Mission Statement 

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Updated in April 2026, for Portuguese, please see below

 

Our buildings, neighborhoods, and cities directly impact our health and well-being. This basic fact is appreciated increasingly across the full range of professions involved in design and maintenance of the built environment.  At the same time, we know little of how  the relationship of persons and environments works in detail: how exactly our experience and behavior, emotions and engagement with place and with one another are shaped by the built environment. 

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A number of scientific disciplines have been called to help us fill this gap, including most notably the disciplines allied under the umbrellas of neuroscience, cognitive science and environmental psychology. Encounters of scientists and design professionals produce an exciting new frontier of human knowledge, and they lead to new understanding of the roles and responsibilities of the designer.

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Moving Boundaries Collaborative is an interdisciplinary international initiative seeking to disseminate this new understanding by means of education, research and advocacy. The initiative operates at the interface of the just mentioned scientific disciplines and such design disciplines as architecture, urban planning, landscape architecture, and interior design. Based in Porto, Portugal and La Jolla, California, connected by an active network of collaborations with kindred organizations and schools of design around the world, Moving Boundaries produces two global symposia and intensive courses each year and curates a community of students, professionals, and organizations that share our vision and values. We work together to develop strategies for Life-Centered Design, to recast architecture and design practice, research and education for the benefit of human and environmental health. 

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Our groundbreaking Global Courses and Symposia, titled Moving Boundaries: Human Sciences and the Future of Architecture, planned for Kyoto and the Art Islands of Teshima/Naoshima, Japan in August and October 2026, will bring together over 70 distinguished international participants: scientists and architects, sociologists and psychologists, lighting/interior designers, landscape architects, urban planners, acousticians and health professionals, historians and philosophers, who will illuminate multiple facets of the impact of the built environment on human health and well-being. Such an interdisciplinary program is being held for the first time in Japan. The geographical situations of this course are not accidental since one of our goals is to investigate how impacts of the built environment are grounded in the local culture. Unique atmospheres of Kyoto, the greater Kansai region, and the Art Islands Teshima and Naoshima in Japan will give us ample opportunity for such study. The courses will feature several tours, field trips and workshops, and multiple opportunities for cultural immersion,  in which we will uncover the rich cultural heritage of these regions, illustrating sustainable and resilient relationships of the person, community, and place. 

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​The two upcoming programs will provide each participant with numerous opportunities of interaction with some of the best minds in architecture, interior design, health professions  and science — during presentations, roundtable discussions and hands-on experiences, but also during the many tours and social events. We will learn together, from one another and from the unique environments of these courses and symposia, gaining the strength for transforming architectural and interior design education and practice the world over.  

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In its larger aspirations, the Moving Boundaries Collaborative is designed to serve as a platform for collaboration between educators and scientists, health experts and clinicians, practitioners and students of architecture, as well as with institutions of design, research and learning.  Our initiative is animated by ideas and creations of such notable architects, historians and critics as Juhani Pallasmaa, Kenneth Frampton, Richard Neutra, Frank Lloyd Wright, Álvaro Siza Vieira, Louis Kahn, Alvar Aalto, Carlo Scarpa, Luis Barragan, Balkrishna Doshi, Tadao Ando, Sarah Robinson, Galen Cranz, Sarah Williams Goldhagen, Alberto Pérez-Gómez and Harry Francis Mallgrave, and also by such innovative thinkers as Maurice Merleau-Ponty in France and John Dewey in the United States. Collective legacy of these individuals demands that we view design from an uncompromisingly humanistic perspective, committed to flourishing, and centered on the individual’s and communities' physical health and psychological wellness. The shift in the role of the architect, designer and urban planner has never been more urgent. We hope that you will join our movement. 

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"Placing its emphasis on the human being, Moving Boundaries promotes architecture freed from the obsessions of personal styles, driven by a quest for beauty, a reconciliation with nature, social justice and the
common good."

– Alberto Pérez-Gómez

Co-Chair, Moving Boundaries Japan Program

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Well-Being and Architecture: Ethics, Empathy, and Responsibility
by Pedro Araújo Napoleão

For a long time, many discourses were dominated by an understanding of architecture
centred on form, technique, and efficiency. Today, however, it is understood that a
building may be functional and aesthetically accomplished and yet still fail in its essential
dimension: that of accommodating human life. To dwell is not merely to occupy a space,
but to experience it with the whole body, through light, materiality, scale, temperature,
sound, and atmosphere.

To speak of well-being in architecture is to recognise that the built environment actively
participates in physical, mental, and emotional health. Space is not neutral: it can calm
or unsettle, protect or oppress, open us to the world or enclose us within ourselves. This
awareness has ancient roots, from classical reflections on beauty, proportion, and
harmony to Vitruvius, who articulated construction, suitability, and beauty as the
foundations of architecture.

Throughout history, this relationship between space and human experience has taken
different forms. From the Renaissance to Neoclassicism, from the Baroque to
Modernism, architecture has reflected diverse ways of feeling and inhabiting. Robert
Vischer’s theory of Einfühlung, Frank Lloyd Wright’s organic architecture, Richard
Neutra’s psychophysical sensitivity, and contemporary examples such as Norman
Foster’s Maggie’s Centre show that architecture can become a concrete form of human
support.

Architectural well-being arises from the subtle convergence of materiality, natural light,
ventilation, temperature, scale, proportion, colour, tactility, and the relationship with
nature. Light regulates biological rhythms and creates atmospheres. Materials
communicate texture, memory, and a sense of welcome. Scale influences concentration,
comfort, and creativity. As Pallasmaa and Peter Zumthor remind us, architecture is a
multisensory experience, shaped by presence, atmosphere, and sensitivity.

In the face of the climate crisis, this reflection becomes even more urgent. Sustainability
and well-being can no longer be conceived separately, since both imply environmental,
social, economic, and ethical responsibility. The practice of architecture therefore
demands more than technical competence or formal talent: it requires listening, empathy,
and an awareness of the effects that each design decision produces upon people and
territories. Architecture does not merely provide shelter; it becomes capable of care.

 

 

 

Declaração de Missão  (Portuguese)

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Nossos edifícios, bairros e cidades impactam diretamente nossa saúde e bem-estar. Esse fato básico é cada vez mais apreciado em toda a gama de profissões envolvidas no design e manutenção do ambiente construído. Ao mesmo tempo, sabemos pouco sobre como o relacionamento de pessoas e ambientes funciona em detalhes: como exatamente nossa experiência e comportamento, emoções e engajamento com o lugar e uns com os outros são moldados pelo ambiente construído. ​

 

Várias disciplinas científicas foram chamadas para nos ajudar a preencher essa lacuna, incluindo principalmente as disciplinas como a neurociência, ciência cognitiva e psicologia ambiental. Encontros de cientistas e profissionais de design produzem uma nova fronteira emocionante do conhecimento humano e levam a uma nova compreensão do papel e responsabilidade do arquitecto. ​

 

Moving Boundaries Collaborative é uma iniciativa internacional interdisciplinar que busca disseminar essa nova compreensão por meio de educação, pesquisa e advocacia. A iniciativa opera na interface das disciplinas científicas mencionadas e disciplinas de design como arquitetura, planejamento urbano, arquitetura paisagística e design de interiores. Com sede no Porto, Portugal, e em San Diego/La Jolla, Califórnia, que é a casa da venerável Academia de Neurociência para Arquitetura (ANFA), conectada por uma rede ativa de colaborações com escolas de design semelhantes ao redor do mundo, a Moving Boundaries está preparada para formar uma comunidade global de estudantes, profissionais e organizações que compartilham nossa visão e valores.

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Nosso inovador Curso e Retiro da Primavera de 2025, intitulado Moving Boundaries: Human Sciences and the Future of Architecture, foi realizado em Amares, no norte de Portugal, com mais de 55 participantes internacionais renomados: cientistas e arquitetos, sociólogos e psicólogos, designers de iluminação/interiores, acústicos e profissionais de saúde, historiadores e filósofos, que iluminararam múltiplas facetas do impacto do ambiente construído na saúde e bem-estar humanos. A situação geográfica deste curso não é acidental, pois um dos nossos objetivos é investigar como os impactos do ambiente construído são fundamentados na cultura local. Atmosferas únicas da Região do Minho, Porto, Amares, Parque do Gerês e paisagens circundantes nos deram ampla oportunidade para tal estudo. O curso contou com vários passeios, viagens de campo e workshops, nos quais descobrimos a rica herança cultural dessas regiões em Portugal, ilustrando relacionamentos sustentáveis ​​e resilientes da pessoa, comunidade e lugar.

 

Além disso, os cenários ao redor do nosso local de ensino em Amares e no Porto — vibrantes ambientes rurais e urbanos — apresentaram uma impressionante variedade de arquitetura moderna projetada por mestres como Álvaro Siza Vieira, Eduardo Souto de Moura e Fernando Távora. A região do Norte de Portugal também é bem conhecida por seu distinto artesanato vernacular, trabalho em materiais locais como granito e madeira, design de móveis, linhos, joias e outros artesanatos, tradições linguísticas, musicais, culinárias e de produção de vinho e paisagens memoráveis ​​e serenas.

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O programa proporcionou a cada participante inúmeras oportunidades de interação com algumas das melhores mentes em arquitetura, design de interiores, profissões da saúde e ciência — durante apresentações, mesas redondas e workshops, mas também durante muitos eventos sociais planejados ao longo desses oito dias. Aprendemos juntos, uns com os outros e com o ambiente único deste curso, ganhando força para transformar a educação e a prática de arquitetura e design de interiores em todo o mundo. ​

 

Em suas aspirações maiores, Moving Boundaries foi projetado para servir como uma plataforma para colaboração entre educadores e cientistas, especialistas em saúde e clínicos, praticantes e estudantes de arquitetura, bem como com instituições de design, pesquisa e aprendizagem. Nossa iniciativa é animada por ideias e criações de arquitetos e críticos notáveis ​​como Kenneth Frampton, Richard Neutra, Frank Lloyd Wright, Álvaro Siza Vieira, Louis Kahn, Alvar Aalto, Carlo Scarpa, Luis Barragan, Balkrishna Doshi, Sarah Robinson, Galen Cranz, Sarah Williams Goldhagen, Alberto Pérez-Gómez e Juhani Pallasmaa, e também por pensadores inovadores como Maurice Merleau-Ponty na França e John Dewey nos Estados Unidos. O legado coletivo desses indivíduos exige que vejamos o design de uma perspectiva intransigentemente humanística, focado no florescimento pessoal e centrada na saúde física e no bem-estar psicológico do indivíduo e da comunidade.

 

 

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