Live Webinar – The Restorative Impact of Perceived Open Space

AIA Triangle Virtual Lunch Program

Sponsored by

The Restorative Impact of Perceived Open Space

Thursday, August 20 | 12:00 pm – 1:00 pm

1 HSW Credit

AIA Members/AIAT Annual Partners (Sponsors): $0 | Non-members: $25

• • • • • Deadline to register is 10:00 am on Thursday, August 20
        • Zoom meeting link will be sent to registrants on the morning of the program

PROGRAM

In this course we explore the impact of enclosed interiors and deep-plan buildings on human performance. We analyze the role circadian light and perceived open space play in shaping cognitive function, as well as how our psycho-physiology changes in interior environments.

We discuss a new approach that proposes the restorative value of perceived open space in its two essential orientations: perceived zenith and perceived horizon line. In contrast to how we perceive these spatial reference frames outdoors, in enclosed interiors where such reference frames are often not visible, we can stage architectural cues to alter our perception of interior space. Restoring these spatial reference frames through a valid multisensory illusion restores a range of wellness benefits normally associated with interiors applying biophilic design principles.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

• Discuss how and why isolating the qualities of light—intensity and color temperature—from their natural medium, the sky, has a profound effect on perception: Light loses its spatial attributes as an organic connection to nature.
• Define the role Circadian Photoreceptors play in regulating circadian function and why the environmental context in which our physiology detects circadian light—in open, natural space—may play a fundamental role in generating a restorative effect.
• Describe how our sensorimotor system and our memory share the same wetware (neural pathways) to perceive and map out our environment, making our memory a neural repository of spatial reference frames.
• Summarize the malleable nature of human perception and how multisensory illusions can be designed in architectural settings, transforming how our physiology experiences the built environment.
• Explain the implications of deep plan buildings on human health and productivity and how biophilic design technologies minimize their deleterious impact.

PRESENTED BY:

Geof Northridge, Marketing, Product Presentations, and Continuing Education Instructor

Mr. Northridge has extensive experience in both commercial real estate and the commercial construction industry.  For the past seven years he has been developing and presenting continuing education courses on topics including the effects of biophilic design elements on human physiology, how biophilic illusions can be created to provide many of the same physiological benefits as actual biophilic design elements, and how knowledge of the mechanics of human perception can be paired with carefully crafted illusions of nature to alter how humans experience interior spaces.  He has presented Sky Factory’s various AIA-approved continuing education courses more than 400 times to architectural and design firms as well as to AIA chapter meetings and other events.