Category Archives: Walkability

Architecture that grabs us? It’s on the supermarket shelf!

Posted on February 7, 2022 by Genetics of Design

It’s fascinating to see how billion-dollar retailers seriously consider client feelings in the built environment – including ones not widely acknowledged, like the power of car-free streets and old architecture to make people feel safe and happy – to drive sales of things that have nothing to do with buildings at all. Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Biology, Design, faces, Health, Patterns, STEM, Walkability | Leave a comment

Seeing How Cars + People Grab Us

Posted on February 20, 2021 by Genetics of Design

With eye tracking we can ‘see’ how humans take in the world. This biometric tool gives an inside view of our remarkable subliminal activity, including what’s really going on when we do something seemingly simple, like walking down a city … Continue reading →

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Eye-tracking Architecture to Understand Ourselves

Posted on January 20, 2021 by Genetics of Design

Here’s a video from the non-profit The Human Architecture + Planning Institute, Inc. (theHapi.org) showing results from a Sensing-Streetscape study that looks at how people actually experience buildings and different streets in Boston. Eye tracking can tell us a lot about … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, City Planning, Design, Eye Tracking, Neuroscience, Walkability | Leave a comment

Embracing Nature on a Rail Trail

Posted on December 10, 2020 by Genetics of Design

How does this picture make you feel: Scared? Happy? Or in awe of nature’s ability to co-exist with humans? We often disrupt Nature, and she, in her wordless way, adapts. Here, a tree wraps around a concrete marker along an … Continue reading →

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To Keep Calm: Take in Nature + Fall Fractals

Posted on November 18, 2020 by Genetics of Design

Nature walks relieve stress, curb anxiety, and help us feel calm. That’s what we found on a recent walk through the woods in Concord, Massachusetts, and now there’s more science to back it up. Outside in nature, we easily take … Continue reading →

Posted in Fractals, Nature, Patterns, Primal Vista, Walkability | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

The Public Realm: What Cars Took Away + Never Gave Back

Posted on January 3, 2020 by Genetics of Design

Where would you rather be? The main street above or the one below? We’d guess you’ll pick the one most at top, even though these images show the very same street — photographed about 100 years apart! It’s Commonwealth Avenue … Continue reading →

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Imagine No Cars !

Posted on June 6, 2019 by Genetics of Design

“Imagine there’s no autos It’s easy if you try Only healthy walking And cycling ‘neath the sky” —A riff on John Lennon’s, Imagine Visitors to Kyoto, Copenhagen, Amsterdam, Porto and Paris don’t have to imagine – they already have miles … Continue reading →

Posted in City Planning, Cycling, Exercise, Health, People-centric Design, Walkability | Leave a comment

‘Ux+Design’ Conference Take-aways: Biometrics Can Tell Us a lot about Buildings …and Ourselves

Posted on May 8, 2019 by Genetics of Design

A good turnout at the 1st International Urban Experience and Design (Ux+Design/2019) conference at Tufts last month, which drew architects, planners, researchers and students from around the world interested in improving the built environment and better understanding our responses to … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Biology, City Planning, Eye Tracking, STEM, Walkability | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Eye-tracking Architecture at Ux+Design/2019 Conference

Posted on April 18, 2019 by Genetics of Design

Thanks to the attendees and presenters at Ux+Design/2019, the 1st International Conference on Urban Experience and Design on April 26 at Tufts University. This conference brought together creative thinkers from around the world who are shaping ‘evidence-based’ design practices, ones … Continue reading →

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A Trip to Tahoe: Walking the California/Nevada Divide

Posted on June 20, 2018 by Genetics of Design

When I asked the concierge for directions to cafes and shops, he told me to walk three blocks to the traffic lights, then turn right to California or left to Nevada. “You’ll see the difference,” he said. Indeed. Little did … Continue reading →

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