Architectural Psychology: Undergraduate Architecture Dissertation

ARCHITECTURAL PSYCHOLOGY

A narrative on the correlations and interdependencies between spatial quality and human psychology.

As more people transition to urban living, we define and dictate our lives around built forms – the very crux of an urban lifestyle. There is an ever-increasing need for infrastructure, convenience, speed, and curated spaces. With the rise of hyper-productivity and functionality in the last few decades, spaces have become mere instruments to carry out programs. This is the perfect time to note and reflect upon how architecture and the built environment has a profound impact on our psychologynamely, moods, senses, and behaviour. The relationship between architecture, built environment, and cognition has never been more relevant.

DETERMINE FORMULATE

RESEARCH AIM

To study the correlations and interdependencies between architecture and psychology, and accordingly formulate a framework to create environments that can optimise mental health, and human wellbeing in spaces that one spends a sizeable amount of time in (such as schools, therapy centers, rehabilitation centers).

OBJECTIVES

• Identify if a feedback loop exists between built environment and human behaviour

• Determine the relationship between built environment, spatial quality, and cognition

• Study the various facets of psychology which affect human behaviour in a space (colour psychology, behavioural psychology, environmental/ecological psychology)

• Formulate parameters or psychological determinants to analyse spatial quality

• Interpret the capability of architecture to be moulded according to psychological needs to enhance the spatial quality of a space.

METHODOLOGY

DEMONSTRATION

EXPLORATION

DATA COLLECTION

ANALYSIS

CONCLUSIONS

• Demonstration of existing scenario(s) through literature studies and background review

• Exploration of the intricacies and complexities of various theories related to the topic

• Data collection - theories, projects, publications

• Analysis of theories and their applications through case studies and book reviews

• Drawing conclusions and inferences derived through analysis.

KEYWORDS

Spatial Quality, Environmental Psychology, Human Behaviour, Cognition, Perception,

Emotional responses.

“The study of interactions between humans and their physical environment is referred to in many different ways, but most frequently as Architectural Psychology. Strictly speaking, it is neither architecture nor psychology, but a unique field that combines relevant theoretical aspects of both in order to enhance the human experience. Architectural Psychology effectively bridges the gap between architecture and psychology.”

Dr. Morgan Williams (Licensed Clinical Psychologist & Licensed Architect)

ARCHITECTURAL PSYCHOLOGY

Architecture is (applied) art. It is considered to be the art of building and construction, created for people to perceive and use it.

Psychology is the study of human experience and behaviour. One of its branches is environmental psychology, which relates the environment to human experience and behaviour. This deals with the psychological processes of the interaction between man and his environment, for example spatial perception, spatial thinking, orientation behaviour, or spatial experience. When a user experiences a building, they immediately become involved in an array of overlapping processes that all contribute to their experience — architectural psychology focuses on such connections and can be applied to all building types.

Architecture as an environment conveys itself through perception and interaction.

Each environment possesses its own identity, which humans address by using the established concepts of space and place.

SPACE

“Space” can be considered as an environment where humans interact.

There are eight different concepts of space: pragmatic or primitive, perceptual, existential, sacred, geographical, architectural and planning, cognitive and abstract spaces (Relph, 1976).

PLACE

“Place” can be considered as a space with experience added in.

The term “experience” includes perceiving, doing, thinking, and feeling. A place is an environment that is derived through human experience, interpretation, and establishment (Walter, E. V., 1988).

Humans rely on interaction with important spaces so that they can establish valuable places where they feel comfortable (Moos, S., 2009).

Spaces can transform people, and people can transform spaces.

Geographical

SOME CONCEPTS IN ARCHITECTURE PSYCHOLOGY

Following are some concepts in architectural or environmental psychology which form the crux of many theories for building according to human wellbeing and needs.

Geographical determinism is the idea that all human activities are determined by the geographical location of the people. The foundation and lifespan of entire civilizations are dependent on environmental factors, like topography, climate, vegetation, and the availability of water.

Ecological Biology

Ecological biology considers theories of biological and sociological interdependence between organisms and their environment. According to this theory, organisms are an integral part of their environment rather than as separate entities.

Behaviorism, also known as behavioral psychology, is based on the idea that all behaviors are acquired through conditioning. Both environmental context and personal context are important determinants of the behavioral psychology approach.

Gestalt psychology looks at the human mind and behavioural as a whole. Gestalt psychology suggests that humans do not simply focus on every small component. Rather, the human mind is said to perceive objects as part of a greater whole and as elements of more complex and interconnected systems.

noun per·​cep·​tion \ pər-ˈsep-shən \

1. a mental image : concept

2. awareness of the elements of environment through physical sensation, such as colour perception

3. physical sensation interpreted in the light of experience

4. quick, acute, and intuitive cognition : appreciation

The different ways humans experience spaces and environments

COGNITIVE Thoughts

ARCHITECTURAL AND SPATIAL PERCEPTION

Perception is the ability to capture, process, and actively make sense of the information that our senses receive. It is the cognitive process that makes it possible to interpret our surroundings with the stimuli that we receive throughout sensory organs.

ARCHITECTURAL PERCEPTION

The Architectural Perception of an environment almost always differs qualitatively from person to person.

Cognitive Perception refers to a person’s thoughts and beliefs about a space.

Affective Perception refers to a person’s emotional response to the space.

Behavioural Perception refers to the behaviour exhibited by a person in response to the space.

SPATIAL PERCEPTION

Spatial perception contributes significantly to the desired “quality” or “essence” of a space.

The level of simplicity or complexity in which a space or built environment can be accessed and navigated helps trigger respective desired emotions.

These are some factors which affect the desired perception of space.

“Although architecture is often defined in terms of abstractions such as space, light and volume, buildings are above all physical artifacts. The experience of architecture is palpable: the grain of wood, the veined surface of marble, the cold precision of steel, the textured pattern of brick.”

- Witold Rybczynski, author of “The Look of Architecture” (2001).

The Hierarchy of Attentional Capture

SENSORY PERCEPTIONS OF ARCHITECTURE

Morton Heilig, the inventor of the Sensorama, the world’s first multisensory virtual reality apparatus ranked the order in which he believed our attention to be captured by the various senses. According to Heilig’s rankings: vision, 70%; audition, 20%; olfaction, 5%; touch, 4%; and taste, 1%. Does the same hierarchy (and weighting) apply to our appreciation of architecture? And is attentional capture the most relevant metric?

DESIGN FOR THE HUMAN MIND AND SENSORY SYSTEMS

Le Corbusier (1948) made the intriguing suggestion that architectural forms “work physiologically upon our senses.”

Majority of the people living in urban environments, spend more than 95% of their lives indoors (Ott & Roberts, 1998).

It thus becomes a design necessity to ensure that the multisensory attributes of the built environment work together to deliver an experience that positively stimulates the senses, and, by doing so, facilitates human wellbeing, rather than hinder it.

SENSORY CONGRUENCY

In their book, Spaces speak, are you listening?, Blesser and Salter reflect upon the importance of audiovisual congruency in architectural design:

“Aural architecture, with its own beauty, aesthetics, and symbolism, parallels visual architecture. Visual and aural meanings often align and reinforce each other. For example, the visual vastness of a cathedral communicates through the eyes, while its enveloping reverberation communicates through the ears.”

They also talk about the incongruency that a person may experience:

“Consider dining at an expensive restaurant whose decorations evoke a sense of relaxed and pampered elegance, but whose reverberating clatter produces stress, anxiety, isolation, and psychological tension, undermining the possibility of easy social exchange. The visual and aural attributes produce a conflicting response.”

[sensory] SYSTEMS

It is noticed that perception/experience is not unisensory, but multisensory. That is, what we hear and smell, and what we think about the experience, is often influenced by what we see, and vice versa (Calvert et al., 2004; Stein, 2012).

The senses interact with, and influence each other all the time, while we often remain unaware of these cross-sensory interactions and influences.

Therefore the aim of this study is to undestand and make efforts to implement multisensory design on the basis of human psychology to architectural design.

01 02 03 04

[Visual System]

Imagery of the Space: What are you looking at?

[Auditory System]

Sound of the Space: Are you listening?

[Haptic

System]

Feel of the Space: Do you touch the space?

[Olfactory

System]

[visual system] IMAGERY OF THE SPACE

What are you looking at? The inherent characteristic ability of a building or built environment to evoke a positive or negative response in a person is the Visual Impact that it causes. Due to the multiplicity of objects placed in a design, there are multiple impacts that can be noticed. The person’s mind makes use of the response to unconsciously to make decisions that control their emotional response to the situation.

This is of paramount importance as the eyes are the primary paraphernalia used in analysing a situation. The navigation, orientation and sense of comfort one feels in a particular space is largely based on the information that the visuals provide to the person.

The manner in which one perceives a space is crucial to their willingness to continue to exist, operate, and feel comfortable in the same system.

For example, a room may be quite spacious, but a dark line drawn around a couple of squares in a colour such as red (usually associated with warnings) may give the viewer a sense of confinement to that particular part of the room.

This would evoke a feeling of being placed in a smaller room. This could evoke feelings of disdain and discomfort leading to the person abandoning the space.

“In all my works, light is an important controlling factor. I create enclosed spaces mainly by means of thick concrete walls. The primary reason is to create a place for the individual, a zone for oneself within society. When the external factors of a city’s environment require the wall to be without openings, the interior must be especially full and satisfying.”

–Tadao Ando

(Top) Church of the Light in Japan, by Tadao Ando. The Church embraces Ando’s philosophical framework between nature and architecture through the way in which light can define and create new spatial perceptions. Ando’s decision to place the cross on the east façade allows for light to pour into the space throughout the early morning and into the day, which has a dematerializing effect on the interior concrete walls transforming the dark volume into an illuminated box.

(Right) Saint-Pierre at Firminy by Le Corbusier. The small stellar windows on the east façade generate dots of light on the floor which later mysteriously turn into waves of light. These waves gently rise and fall with the course of the sun. They create an astonishing pattern over all three walls facing the altar. Polycarbonate cylinders with concentric grooves holding the glue cause these impressive wave effects.

[auditory system] SOUND OF THE SPACE

Are you listening? Rasmussen mentions in his book Experiencing Architecture (1964), that architecture can be heard. The manner in which an individual allocates the purpose for which a space is to be utilised has a causal relationship with the acoustics of the place.

Auditory sense manipulation is already seen to be employed in places of assembly (concert halls, auditoriua, opera centers) for specific purposes. Such manipulation may be induced based on the design as well as the materials that go into the creation of the space.

The lesser the reverberation of sound in the space, the more temperate and intimate the individuals within such space feel. Therefore, spaces padded with carpets and curtains may be give the individual a feeling of silence.

On the other hand, increased amounts of reverberation may give a feeling of publicity to the space. Another such example is the linking of sound experienced in larger spaces to that of a divine presence. Thus, designs of churches and cathedrals involve higher levels of reverberation.

“The modern architect is designing for the deaf.”

- R. Murray Schafer

(Right) SoundYard, Ireland, by Eunan Deeney, Mat-

and

Wilson. This five-metretall musical pavilion is located near a shipyard and works as a performance area. Walking, running or playing below the structure triggers motion sensors that cause the mechanisms in the canopy to turn slowly, striking the hollow tubes around them. The instrument was designed so that the music it creates gets louder as more people interact with it. The resulting soundscape was designed to be reminiscent of the constant, rhythmic noises of striking, hammering and riveting of the erstwhile shipyard.

(Top) Walt Disney Concert Hall, Los Angeles, USA by Frank Gehry. Gehry worked with Yasuhisa Toyota, the acoustical consultant, to hone the hall’s sound through spatial and material means. To test the acoustics, they used a 1:10 scale model of the auditorium, with a model occupant in each seat. The concert hall’s partitions and curved, billowing ceiling act as part of the acoustical system while subtly referencing the sculptural language of the exterior.

thew Kernan

Hannah

[haptic system] FEEL OF THE SPACE

Do you touch the space? In The Eyes of the Skin, Juhani Pallasmaa argues for an elevated appreciation of the sense of touch. The sense of touch is one of the core ways in which an individual processes the reality of their situation.

It gives them a sense of “knowing”. The need to grasp and feel an object lay at the root of the cognitive ability of all human beings. It regulates the way in which an individual engages with their environment.

The opportunity to interact with a space makes the space a lot more impressionable on the mind than normal. A number of novel ideas with regard to electronics and haptics seem to be in the works with haptic sensors to activate lights and control electronics.

However, due to the immense need for improvements in technology to provide a real feel to the individual, studies on how they affect the psyche of the user is still limited.

(Top) Holocaust Memorial, at Berlin, Germany, by Peter Eisenman. The site is covered with 2,711 concrete slabs or “stelae”, arranged in a grid pattern on a sloping field. The exposed concrete and sprayed foam layer over it invite people to touch and feel the space, run through it, or jump over it. The memorial is on a slight slope and its wave-like form is varied in different places. The uneven concrete floor gives visitors a moment of giddiness or even uncertainty. The sheer size of the installation and its lack of a central point of remembrance call into question the conventional concept of a memorial. This creates a place of remembrance, but not with the usual means.

(Right) Hazelwood School, Glasgow, Scotland, by Alan Dunlop. This school caters to children with visual as well as hearing impairment. The central circulation space houses a large cork-clad storage wall with a “trail rail,” which provides tactile cues for the children to clearly and safely navigate the building. Each bay of sensory trail wall is individually shaped which helps children orient the length of the circulation space. Coupled with the ‘street’ design of the corridors in the school, this layout has proven an effective device for independent navigation for all kinds of students. Signage throughout the school is redundant: in Braille, in pictures and in Moon (a system made up of lines and curves including some ordinary letters in simplified form). .The subtle colors, contrast, and adaptable lighting elements maximize use of children’s residual vision.

What do the chemical senses in the space evoke?

[olfactory system] SCENT OF THE SPACE

Various fragrances, aromas and odours can create either a positive or negative effect in the individual based on their lived experiences, preferences and memories.

There are a number of smells constantly present for the brain to process. More such number, higher the cause for discomfort. The brain generally filters such smells and only takes note of such feedback that is either pungent, unknown or likely to induce delight does the brain register them.

In a 2006 book by Italian architects Anna Barbara and Anthony Perliss, Hervé Ellena of Ellena Mehl Architects observes olfaction to fall within ‘the dark side of architecture’.

This is because of the focus on the utilitarian aspect of architecture leading to odour as something to be combatted out with the use of ventilation.

However, for ages it has been seen that various odours have been specifically used to incentivise behaviour in some form or manner.

Leading retailers often use pleasant air fresheners to retain customers for longer periods of time within the store and thereby encourage more shopping. Restaurants often use the aromas of their delicacies to lure customers to try their servings.

By virtue of the material used and the form of the built environment, the olfactory system may also help in effective design that contributes to the overall wellbeing of the individual.

“The Art of Scent 1889-2012”, Museum of Art and Design, New York City, USA, by Diller, Scofidio + Renfro Architects. The Art of Scent, commissioned by the Museum of Art and Design in New York, is among the first museum exhibitions in the world to focus on the olfactory arts. “The Art of Scent”, which traces the development and history of perfumery, focuses on twelve pivotal scents. In addition to allowing visitors to experience the twelve works of olfactory art, an interactive salon illustrates the importance of design in creating these works. In order to address the sense of smell, rarely introduced in the museum environment, the design eliminates all reference to the visual materials typically associated with perfume, most notably packaging and advertisements. Visitors enter a seemingly empty white gallery punctuated by a series of twelve sculpted wall alcoves. They are invited to lean into the wall, triggering the release of a scented stream of air; in addition to scent, the organic wall surface pulses with sound and ghostly text projections.

Colour Psychology

EFFECT OF COLOUR IN ARCHITECTURE

Colour in architecture strongly influences one’s senses, state of mind and the way of understanding a building. Regardless of the aesthetic value that they can provide, whether in shades of facades or interior walls, colour will have an influence on the human state of mind.

Effect on Architecture

Colours and their perceptions are responsible for a series of conscious and unconscious stimuli in the psychic-spatial relationship. The application of colors on the surfaces also influences the user’s experience in the space.

Depending on how they are used, colours can darken, illuminate or even create shapes in a space.

Just as colour promotes a set of emotions or visual effects in art, in architecture these serve to highlight volumes, construction details or visually emphasize certain aspects of the space.

In children-centric projects, such as schools, bright colours are used in order to motivate the psyche of the children.

In hospital or healthcare projects such as hospitals, clinics, etc., the use of cold colours is usually a good complement for the recovery of patients.

In urban or community projects, neutral colours are used to renovate spaces and restore character and identity to them.

Colour Temperature

For visual comfort , there must be a balance between the colour temperature and lighting .

When a single colour dominates in a space, our brain “manufactures” the complementary color to achieve a spectrum that is closest to white light .

Due to this, it is better to avoid using vast expaanses of a single colour. In case a large area uses a single colour, it is recommended to to place complementary colours next to it to reduce the levels of eye and mental fatigue.

COLOURS IN ARCHITECTURE

PURPLE

Energize Users

Spaces that require exhibition of power

Places of worship

GREEN

Places of reflection

Care units, therapy centers for a sense of peace

Meditative spaces

RED

For structures such as beams, columns, stairs, etc.

Important emergency facilities

For commercial spaces

ORANGE

Associated with enthusiasm and action

Used as accent colour

GREY

Exposed concrete colour, ruggedness

Peace, tenacity and tranquility

Neutrality in spaces

BLUE

Places of meditation

To maintain a cool temperature

Places of dialogue

Focus attention

YELLOW

In basements and dark places that require highlight

Used as accent colour

Evokes cheerful mood

PINK

Colour of sweetness, delicacy, friendship

Cultural associations with “feminine” quality

BROWN

Provide warmth to spaces

Comfortable spaces (associated with the use of wood)

Balance and neutralize spaces

WHITE

Comfort, relaxation, peace, reflects heat, space feels larger

BLACK

Mystery, elegance, modern, traps heat, space feels smaller

01 02 03 04

BENEFITS OF MULTISENSORY DESIGN & INTEGRATION OF ENVIRONMENTAL AND PSYCHOLOGICAL CUES IN ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN

Kroner, Stark-Martin, and Willemain (1992) demonstrated the benefits of designing for multiple senses in a technical report. They examined the effects of an office makeover when a company moved to a new office building. The employees in the new office were given individual control of the temperature, lighting, air quality, and acoustic conditions where they were working. Productivity increased by approximately 15% in the new building. When the individual control of the ambient multisensory environment was disabled in the new building, performance fell by around 2%.

Mattila and Wirtz (2001) conducted one of the first sensory marketing studies about the influence of combined ambient/atmospheric cues on people’s perception, feelings, and behaviour. They manipulated the olfactory environment (no scent, a low-arousal scent (lavender), or a high-arousal scent (grapefruit)) while simultaneously manipulating the presence of music (no music, low-arousal music, or high-arousal music). When the scent and music were congruent, the customers rated the store environment positively, exhibited higher levels of approach and impulse-buying behaviour, and expressed more satisfaction. However, there is always the potential danger of sensory overload if the combined multisensory input becomes too stimulating (Malhotra, 1984; Simmel, 1995).

Winzen, Albers, & Marggraf-Micheel (2014), in one representative study, reported that illuminating a simulated aircraft cabin in warm yellow vs. cool blue-coloured lighting exerted a significant influence over people’s self-reported thermal comfort. The participants rated the environment as feeling significantly warmer under the warm as compared to the cool lighting colour.

Sayin et al. (2015) investigated the impact of presenting ambient soundscapes in an underground car park in Paris in a representative field study. They assessed the effects of introducing western European birdsong or classical instrumental music to the three normally silent stairwells used by members of the general public when exiting the car park. A total of 77 drivers were asked about their feelings on their way out. Birdsong was found to work best in terms of enhancing the perceived safety of the situation - around 6%. This was despite the fact that all of those who were quizzed realized that the sounds that they had heard were coming from loudspeakers.

The World Health Organization has included mental and social well-being in addition to physical health and the absence of disease in its definition of “public health”.

01 02 03

EFFECTS OF NEGLECTING PSYCHOLOGY AND SENSORY SYSTEMS IN DESIGN OF SPACES & ENVIRONMENTS

Urban design and town planning is primary to safeguard public health using inclusive strategies to ensure each individual’s basic needs are met. The architecture of buildings that comprise the built environment in the city is crucial to uphold one’s mental health and wellbeing. Studies have shown that battered houses and neighborhoods, and abandoned and dilapidated buildings make people feel unsafe, evoking fear and anxiety.

In their book Cognitive Architecture: Designing for How We Respond to the Built Environment, Sussman and Hollander (2015) look at the negative psychological impact cities have on humans. They state that humans are generally healthier when their built environment contains a variety of typologies of buildings such as shops, eateries, unique spaces, and buildings rather than generic, and repetitive chain stores.

Neuroscientist Colin Ellard conducted a field research to understand emotional responses of humans to their surrounding built environment. He led a group of participants down two city streets. The first was a large, generic supermarket building; and the other included a plethora of unique and lively restaurants whose buildings were made up of open doors and windows. He found that the former environment resulted in the lowest excitement level of the study, while the latter produced a high level of excitement. These results led Eller to conclude:

“The holy grail in urban design is to produce some kind of novelty or change every few seconds, otherwise, we become cognitively disengaged.”

Merrifield and Danckert have conducted studies which suggest that even small amounts of boredom can induce stress in humans, in turn affecting their productivity, efficiency and comfort levels.

SICK BUILDING SYNDROME

The sick building syndrome (SBS) is used to describe a situation in which the occupants of a building experience acute healthor comfort-related effects (headache; eye, nose, or throat irritation; dry cough; dry or itchy skin; dizziness and nausea; difficulty in concentrating; fatigue; and sensitivity to odours) that seem to be linked directly to the time spent in the building. No specific illness or cause can be identified.

Most of the complainants report relief soon after leaving the building.

WHEN ARCHITECTURE FAILED THE PEOPLE

Pruitt-Igoe Housing Complexes St. Louis, Missouri

by Minoru Yamasaki

The construction of housing projects like Pruitt-Igoe was a direct response to the evolution of urban populations taking place in the years after World War II. The rapid growth of American cities before 1920 had slowed dramatically. In 1950, St. Louis was commissioned 5800 units of affordable housing. The housing complex was a collection of 33 modular 11-story apartment towers, occupying 57 acres of land, providing accommodation for up to 10,000 residents in 2,870 apartment units. It was composed of residential high-rises towering over manicured plazas heavily inspired by Le Corbusier’s Ville Radieuse concept.

The buildings resembled Corbusier’s Unité d’Habitation projects: long, narrow slab structures with window galleries of 85 feet in length. The combination of the two was intended to replicate community life on the sidewalks in a high-rise setting, where children and adults alike could gather in sheltered safety.

The complexes quickly became notorious for crime, squalour and social dysfunction. The galleries and staircases meant to provide safe community spaces instead became the dominion of gangs. Critics argued that the wide open spaces between the blocks of high-rises discouraged a sense of community, particularly as crime rates started to rise. From 1972, over the next few years, the 33 towers were demolished by means of dynamite implosions leaving behind a vast urban wasteland in the fabric of St. Louis which, to this day, has yet to be filled.

The fall of Pruitt-Igoe came to be seen as symbolic: it was touted as the failure of Modernist architecture itself. “The lack of behavioural insight behind the modernist housing projects of that era, with their sense of isolation from the wider community and ill-conceived public spaces,” (Michael Bond) could be seen as reasons for its failure.

Thus it can be said that the active or passive application of architectural psychology to design would enhance the quality of space as well as the quality of experience in a built environment.

Co-authours of The Architecture of Hospitals (2006)

Both pioneers of healing through design in healthcare facilities

CHARLES JENCKS

Landscape designer and architectural historian

The Architecture of Hope Cancer Care Design

Married and partners in creating Maggie Centers

STEPHEN VERDERBER MAGGIE KESWICK

Architectural researcher & professor of architecture with research focus on healthcare design & wellbeing

Innovations in Hospital Architecture and Hospice Architecture

Verderber references Gehl in book Sprawling Cities and Our Endangered Public Health (2012). Both share philosophy of influence of urban design on human condition

Writer, artist & landscape architect popular for her heartfelt writings on her cancer experiences

A View from the Frontline

Cofounders of Sustasis Foundation, a research group which looks to collaborate contemporary thinkers in the field of human environment

Co-authours of The Architecture of Hospitals (2006) Have given seminars together in the field of health space design

Professor of architecture frequently cited internationally for evidence based design

A View through the window may influence recovery

Sternberg referenced Charles & Maggie Jencks in her book Healing Spaces, the Science of Place and Wellbeing (2013) & their Maggie Center in Dundee by Gehry

Architect & urban design consultant Professor of medicine & psychology

Cities for People & Life Between Buildings

Healing Spaces, the Science of Place and Wellbeing

Share philosophy of human psychology within architecture & urban design . Focussing on human centric design

JAN GEHL ESTHER STERNBERG

ROGER ULRICH

Cancer Center

ARCHITECTURAL PLACEBO EFFECT

Architectural manipulation of space can act as a catalyst in creating a healing environment that may affect the physical and psychological behavior of the patient.

A thought-provoking example of this is Roger Ulrich’s work in fitting architectural equipment in hospitals. The equipment led to patients recovering at rapid rates despite medication dosage remaining same or even going lower. The equipment was nothing other than a window that looked onto a scene of nature.

Charles Jencks conceptualised the Maggie Centers in 2010. He was a firm believer in the architectural placebo effect.

The therapeutic qualities of nature and the outdoors, are emphasized by placing the single-story building in a pleasant garden landscape.

Sliding glass doors, skylights, and generous glazing blur the lines between the indoors and outdoors and allow for natural light and garden views.

A kitchen with a large communal table is located at the heart of the building and surrounded by a variety of spaces, from private niches to an exercise room.

Support offices are placed on the mezzanine level, while a greenhouse on the south end offers people the opportunity to work with their hands and garden.

Lord Norman Foster states:

“Our aim in Manchester, the city of my youth, was to create a building that is welcoming, friendly and without any of the institutional references of a hospital or health centre –a light-filled, homely space where people can gather, talk or simply reflect.”

Roger Ulrich

Maggie’s

Manchester, UK by Foster + Partners

Factors contributing to the positive emotional responses:

Orientation

Recognisable surroundings help patients orient themselves and adjust to newer spaces.

Circulation

No obstructive or alienating elements present; this exhibits continuity in circulation.

Geometry

Local building style used.

Nature

The built environment is integrated with natural landscape which elevates mood.

Wayfinding

Presence of an ambulatory path around the landscape helps people navigate through the space.

CASE STUDY

Alzheimers Village

France by NORD Architects

NORD Architects have created a community living concept integrating the individual residents, the health care staff, and the local culture and nature, so everyone, from relatives to researchers, will experience living in an environment that prioritises dignified aging.

Recognisability creates continuity and a sense of belonging. Alzheimer’s Village is designed to create a safe environment, in which residents, relatives and health care professionals all get a feeling of well-being, which is also a major prerequisite for providing qualified care. The architecture of Alzheimer’s Village caters to the needs of both communities and individuals, providing each resident with options that are reassuring and diverse.

Alzheimer’s Village has integrated familiar functions within the complex – a grocer’s, a hairdresser’s, a restaurant and a market square – reminiscent of the residents’ previous lives in their neighbourhoods.

The architecture style has an explicitly local feel, featuring elements from the local building materials. The built environment provides a cultural extension that alleviates the transition from living at home to living with a severe mental illness in an Alzheimer’s centre.

The complex is integrated with nature, transforming the existing landscape with its characteristic ancient pine trees to a recreational space, where residents can relax or go for a walk within the area. A path runs through the landscape, drawing its own loop, so none of the residents will experience dead ends or get lost along the way.

Factors contributing to the positive emotional responses:

Orientation

Strategically located in the masterplan on the primary circulation path.

Nature

Garden connects indoors and outdoors through large openings extending into campus pathways.

Illumination

Use of glass and translucent walls for large openings ensures maximum natural light as well as frames views of the outdoors throughout the day.

Colours

Expressed through extensive views of the gardens and use of oak in the interior evoking a sense of calmness.

CASE STUDY

Duke Student Wellness Center United States

by Duda | Paine Architects

The Center weaves health and wellness together into everyday student life, with Student Health, Nutrition, Counseling and Psychological Services, Wellness and Case Management programs coming together under one roof.

This facility both answers the needs of clinical care and expands the role of wellness in ensuring healthy students.

Strategically situated between athletics, student services and residential complexes, the building abuts Duke’s historic forests and a primary campus circulation path.

The transparent two-story entry brings natural light into the building and allows for views of the outdoors. Oak harvested from the site was used extensively for interior surfaces and exterior seating.

A contemplative garden reinforces connections to nature and extends to campus pathways. A monumental entry stair follows a translucent wall up through the lobby to celebrate the intersection of care, prevention and social interaction in achieving wellness.

Public and private functions are layered—the entry is open, but presents circulation options for students seeking care, privacy, socializing or wellness programs.

Factors contributing to the positive emotional responses:

Volumes

Circular windows providing outdoor views to landscape.

Colour

Use of primary colours uplifts mood of students and acts as micro-wayfinding elements.

Illumination

Ample daylight through multiple large windows and atrium space.

Circulation

Introverted corridors opening into the atrium provide a near-ambulatory circulation which helps students orient themselves inside the school.

CASE STUDY

KLE Sanskruti Pre-primary School India

by Shreyas Patil Architects

Sanskruti School is an exclusive pre-primary school for an already existing school campus at Gokak. The planning philosophy is directed by considering the psychological and physical needs of kindergarten children who have tendencies to explore spaces with exciting avenues and colorful vistas with minimum boundaries. The campus stands in the foreground of the existing buildings.

The architectural language of openness, continuity, vibrancy, and unity is noticed throughout by the positioning of the courtyards, classrooms, staircases, corridors, and double-height spaces which connect students across grades.

In response to the shape of a triangular site, three blocks are looped into each other enveloping all the spaces around a central triple-height courtyard.

The circular windows and the colorful Brise-soleil in shades of yellow and red are a metaphor for the kindergarten kids’ energetic nature. The indoors and outdoors are framed through circular fenestrations.

The massing of the built form is created by stacking rows of classrooms within the three sides of the triangular shaped site. With a rhythmic twist and turn of these blocks, a volume of cubes jutting out at perpendicular and angular degrees assists in creating simple yet powerful volumes.

Factors contributing to the positive emotional responses:

Volume

Volumes created are suitable for children, not imposing.

Nature

Outdoor spaces as extension of classrooms and openings framing the landscape; responds to visual and olfactory systems.

Circulation

Seamless integration of indoors and outdoors.

Illumination

Ample daylight through multiple openings of various sizes.

Colours

Expressed as materials responding to the visual and haptic systems.

CASE STUDY

Athenia High School India by Studio Next

Athenia High School is located off the main Saharanpur-Dehradun highway. The serene and green natural surroundings provide a vibrant setting for an activity focused K-12 school. The school believes in a transformative learning experience where students grow both in and out of the classroom.

The G+1 junior school building is primarily designed with the intention to trigger the senses. The built environment sensitises the students to color, light, texture, smell, sound. The students are always connected and have a vision of the outdoor spaces as they move all through their building enabling them to experience various sounds, smell, light.

Varied textures and colors is experienced by using natural materials such as exposed brick & concrete on the façade and mosaic & Kota stone flooring. There is play of light through openings and brick jaalis at various locations, which change through the day as the sun moves.

Outdoor spaces are an extension of the classroom and promote participatory engagement. The outdoor and indoor spaces are seamlessly integrated which resonates with the school’s open ideology.

Ample daylight, cross ventilation, projections, jaalis achieve comfortable environment in the classrooms and reduces energy consumption drastically.

Why is nature a health factor?

LITERATURE REVIEW

OXFORD TEXTBOOK OF NATURE AND PUBLIC HEALTH : THE ROLE OF NATURE IN IMPROVING THE HEALTH OF A POPULATION

By Matilda van den Bosch, William Bird (2018)

Some of the questions posed in this book are :

01. Why is nature a health factor?

02. How can nature affect health?

03. What is the imapct of contact with nature on public health?

04. How do varied populations interact with nature? What is the nature of the city?

This book seeks to explore how natural environments and ecosystems contribute to human health and wellbeing. Psychological and physiological parallels seem to lead back to stress and stress recovery processes. Multiple arguments are provided for why investments in green spaces across populations are necessary for maintaining and improving public health. Such arguments are important in any health policy making and should increase collaboration across environmental, architectural, design, and health sectors and disciplines.

Gardens have traditionally been used in mental health care, but many other forms of nature interactions such as farming, and wilderness experiences exist as therapeutic means.

Landscape architecture can be both an arena for interventions and have therapeutic effects. Concepts such as horticultural therapy, green care, and wilderness therapy are related to respective diagnoses for which efficiency has been demonstrated.

Children’s Relation to Nature

Children’s relation to nature and landscape is of specific value for the developing individual itself and for the environment. If no connection to nature is established in the early years it will be hard for the growing individual to develop a sense for the environment and outdoor special perceptions. Outdoor nature exposure contributes to various benefits – for cognitive, social, motor development, physical activity, concentration capacity, academic performance, preventing myopia, Vitamin D deficiency, stress and obesity.

Environmental Psychology in the Health Context

The natural environment has presently gained a more central focus when it has become clear that increasing urbanization and industrialization are rapidly taking their toll on nature and landscape and thus on the quality of people’s living environment. In response to these developments, modern environmental psychology and architectural psychology takes an active interest in studying people’s interactions with natural and built environments in relation to their health and well-being. Particularly the restorative or stress relieving functions of contact with nature and landscape (visual and physical) have become a major topic for research and theorizing.

Stress Reduction Theory

Automatic positive reactions or emotions are elicited by:

01. Presence of natural content (vegetation, water)

02. Symmetry

03. Depth and spatial cues

04. Smooth textures

05. Deflected vista

06. Absence of threats.

Attention Restoration Theory

Roger Ulrich is a Professor of Architecture who is renowned for his research on evidence-based design of healthcare environments. In 1983 he first published his psycho-evolutionary theory on aesthetic and affective responses to natural landscapes (commonly known as SRT). This theory assumes that certain environmental features and patterns elicit rapid, affective reactions (i.e., like/dislike) which occur without conscious processing.

Contrary to general / popular belief, Ulrich’s experiments showed that natural scenes with water were not more effective in providing restoration from stress than natural scenes without water. In general, it is observed that nearly all kinds of nature are equally restorative apart from scenes that induce perceptions of danger, like unstructured enclosed woods.

This was posed by Kaplan and Kaplan (1989) who were struck by the universal positive value and meaning of nature to people.

The four qualities of environmental experiences are:

01. Being away

02. Sense of extent

03. Fascination

04. Compatibility

This theory identifies the four qualities of environmental experiences that would help restore mental fatigue : being away from daily hassles and obligations; a sense of extent of connectedness; fascination or the capacity of an environment to automatically draw attention; and a compatibility between the individual’s inclinations and the characteristics of the environment.

ART has highlighted the importance of cumulative effects of repeated restorative experiences with nature in the living environment. For example, the cumulative value of “micro restorative experiences” is afforded by a window view into trees and other natural features from the home of workplace.

In line with this reasoning, many studies have reported particularly strong relationships between green space in the living environment with public health and well-being.

Introduction

CONTRASTING THEORIES

THE PRACTICAL FAILURE OF ARCHITECTURAL PSYCHOLOGY

by Duncan Philip Journal of Environmental Psychology (1996)

Following is the summary and literature review on some arguments proposed countering the premise of Architectural Psychology.

The authour argues that there are only two dominant kinds of architectural psychology.

01. “Dry”’ or “hard” approach - behavioristic tradition, called cognitive psychology.

02. “Soft” approach - humanistic.

Humansitic Alternatives

Roger Barker, Carl Rogers, George Kelly - these three key investigators share a humanistic orientation. Their central concern is not prediction of behaviour, but rather understanding it.

From the stand-point of “dry” psychology, it is highly questionable whether Architectural Psychology should be described as “science” at all.

Why?

Its methods are almost always qualitative; impossible to reduce to general hypotheses about the relation between people and their physical world.

Architectural Hopes & Unmet Expectations

Some architects believed that psychology would provide a firm basis for design-for-people: the view that man is a machine suggests that he can be improved by architecture-as-machine.

This thought process posed the following problems:

01. Over-emphasis on the influence of the physical environment above other influences (social group, personality, etc.);

02. Assumption that the influence of buildings is direct, and that indirect influences are negligible.

03. Typecasting people as passive, without will or choice

04. Taking for granted that the physical environment will remain unchanged over time.

Mehrabian (1976) had claimed to provide “practical tools for understanding” but the recommendations are so crippled with “mights” and “maybes” without a defintitive framework, rendering them to be quite impractical as tools for architects.

Post Occupancy Evaluations

A newly created building may be conceptualized as the realization of assumptions by the designer about human relations and human responses.

In the UK

Systematic studies using observation methods, structured and unstructured interviews and survey techniques are being used more and more in studies of buildings after completion (called Post Occupancy Evaluation—or POE studies).

Should these studies be considered as evidence of the practical success of architectural psychology?

In Australia

POE studies have made virtually no inroads into the practical work of private architects. This appears to contradict the idea that the value of POE methods is widely recognized.

A POE study may simply highlight the deficiencies either in the assumptions which both client and architect brought to the design, or in the architect’s ability to design appropriately for specific behavioural requirements.

There is a greater potential for loss than gain.

Education and The Way Forward

The long-term effectiveness of architectural psychology must be achieved through the education of architectural students.

If the profession is to differentiate itself in a socially useful way, then the emphasis on building and building science must be much reduced, and the emphasis on people (and on effective communication with users and clients) must be increased.

If architectural psychology is to be ‘successful’ change must take place.

The difficulty of modifying deeply entrenched beliefs is the greatest barrier to achieving any kind of practical success for architectural psychology.

Is academic architectural psychology prepared to meet the challenge of measuring its success in terms of practical outcomes rather than theoretical research?

Diversity of Users

Though the general principles of architectural psychology and environmental psychology remain universal throughout a wide range of user groups, care must be taken to design as per the psychological needs of specific users such as children, the elderly, victims of trauma and abuse, intellectually challenged persons, differently abled persons, women, minorities, and so on. The design considerations for each user group may differ slightly based on the the type of spaces designed for each, and the overall program of the project.

Multiplicity of Functions

While architectural psychology must be applied to the design of all spaces to elicit good health and well-being of humans, some architectural programs and projects require special consideration. These include rehabilitation and recovery centers, architecture for healthcare and well-being, architecture for wellness, centers for learning for children and students, centers for therapy and alternative forms of therapy, architecture catering to the elderly, palliative and restorative architecture, and experiential architecture such as war memorials or museums depicting traumatic events in history. These architectural programs evoke strong emotions in humans and care must be taken through design strategies that these spaces bring out the intended feelings among users.

Role of Nature, Landscape, and Soft Design

It has been proven through multiple studies, experiments and reports in the field of environmental psychology that nature and landscape play a major role in safeguarding human health and well-being. The role of softer interventions of a human scale in urban atmospheres can bring out positive reactions from the general public thus making urban spheres more conducive for community driven initiatives and activities.

Integration of Theories

To create spaces which invoke the intended emotions, it is recommended that design strategies employ multiple theories in addition to architectural psychology, such as: environmental psychology, human-centric design, multi-sensory design, empathetic design, participatory design, neuroarchitecture.

REFERENCES

Environmental Design Studies On Perception And Simulation: An Urban Design Approach

By Barbara Piga And Eugenio Morello

Oxford Textbook Of Nature And Public Health: The Role Of Nature In Improving The Health Of A Population

By Matilda Van Den Bosch, William Bird

The Theoretical Principles Linking The Built Environment Design And Wellbeing

By Ricardo Codinhoto

Senses Of Place: Architectural Design For The Multisensory Mind

By Charles Spence

Architecture Psychology: Why Should It Be The Main Concern For Architects?

By Shin Thant Htet

Essay: The Practical Failure Of Architectural Psychology (Journal Of Environmental Psychology 1996)

By Duncan Philip

Dimensions Of Architectural Knowledge: What Is Architectural Psychology?

By Alxerandra Abel

The Effect Of Architectural Design And Its Dimensions On Human Psychology

By M.f. Sultanova, M.t. Makhmudova, Sh.f. Tursunova, D.sh. Saipova, B.a.abdukarimov

The Influence Of Architecture On Our Psyche

By Margarete Via Medium

Architecture And Health: How Spaces Can Impact Our Emotional Well-Being

By Tarsila Duduch

Architectural Space And Psychological Feelings

By Zhao Ruoxi

The Psychological Impact Of Architectural Design

By Natalie Ricci

Auditory Sense Manipulation In Spatial Design

By Merate A. Barakat

The Hidden Ways That Architecture Affects How You Feel

By Michael Bond

Neuroarchitecture: The New Frontier In Architecture

By Julia Fairley

Excerpts From ‘Welcome To Your World: How The Built Environment Shapes Our Lives

By Sarah Williams Goldhagen

Interview: Sarah Williams Goldhagen On How The Brain Works And What It Means For Architecture.

Interviewed By Martin C. Pedersen

Looking At Buildings Can Actually Give People Headaches

By Arnold J. Wilkins

Psychology Of Space: How Interiors Impact Our Behavior?

By Christele Harrouk

How Social Sciences Shape The Built Environment

By Andreea Cutieru