Synchronizing Architecture with Human & Nature
Global Symposium on
Evidence-based and
Holistic Design
July 06 - 10 | Summer 2026
amsterdam | the netherlands
5 days
– Exclusive lectures
– immersive excursions
– Integrative workshops
Architecture is never neutral. Every rhythm of light, texture, and form leaves a profound imprint on body and mind. Spaces can deeply nourish or systematically pollute us, create genuine belonging or enforce devastating disconnection.
When a place truly resonates, we feel it in our body: in the warmth of natural materials, the power of harmonious proportions, the profound calm of beautiful views. Thanks to emerging fields of science, we can now better understand how environments shape perception, emotion, and behavior. Architecture therefore is far more than about functionality alone, as it’s a transformative presence, fundamentally shaping how we experience our world and ourselves.
Too often, the vital resonance with our environment gets lost, willfully reduced to efficiency and commerce, leaving many people living in complete dissonance. The time for serious regeneration has arrived. Let us create spaces precisely tuned to our nervous system, that actively breathe with the seasons, fostering real reciprocity between people and nature.
In Amsterdam we gather to explore this critical future. Leading designers, researchers, and thinkers will cross disciplines to reimagine how we can create the human habitats of tomorrow.
Organizing Parties
Morning Program
Morning Program
- Neuro-aesthetics & Environmental psychology
- Health inducing and Salutogenic design
- Design for neurodiversity and inclusivity
- Proprioception and movement in space
- Bio-urbanism & Landscape design
- The economics of Biophilic Design
- Biobased technology and construction
- Regenerative design
- Therapeutic gardens and spaces
- Fractals and health inducing patterns
- Lighting, color and atmospheres
- Scent and multisensory spaces
- The experience of Awe in spaces
- Holistic Design process
Venues | FELIX MERITIS & DOOPSGEZIND
The Zuilenzaal of Felix Meritis and Doopsgezind will be the main gathering places of our symposium. Felix Meritis, framed by elegant columns and filled with natural light, has welcomed generations of artists, scientists, and philosophers. Its enduring character creates a setting where knowledge and creativity meet, offering participants an inspiring environment for dialogue, imagination, and collective exploration of new horizons. Doopsgezind, also known as the Singelkerk, is a church with a unique ambiance dating back to 1639. The spatial layout, the balconies, the wooden interior and the acoustics make our special gathering even more intimate, elevating and inspiring.
The Zuilenzaal of Felix Meritis and Doopsgezind will be the main gathering places of our symposium. Felix Meritis, framed by elegant columns and filled with natural light, has welcomed generations of artists, scientists, and philosophers. Its enduring character creates a setting where knowledge and creativity meet, offering participants an inspiring environment for dialogue, imagination, and collective exploration of new horizons. Doopsgezind, also known as the Singelkerk, is a church with a unique ambiance dating back to 1639. The spatial layout, the balconies, the wooden interior and the acoustics make our special gathering even more intimate, elevating and inspiring.
Venues | FELIX MERITIS & DOOPSGEZIND
Excursions and workshops
Each afternoon invites participants to step out of theory and into experience. We will host a series of topic-specific Workshops to translate the themes of the mornings into practice. Afternoons will be alternated with a poetic experiences of Amsterdam. We will drift through Amsterdam’s canals, sensing the city from the water, and visit the Rijksmuseum where the effects of profound art will be felt firsthand. The afternoons weave learning with beauty, inviting participants to integrate the week as a lived and shared experience.
Program Schedule
Circle of Support
We are honored to receive the endorsement of Mind-Body-Space from our former keynotes. These experts are true pioneers in the field of Neuro-architecture and Biophilic design, and we are grateful for their magnificent contributions in advancing these fields further.
Bill Browning
Biophilic Design expert
Terrapin Bright Green
“Mind-Body-Space is an extraordinary gathering of researchers, designers and advocates for creating places that heal, teach and nurture the soul.”
Colin Ellard
Professor | Researcher | Author
University of Waterloo
“The Mind-Body-Space global symposium is a superbly organized event with a perfect balance of rich, informative formal sessions and, more importantly, lots of time for informal gatherings. Participants left the event with passion, commitment, motivation and genuine affection for one another. How often does a conference do all of that?”
Cleo Valentine
Neuro-architectural researcher
HKS | University of Cambridge | RISE
“Speaking at the Mind Body Space Conference in Barcelona last year was an absolute pleasure. The event combined rigorous science, applied methodologies, and a genuinely collegiate, enthusiastic energy, brought together through exceptional organisation and clarity of vision. What stood out most was the conference’s unwavering commitment to ethical practice and to advancing public health and wellbeing through the built environment. It was inspiring to be part of a community so deeply invested in meaningful, evidence-based impact.”
Don H. Ruggles
Architect | CEO Emeritus | Author
University of Waterloo
“The Mind·Body·Space Symposium is an essential gathering for those committed to understanding how architecture shapes our emotional and physiological well-being. By bringing science and design into active dialogue, it helps advance a future in which buildings not only shelter us, but actively support health, healing, and human flourishing.”
Full Program Tickets
For those who wish to experience the full symposium week. Five days of lectures, meaningful conversations, and encounters, complemented by excursions, workshops, and shared moments throughout the city. A rich week of connection, inspiration, and the complete Mind Body Space experience.
Why Attend?
- 5 Mornings of exclusive lectures from renowned experts in the field.
- Afternoons curated with integrative courses and immersive excursions in Amsterdam, including a boat tour and a visit to the Rijksmuseum.
- Welcome dinner at the Jakarta Hotel.
- High-quality networking opportunities.
- Exclusive recordings and pictures.
- Free invitations to our engaging webinars and chatgroups to become connected already before the event in Amsterdam.
Virtual & Day Tickets
Thursday - 9 of July and Friday- 10 of July are taking place at Doopsgezind, a historic venue at the Singel in the city-center of Amsterdam
For those who cannot attend the full symposium week, we also offer more flexible ways to join. The Virtual Ticket allows you to follow the morning lectures online, while the Day Ticket gives you access to one selected day in Amsterdam. Both offer a meaningful way to connect with the ideas, speakers, and community of Mind Body Space.
What is included with your Virtual Ticket?
- 5 mornings of live-streamed lectures by renowned experts in the field. Join the core symposium program online, with inspiring talks on environmental psychology, neuroscience, biophilic design, and human-centred architecture.
- Exclusive access to the recordings of all talks. Watch at your own pace, revisit key moments, and return to the insights whenever you need.
What is included with your Day Ticket?
- 1 Morning of exclusive lectures from renowned experts in the field. @Doopsgezind Amsterdam (Singel 452)
- Afternoons curated with integrative courses or an immersive excursion in Amsterdam: a visit to the Rijksmuseum.
- High-quality networking opportunities.
- Free invitations to our engaging webinars and chatgroups to become connected already before the event in Amsterdam.
Virtual Tickets
To secure your spot for the virtual event register through Eventbrite via the link below.
Day Tickets
Call for Abstracts
Abstract submission is now closed!
- Submit a 250-word abstract for either a workshop or a lecture. Explain your intentions and vision, and your topic must align with the symposium’s focus; see our morning program and key-topics.
- Include 5 keywords and supporting visuals (images or graphs).
*Please note, that we ask every applicant to buy a ticket whether they are selected or not. Please apply for a scholarship ticket separately (see link)
Selected abstracts will be announced around the 1st of March!
Online courses
Habitarmonia Academy & Ecosystem, founded by Nuria Muñoz Arce, integrates neuroscience, biophilic and regenerative design, ancient wisdom, and embodied practices to transform designers and their creations. The Academy offers transformational programs like the 12-week certification Design Spaces that Heal, Inspire, and Uplift Lives, blending scientific evidence with timeless wisdom. The Ecosystem cultivates a global community across 30+ countries through 60+ expert masterclasses, seasonal rituals, and collaborative projects. We guide designers to create environments that restore harmony between people and planet, foster wellbeing, honor place, and make regenerative design accessible, bridging seen and unseen dimensions of how space shapes life.
Habitarmonia Academy & Ecosystem, founded by Nuria Muñoz Arce, integrates neuroscience, biophilic and regenerative design, ancient wisdom, and embodied practices to transform designers and their creations. The Academy offers transformational programs like the 12-week certification Design Spaces that Heal, Inspire, and Uplift Lives, blending scientific evidence with timeless wisdom. The Ecosystem cultivates a global community across 30+ countries through 60+ expert masterclasses, seasonal rituals, and collaborative projects. We guide designers to create environments that restore harmony between people and planet, foster wellbeing, honor place, and make regenerative design accessible, bridging seen and unseen dimensions of how space shapes life.
Core Team of Organizers
MICHAEL VRIJHOF
Holistic Architect
Office for the New Earth
Michaël Vrijhof is a humanitarian architect and artist, specializing in the psychological and physiological impact of architecture on our well-being. With his NGO – Office for the New Earth (ONE), he designs and builds architectural interventions in refugee camps, specifically addressing the emotional and developmental needs of displaced children. Throughout his work and studies, he has been developing various evidence-based design tools and principles from the field of Neuro-aesthetics & Environmental psychology. Today he is applying these in creating therapeutic healing spaces, so that children feel more relaxed, nurtured in their curiosity, and feel room to expand their imagination.
NIELS HOFSTEE
Structural Engineer
Office for the New Earth
Niels Hofstee is a visionary structural engineer and Co-founder of Office for the New Earth. While working for pioneering engineering firms (such as Summum Engineering), he embodied a mission is transform his industry developing tools for parametric and responsive design that liberate the design process for the sake of elevating Well-being. Through apps such as Grasshopper and Karamba, he is able to engineer organic and novel structures, making him a leader in the creation of novel aesthetics in Biophilic, Biomorphic and Bio-based design. Driven by his heart, he now designs and builds fantastic structures for children that trigger playfulness and expand the imagination.
NURIA MUNOZ ARCE
Biophilic Design Consultant
Habitarmonia Ecosystem and Academy
Nuria Muñoz Arce is an award-winning biophilic design and well-being consultant, founder of the Habitarmonia Ecosystem and Academy, and a visionary educator transforming the built environment. Specializing in integrating sustainability and well-being into architecture, her innovative interior design projects have earned her prestigious recognition. Through initiatives like her 12-week Biophilic Design course and Collective Harmonia Masterminds, she empowers architects and designers to create nature-connected, health-focused spaces. Passionate about opening minds to new perspectives, Nuria combines theory and practical strategies to help professionals craft meaningful, impactful designs that enhance both human and environmental well-being.
Our Inner Circle
Dominique Gentillon
Biophilic Designer & Consultant
Studio Nalca
Dominique Gentillon Molina (Chile) is a driven multitalent integral designer and consultant crafting sensory, nurturing spaces across South-America and Europe. Also as a Habitarmoniaexperience around Biophilic Design, Feng Shui and Energy Readings, she helps reconnect people with their true essence, promoting healing and thriving through holistic, nature-inspired, and sustainable design. Also as a Habitarmonia Academy team member, she empowers and helps other professionals, learn to create their own healing and harmonious havens.
Daiana Zamler
PhD | Architect | Founder
Design for Blooming
Daiana Zamler is an architect, researcher, and founder of Design for Blooming, an organization that bridges science and design to provide architects, designers, and changemakers with practical tools to create spaces that support holistic health and wellbeing.
With a PhD focused on translating theories from environmental psychology and neuroscience into evidence-based design strategies, she developed an assessment model that integrates these insights with behavioral psychology, biophilic design, salutogenesis, and other scientific approaches to strengthen the parasympathetic, restorative state.Her mission is to make scientific knowledge both accessible and actionable for practitioners, honoring people and expanding their opportunities to thrive through design.
Sally Augustin
Environmental Psychologist
Design with Science
Sally Augustin, PhD, is an environmental and design psychologist and the principal of Design With Science. She helps translate research and neuroscience into practical recommendations for designing places, products, and services that support cognitive, emotional, and physical wellbeing. Her clients include manufacturers, service providers, and design firms across North America, Europe, and Asia, many of whom return repeatedly. She is a Fellow of the American Psychological Association, and her work has been featured in major media and design publications worldwide. Dr. Augustin also edits Research Design Connections, speaks internationally, and has authored influential books on science-based design.
June Jordaan
Professor | Architect
Cape Peninsula University of Technology
June is an Architect and Senior Lecturer from Cape Town. She practiced architecture in Amsterdam, Mauritius, and Cape town before joining academia in 2010. Her PhD focused on the contemporary application of phenomenology to architecture. Her subsequent research has focused on placemaking, architecture and the everyday, and spaces of witchcraft. She has presented research in Japan, Hongkong, Chandigarh, Prague, Oxford and Cape Town and has been a visiting scholar at the University of Tokyo and Budapest University of Technology and Economics. Her research and work on numerous conference steering committees has led her on the path of becoming increasingly interested in the intersections of architecture and neuroscience.
Note of Honor
Every movement begins with people who give their full presence, and the Mind–Body–Space symposium is no exception. We honor three former colleagues whose devotion helped to shape the first edition of the Symposium in Barcelona (2025): Rachel Duggan, June Jordaan (PhD), Alba Méndez García (Qualia estudio)
Rachel Duggan and June Jordaan (PhD) stood at the forefront of shaping the concept itself. They carried the symposium from idea into form, shouldered countless responsibilities, co-wrote the booklet, organized the webinars, and became the first points of contact for many of you and for our partners. Their dedication gave the symposium both its voice and its welcoming face. Even as they now support us more from the sidelines, their presence will continue to resonate through the next editions.
Alba Méndez García (Qualia estudio) carried the symposium with a local heart. She became our anchor in Barcelona, guiding the search for venues, weaving connections with local sponsors, and caring for catering and excursions. Her devotion to every detail made the gathering not only possible but deeply interconnected, drawing together her students and friends. Her knowledge and spirit gave the team its wholeness for the last edition.
We are deeply grateful for all that Alba, Rachel and June have given. Their work is woven into the fabric of Mind–Body–Space and will remain present as we continue, with their support and alliance with us.
