This talk was part of a WELLbeing Seminar Series, organized by Prof. Robin Z Puttock, RA of the School of Architecture + Planning at Catholic University of America (CUA) in Washington DC. 

In it Ann Sussman discussed how new findings about human perception – the fact we really do look at the world as an animal – change our understanding of how the built environment impacts people and even reframes the history of modern architecture.

The talk considers cartoons, such as this recent one from The New Yorker, to help explain a key fact about our brain, that it’s hardwired to be a “social engagement system” which means that it is built to connect to faces subliminally – whether real or inanimate, wherever they may be – without our conscious awareness or control.

The significance of understanding human perception as relational, no matter what we take in, will be explored further in this blog, including what it means for architecture and healthy place-making where people feel at their best and most at home.