Beatrice

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gscRJhDNVmI media type="youtube" key="gscRJhDNVmI" height="349" width="425"

Beatrice,I am extremely impressed! Your video was both creative and enlightening. I really enjoyed the format.I have only a few questions: How might architects of workspaces, restaurants, performance halls and other spaces where there are gatherings of people also need to account for cultural proxemics? With regard to workspace, are there cultures where "cubicle farms" (vis a vis offices with doors) would be less acceptable than others?Are there issues of proxemics that relate not just to the space between two people or among a group, but also to a person and the walls, ceiling, and objects within a space? In other words, are proxemic understandings important not just in terms of human interaction, but also in terms of spatial dimensions themselves?Your work is very well done, and I am glad you shared it with me. I hope you are able to use this research well in the future. Thanks for including me in this process.David Koellein


 * Architecture & Landscape**




 * Possible questions:**

-How much personal space do people like to have? -What is the average range of intimate/personal/social/public space? -How do people socialize differently in different environments? -What influence does gender have on the interior design of one's room? -How do strangers interact in small confined spaces(ex: elevator)? Do the features of the space affect interaction?

Audience: Architects, Interior designers

(1) How much personal space people require is highly variable and is related to both personality traits and culture. American and Australian " personal space " is considerably greater than in Japan or India, for example. A useful rule of thumb for most person-to-person conversation is three feet of separation. It is often the case that personal preference, as built by family influences, wealth, degree of introversion, dictates lifestyle choices, including whether someone chooses urban vs. rural settlement patterns, i.e. crowded vs. spacious living conditions.

(2) The range of public space is also highly variable. In an urban context, using New York as an example, Central Park is over 800 acres while there are very small, intimate neighborhoods spaces (" pocket parks ") all over the city. Appropriate size is related to function - passive vs. active recreation, degree of natural influence. If, for example, the space were intended for social interaction such as picknicking and throwing frisbee rather than drinking coffee on a park bench, the space would be sized and designed very differently. Population density in immediate proximity to the space would also contribute to how well used it is. William Whyte wrote a famous article about how people use public space, which you may want to reference.

(3) How people socialize in different environments is directly linked to design. Furnishings, the amount of space available, lighting, and even color dictate how people act toward one another. Examples: A room with linear benches surrounding the perimeter would induce very different social interaction than a room with a variety of couches and chairs facing each other. (The ability to move seating around within a space allows for the greatest conversational flexibility.) A room with sound-deadening acoustics results in people talking in lowered voices. A room with bright lights stimulates more activity. Patterns in flooring, wall shape, and objects within a space "tell" a person how to move around within it. People avoid standing still in the center of open spaces, so they gather around objects and edges.

(4) It is hard to avoid stereotypes when discussing gender in design. In the broadest terms, men tend to give greater importance to functionality, and women favor beauty in the design of a space. Certain colors (e.g. pink, lavender, pastels) are often considered "feminine" while others (e.g. dark colors, black, red, blue) are considered "masculine." Curved lines are often feminine, while straight lines are often masculine.

(5) Strangers tend to avoid conversation in tight spaces and depending on their posture toward each other. Using the elevator example, the space is occupied only briefly. Conversation between two people would be overheard by others in the space. People always face toward the doors so that they can exit conveniently and not face others, and the only reasonable posture is standing. But, if you had a different space that were the size of an elevator (e.g. a sauna) that had seating that forced people to face each other, that was occupied for longer periods of time, and that contained only two or three people, the space would likely generate conversation among strangers. The features of the space definitely affect interaction.

Reading List -The Architecture of Happiness (Alain de Botton)