2011 Was A Great Year!

The year 2011 has proven to be a great year for Sensing Architecture. Traffic has grown by approximately 30% in 2011, and there are now approximately 4,600 subscribers who have joined the Sensing Architecture community! (If you have not joined yet, you can do so here.)

Additionally, Sensing Architecture continues to reach its readers internationally, where I receive an abundance of emails from you, my readers, with kind words about my work on Sensing Architecture — thank you to all of those who took the time to send me such an email.

Looking Ahead Into 2012:
Exciting New Developments for Sensing Architecture

I predict that Sensing Architecture will continue on its upward trend of growth in 2012, but in addition to this, there will be several exciting new developments for which you should be on the lookout. They are as follows: …[Read Full Article]…

Maria Lorena Lehman featured in ESQUISSES Magazine

Maria Lorena Lehman is featured in ESQUISSES magazine, where the article entitled “Une Conception du Bonheur” by Marie-Claude Morin, explores how receptive architects are to findings in the environmental psychology and cognitive science fields. This article is originally written in French, as this is the official magazine for the Quebec Architect’s Association of Canada. The following is a brief excerpt translated from the original French version: …[Read Full Article]…

Sensory Design Research Paper by Maria Lorena Lehman Published in Intelligent Buildings International

Today, I am eager to announce that my latest research paper has just been published in the peer-review research journal, Intelligent Buildings International.

The paper, entitled How Sensory Design Brings Value to Buildings and their Occupants by Maria Lorena Lehman, delves into why sensory design has such potential to …[Read Full Article]…

I do hope that you had a great holiday season — and an even greater start to our first month in 2011. I know that 2010 was a good year for Sensing Architecture and that will hopefully mean even more good things for our year ahead in 2011.

Because of a lot of the work that I was able to do both on the Sensing Architecture website as well as multiple other projects I was working on behind the scenes last year, I do expect that within this upcoming year you will be using some great improvements here on Sensing Architecture. Thus, I have compiled a list of some of the key additional features which you should expect to see on this site during 2011. In fact, some of them are already live and running in an effort to make your Sensing Architecture experience even better:

So without further ado, here are ten exciting new features that will go live on Sensing Architecture during this upcoming year… …[Read Full Article]…

A New Dawn For Healthcare Architecture
Maria Lorena Lehman
Featured in Building Tomorrow Magazine

I am pleased to inform you that a commentary which I wrote, entitled A New Dawn for Healthcare Architecture, was recently published in the fall edition of Building Tomorrow magazine.

You can access the full feature article by clicking on the following link:

A New Dawn for Healthcare Architecture by Maria Lorena Lehman

In essence, this published piece focuses on the power of healthcare architecture and innovation, and how they can work together with sensory design to improve healing time and quality for patients, which is much needed today.

Here is an introductory excerpt:

“Healthcare architecture and innovative design plays a critical role when it comes to the quality of treatment and care for patients and the medical teams who support them. Maximized to its full potential, architecture has the ability to ease painful suffering, guide patients toward faster and better quality healing, and solve healthcare challenges which often detrimentally affect patients….”

— Maria Lorena Lehman, Founder Sensing Architecture
Building Tomorrow Magazine

Again, if you would like to read more of the article as it was published in Building Tomorrow, please click on the following link which will take you directly to the online version of the full article.

A New Dawn for Healthcare Architecture by Maria Lorena Lehman

Please Tell Me What You Think

I would really like to get your feedback on my post today, so please leave me a comment in the form below. And if you enjoyed it, make sure you share it with your Twitter and Facebook followers by clicking on the “re-tweet” and “like” button at the beginning of this page.

To create great buildings, one needs to maintain passion, focus and drive. A critical component to all three of these is inspiration. As you engage in the day-to-day aspects of your work, what keeps you inspired? What keeps you wanting to make your next design even better than your last? And how do you carry this through your entire career?

Inspiration is a key ingredient to keeping your work fresh and yourself refreshed. For this reason, I have put together the following list of unique ways for you, as an architect, to stay inspired.

1. Read A Lot: The more knowledge you can get from other thinkers and innovators (in other fields), the better. Doing this, you will probably find some new ways to approach complex problems, break them down and come up with sophisticated and practical design solutions.
2. Bend Boundaries: Set creative boundaries for yourself when you are facing a challenging design issue or problem. By exaggerating or minimizing boundaries that you are used to, it will force you to think about your design dilemma in new ways. For instance, give yourself a small allotted amount of time in which to “solve” a design issue. Or, pretend that you have three times the budget than you actually have. This might just free your mind, getting you to think of a totally different way of solving your original problem.
3. Streamline your Organization: Become an active thinker. During or after visiting a site, another great building, reading a magazine or even having a discussion with a fellow architect , make it a habit to record the most important thoughts that will spark your future action(s). Organizing your ideas will result in better ways for you to create new ones. Organization actually can spark creativity and innovation.
4. Switch Your Perspective: While working on the day-to-day details that surface for specific building projects, don’t forget to take that eagle-eyed view. Think of how Norman Foster or Zaha Hadid would approach your design problem. Or think of what a good architectural critic might say about your design challenge.
5. Get Out More: Although having a consistent design setting (like your office) is very conducive to being creative, so too is changing your scenery. Try thinking about a design problem in a totally different place. Go see a great architectural lecture. Or go have a brainstorming session with your colleague in a new setting.
6. Remember Your Colleagues: Don’t forget about the people around you. They can help you stay inspired too. Coming up with new ways to communicate with your colleagues to generate creative ideas can be quite motivational.
7. Set Your Goals: Don’t lose sight of your goals, whatever they may be. Be sure to revisit them often — both so your time is spent working toward them and so that you remember why you are doing what you do. One of the keys to maintaining inspiration, is also to reward yourself. After you reach certain goals be sure to enjoy them, take a break and then use that energy to renewing your momentum.

Please Tell Me What You Think

I would really like to get your opinion on my post today, so please leave me a comment in the form below. And if you enjoyed it, make sure you share it with your Twitter followers by “tweeting” it using the re-tweet button on this page.

Thank You, Readers — for the Exponential Growth

After one full year of blogging, I would like to extend appreciation to my readers, for all of the support that you have shown through your comments and e-mails in 2009.

It is very encouraging to know that so many of you truly care about the advancement of architecture — all in efforts to make architectural design even better. For this reason, it is a pleasure to share with you my findings, thoughts and theories, here on my site.

Shortly after its inception, Sensing Architecture’s readership started to grow at exponential rates — and I would like to thank each and every one of you for helping to make that happen. (These growth rates are still compounding today, so I project 2010 will be a fantastic year of growth for Sensing Architecture as well.)

For those that take the time and effort to participate in Sensing Architecture discussions by sharing your insights, questions and observations — thanks for helping to make Sensing Architecture an even richer site. After all, it is through dialogue that we can spread good ideas, and then make them even better.

Here’s to a wonderful 2010!

Please Tell Me What You Think

I would really like to get your feedback on my post today, so please leave me a comment in the form below. And if you enjoyed it, make sure you share it with your Twitter followers by “tweeting” it using the re-tweet button on this page.

2009 Has Been an Amazing Year

Sensing Architecture has had quite an amazing year in 2009. Really, this website was brand-new at the beginning of the year, in January. Ever since then, it has been rapidly growing and now its readership is exponentially compounding. Projected to reach approximately 20,000 visitors this month, it is safe to say that 2010 will hold great things in store for the Sensing Architecture community.

Readers range from architecture professionals, to architectural scholars to design enthusiasts. I continuously receive a wide range of reader insightful comments, questions, “thank-you” letters and e-mails asking for architectural design advice and reviews.

I am certainly encouraged by such a pro-active reader response!

Plus, I love working with all of you.

2010 Will Be Full of Nice Surprises

Already, there are a variety of plans in the works for Sensing Architecture in 2010.

For starters, I will be launching a free Report entitled Bringing Architecture to the Next Level. To make certain that you receive this, be sure to sign up for my free Sensing Architecture newsletter — you can sign-up using the simple form here. All newsletter members will be first to receive this free Report in late January of 2010.

For later in the year, I plan to introduce new content in varying media formats — which I think will be a rich addition to the site…particularly for those that like to learn in different ways.

Another goal on my 2010 plan is to add more community enhancements to increase member interactivity and lateral learning. This will be a very desirable addition as our community continues its rapid growth and healthy response rates.

There are, of course, more 2010 ideas brewing on my drawing board at the moment. Those, I will share with you in the future. But for now, I can tell you this…

This is only the beginning.

Please Tell Me What You Think

What do you think should be added to Sensing Architecture In 2010?

I would really like to get your feedback on the post today, so please leave me a comment in the form below. And if you are a reader that enjoys Sensing Architecture, please also tell me why — this will also tell me what works and what can be expanded upon in the year ahead.

Also, make sure you share this post today with your Twitter followers by “tweeting” it using the re-tweet button on this page.

News Update

Sensing Architecture is Featured in ARCHITECT Magazine, Nov. 2009

You can access the Feature Article here.

Image Credit: Tracy Powell

Here is an introductory excerpt written by Braulio Agnese, Sr. Editor:

SensingArchitecture.com, at the Nexus of Building Technology and Neuroscience

“How does memory play a role in the way we experience buildings? Or sound? Or optical illusions? What do advances in computing, power generation, lighting, materials, etc., mean for building design? How can “smart” environments affect our behavior or our mood for the better? And what about biomimicry? These are the kinds of issues Maria Lorena Lehman blogs about at Sensing Architecture…”

— ARCHITECT Magazine

[Click here to read the rest of this article.]

About Sensing Architecture

If you are new to Sensing Architecture, I invite you to visit (click here to visit), particularly if you are interested in architectural design, science and new technologies.

At Sensing Architecture you will find:

• A repository of useful articles for architecture professionals and scholars. These articles aim to give you forward-looking ideas to drive architectural progress.
• Fresh content is added regularly to help you learn about innovative design concepts and solutions.
• Unique perspectives expand the way you think about architecture and design.
• By exploring the science of how occupants perceive space, Sensing Architecture will teach you how to bridge the gap between new technology and architectural design — helping you to design more effective and humane state-of the-art environments.