The Experience of Space: How the Human Brain Navigates, Senses, and Belongs (LID: 2674)
3 HSW CE Credits - AIA # DAS503-25 - IDCEC # 124450 - FL BOAID # - LSBID # 11.1266.25
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Architects are designing spaces for brains that evolved in nature, not in buildings.
The Experience of Space
As an architect and designer, you influence more than buildings. You shape human experience, movement, and belonging. In this session you will discover how the brain maps space for wayfinding, how people form emotional bonds to places, and how multi-sensory design choices influence comfort and stress. You will analyze research on cognitive mapping, place attachment, and sensory thresholds, and see how these insights translate into practice. You will leave able to design environments that reduce cognitive load, foster belonging, and balance sensory input, supporting health, safety, and welfare through thoughtful architecture.
- Wayfinding, cognitive mapping, and spatial legibility
- Place attachment, belonging, and environmental identity
- Multi-sensory design (acoustics, touch, proprioception)
Natalie Jorge
Natalie Jorge is a Brazilian architect with professional experience in both the United States and Brazil. Her work focuses on how architecture influences human behavior, mental health, and social well-being — drawing from neuroscience, psychology, and environmental ethics. She also integrates classical design principles to promote balance, beauty, and a sense of belonging in the built environment. Natalie holds a Master of Architecture from the University of Colorado Denver and a Certificate in Classical Architecture from the Institute of Classical Architecture & Art (ICAA). Now based in São Paulo, she leads an independent practice dedicated to human-centered, health-oriented design.
