I am Luísa Pires and I am a neurodivergent Architectural Assistant and multifaceted designer. In 2023, I founded the Neurodiversity Architecture Network (NAN) after having delivered a workshop on neurodiversity for the New Standards series at the Architectural Association, all while digesting my own personal and intersectional experience of neurodivergence.
Initially, NAN aimed to deliver its own mentoring programme for neurodivergents by neurodivergents. However, we’ve come to recognise that there are fantastic mentoring schemes already in place that need our support and from which we want to learn. One of those schemes is Narrative Practice’s mentoring sessions, which I had the pleasure to attend and met everyone involved.
In addition to supporting mentors, NAN has its own reading club where we are currently reading the PAS 6463: Design for the mind - Neurodiversity and the built environment Guide.
Besides offering mentoring support, NAN is a support network for neurodivergent students, educators, and practitioners in the architecture field with an aim to connect people, spaces, and experiences.
NAN recognises the need for empathy and compassion when two people with very different experiences of the world come together to co-inhabit the same space - this is better known as the double empathy problem. NAN sets out to deliver nurturing awareness and intersectional understandings, sometimes through talks, and other times through connecting people, participating in competitions and mentoring and training.
NAN has also had the pleasure of collaborating with designer Alex Bellamy from et.al home on an installation at the Fitzrovia Community Centre for NAN’s launch party. It was through this collaboration that NAN won ADP Architecture’s competition for Reimagining the Third Space.
NAN was also inspired by Locally Available Worldwide Unseen Networks (LAWuN) to create a sort of invisible human infrastructure that supports people and places. NAN has had the support of Toby Chai and my Part 2 mentor, neurodiversity consultant Susy Rideout, in its infancy and growth, as well as the support of The Future Architects’ Front (FAF) and the Just Transition Lobby.
During Neurodiversity Celebration Week (18-24 March 2024), NAN took part in a panel organised by AHMM, presenting an overview of the PAS 6463:2022 and sharing ideas on what it really means to create a compassionate environment. The panel also included Mei-Yee Man Oram, Access and Inclusion Lead at Arup, and James Thomas, Associate at AHMM.
The Neurodiversity Celebration Week panel discussion recording.
Our top tips to support neurodivergent talent are:
- recognise that neurodivergence is an intersectional experience and not everyone will experience it in the same way
- recognise that neurodivergence is not a condition or a disorder and don't pathologise a person for their neurodivergence
- provide adjustments independently of people having an official diagnosis - because sometimes people will not have a diagnosis, or will choose not to disclose
- know the difference between the social model of disability and the medical one
- provide dedicated spaces for people who experience hypersensitivity, such as quiet rooms
- be kind, compassionate, and empathetic
About the author
Luísa Pereira Pires is a neurodivergent Interdisciplinary Digital Fabrication and Computational Designer and a Part 2 Architectural Assistant.
She has worked on various research and entrepreneurial initiatives and projects. These range from developing wearable technology in partnership with electrochemists at Imperial College London, to building a shed on wheels that is moveable and a perfect example of a restorative space.
Luísa has extensive experience in experimental design and is not afraid to dive into new fields.
