Thomas Jefferson University’s Synesthetic Research & Design Lab (SR&DL) has won the 2026 Great Places Award in the Art category from the Environmental Design Research Association (EDRA), which recognized its installation Echoes: A Multimodal Exploration of Neurodiverse Spatial Perception and companion piece, Voices: Listeners in the Noise.
The Great Places Awards honor work that unites design, research, and practice to create dynamic, humane places which capture the viewers attention and imagination. SR&DL's win was announced as part of the 28th annual awards, which celebrate works at the intersection of environment, design and human experience.
Echoes is an immersive, research-driven installation exploring how people perceive and move through sensory environments in different ways. Using interactive sound, light and spatial dynamics, the project gives audiences new ways to understand neurodiverse experience and rethink design practice.
In its evaluation, the EDRA jury described Echoes and Voices “as a powerful and thoughtful exploration of neurodivergent spatial experience that invites embodied empathy through responsive light, sound and movement, while amplifying autistic voices and translating lived experience into insights for inclusive design.” The jury also pointed to the project’s interdisciplinary approach — bridging art, technology and environmental design — and its broader influence on building more inclusive, responsive spaces.
Dean Barbara Klinkhammer of Jefferson’s College of Architecture, Design & Engineering praised the recognition.
“We are incredibly proud of Professors Loukia Tsafoulia, Severino Alfonso, and the Jefferson Synesthetic Research & Design Lab for receiving EDRA’s 2026 Great Places Award,” Klinkhammer said. “Echoes exemplifies the power of design research to expand empathy, amplify diverse human experiences, and create more inclusive environments. This recognition celebrates not only an extraordinary creative achievement, but also the kind of interdisciplinary, human-centered innovation that defines the future of architecture and design.”
SR&DL credited the win to the wider community behind the project, including collaborators, designers, artists, study participants and institutional partners who helped shape Echoes from concept to installation.
Read the full announcement from the Synesthetic Research & Design Lab.
The Jefferson Synesthetic Research & Design Lab thanks the Environmental Design Research Association for this recognition. Echoes was created in collaboration with Severino Alfonso Dunn and developed as part of the STARTS ReSilence art residency, in partnership with up2metric and the Centre for Research & Technology Hellas (CERTH). Its conceptual phase was supported by the Institute for Smart and Healthy Cities, the College of Architecture, Design and Engineering, and Thomas Jefferson University.
Parallel to Echoes, the documentary film Voices was developed hand in hand with twelve autistic collaborators: Stuart Neilson, nae vallejo, Rachel Updegrove (WELL AP, Assoc. AIA), Evander Smith, Adam Wolfond, Jeron Cole, Binech Hernandez-Lorenzo, Shardai Robinson, Chloe Rothschild, Emma Russek, Fox Ryker, Misha Samorodin, and Max Van Kooy. Additional collaborators include journalist and filmmaker Elpida Nikou; population health collaborators Rosemary Frasso and Quinn Plunket; community and behavioral health collaborator Wendy Ross; and community partners and architects Rachel Updegrove (WELL AP, Assoc. AIA) and Shannon McLain.
