New Chapter in Making Design Public: Education Beyond the Studio

We are excited to share that 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.

A special thank‑you goes to editor Vincent Peu Duvallon, whose thoughtful guidance brought together a wonderful group of authors examining how design can be more open, inclusive, and connected to public life.

You can preview the book here.

About the Chapter

In this chapter, Tsafoulia and Alfonso introduce a teaching and research approach that connects neurodiversity—the idea that people sense and experience the world differently—with everyday learning in interior design and architecture.

Much of this work stems from projects developed within the Synesthetic Research & Design Lab (SR&DL). As the home base for these ideas, SR&DL brings together students, faculty, community partners, and researchers to explore how people perceive and inhabit space. The lab focuses especially on voices and experiences that are often missing from mainstream design conversations. Through SR&DL’s initiatives—including design studios, international events, and community‑engaged research—students learn through hands‑on collaboration. These experiences help them understand how design decisions affect real people with diverse sensory and cognitive needs.

Community Partnerships That Make a Difference

A major part of the chapter highlights the value of working directly with communities. Collaborations with groups such as the Jefferson Health Center for Autism and Neurodiversity, the ASPIRE program, and Shrub Oak International School have allowed students to design environments that support different ways of feeling, learning, and moving through space. These partnerships reinforce SR&DL's mission: to create spaces that are empathetic, flexible, and informed by lived experience.

We are proud to celebrate this publication and look forward to the conversations it will inspire across institutions and disciplines.