Navigating Complex Buildings: Cognition, Neuroscience and Architectural Design

This paper provides a tentative set of ideas which attempt to draw together research from neuroscience, spatial cognition and architecture (space syntax). It starts by considering the questions, “What does the brain do during the navigation of complex built space and how does it map it?" “What can cognitive studies tell us about navigation in complex buildings?" and “What does space syntax measure about structures of space and what does it tell us?" These questions serve as the starting point for the establishment of a framework for future collaborative efforts to bring together these disparate areas but with the fundamental aim of ultimately supporting architects to design more user-friendly buildings.