In order to experience and take action in the external world, the brain constructs an internal world to help us navigate, form memories, and interact with our surroundings. Amongst other factors, this process is guided and influenced by architecture. Architecture shapes perception, expectations, and (inter)actions and in my research I am concerned with what happens in the brain as one explores space and constructs a mental representation of architecture.
In this talk, I will provide an overview of neuroscience relevant to how the brain constructs a neural representation of space and then use the notions of ambiguity and disruption as paradigms to illustrate and examine spatial experience by suggesting an understanding of the perception of Gordon Matta Clark’s work through the lens of neural construction.
Fiona Zisch is an architect, researcher, and lecturer at the University of Innsbruck, the Bartlett School of Architecture, and the University of Westminster. She is currently finishing a transdisciplinary PhD in architecture and neuroscience at UCL. Her research focuses on how neural mechanisms construct the experience of space and what implications neuroscientific knowledge holds for architectural design. Fiona uses a combination of technologies in her research, including EEG, laser scanning, and motion tracking. She has organised and spoken at international conferences in both architecture and spatial cognition / neuroscience and has published work in both areas.