Main Focus
- Investigating how built environments shape experience, behavior, and mental health.
- Examining the psychological processes that govern responses to architectural and environmental features.
- Applying behavioral, computational, and neuroimaging approaches to examine responses across populations and settings.
Curriculum Vitae
- Present Postdoctoral Fellow, Center for Environmental Neuroscience
- 2024 Doctorate in Natural Sciences (Dr. rer. nat.), Freie Universität Berlin
- 2020-2024 Fellow of the International Max Planck Research School on the Life Course (IMPRS LIFE)
- 2018 Master (II level) Neuroscience Applied to Architectural Design (NAAD), Università Iuav di Venezia
- 2003 BArch Architectural Engineering, Beirut Arab University
Projects
Exploring How Architecture Affects the Brain
Selected Publications
Tawil, N. & Kühn, S. (2025). Mind and brain in architecture: Reviewing the impact of angular versus curved designs. In A. Lavdas, A. Sussman, & V. Woodworth (Eds.), Routledge Handbook of Neuroscience and the Built Environment (pp. 138-163). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003469162-13
Tawil, N. & Kühn, S. (2024). The built environment and the brain: Review of emerging methods to investigate the impact of viewing architectural design. In S. Kühn (Ed.), Environmental Neuroscience (pp. 169-226). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-64699-7_9
Tawil, N., Elias, J., Ascone, L., & Kühn, S. (2024). The curvature effect: Approach-avoidance tendencies in response to interior design stimuli. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 93, Article 102197. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvp.2023.102197
Tawil, N., Ascone, L., & Kühn, S. (2022). The contour effect: Differences in the aesthetic preference and stress response to photo-realistic living environments. Frontiers in Psychology, 13, Article 933344. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.933344
Tawil, N., Sztuka, I. M., Pohlmann, K., Sudimac, S., & Kühn, S. (2021). The living space: Psychological well-being and mental health in response to interiors presented in virtual reality. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 18(23), Article 12510. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph182312510