about two feet higher than this standard. For example, in a series of experiments Baird, Cassidy, and Kurr demonstrated a single-peak preference function relating ceiling height to preference for rooms increasing monotonically from 6 feet to a peak at 10 feet, and decreasing thereafter.” (Vartanian et al, 2014) This study proceeds to explain how imaginary engagement by test subjects in various activities set within the test space affected preferred ceiling height in predictable ways. Visual perception is the most expedient link between our physical environment and our mental expectations, setting the basis of our emotional state. As Kevin Lynch stated in his seminal work on mental mapping and urban planning: “A good environmental image gives its possessor an important sense of emotional security. He can establish an harmonious relationship between himself and the outside world. This is the obverse of the fear that comes with disorientation.” (Lynch, 1960) Designs which connect occupants to the natural world and its rhythms, support feelings of well-being and security, with beneficial effects on physiology. Smith 23
Biophilic design is today still poorly understood and undervalued in the construction and real estate industries. Up front construction costs and qualities such as location, access to transit, building efficiency, floor plate depth and tenant amenities hold primacy over occupant productivity, absenteeism rates, and employee retention, which are seen as the concern mostly of the eventual tenant and interior designer. However, so much of the measurable benefits of biophilic design rely not on the interior space but on the structural and architectural configuration of the space, that developers can design into their buildings measurable tenant value, which can translate from construction and development costs to net operating income via cost per square foot leasing assumption, reduced vacancy rates and reduced tenant improvement costs.
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VIII.
A Role for Cognitive Design in Real Estate
Defining quantifiable effects of architectural design brings the practice back, from its focus on the environment as a piece of performance technology, and from the philosophical focus driven by the academy, into the service and for the benefit of human inhabitants and activities. Within the exercise of measuring the neurological effects of the built environment lies the potential to develop an architecture of health, mental well-being, and heightened cognitive performance which can be applied to the design standards for public facilities in order to realize a greater social and economic return on public resources invested in common infrastructure. As well, the real estate industry will use cognitive design standards as a much-needed method of asset differentiation. Until recently, conventional asset valuation appeared to function properly because real estate was highly localized and margins were fairly high; pricing and valuation could afford a non-specific, high-level basis. This geographic compartmentalization eroded considerably with exposure to global markets as REIT legislation circumnavigated the globe and mortgage securitization proliferated in international markets. The increased securitization and greater distance between asset and owner, meant that the standard, assumption-driven pro-forma, proved too general and undisciplined in its brave new context. This frailty was exposed during the housing crisis of 2007 which rippled around the world.
Post-crisis, in an effort to move past broad-based assumptions and the faltering discipline of underwriting, real estate scholars are looking to regression analysis and hedonic pricing modeling. “Regression analysis can be used to determine the correlation between building characteristics and the transaction price and hedonic modeling can be used to predict future transaction prices." (Monson, 2009) Rather than assign values of individual “goods� or qualities, regression analysis becomes useful for defining correlations among large sets of data, to infer the value of a particular Smith 25
good among the group. The prevailing model of hedonic pricing dissects individual properties into generic sets of comparable commodities, the familiar “bundle of goods analogy (bedrooms, calculated area and geographic relationships to public amenities.) The underlying goal when generating a hedonic pricing model is to create an accurate predictive model.
Unlike groceries, the value of individual features within a building cannot be directly observed (e.g. the value of a building’s atrium relative to the overall value of the building). Hedonic pricing models, however, can be used to measure the influencing effect of these characteristics on the overall transaction price. These models are developed by using the coefficients generated from a regression analysis. This relationship can be described as “market price is a function of each tangible & intangible building characteristic and other outside influencing factors.” (Monson, 2009) By introducing a set of quantified enrichment factors, real estate pricing indices can adjust their valuations away from purely commercial characteristics towards humanist characteristics and identify value previously unrecognized by conventional metrics. This quest for product differentiation is an economically driven effort which actively seeks a convincing index of qualities and characteristics for reference by the industry and the general public.
A translational approach may lead to quantifying the neurologic effects biophilic design, and to the subsequent incorporation of architecture into real estate pro forma at various market levels: Having established a case for the general benefits of environmental enrichment, more case studies and occupancy studies will emerge at the high end of the market. Even with the detailed accounting of biophilic design’s beneficial effects, there is work to be done in translating these effects to the traditional metrics used by real estate development professionals and the wider marketplace.
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Biophilic design is still regarded as a luxury or an unnecessary cost to developers, to be marketed to potential buyers as an added amenity. But studies increasingly show that across various building typologies, turning to nature for design guidance impacts the bottom line by lowering overhead and productivity costs. Among the early adopters of evidence-based design were healthcare facilities, which saw marked improvement in the healing rate and overall outcomes of patients who had access to views of dynamic natural scenes. Metrics such as duration of post-operative stays, healing time, and intake of analgesic medicine are easily quantified and translated into dollar amounts. Productivity in the workplace is a close second in adapting to new evidence of the effects of good design. Rather than the aesthetics and exposures that drive healthcare outcomes, the workplace, once and still motivated by efficiency, is by turns looking at communication and strategy as design motivators. Productivity, innovation and communication have been the goals of Silicon Valley start-ups, often leading to quirky office typologies and aggressive exploration of the new-found freedom offered by mobile computing and global communications. In the retail environment, daylighting has been shown to dramatically increase sales per square foot and overall profit. On the savings side, the daylighting measures incorporated also decreased energy consumption. In educational settings, daylighting and exposure to dynamic natural views also had positive effects. Some research has suggested the calming influence of natural aesthetics relieves symptoms of Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) in students. Others have gone on to assert that the institutional state of most schools in fact had a significant role to play in the identification and over-diagnosis of ADD. By introducing daylight and a visual connection to nature, students are calmer, less anxious, display increased focus and cognitive reserve, meaning they appear more able to fend off distractions to remain focused.
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Evidence-based design in the healthcare industry traces back to ancient Greece, with anecdotal experience pointing to fresh air, quiet and calm among other common features of healing spaces. In the 1960’s architects and interior designers began applying more rigorous standards and parameters to healthcare facilities as data tying certain architectural qualities to improved patient outcomes began to support solid conclusions. Most prominent is the effect of dynamic natural views on patient recovery time. Exposure to such scenes typically shortened patient recovery periods by 8.5% translating, at an assumed per diem cost of $5,059 to a savings of nearly $4,000 per patient. This translates to an annual, nationwide savings of approximately $93MM. (Machlin & Carper, 2007) Daylight alone also carries a significant impact on patient welfare and perception, with the potential to reduce intake of analgesic medicine by 22% on average.
Healing gardens are another architectural feature finding increased prominence in healthcare facilities. While little quantitative data exists to directly support the investment in interior greenspaces, both visitors and healthcare providers have overwhelmingly reported finding relaxation, rejuvenation and relief from anxiety in healing gardens. In the high-stress, long shifts nurses and doctors must endure, such a resource must be seen as a good hedge against error due to fatigue. Medical malpractice insurance are notoriously high, with New York State reporting standard rates for general surgeons ranging from $25,000 in the Finger Lakes region to more than $133,000 in the Bronx and Richmond County. This accounts for nearly 11% of all healthcare spending. (Excellus, 2015)
Reducing stress and providing refuge has beneficial effects for the retail environment too. Shoppers are drawn to the savannah-like environment of shopping malls which are designed to feature clustered trees, semi-open spaces, water features, multiple view corridors and high visual
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access. Shopping malls are surprisingly attuned to biophilic prescriptions, connecting people to nature, providing arrhythmic soundscapes, large expanses of skylit promenade and offering a variety of prospect views and opportunities for refuge.
One survey found that access to nature and a well-tended appearance added a 20% premium to convenience items and a 25% premium to general shopping items simply in perceived value based on the environment. (Wolf, 2005) Daylighting has also been shown to boost sales. A 1993 study sponsored by certain retail chain found that stores featuring diffusing skylights in sections of a big box retail store boosted sales per square foot in the affected area by 40%. Overall profits based on this modification were estimated to increase by 19% while energy costs decreased. Further, similar merchandise sections in unaltered stores underperformed in comparison to the skylit sections. Profit attributed to the increased daylight was estimated to be 45-100 times more valuable than the energy savings. (Heschong, 2003)
In educational settings, the visual environment is paramount because so many subjects are taught primarily through visual demonstration or display. As in the retail setting, daylight is important for maintaining focus, but equally important is having a view out the window to dynamic natural scenes or to human activity. Studies have shown rooms with such views support better student outcomes than those rooms without views to nature. However, direct sun penetration causes negative outcomes due to the inherent presence of glare and thermal discomfort which persistently distract students and diminish concentration. The physical charateristics of classrooms were shown to be as significant and of equal or greater magnitude than many other prominent features such as teacher characteristics, access to and number of computers, and attendance rates. (Heschong, 2003)
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Productivity in the workplace has been the umbrella metric of commercial office planning for decades. This is comprised of multiple factors including absenteeism, sick leave, retention of staff, and job performance. The 100 year old principles of Frederick Winslow Taylor held efficiency as the paradigm of office use – mirroring the Industrial Age fascination and struggle to match man with the supreme performance of machine. As efficient and “universal� spaces evolved, clients noticed the aforementioned metrics generating the greatest impact on their bottom line. Labor and productivity costs comprise over 91% of company overhead. (Browning, 2014)
There are five basic environmental requirements which impact worker productivity: variable environmental conditions, meaningful stimuli, interaction with and a degree of control over the environment, designated territory providing refuge, and views providing prospect. (Kellert et al, 2008) When these conditions are met, by inserting nature into the workplace, providing natural analogs and creating the spatial qualities which provide prospect and refuge, productivity in its various metrics rises significantly. Absenteeism is the clearest and most quantifiable productivity metric. In the United States, absenteeism in 2014 was about 2.9% (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2015) or 60.3 hrs per year, per employee. Assuming a national average salary of $34,566.67, the average cost of lost productivity due to absenteeism amounts to $2005 per employee, per year. For a small business of 10 employees, this cost is $20,000 per year. And for an average sized company of 1,000 employees, this annual cost of absenteeism attributable to inadequate architectural and environmental conditions tallies in excess of $2MM per year in lost productivity. The opposite of absenteeism, the state of being at work but in a mentally dis-engaged state termed presenteeism, often occurs when employees work while ill, but the workplace environment can also induce states of presenteeism. Inadequate daylight, or occupation of a workstation without a dynamic natural view inhibits focus, slows cognition and promotes longer, more frequent breaks away from the Smith 30
desk. Presenteeism can diminish productivity by as much as one third, incurring productivity costs of $667,000 based on the assumptions described above.
As mobile technology exerts its impact on this once-static typology, however, Silicon Valley and early-adapting technology companies are shifting priorities. Offices are viewed less as real estate and more as tools or machines for communications. Strategy and value are overtaking cost and efficiency in the minds of today’s corporate executives. (Waber, 2014) They are more receptive to analyzing the effects of spatial configuration on human interaction and the secondary impact that has on corporate goals. In terms of biophilic design, this attention to strategy and communication deals primarily with the Nature of the Space.
In the lexicon of these corporate strategists, collisions, the chance encounters which drive communication and innovation are critical to technology industry competition, which places relative value of spaces which promote a high frequency of said event. Density and flexibility are the hallmarks of high-collision environments, making city centers and cooperative workplaces like WeWork incredibly popular among start-up companies. “Technology creates opportunities to mix up scales of units of space and their rental levels, thereby also supporting a more vibrant, diverse and interconnected range of scales of organization and related activity.” (Laing, 2014)
As offices move away from the static and isolating Taylorist paradigm, the area allocated per employee has dropped dramatically from 225 SF to 150 SF with much of that space shifting to collaborative workspaces with unassigned seating. (CoreNet Global, 2010) This finding confirms that today’s worker is untethered from the cubicle, but does not account for the total amount of space now occupied in this new mobile paradigm. Architectural design standards for collaborative workspaces hover around 15-20 SF per person, maximum. (Ramsey et al, 2000) As the paperless Smith 31
practices become more ingrained, the workspace has shrunk down to the size of one’s laptop. As the office typology disperses, it inevitably intermingles with other spaces serving other functions. The live/work/play trend is significant and growing, reinforcing the overlap of life and work that began with employee mobile phones. So as office spaces diminish in size, work activities are simply becoming more discrete and more digital. The spaces we occupy for this live/work/play dynamic no longer need to rigidly reinforce Industrial Age processes and structures. With social collisions, dynamic workflows and a higher degree of exploration and interaction, the well-being, mental state and health of the employee is free to re-emerge as the predominant concern of space planning and architecture. The value of these spaces in real estate terms, is aligning with traditional architectural values.
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IX.
Figures
Intelligence End‐States Logical‐mathematical Scientist Mathematician
The Seven Intelligences Core Components Sensitivity to, and capacity to discern, logical or numerical patterns; ability to handle long chains of reasoning.
Linguistic
Poet Journalist
Sensitivity to sounds, rhythms, and meanings of words; sensitivity to the different functions of language.
Musical
Composer Violinist
Abilities to produce and appreciate rhythm, pitch, and timbre; appreciation of the forms of musical expressiveness.
Spatial
Navigator Sculptor
Capacities to perceive the visual‐spatial world accurately and to perform transformations on one's initial perceptions.
Bodily‐kinesthetic
Dancer Athlete
Abilities to control one's body movements and to handle objects skillfully.
Interpersonal
Therapist Salesman
Capacities to discern and respond appropriately to the moods, temperaments, motivations and desires of other people.
Intrapersonal
Detailed, accurate Access to one's own feelings and the ability to discriminate self‐knowledge among them and draw upon them to guide behavior; knowledge of one's own strengths, weaknesses, desires and intelligences.
* Table adapted from: Gardner et al, Multiple Intelligences Go to School, Educational Researcher, November 1989 Figure 1: Howard Gardner's Seven Intelligences
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Figure 3: Elements of spatial intelligence
Figure 2: Overview of the cognitive processing cycle.
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Figure 4: Area of Human Neurogenesis
Figure 5: Diagram of cell differentiation.
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Figure 6 a and b: Neurons “that fire together, wire together.� The Hebbian model of neuronal association through repetitive activity and stimulus.
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Figure 7: Biophilic design patterns with associated cognitive and physiological responses.
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X.
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