“Architecture at the Frontier: The Neuroscience of Design”
Trained in both neuroscience and architecture, Dr. Eve Edelstein’s work is focused on design, research and innovation in order to “put the evidence in evidence-based design.” Edelstein is President of Innovative Design Science, where she collaborates with clients and design firms, running charrettes and creating research-based design guidelines for to design projects. Collaborations include international projects on evidence-based design in healthcare, mental health and educational facilities in China, Canada and the USA
In addition, Eve is a Research Fellow of the Academy of Neuroscience for Architecture, and consults to the University of California, San Diego. Dr. Edelstein’s current work with UC San Diego creates life-size virtual reality architectural models in an immersive 4D CAVE that is synchronized in real-time with brain and body recordings to measure user reaction to design. With the California Institute for Telecommunications and Information Technology (Calit2) at UCSD, Edelstein leads the application of clinical science in the “Archi-CAVE” project, where visualization and sonification specialists have created fully immersive 4D building models that can be used to test the impact of design on brain, body and behavior. Currently, and in her previous role as Senior Vice President, Research in Design at HMC Architects, Eve lead a collaborative team funded by HMC to develop new software named “CAVE-CAD TM” and “SoniCAVE TM” that allow designers and clients to see and hear the consequence of design. Applications include the design of hospital spaces to minimize error and educational spaces that better serve the continuum of human needs, from the most gifted to those with autism through Alzheimer’s disease.
Having begun her professional career with a BA in Anthropology from the University of California, Berkeley, Dr. Edelstein received her PhD in Neuroscience at the University College London and clinical training in hearing and vestibular science at the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, London, UK. Dr. Edelstein is a Fellow of the American Academy for Audiology and is a Research Fellow of the Academy of Neuroscience for Architecture. As Principal Investigator for the AIA College of Fellows Latrobe Award, she researched the influence of light on health.
After receiving her Master of Architecture degree from San Diego’s NewSchool of Architecture & Design, Edelstein developed the first program of courses in Neuroscience for Architecture at New School and teaches Master Design Studio Thesis, Neuroscience for Architecture, and Environmental Biology.
Regarding the expanded focus of her career, Eve told interviewers at the University of Minnesota: “My interest in architecture began almost at birth because my father was an architect who helped to found and lead one of the largest architecture firms in the country. Some of my earliest memories are piling into the car on the way to the beach and stopping at the building sites on the way. And our dinner table was always covered in blueprints.”
Dr. Edelstein presents and publishes internationally, and serves on the Board of the International Academy of Health Design, the Editorial Board of the Health Environments Design Research Journal, and is an affiliate of the Center for Health Design and Design Futures Council.
