10.5 Spatiality & Behaviour

Fig 12. Design impacts mental health Source- Webp.net-resizeimage-2020-02-18T143346.793.jpg (1140×600) (cannondesign.com)

10.5 Spatiality and Behavior

Designing an interior space and furnishing it in a specific way dictates how the users will move and behave in that space. In other words, and contrary to the beliefs, we do not have full control over the spaces we live in; however, the spaces we live in have some degree of control over us. Spaces that are wider and more open, with flexible furniture, allow freedom of movement and thus have a positive and welcoming impact on the users. On the contrary, clogged and tight spaces will immediately make the users feel limited and more restricted in their movements, thus influencing their thinking and moods negatively. This concept of designing interior spaces is therefore very important, especially in workspaces and offices, or even design studios, where flexibility is mandatory to allow the users to rearrange the settings according to their needs (a common set of offices can be rearranged into a meeting room for example through moveable partitions, the same way in design studios tables and chairs can be rearranged freely when students would want to exhibit their works to the jury).

With most of our lives spent indoors, the space we occupy has a major role in our psychological behavior. Environmental psychology or Space psychology is, in fact, the interaction between people and the spaces they inhabit. Lighting, colors, configuration, scale, proportions, acoustics, and materials address the senses of the individual and generate a spectrum of feelings and practices.

From inducing warmth and safety, defining well-being, or creating a positive and efficient working environment, space can have a whole lot of impact on how we act or on what we feel; therefore, design and creative measures should be considered according to the social and psychological needs of the occupants.

“Architectural cues can provide reinforcement to the desired behaviors that we would like to see enacted in specific place types,” says environmental psychologist and interior designer Migette Kaup. In other words, architecture is the physical mean. While key factors, that architects need to pay attention to, include safety, social connectedness, ease of movement, and sensory stimulation; more concrete measures encompass light, colours, art, ventilation, etc. For example, some principles of design comprising balance, proportion, symmetry, and rhythm can introduce a sense of harmony. Colours, on the other hand, have a very simple logic behind them, the warmer the colour is, the more compact space becomes. They can also evoke feelings of comfort or stimulate communication. Light depends greatly on the function. A dim light suggests a gloomy space while a bright light defines a bigger animated appearance. Natural light stimulates production and recovery. Spatial structures promote certain patterns of behavior, and designs and equipment animate us to certain ways of dealing with and using them. Phenomena such as dilapidation, improper use or vandalism often have structural causes. If architecture promotes a positive and emotional attachment to places and strengthen a sense of responsibility, such consequences can be intercepted. Thus questions about the How?, Whereby? and Why? for all residential and construction projects be carefully studied and answered. Living or working environments can also become instruments of identification for our personality. If those processes occur, our sense of responsibility for the spaces we inhabit develops. In conclusion, the arrangement, equipment and dimensioning of spaces and their design influence the human patterns of movement, actions and usage. If spaces are created in a way that runs counter to our patterns, it can hamper our movements and actions and cause anger or frustration. Or, conversely, support the structures of everyday life and make us feel comfortable.