Mind Wandering

Psychogeographic explorations into the built world.

Colin Ellard Ph.D.

The Flames of Notre Dame Teach Us the Importance of Beauty

When Notre Dame caught fire, there was an outpouring of emotion from the whole world. This dramatic response illustrates the importance of beauty and awe in our lives.

Pokémon Go and the Failure of Urban Design

Perhaps the popularity of Pokémon Go signals our thirst for interesting urban design.

Look Up: The Surprising Joy of Raising Your Gaze

Next time you need a lift, try looking upwards.

Can a Building Make You Sad?

Time worn principles in architecture suggest that we might like buildings that mirror the proportions and harmonies of the human form. But what about faces?

Does Where You Live Make You Who You Are?

Recent research shows interesting connections between your physical surroundings and your personality.

Can Machines 'Read' People Better Than We Can?

We are being bombarded by accounts of new technology that can read our feelings by measuring facial expressions, voice qualities, and more.

The Psychological Value of Public Art

Public art reaches inside us to influence our senses, attract our attention, and change our habits. A simple experiment shows the power of art to influence how we use the city.

Go Climb a Tree

Tree-houses have been built throughout history but they now seem to be enjoying a resurgence.

The Psychology of the Home Office

Working from home can be all blissful flexibility or a mess of unproductive disorganization. Use these simple reminders to help support a productive home working environment.

The Neuroscience of Design

As neuroscientists learn more about how different kinds of environmental designs affect us, general principles relating brain and place will emerge.

Coping With Urban Stress: Watch Where You Step

Our bodies react with stressful arousal to the typical experiences of an urban dweller, such as crossing a busy street, but we may be unaware of it.

Ten Tips for a Psychologically Rewarding Vacation

When going on vacation, we may be so afraid of missing something But there are other approaches which involve opening up your mind to new experiences.

The Internet is the New Barrel of Fun

The design of built spaces exerts strong effects on our behavior, including how we connect with strangers. But now, with the Internet, the rules of engagement have changed.

Smart Technology And The Death of Culture Shock

New types of wearable computing can provide us with all kinds of rich information about a place that we've never visited before.

Head in the Cloud: What's Wrong with Telecommuting?

It's generally assumed that when a worker can avoid the office they are better off doing so. But is this always the case?

What Happens When You Take a Psychologist to a Museum?

New methods for measuring behavior have allowed psychologists to place museum exploration under the microscope so that we can measure the unfolding feelings of museum-goers.

Do Collaborative Workspaces Work?

New office designs are shifting away from traditional assembly-line style layouts to spaces designed to encourage interaction and creativity.

All That Glitters Is Not Green

Much research has shown that exposure to greenery can make us happy and healthy. Can we take advantage of what we've learned about nature exposure to build settings that restore?

Cold Dinners and Hot Buildings

At a meeting of the Academy of Neuroscience for Architecture, a visionary group of builders and thinkers ask whether neuroscience can contribute to better architecture.

Feng Shui in the Field

Recent studies show some effects of magnetic fields on human physiology and behavior. Could this be the basis of traditional building practices like feng shui and vastu shastra?

Oppressive Spaces, Social Networks, and the Panopticon

Architectural spaces can oppress by manipulating the relationship between the observer and the observed. Now mobile technology changes what it means to be seen or to be hidden

Separate Bedrooms

Sleeping alone can not only improve sleep quality but it can also help to promote psychologically healthy feelings of autonomy and empowerment.

Lost in the Moment

How to make sure you can always find your way? Get lost! But in the moment.

Stress and the City

Living in the city produces stresses that can influence brain function. Protecting yourself by regulating stress means first understanding how place influences feeling.

Dream house

Home Is Where the Head Is

Do the homes we choose for ourselves reflect the inner workings of our minds and cravings to re-connect with childhood memories?

London Tube Map

Finding Your Way to the London Olympics

Finding your way through the city of London can pose major challenges to the brain's wayfinding systems.