Webinar Title: Can We Identify General Architectural Principles Impacting Human/Animal Behavior?
Hosted by: What Design Can Do
Speaker: Dr. Alan Penn
Date & Time: Thursday, March 26, 2026
6:30 - 8:00 PM CET / 1:30 - 3:00 PM EDT / 10:30 AM - 12:00 PM PDT
Can We Identify General Architectural Principles Impacting Human/Animal Behavior?
In this webinar Dr. Alan Penn brings his nearly 50 years of experience in architectural research and practice to the urgent question of finding common design principles that shape human behavior.
Drawing on his distinguished expertise in space syntax, morphology and urban planning, Penn suggests that understanding the potential impact of the built environment on human behavior demands overcoming long standing dualities between animal and human species, people and place, organism and environment that have impeded thought and practice for far too long. He outlines how niche construction theory offers a compelling starting point for unifying thinking across disciplines, taxa and spatial scales.
Suggested reading in preparation for the lecture:
Penn A, Turner JS. 2018 Can we identify general architectural principles that impact the collective behaviour of both human and animal systems? Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B 373: 20180253.
Dr. Alan Penn
Alan Penn is a former Dean of the Bartlett faculty of the Built Environment (2009-19), he is a founding director of Space Syntax Ltd, a UCL knowledge transfer spin out with a portfolio of over 100 applied projects per year, including whole city masterplans, neighbourhood development plans and individual buildings.
He is a board member of UCL Consultants Ltd. He is a member of the Space Syntax Laboratory within The Bartlett School of Architecture. He was the Chair of the Architecture, Built Environment and Planning sub-panel 16 and a member of Main-panel C for the Research Excellence Framework 2014. He is Principal Investigator on the £5m five year EPSRC funded Digital Economy Hub: Urban Dynamics Lab. He is a founding trustee of the Shakespeare North Trust a charity which is constructing a new Shakespearian theatre and educational centre in Prescot outside Liverpool. He was Chief Scientific Advisor at the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government and the the Department for Levelling-up, Housing and Communities between 2019 and 2022.