Synesthetic Research & Design Lab

The International Neurodiversity & the Built Environment Symposium explores how design can honor diverse sensory, cognitive, and relational experiences. This year’s theme, Building Empathy, includes practitioners, researchers, artists, students, and self-advocates to rethink how environments can support dignity, agency, and belonging.

Loukia Tsafoulia and Severino Alfonso have contributed a new chapter to the recently published book, Making Design Public: Education Beyond the Studio, published by Cambridge Scholars Publishing. Their chapter, “Intentional Connections: Design Pedagogies for Neuroaffirming Environments,” explores new ways design education can support a wider range of human experiences.

On February 4th, Loukia Tsafoulia and Severino Alfonso Dunn presented their research and SR&DL creative work at the Graduate School of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation at Columbia University in New York.

At the recent Neuroinclusive Design Roundtable, hosted by SOM’s Equity Action Committee (EAC), we presented our research and lessons learned from our work in this emerging field.

SR&DL's Synesthesia Project Featured in Liliana Becerra's New Book Soft Design Aesthetic Experience.

Recursive Worlds: Mapping the  Science-Design Paradigm. Presentation by Loukia Tsafoulia and Severino Alfonso on November 7th, 2025, @ History/Theory Talk Series, Tyler School of Art and Architecture, Temple University. HSPres (HalfSecondPresentation).