Cultivating Synapse in Architecture: An Exploration on How the Human Connectome Relates to Architecture and the Urban Fabric

Abstract

Cultivating Synapse originates from the question of how culture affects the human brain and the neurological processes through which we have experiences which then form connections. In the central nervous system, SYNAPSE is defined as "the gap at the end of a neuron that allows a signal to pass from one neuron to the next." It is the junction space that allows connections from cell to cell. It is key to the brain's function, specially when it comes to memory. Synapse then, can serve as a theoretical concept in architecture to investigate transitional "junction" spaces at the local scale and connections formed based on the interaction of movement at an urban scale. This project investigates architecture's social and cultural impact. Located in the heart of Mexico City, this project integrates existing urban and human connections to incorporate them into a city block re-development that celebrates the history of regional traditional Mexican art and culture. Creating a functional space that combines the typology of a cultural center, a museum, and an artisanal street market. Architecture is the process of creating spaces that elevate and enrich the human spirit. As architects we have the opportunity to create something that makes people happy, something that offers a function and a purpose. It offers the opportunity for us to represent the personal, the vernacular, the district, and the regional. Architectural design should include more than programmatic requirements, it should have a purpose, an impact. Architecture should encourage the individual to move through a space with a sense of inquiry. It should spark one's curiosity to investigate the transition between the urban (the city) and the built (the building) within and across communities, traditions, and nations.