An interactive environment that uses sensors and design to simulate and support neurodiverse spatial experiences, fostering empathy and autonomy.
Severino Alfonso and Loukia Tsafoulia are architects, educators, and researchers whose practice lies at the intersection of art, design, technology, and digital culture. Co-founders of PLB Studio and co-directors of the Synesthetic Research and Design Lab at Thomas Jefferson University, their work focuses on the interaction between the body—both individual and collective—and the environments it negotiates.
Developed in collaboration with up2metric, Echoes merges art, technology, and human perception to create an interactive environment that promotes awareness and acceptance of neurodiverse spatial experiences.
Individuals on the autism spectrum are profoundly affected by sensory inputs, making the physical environment crucial to how they engage with the world. Echoes addresses this by inviting visitors to use their own bodies to empathize with the emotional experiences of others.
The installation is a modular physical structure built from wood and cork, integrating experimental sensors. The project unfolds across two interconnected spaces:
→ Outside: a collective experience — Participants engage with the installation from an open, shared space, triggering dynamic light events that shift in intensity and color.
→ Inside: multiples of one — An intimate, interior environment that acts as a personal “shelter,” dynamically modulating light and sound according to the participant’s breathing and movement rhythms, fostering sensory self-regulation.
Alongside the interactive environment, the project is accompanied by the documentary VOICES: Experiences and Expressions, which explores autism as an agent of urban sonic experience through an intersectional and experimental lens. Echoes reaffirms that spatial accessibility is key to autonomy and empowerment, paving the way for a more empathetic approach to architectural design.
BIO
Severino Alfonso and Loukia Tsafoulia are architects, educators, and researchers whose work operates at the crossroads of art, interactive design, technology, and cognitive sciences.
Both serve as Assistant Professors at the College of Architecture and the Built Environment at Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia, where they co-founded and co-direct the Synesthetic Research and Design Lab (SR&DL) — a cutting-edge research platform developing methodologies and prototypes to critically address interactions between humans, objects, and environments, with a particular focus on supporting neurodiversity.
They both hold a Post-Professional MS in Advanced Architectural Design from Columbia University in New York.
Through their architecture and research practice PLB Studio, they create installations and works that explore affective and performative spaces, blending physical and digital realities. Their works have been exhibited internationally, including at the Venice Architecture Biennale (European Cultural Center) and MAXXI Rome (Museum of the Imperial Fora).
Their research combines computational design theory with emerging health sciences to foster a more empathetic and inclusive built environment.
CREDITS
Echoes was developed by Severino Alfonso and Loukia Tsafoulia during the S+T+ARTS (Science, Technology, and the Arts) ReSilence EU residency, funded by the European Union’s Horizon Europe research and innovation program under grant agreement No. 101070278.
The project’s technological collaborators include the computer vision company Up2metric and the Center for Research & Technology Hellas (CERTH).
Created by: Severino Alfonso & Loukia Tsafoulia, Synesthetic Research and Design Lab
Technology Collaborators: Ilias Kalisperakis & Spyros Stefanidis (Up2metric); Paraskeyi Kritopoulou & Eleftheria Lagiokapa (CERTH, The Center for
Research & Technology, Hellas)
“Echoes” Video Creation & Editing: Elpida Nikou
“Voices: Listeners in the Noise” Short Documentary Editing: Elpida Nikou
“Voices” Research and Advocacy Collaborators: Rosemary (Rosie) Frasso, Shannon McLain, Quinn Plunkett, Wendy Ross & the Jefferson Center for Autism and Neurodiversity, Julia Scott, Rachel Updegrove.
This project is part of ReSilence: Future Soundscapes & Affect Mining in Urban Ecosystems, an exhibition presenting the outcomes of fifteen international art residencies promoted by S+T+ARTS, the European Commission’s initiative connecting science, technology, and the arts.
Through the artistic exploration of sound, ReSilence redefines urban spaces, using the acoustic dimension to examine the affective and ecological relationships shaping future cities — and to foster collective awareness of what lies beyond the surface of everyday noise.
The exhibition is presented in collaboration with BASE Milano, as part of FAROUT Festival 2025.