"In the 1950s prizewinning biologist and doctor Jonas Salk was working on a cure for polio in a dark basement laboratory in Pittsburgh. Progress was slow, so to clear his head, Salk traveled to Assisi, Italy, where he spent time in a 13th-century monastery, ambling amid its columns and cloistered courtyards. Suddenly, Salk found himself awash in new insights, including the one that would lead to his successful polio vaccine. Salk was convinced he had drawn his inspiration from the contemplative setting. He came to believe so strongly in architecture’s ability to influence the mind that he teamed up with renowned architect Louis Kahn to build the Salk Institute in La Jolla, Calif., as a scientific facility that would stimulate breakthroughs and encourage creativity."
(This tidbit of information enhances the fascinating narrative on Louis Kahn and images of the Salk Institute in the documentary, My Architect, A Son's Journey.)
An article in the April 2009 Scientific American Mind now available on line: How Room Designs Affect your Work and Mood shares the above information and speaks to how brain research can help us craft spaces that relax, inspire, awaken, comfort and heal. The article gave me insight into why I could not continue to live in a house with low ceilings.
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