human Response to Nature

In 2010 more than a quarter million people died at the hands of Mother Nature.  Earthquakes, floods, heat waves, blizzards and volcanoes took their toll all over the world in 2010.  If the earth was charging us for mistreating it we paid through the nose in 2010; damages came to around $222 billion.  Human beings are so intrinsically connected to nature yet we repeatedly mistreat the planet.  Not only do we mistreat the planet causing global warming and climate change but we don’t consider what the earth is capable of unleashing on us when we design.  Many of the lives lost to natural disasters in 2010 could have been saved if homes and buildings were constructed in a way that could withstand wind, water and seismic activity.  In tornado alley they design homes to withstand extreme winds; in San Francisco they design building to withstand major seismic activity.  Now that major natural disasters are occurring in some places where they haven’t in 100’s of years we should take these things into consideration when we design.   

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/40739667/ns/us_news-2010_year_in_review/

educational environments...human response to sound and light

“If I turn off the lights will you guys fall asleep?” A statement frequently made by teachers in classroom everywhere, I would think.  Sound and light in an educational environment are major factors in performance.  According to Gifford’s Environmental Psychology basic information processing related to decision-making was better under daylight lamps than under fluorescent lamps.  People naturally gravitate toward natural light.  In climates where people have to live in darkness for months at a time many people experience Seasonal Affective Disorder or SAD.  Sound in an educational environment can affect performance too.  We’ve all been in a classroom next to a noisy hallway or adjacent to a noisy classroom and been unable to focus.  According to Gifford noise effects the communication between student and teacher, interfere with the development of strategies for processing information, damaged ones sense of personal control and raise ones blood pressure semi-permanently. The effects of sound and light can be dramatic in interior spaces.  Because of the serious complications that could occur in learning environments as designers we must constantly consider these elements.  Today’s educational facilities are taking this into account. A major factor in LEED accreditation of educational environments is lighting.  Light shelves and mechanical regulators keep even amounts of lighting and natural light distributed all throughout the space.  Now if only we could go back and alter the classrooms that were built in the 1950’s and 60’s. The classrooms in my middle school didn’t even have windows.

Benefits of Good Ergonomic Design and Connection to Positive Human Response

Ergonomics is a lot more than comfy office chairs and funny looking computer keyboards. Have you ever been to a facility and thought nothing about it? I mean nothing in a good way.  Like the door opened in the direction you thought it should (you didn’t push when you should have pulled).  You didn’t have to look for the trashcan when it was time to throw something away.  The seat you sat in was comfortable, your butt didn’t even fall asleep and you were there for a while.  The work surface was the perfect height for the activity you were doing.  The heaviest items were stored at the right height so you didn’t have to bend and lift or worry about them falling on you from above when you bring them down.  Well, that’s ergonomics too.  Ergonomics isn’t just things that are easy to grab with your hands or scissors that work for lefties and righties, ergonomics is also how spaces are arranged and how easy things are reach and use.  A space that is well designed, ergonomically, won’t stand out in your mind.  You’re allowed to move through the space and perform the necessary functions in that space very naturally.  That’s ergonomics.

impact of poor ergonomics on human response to interior design

In an effort to make myself more comfortable I switched the chair that I sat in at my desk.  I traded in my adjustable, wheeled computer chair for a lower stationary chair that had arm rests.   I love chairs with armrests, they seem more cozy and relaxing.  So I switched my chair and at first it was awesome.  But yesterday I spent a lot longer working at my desk in my new chair than I had in the past.  After a few hours of lifting my arm from my armrest and reaching for my computer keyboard my shoulder was killing me.  I thought it was the fact that I hit it extra hard in the gym the night before so I stretched.  Still in pain. Then I thought about the presentation on ergonomics we had done a few days ago.  I looked at my arms and noticed they were not properly positioned.  I decided to switch back to the regular computer chair.  I got in the chair and adjusted the height so that my arms met the desk top at a perfect ninety degree angle and voilà my shoulder pain was gone.  Imagine if an interior designer had selected the low armchairs for a situation where people would be sitting at computer desks all day. Everyone would be walking around with their arm in a sling.    Different types of work require different working conditions.  A job where one is walking or standing should work at a higher work surface, such as a bar height desk, minimizing the up down activity they do to go from sitting at their desk to standing to walk around.  When selecting furniture, interior designers must consider more than aesthetics, ergonomics should always be at the forefront of a designers mind.

Benefits of Crowding in Interior Space

Have you ever given a performance to a sparse crowd? You’re searching for someone in the audience to connect with and all you see is empty chairs. This is the reason why many performance spaces have different size venues.  It also is more of a benefit for the person experiencing a performance.  Have you ever watched a movie alone and realized that it seemed much funnier when you saw it in a theater full of people or even a group of your friends at home.  Being in a group changes how you experience a space.  Imagine walking through a haunted house alone, you can hear every little noise, every experience is intensified you are nearly scared to death.  In that same haunted house with a group your surrounded by other people making you feel safe and allowing you to pay less attention to exactly what is going on around you (although in a haunted house you’re paying to be scared so one may or may not see that as a good thing).  Being in a group changes how you experience a space.  It alters your focus and may change your how you perceive an activity in an interior environment.

Designing for personal space in public interior spaces

I think it is difficult to design for personal space in public interior spaces.  Almost all the ways that this can be done involve seating. I did an observational study in the library and observed a variety of seating types.  There are two types of seating arrangements, sociopetal and socieofugal.  A sociopetal setting facilitates social interaction and a socieofugal setting discourages social interaction.  In an instance that you are attempting to promote social interaction you should incorporate sociopetal seating groups, groups where the involved parties are facing each other or where they are side by side.  These types of seating groups encourage interaction.  Like a four top table in a restaurant or cafeteria, or two couches in a lounge or lobby that face each other. If you are designing a place where you do not want people to interact you should create sociaofugal seating groups.  In a sociofugal seating group people would be back to back or use elements to prevent direct eye to eye or auditory contact.  Sociofugal groups would include booths at a restaurant with very high backs or cubicles at an office that give each person their own individual space.