Bettina Valeria Mondragón Ruiz is an architect, professor, researcher and international lecturer whose work explores how the sensory and emotional dimensions of space shape human experience, wellbeing, and meaning. Her research weaves together neuroscience, phenomenology and environmental psychology to advance a humanistic understanding of architecture as an embodied, empathic, and expressive practice.

Currently a PhD candidate in Sciences and Arts for Design, her doctoral work investigates architectural expressivity through the interplay of body, experience and environment. As faculty, she pioneered Architecture as Experience, leading studio-based interventions and applied research on emotional mapping and sensory perception. She is also a faculty member at an experimental laboratory of neuroarchitecture and environmental stimuli, where she teaches through hands-on, evidence-based design exploration.

As founder of Sómae Studio Lab, she leads interdisciplinary projects that translate neuroaesthetic evidence and environmental psychology into design strategies for health, connection, and human flourishing. Her publications and lectures featured in The Conscious Cities Journal, the RENISCE International Colloquium and other international forums help shape the global conversation on emotional and empathic architecture.