How 4E cognition changes architectural design education

Abstract

Advances in cognitive science have important if unexplored implications for the design of the built environment. These findings have yet to be introduced, much less applied in architectural education. Architectural education must change not only to meet the urgent demands of the climate crisis and environmental sustainability, but also to actively promote human and more than human health and well being. Research from the cognitive and behavioural sciences has much to contribute to this mandate. This paper proposes practical ways that the findings of 4E cognition—which holds that cognition is embodied, embedded, enacted and extended—can be integrated in educational settings through embodied and immersive teaching, in-depth cross-disciplinary research and experimental making and evaluation.