Space is the brain's spur
Jooyun Kim's Spacebranding vol.34
"The living space can make the human brain healthy. Conversely, it can also make the brain decline."
<Space is 'Inspiration Spur'>There is one interesting story where space has become a human inspiration. The Salk Institute, designed by Louis Kahn (1901-1974), is considered the greatest architecture of the 20th century. Dr. Jonas Salk (1994-1995), who founded a beautiful laboratory overlooking the Pacific Ocean, was convinced from his own experience that space affects people.
Salk Institute from https://www.salk.edu/about/
Dr. Salk is a person who has contributed greatly to overcoming human diseases by developing a polio vaccine. He stayed in a village called Assisi in central Italy for a short break when he fell into difficulties during vaccine development in the United States. However, while walking through St. Francis Cathedral in the midst of the sunlight and beautiful scenery there, he came up with an important problem solution for vaccine development. Dr. Salk continued his research with the inspiration that came to mind there and eventually succeeded in developing a vaccine.
Basilica of Saint Francis of Assisi from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basilica_of_Saint_Francis_of_Assisi
As a result, he was able to prevent the lives of millions of young children and disabilities. Through his experience in Assisi, he became convinced that space was a creative inspiration. When Dr. Salk established his research center in the United States, he searched for a place similar to his experience in Assisi. He chose La Jolla, located near San Diego in Southern California.
Salk Institute https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bDYSKAEzOYs
He told Louis Kahn what he had experienced in Assisi and asked him to design a space in the lab that could inspire the researchers' imagination. As a result, Salk Institute, a mecca for scientists, was born in 1965 as a building that architects must visit before they die.1) The Salk Institute of unconventional high ceilings, large windows, and open spaces designed by Khan actually provided inspiration for the researchers' research, as Dr. Salk hoped.
As a research institute established by individuals, the place that wanted to inspire imagination has so far had 11 Nobel Prize winners. Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, author of <Flow> says, “A miraculous and beautiful environment can trigger a moment of insight.”2) Experiments have shown that people who were in high ceiling spaces tend to be more free and creative when solving problems and puzzles in spaces with different ceiling heights, and people with lower ceilings have strengths in handling a set range of tasks.3)
<Spatial experience is the spur of 'brain cell generation'>Interestingly, scientific evidence has emerged that the spatial environment affects the production of human brain cells. Until now, scientists thought that humans were born with all the brain cells they could have and that it was impossible to regenerate the adult brain. In 1998, Dr. Fred Gage of the Socke Institute discovered that the human brain produces new brain cells until death. He revealed that thousands of nerve cell neurons are produced every day in the hippocampus, the area responsible for new learning and memory.
He then examined the impact of the spatial environment on brain growth in mice in 2007. He compared the rat brain in a spatial environment where only water and food were provided and nothing (b) and a maze that could receive various stimuli (c). In the maze-created environment, the location of the maze and the location of the maze were changed every day, and experiments found that the brain activity of mice increased significantly in the maze-created spatial environment.
Image from https://docplayer.org/76705809-Bewegung-ein-leben-lang-geistig-beweglich-sein-und-bleiben-wie-man-sein-gehirn-fit-haelt-erkenntnisse-aus-den-neurowissenschaften.html
The brain size of mice in the labyrinth was 15 percent larger, and it was discovered that newly created neurons were being used more than those already present. This discovery is the first scientific evidence that space affects the human brain and body. When humans encounter new and interesting spaces, they are creating thousands of neurons in the hippocampus of the brain to contain the new experiential memories.
The Netflix documentary 'Memory, Explained' validated the findings. To be a taxi driver in London, England, you need to know both the name and location of the road. You have to know all the maze-like roads in London. So, it usually takes about two years to pass this license test. The documentary compares the size of the hippocampus before the taxi driver's test and the size after the test with MRI.
Memory, Explained by Vox + Netflix, from https://youtu.be/d95dOH-7GHM
The size of the person who failed to pass did not change, but it was confirmed that the size of the hippocampus of the person who passed was increased. A lot of new brain cells were created during the two years of actually traveling around London roads to prepare for the exam. The scientific fact that the spatial environment not only activates the brain but also participates in the creation of new brain cells is a shock to us who live without thinking much about living space.
It is because of the fact that our living space can make our brain healthy or, conversely, cause the brain to naturally decline. This fact raises very important questions about what they do not only for the general public but also for professionals related to the construction of spatial environments. Spatial design is not just functional and aesthetic, it is a field directly related to human brain health.
the secret life of buildings from https://youtu.be/jH_uKYBoi3E
"Since architecture and spatial environment have a great influence on human brain activity, space design experts such as architecture and neuroscientists need to work together to study the spatial environment that can enhance human capabilities or activities." Dr. Gage said this in a 2011 British Channel 4 documentary program called ‘the secret life of buildings’.
<5 Summaries>
"The living space can make the human brain healthy, or conversely, it can make the brain naturally decline."
"The Salk Lab space is a spur of inspiration for the research."
"A magical and beautiful environment can trigger moments of insight."
"When humans encounter new and interesting spaces, they create thousands of nerve cells to contain the new experiential memories."
"The spatial environment not only activates the brain, but is also involved in the creation of new brain cells."
1) Esther M. Sternberg, Healing Spaces: The Science of Place and Well-Being, Belknap Press, 2010, pp. 59-642) Bernd H. Schmitt, Experiential Marketing: How to Get Customers to Sense, Feel, Think, Act, Relate, Free Press, 1999, quoted in pp. 2073) 이길성기자, “사무실 천장이 높을수록 창의력도 높아진다”, 조선비즈 2010.12.21., http://biz.chosun.com/site/data/html_dir/2010/12/20/2010122001702.html
Jooyun Kim's
Spacebranding vol.34
"The living space can make the human brain healthy. Conversely, it can also make the brain decline."
<Space is 'Inspiration Spur'>
There is one interesting story where space has become a human inspiration. The Salk Institute, designed by Louis Kahn (1901-1974), is considered the greatest architecture of the 20th century. Dr. Jonas Salk (1994-1995), who founded a beautiful laboratory overlooking the Pacific Ocean, was convinced from his own experience that space affects people.
Salk Institute from https://www.salk.edu/about/
Dr. Salk is a person who has contributed greatly to overcoming human diseases by developing a polio vaccine. He stayed in a village called Assisi in central Italy for a short break when he fell into difficulties during vaccine development in the United States. However, while walking through St. Francis Cathedral in the midst of the sunlight and beautiful scenery there, he came up with an important problem solution for vaccine development. Dr. Salk continued his research with the inspiration that came to mind there and eventually succeeded in developing a vaccine.
Basilica of Saint Francis of Assisi from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basilica_of_Saint_Francis_of_Assisi
As a result, he was able to prevent the lives of millions of young children and disabilities. Through his experience in Assisi, he became convinced that space was a creative inspiration. When Dr. Salk established his research center in the United States, he searched for a place similar to his experience in Assisi. He chose La Jolla, located near San Diego in Southern California.
Salk Institute https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bDYSKAEzOYs
He told Louis Kahn what he had experienced in Assisi and asked him to design a space in the lab that could inspire the researchers' imagination. As a result, Salk Institute, a mecca for scientists, was born in 1965 as a building that architects must visit before they die.1) The Salk Institute of unconventional high ceilings, large windows, and open spaces designed by Khan actually provided inspiration for the researchers' research, as Dr. Salk hoped.
As a research institute established by individuals, the place that wanted to inspire imagination has so far had 11 Nobel Prize winners. Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, author of <Flow> says, “A miraculous and beautiful environment can trigger a moment of insight.”2)
Experiments have shown that people who were in high ceiling spaces tend to be more free and creative when solving problems and puzzles in spaces with different ceiling heights, and people with lower ceilings have strengths in handling a set range of tasks.3)
<Spatial experience is the spur of 'brain cell generation'>
Interestingly, scientific evidence has emerged that the spatial environment affects the production of human brain cells. Until now, scientists thought that humans were born with all the brain cells they could have and that it was impossible to regenerate the adult brain. In 1998, Dr. Fred Gage of the Socke Institute discovered that the human brain produces new brain cells until death. He revealed that thousands of nerve cell neurons are produced every day in the hippocampus, the area responsible for new learning and memory.
He then examined the impact of the spatial environment on brain growth in mice in 2007. He compared the rat brain in a spatial environment where only water and food were provided and nothing (b) and a maze that could receive various stimuli (c). In the maze-created environment, the location of the maze and the location of the maze were changed every day, and experiments found that the brain activity of mice increased significantly in the maze-created spatial environment.
Image from https://docplayer.org/76705809-Bewegung-ein-leben-lang-geistig-beweglich-sein-und-bleiben-wie-man-sein-gehirn-fit-haelt-erkenntnisse-aus-den-neurowissenschaften.html
The brain size of mice in the labyrinth was 15 percent larger, and it was discovered that newly created neurons were being used more than those already present. This discovery is the first scientific evidence that space affects the human brain and body. When humans encounter new and interesting spaces, they are creating thousands of neurons in the hippocampus of the brain to contain the new experiential memories.
The Netflix documentary 'Memory, Explained' validated the findings. To be a taxi driver in London, England, you need to know both the name and location of the road. You have to know all the maze-like roads in London. So, it usually takes about two years to pass this license test. The documentary compares the size of the hippocampus before the taxi driver's test and the size after the test with MRI.
Memory, Explained by Vox + Netflix, from https://youtu.be/d95dOH-7GHM
The size of the person who failed to pass did not change, but it was confirmed that the size of the hippocampus of the person who passed was increased. A lot of new brain cells were created during the two years of actually traveling around London roads to prepare for the exam. The scientific fact that the spatial environment not only activates the brain but also participates in the creation of new brain cells is a shock to us who live without thinking much about living space.
It is because of the fact that our living space can make our brain healthy or, conversely, cause the brain to naturally decline. This fact raises very important questions about what they do not only for the general public but also for professionals related to the construction of spatial environments. Spatial design is not just functional and aesthetic, it is a field directly related to human brain health.
the secret life of buildings from https://youtu.be/jH_uKYBoi3E
"Since architecture and spatial environment have a great influence on human brain activity, space design experts such as architecture and neuroscientists need to work together to study the spatial environment that can enhance human capabilities or activities." Dr. Gage said this in a 2011 British Channel 4 documentary program called ‘the secret life of buildings’.
<5 Summaries>
"The living space can make the human brain healthy, or conversely, it can make the brain naturally decline."
"The Salk Lab space is a spur of inspiration for the research."
"A magical and beautiful environment can trigger moments of insight."
"When humans encounter new and interesting spaces, they create thousands of nerve cells to contain the new experiential memories."
"The spatial environment not only activates the brain, but is also involved in the creation of new brain cells."
1) Esther M. Sternberg, Healing Spaces: The Science of Place and Well-Being, Belknap Press, 2010, pp. 59-64
2) Bernd H. Schmitt, Experiential Marketing: How to Get Customers to Sense, Feel, Think, Act, Relate, Free Press, 1999, quoted in pp. 207
3) 이길성기자, “사무실 천장이 높을수록 창의력도 높아진다”, 조선비즈 2010.12.21., http://biz.chosun.com/site/data/html_dir/2010/12/20/2010122001702.html
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