In the latest episode of our podcast, Kinda Conversations, recorded live at 180 Soho House, Kinda Studios’ Kate Dalby brought together Camille Sapara Barton, embodiment social designer and writer, and Helen Knowles, artist and filmmaker, to discuss how the growing research field around psychedelic settings might be woven into various societal systems, from healthcare and education to architecture and the arts.

Here are some insights from the conversation below.

Set and Setting

Psychedelics have brought renewed attention to how our surroundings shape our experience of the world. The mind does not transform in isolation; context matters. In this vein, the mind (Set) and our environments (Setting) come together to shape the nature of a psychedelic experience.

Within clinical environments, specific design levels that guide a transformative experience are the ReSPCT Guidelines - which include music, enriched environments, ritual, nature, preparation, and integration of insights into our lives. Although most psychedelic research in the West takes place in clinical settings, psychedelics have been used and contextually refined in many indigenous communities for thousands of years.

Diverse Ways of Knowing

Helen’s related provocation is to design for the pluriverse, letting many worldviews shape a space together, rather than one vision imposed on it. Together, this reframes intentional design as something which needs to move beyond profit and efficiency, and instead as relational, rooted in collective meaning-making.

Pace and Presence

During the panel we kept returning to pace: living with more presence, intentionality, slowness and rest, and designing in moments of threshold and reflection. If setting can shape transformative experiences, the pace which we build into everyday architecture, routines and shared spaces matters too. Beauty, rhythm, storytelling, and relational ways of living with one another and nature can all support a greater sense of presence. For this to happen, we need to design for common spaces where we can come together, slow down and drop our guard.

Transformational Experiences

What counts as a transformational experience? Camille draws a useful distinction: a state change, the temporary shift someone feels during an altered state, and a trait change, where longstanding shifts show up in how someone thinks, relates or lives. As psychedelic substances approach regulatory approval, there is much to learn from the growing body of research on how to design spaces that support long-lasting collective well-being.

Listen back to the full podcast above; also available wherever you get your podcasts.

Further Reading

• The first scoping review of how setting shapes psychedelic experiences: [Link] (IAM Lab, Johns Hopkins, 2022).

• Paper on why Western psychedelic science must integrate indigenous and contemplative knowledge: [Link] (Urrutia and colleagues, 2023).

• The ReSPCT Guidelines: the clinical framework for psychedelic experience setting): [Link] (The ReSPCT Experts, 2025).

• Camille Sapara Barton, 2024. Tending Grief: Embodied Rituals for Holding Our Sorrow and Growing Cultures of Care in Community. [Link]

• Helen Knowles [in partnership with Kamëntsá, Inga, Cofan and Siona communities and the Herbario Etnobotánico del Piedemonte], 2025. Indexed Beings. [Link]

“Change life! Change society! These precepts mean nothing without the production of an appropriate space.”

Henri Lefebvre, The Production of Space

The way we construct our built environments matter - we spend up to 90% of our time in them, and a growing body of research is proving their vast impact across a range of health measures. From cognition and behaviour to mood and emotions, our architectural designs influences how we feel, act and behave.

Neuroarchitecture is the field shaping this new understanding - the science of how our brains and bodies respond to our spaces and environments. A range of researchers are now exploring this from different dimensions. Cleo Valentine’s (University of Cambridge, HKS) work has shown that chronic environmental stress contributes to inflammation, dysregulation and cardiovascular strain, while research from Upali Nanda (HKS) suggests that enriched environments support the growth of new neurons and brain health. Meanwhile, Fiona Zisch (UCL) is driving a deeper understanding of how our sense of connection to a space is deeply tied to our movements and interactions with it.

As Anjan Chatterjee (University of Pennsylvania) points out, our brains evolved out of natural environments, but have only spent a fraction of their history in modern landscapes. The spaces we inhabit can therefore either undermine or support our biological, cognitive and social needs - depending on how we choose to design them.

Paired with this growth in research, new mobile brain-body technologies allow for testing within these real world environments to back up research on the ground. To truly move the needle however, we need to move beyond a buzzword and integrate the metrics into spaces with measurable outcomes for societal health.

We’re already seeing this take shape through consortia, programmes and reports aiming to disseminate and apply evidence based principles into design. The Building Brains Coalition, which includes organisations like HKS, Rice University and the Brain Capital Alliance bridges architects, academics, climate science and public health specialists. Likewise, The Intentional Spaces Initiative by the International Arts + Mind Lab, brings together a diverse network of scientific researchers, technologists, social scientists, and design practitioners; the launch of their Roadmap, provides an evidence-based strategy on how we can design for impact.

So what does it truly mean to design with the brain and body in mind? And what does the science actually show us?

Unpacking the Science

Visual Perception

Vision dominates how we experience space. Form, colour and spatial configuration shape our first impressions with remarkable speed, often within just 50 milliseconds.

The Architectural Triad developed by Anjan Chatterjee and colleagues, shows that our response to spaces is shaped by three integrating factors. Coherence - how well elemental features match together (light, colour, shape, smell). We need them to feel harmonious to create cognitive ease and understanding. Fascination - how well a space captures our interests and curiosity through complexity. Balancing richness to engage the brain without overwhelming it directly impacts how we feel. And finally, Hominess - how well it creates a sense of ease, belonging and safety; an essential layer to feel comfortable and at home.

This model is echoed by the applied work of Humanise, a global campaign from Thomas Heatherwick to raise awareness of how building facades influence health and wellbeing. Their work with Colin Ellard at University of Waterloo found that facades low in visual complexity are experienced as less interesting and pleasurable, and are associated with increased cortisol, suggesting that the visual richness of our everyday environments may directly shape how we feel.

Spatial Stress

Our bodies are constantly mapping the spaces around us, assessing their scale, shape and sense of safety. These perceptions influence heart rate, blood pressure, skin conductance and stress hormones. Researchers are examining how long term exposure to these responses may shape health across the lifespan. ViStA, a computational tool developed by Cleo Valentine and Arnold Wilkins has identified visually repetitive facades as some of the most stressful features of the built environment. This work suggests that environments furthest from natural visual patterns tend to produce the highest levels of stress, while more varied, irregular forms generate calmer responses.

Spatial Cognition

Space does more than influence how we feel. It also shapes how we think, remember and navigate. Hugo Spiers‘ (UCL) Sea Hero Quest project, which tested 3.9 million people across 63 countries, found that navigational ability is influenced by the environments we grow up in, with people raised in older, more organic street networks outperforming those from grid cities (2021; 2022). These findings which suggest our surroundings help shape cognitive abilities are now being used to identify early signs of Alzheimer’s disease.

Taken together, this work shows that buildings are a core driver of a range of health markers. Like the food we eat and content we consume, we need to consider what researchers at Bath Spa University are calling our ‘spatial diet’ - the mix of architectural ingredients that shapes our cognitive and emotional wellbeing. As the Brain Economy movement grows, in which brain health is recognised as a foundational asset for human flourishing, workforce performance and economic prosperity, our buildings must evolve to reflect this.

Design Outcomes In Practice

How then, can we apply this in practice? Across architecture, hospitality, workplaces, healthcare and public space, we can now translate these findings into measurable interventions for human flourishing.

Designing for emotional health

Regardless of where we are, be it a hospital, home, or workplace, our nervous systems are constantly responding to our surroundings. Every space therefore presents an opportunity to design for wellbeing.

In healthcare settings, spaces can act as a complementary therapeutic intervention. The Fractal Chapel at the University Hospital Graz, Austria integrates scientifically tested fractal designs developed through a collaboration between 13&9 Design and Prof. Richard Taylor (University of Oregon / Fractals Research) - based on his longstanding research showing that such repeating patterns can reduce stress by up to 60%.

The same principles can also extend beyond hospitals. Suchi Reddy’s practice, Reddymade, integrates neuroaesthetic design at the heart of their work and mission that ‘form follows feeling’. Across projects including the Sea Ranch Residence, and Google’s Retail Store in Chelsea, Manhattan, Reddymade demonstrates how environments can be designed to support emotional wellbeing, curiosity, and human connection.

Designing for contemplation

Being able to slow down in the fast-paced world we live in can feel challenging at times, but spatial design can support the way we move through them. Dr Filipa Matos Wunderlich (UCL) notes the importance of “slow places”, where “architecture and spatial configuration work together to invite a deceleration of the body and mind”. Whether that’s through more comfortable seating, long-entryways, or the use of tactile materials, we can use design as an invitation to feel the moment more fully.

The Copenhagen Architecture Biennial 2025’s theme of Slow Down focused on how buildings and spaces can support greater wellbeing in “overheated sites, cities, and societies” through a range of architectural elements. “Inside Out Downside Up”, one of the Slow Pavillion winners, was constructed with hand-cut discarded materials, harnessing tactility for passersby to slow down and engage with the site.

Neuroscience provides further support for enhancing these principles. A study in Ghardaïa, Algeria, using mobile EEG found that the city’s curved pathways significantly decreased Default Mode Network (DMN) activity in the brain - associated with inducing contemplative states, and a sense of feeling more present.

Designing for neurodiversity and inclusion

Neurodivergent or neurotypical, we all process sensory and cognitive information differently which needs to be considered across design. For example, an initial study found that children with autism responded positively to angular, jagged shapes, while neurotypical children instead responded positively to a curved, spiral shape - a finding contrary to popular wisdom which advocates for the general use of curved forms in design.

In places of high stimulation, it is also crucial to address different sensory needs. Sensory Rooms in airports illustrate how we can create environments that are healthier for everyone, where a purpose-built space for regulation can help individuals navigate busy environments.

Designing for childhood development

The early years of childhood are characterised by remarkable neuroplasticity, as the brain rapidly builds the neural pathways which underpin cognitive, behavioural, emotional, and social development. Yet, the needs of young people are frequently overlooked in the design of learning environments, which are instrumental for growth, discovery, and connection.

The Fuji Kindergarten in Tokyo by Takaharu Tezuka, demonstrates positive work in this field. With the aim of “teaching through this building… values of human society”, the whole site acts as a playground - its oval roof naturally encourages children to run, and existing trees are integrated into the architecture to cultivate a connection and appreciation for nature.

Designing for placemaking

Placemaking is the “collaborative process by which we can shape our public realm in order to maximize shared value, and underpins our societal health.

Here, public spaces matter - as settings for everyday encounters, moments of pause, and building community. Designing for collective wellbeing means creating places that encourage interaction, celebrate local identity, and foster a genuine sense of belonging.

No one-size-fits all

Neuroarchitecture can serve as a potent resource in applying evidence-based design to our spaces, and support healthier spatial diets across society. This requires a critical approach, balancing scientific rigour with the complexity of human experience. There is no single blueprint for integrating neuroscience into architecture, nor should there be.

A purely prescriptive approach to this runs the risk of ‘aesthetic convergence’, as Kyle Chaka warns, relating to how digital culture has increasingly driven design homogeneity. Good neuroarchitecture must embrace the iterative nature of artistic expression and play, where the built environment acts as a landscape for discovering what is possible. Far from being a mere tool towards optimisation and efficiency culture, neuroarchitecture represents a profound synthesis, where empirical inquiry meets creative imagination.

Looking Forward

Living Labs

Neuroarchitecture is more than just a one-way translation of scientific knowledge into design. Spaces can function as living labs, allowing researchers to test, challenge, and refine hypotheses in the complexity of real-world settings, while gathering evidence on the ground.

Post-Occupancy Evaluations (POEs) offer a practical way for firms to assess a building’s impact. At present however, POEs measures are skewed towards metrics like energy efficiency (e.g., carbon tracking, HVAC performance) and basic qualitative satisfaction (e.g., self-reported comfort surveys). For neuroarchitecture to fulfill its promise, we need to encourage updated metrics which better link to recent academic findings.

The Well Living Lab offers a glimpse of what this could look like. Developed by the Mayo Clinic and Delos, the facility in Rochester, Minnesota functions as a research environment where scientists investigate how design ingredients affect human health through measuring how physiological and behavioural responses change in response to environmental adjustments.

Adaptive Environments

Neuro-adaptive architecture presents an opportunity to create environments that can “feel back” to us. Technology now enables spaces to adapt in real time to occupants’ changing physical and psychological needs, supporting comfort, focus, recovery and connection. Buildings can become active participants for health by adjusting elements such as ambient temperature, lighting and so forth.

Early examples of how this might look like in practice have already begun to appear. 113 Spring in Soho, New York, features an adaptive design system, SpringOS, designed by FIELD.IO in which the building responds to real-time data of movement, light, time of day and visitor behavior patterns.

Multidisciplinary collective Living Architecture Systems Group (LASG) similarly creates adaptive and empathetic environments, creating new models for how architecture might evolve into something “living”. Aether, LASG’s software architecture for its installations, shows how sensory inputs, including collected biofeedback data, can be used to influence design features.

Yet as enthusiasm for neuroarchitecture grows, so too does the need for scientific rigour to clarify how, for whom, and under what conditions specific design conditions work. The translation of neuroscientific findings into design principles is rarely straightforward, and there is a risk that compelling ideas become architectural fodder before sufficient evidence exists to support them.

Conclusion

Neuroarchitecture presents a critical way forward for designing built environments that actively support cognitive wellbeing and overall human health. Rather than prescribing a new way of designing, it provides evidence to inform existing practice.

Biophilic and biomorphic design can be paired with ecological and closed-loop systems, allowing us to create buildings that are not only good for people, but for the planet. We need not start from scratch either - many ancient traditions and practices, be it fengshui, Vaastu-shastra, or kanso (the Japanese emphasis on simplicity), already entail many of the aesthetic principles that modern science now advocates for. Similarly, integrating vernacular architecture combines centuries of place-specific knowledge with contemporary science, tapping into local resources and labour networks to create buildings which better serve their communities.

As Abigail Scott Paul of the Humanise Campaign states: “We have the science, and architects and designers have the creative know-how, to design with human need in mind. It’s now time for city leaders and developers to stem the tide of bland, monotonous and stressful environments and instead build visually rich and engaging cities in which we can all thrive – individually, socially and economically.”

Further Reading

• Building Brains Coalition. (2026). State of the field review: Neuroarchitecture and brain health.

• Humanise. (2026). Why the outsides of buildings matter to human health: A global evidence review.

• Milken Institute. (2026). Bridging neuroscience, health, and built environment.

• Muuto. (2026). Neuroaesthetics, a sense of belonging.

• International Arts + Mind Lab: The Center for Applied Neuroaesthetics (2026). Intentional Spaces: The Power of Place - Roadmap

^{Video: Inspirit by Kinda Studios.}

Welcome to The Reflection, a substack from Kinda Studios. Here, we create a space to pause and get curious, bringing a deeper understanding of our world through the lens of neuroaesthetics - the science of how our brains respond to the environments around us. Sharing deep dives, opinions and insights bridging the worlds of art, science, technology and culture, we ask how we can use these pillars to build better futures centered on care.

So much of modern life is defined by the rush - a constant pursuit of the next goal, the next milestone, the next destination, moving faster and faster. And yet, we rarely pause to reflect, to do the equally important work of making sense through the blur.

^{Image: Resonance by Kinda Studios and University of Westminster.}

To reflect is to make sense of the present: here, we consider the latest research and emerging technologies alongside cultural shifts and societal health, and to explore how these can be brought together with purpose. The Reflection ise a bridge between insight and application, transforming ideas into actions which better serve to our needs today.

^{Left: Emergence by Kinda Studios, Right: Synchronies by Kinda Studios and Cellule Studio.}

What you can expect

• The Long Read: Quarterly long-form essays exploring topics across neuroscience, design, sociology, technology and health.

• Dialogues: Interviews and conversations with leading figures across fields.

• Insights: Short-form, conversational pieces covering takeaways from the latest in neuroscience and cultural health.

Whether you’re joining us for a quarterly long-form essay or a quick read, we invite you to settle in and join the conversation.

Thanks for being here.

Creativity is born in the liminal space between order and chaos - but to enter this zone, we must surrender our regimented structure and enter ambiguity, sitting with the unknown.

In this episode, we explore the architecture of the creative mind: an emergent property of consciousness and how to maximise its potential by changing our relationship with uncertainty. Featuring Dr María Herrojo Ruiz Reader in Cognitive Neuroscience at Goldsmiths, University of London, and BODUR, multidisciplinary artist and composer, we ask: how can we, across the worlds of neuroscience and art, learn to not just tolerate but engage with uncertainty?

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Join us in the conversation, featuring cognitive neuroscientist at Goldsmiths University Dr Diana Omigie, and London-based Japanese composer Hinako Omori.

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Joined by experts Julia Simner, professor of neuropsychology at the University of Sussex, and Jennifer Crook, artistic director of Collective Act, producers of Dreamachine, we explore the different ways each individual can experience our sensory worlds around us.

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http://eileen-hall.com/

https://www.imperial.ac.uk/psychedelic-research-centre/

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Multidisciplinary artist Hannah Marshall

www.hannahmarshall.com

@hannahmarshall_______

And Cognitive Scientist Carl Hayden Smith

@behindthebeats

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