The critical question guiding the book is: how can architecture influence human development, and by extension, how can concepts of empathy in development be influenced and catalyzed by architecture? Planners, architects, and designers are responsible for shaping our physical environment--from our homes, schools, and cultural and religious centers to the wider neighborhoods and cities within which human development takes place. However, architecture is conspicuously absent in most development theories, even though the environment is omnipresent.

In Designing for Empathy, architect Aybars Aşçı, puts forth a new perspective on empathy in architecture, which shifts focus toward designing Emphatic Spaces. If the empathic imagination of the designer is at play during the creative process, designing for empathy occurs after the design reaches its intended users. Applied to the design of learning environments, this proposed approach aligns closely with development theories and explores the important impact of spatial environments on the experience of learning. Through examples of projects designed by Aşçı, the book illustrates how physical spaces have the potency to catalyze empathy in learning environments.