Blurred Lines: Art, architecture and the cognitive sciences explored at next Bronowski Forum

By Ron Newby

Architect/artist Jennifer Luce and cognitive scientist David Kirsh will examine the art and architecture experience from their professional perspectives at the Bronowski Art & Science Forum, 7 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 2 in the auditorium of The Neurosciences Institute, 10640 John Jay Hopkins Drive. Admission is free.

Topics of conversation may include the process of design, the concept of elegance, the poetic and the balance of design, and the emotional responsiveness toward and the value of the unanticipated experience.

• David Kirsh is professor and past chair of the Department of Cognitive Science at UCSD. He was educated at Oxford University, did post doctoral research at MIT in the Artificial Intelligence Lab, and has held research or visiting professor positions at MIT and Stanford University.

He has written extensively on situated cognition and especially on how the environment can be shaped to simplify and extend cognition, including how we intelligently use space, and how we use external representations as an interactive tool for thought.

Kirsh runs the Interactive Cognition Lab at UCSD where the focus is on the way humans are closely coupled to the outside world, and how human environments have been adapted to enable us to cope with the complexity of everyday life. He is on the board of directors for the Academy of Neuroscience for Architecture.

• Jennifer Luce, is principal and founder of Luce et Studio Architects in La Jolla. She received her bachelor’s degree at Carleton University, Ottawa, Canada, and her Master of Design Studies degree from Harvard University Graduate School of Design. She has lectured at numerous universities in Canada, the United States and Mexico, and regularly speaks at AIA and AIGA symposiums.

The Studio’s projects have been featured in exhibitions including the “MIX” exhibit at MCASD La Jolla in 2009. The studio has received 21 AIA design awards and was named “Design Vanguard” by Architectural Record in 2005 as one of the top 10 emerging firms in the world.

The “et” in Studio connotes the collaborative approach to the design process. Among many project types, including residential, furniture, museum commissions and educational institutions, the firm has gained prominence for its design of creative work environments.

The award-winning automotive design studios for Nissan Design America in Detroit and La Jolla, won the coveted Business Week Award for Design/Innovation in 2006.

Tickets are required and checked at the door. They are easily acquired at this link: https://www.eventbrite.com/event/2745779701

Select the number of tickets, “Register,” then “Complete Registration,” and then, print out your ticket. www.bronowskiforum.org