Beverly Payeff-Masey is a pioneer in the field of “neuro-design” – a 21st Century design discipline that looks to advances in understanding how the brain works to further knowledge about architecture and interior design. Her goal is to learn how spaces in which people live can humanely improve the lives of trauma survivors, and victims of violence and natural disasters.

An interior designer, writer and design educator, Beverly already had many years experience with international, cross-cultural design projects when, in 1985, events took a life-altering turn: while living and working at an American embassy in Southeast Asia under threat of death from anti-American extremists, her teen-age daughter became the victim of a vehicular homicide in the US. A lengthy and painfully graphic trial followed.

Shifting the focus of her work, Beverly gathered all information then known about trauma-linked spaces. No architectural studies existed, but a handful of neuroscience studies had studied post-traumatic visual perception in rape victims and Viet Nam veterans. Those studies allowed Beverly to develop the ArchiMap®., the first successful neuroscience-based application for architectural use. It has been used since to identify the characteristics of dwelling spaces needed by homeless women and men, and is used by a growing number of designers to “map” the specific perceptual needs of individuals. Recently, Beverly identified an important biological model for female-patterned spatial perception skills. For the first time, it is now possible to see the enormous impact of female-patterned spatial perception on the evolution of architecture and urban design.

Beverly has two grown children and lives in New York City with her husband, museum designer Jack Masey. She writes, lectures, and travels extensively in search of culturally-diverse ways to create more humane living environments.