Person Place Thing: Anjan Chatterjee

Join us for a special live recording of Person Place Thing at Rafael Viñoly Architects, featuring Anjan Chatterjee, MD, FAAN, Professor of Neurology, Psychology, and Architecture at the University of Pennsylvania and founding director of the Penn Center for Neuroaesthetics. A leading voice at the intersection of brain science, art, and the built environment, Chatterjee’s work explores how aesthetics shape perception, cognition, and human experience. He is the author of The Aesthetic Brain and has published more than 200 peer-reviewed works spanning neuroaesthetics, spatial cognition, language, and neuroethics.

Hosted by Emmy Award–winning writer Randy Cohen, Person Place Thing invites remarkable guests to share stories about one person, one place, and one thing that hold special meaning to them. The evening will also feature live music by Boyd Meets Girl, the acclaimed duo of Australian classical guitarist Rupert Boyd and American cellist Laura Metcalf. Together, they have toured internationally, performing an eclectic repertoire that ranges from Bach and Debussy to Radiohead and Beyoncé. Their two studio albums have garnered more than five million streams on Spotify alone.

Sponsored by the Viñoly Foundation and hosted at Rafael Viñoly Architects’ headquarters in Lower Manhattan, this live conversation promises an evening of thoughtful dialogue, dynamic performance, and creative insight. Drawing on decades of scholarship and leadership, Chatterjee offers a deeply human perspective on how design, environment, and beauty shape meaning, well-being, and the ways we come to understand – and imagine – the world around us.

Entry Policy – Please Read

• Tickets are strictly non-transferable. Each guest must have an individual ticket issued in their own name. Entry will be denied to anyone whose name does not match the ticket.
• Valid government-issued photo ID is mandatory. All attendees must present ID at the building security desk. The name on the ID must exactly match the name on the ticket.
• Arrival deadline is enforced. Doors open at 6:00 pm. The event begins promptly at 6:30 pm. As this is a live recording, late arrivals will not be admitted after 6:30 pm.

About Anjan Chatterjee, MD, FAAN

Anjan Chatterjee is Professor of Neurology, Psychology, and Architecture at the University of Pennsylvania and the founding director of the Penn Center for Neuroaesthetics. He received his BA in Philosophy from Haverford College and MD from the University of Pennsylvania. A past Neurology Chair at Pennsylvania Hospital, his research addresses neuroaesthetics, spatial cognition, language, and neuroethics. In addition to over 200 peer-reviewed publications, he wrote The Aesthetic Brain and co-edited Brain, Beauty, and Art, as well as Neuroethics in Practice, and The Roots of Cognitive Neuroscience. His editorial services have included several neuroscience, psychology, aesthetics and bioethics journals. He received the Norman Geschwind Prize in Behavioral and Cognitive Neurology from the American Academy of Neurology, the Rudolph Arnheim Prize for contributions to Psychology and the Arts from the American Psychological Association, the Leadership in Innovation Award from the Global Wellness Institute, the Lawrence Forman Award for contributions to the betterment of society from Haverford College, and The Big Sea Award for the Promotion of Aesthetic Beauty from the Mediterranean Tourism Forum. He is a founding member of the Board of the International Neuroethics Society, past President of the International Association of Empirical Aesthetics, and past President of the Behavioral Neurology Society. He serves on the board of The Global Wellness Institute, the College of Physicians of Philadelphia, and Philadelphia Fringe Arts. He previously served on the boards of Haverford College, the Norris Square Neighborhood Project, and the Associated Services for the Blind and Visually Impaired.

About Randy Cohen

Randy Cohen’s first professional work was writing humor pieces, essays, and stories for newspapers and magazines (The New Yorker, Harpers, the Atlantic, Young Love Comics). His first television work was writing for "Late Night With David Letterman" for which he won three Emmy awards. His fourth Emmy was for his work on Michael Moore’s "TV Nation." He received a fifth Emmy as a result of a clerical error, and he kept it. For twelve years he wrote "The Ethicist," a weekly column for the New York Times Magazine. He is currently the creator and host of Person Place Thing, a public radio program.

About Boyd Meets Girl

Boyd Meets Girl pairs Australian classical guitarist Rupert Boyd with American cellist Laura Metcalf. The duo has toured the world sharing their eclectic mix of music from Debussy and Bach to Radiohead and Beyoncé, and their two studio albums have received over 4 million streams on Spotify. Both acclaimed soloists in their own right, Boyd has been described as “truly evocative” by The Washington Post, and as "a player who deserves to be heard" by Classical Guitar Magazine, while Metcalf, who has also toured as a member of the popular chamber ensembles Eighth Blackbird, Break of Reality and Sybarite5, has been called "brilliant" by Gramophone. Boyd Meets Girl has toured throughout the USA, India, Nepal, New Zealand, and Australia, including engagements at Caramoor, Newport Classical, Festival Napa Valley, Austin Classical Guitar, Moab Music Festival and many others.

The duo’s debut album, released on the Grammy award-winning label Sono Luminus, reached #3 on the Billboard charts, and received the following praise in Gramophone: “They play like one, with a harmony of purpose as sure as their intonation.” Their follow-up album, Songs of Love and Despair, was also praised in Gramophone as “Beguiling…fascinating… enchanting…”

In 2024, Boyd Meets Girl gave the world premiere performances of ANAHATA, a cello and guitar double concerto composed by the Grammy-nominated Clarice Assad, and commissioned for the duo by the Hartford Symphony Orchestra.

About the Viñoly Foundation

The Viñoly Foundation champions Rafael Viñoly’s vision of advancing architecture and urban planning for the public realm through education. The Foundation is dedicated to the belief that the spaces people inhabit profoundly shape human experience and development. Through innovative early childhood education programs, it fosters a lifelong appreciation of the built environment in children, nurturing their emotional, cognitive, and creative growth. Drawing from neuroaesthetic principles, the Foundation emphasizes how thoughtfully designed spaces impact well-being, particularly in childhood, and promote a deeper understanding of architecture’s influence on society.

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