Towards a Neuroscience of Dynamic Experience and Design
Michael Arbib, University of Southern California (Emeritus) & NewSchool of Architecture and Design
Tuesday, April 9, 2019, 12 noon
Cummings
Lecture
Theatre,
School
of
Architecture,
Waterloo
7 Melville St S, Cambridge
Abstract
My first book was Brains, Machines and Mathematics and my first paper for the Academy of Neuroscience for Architecture was Brains, Machines and Buildings. The machines here are cybernetic machines engaged in computation, communication and control. This led me (recently) to revisit Le Corbusier's dictum "A home is a machine for living in," taking seriously the transition from his concern with ocean liners, airplanes and automobiles to a concern with brains and cybernetic machines. However, one must note that Le Corbusier's enthusiasm for the engineer’s aesthetic in no way reduced his view of the primacy of the architect’s. This analysis leads into considering a “neuromorphic” architecture in which form and space are intertwined with actions, events, and effects on users. A building can be looked at as a web of systems and components planned and constructed to address certain functionalities and yet which may combine to convey impressions, feelings, and aesthetic qualities. The discussion will be framed by comments on the 2018 Davos Declaration on “Pathways for politically and strategically promoting high-quality Baukultur in Europe.”
Biography
The
thrust
of
Michael
Arbib’s
work
is
expressed
in
the
title
of
his
first
book,
Brains,
Machines
and
Mathematics:
The
brain
is
not
a
computer
in
the
current
technological
sense,
but
he
has
based
his
career
on
the
argument
that
we
can
learn
much
about
machines
from
studying
brains,
and
much
about
brains
from
studying
machines.
His
current
interest
in
architecture
extends
the
scope
to
Brains,
Machines
and
Buildings.
In
addition
to
his
research
in
artificial
intelligence,
brain
theory
and
cognitive
science,
Arbib
has
been
actively
involved
in
theory
of
computation
and
system
theory.
His
concern
for
the
social
implications
of
computer
science
was
given
textbook
expression
in
Computers
and
the
Cybernetic
Society.
In
1983
he
and
Mary
Hesse
delivered
the
Gifford
Lectures
in
Natural
Theology
at
the
University
of
Edinburgh,
since
published
as
The
Construction
of
Reality,
providing
a
coherent
epistemology
for
both
individual
and
social
knowledge.
He
is
Coordinator
of
the
Advisory
Council
of
the
Academy
of
Neuroscience
for
Architecture
(ANFA:
anfarch.org),
with
a
special
interest
in
neuromorphic
architecture
in
the
sense
of
supplying
buildings
with
an
“interaction
infrastructure”
whose
design
is
informed
by
research
on
computational
models
for
cognitive
and
social
neuroscience.
His
recent
writings
also
include
articles
on
the
neuroscience
of
design
and
of
the
experience
of
architecture,
and
he
has
presented
talks
on
the
architecture-neuroscience
conversation
around
the
USA
as
well
as
in
Australia,
Austria,
Germany,
Italy,
Singapore
…
and
(soon)
Canada.