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ARCH 1311 Lecture 27 - Video #1: Architectural Determinism — Transcript

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0:02in this lecture we're going to be
0:04continuing our discussion about human
0:07behavior in the built
0:08environment in unit four um this is the
0:13lecture about architectural
0:15determinism and we're going to be
0:16talking about how architecture impacts
0:21behavior and how our environment can
0:25start to affect the ways in which we
0:28interact with buildings the way we
0:30interact with each other and some ways
0:33in which we tend to
0:39behave so what is
0:42determinism when we talk about
0:43architectural determinism really talking
0:46about how our environment dictates and
0:49shapes our Behavior because often we're
0:52talking about the inverse where we're
0:55talking about
0:57how uh our Behavior or how we perceive
1:01things or you know things that we tend
1:05to want to design how that impacts the
1:08environment around us but if we look at
1:12the way in which our built environment
1:16shapes us as people and as a culture
1:20then that's determinism it's basically
1:22that your environment determines your
1:24behavior now this really tends to vary
1:28between countries
1:31cultures different types of people it
1:33can vary by age gender race all
1:37different kinds of things affect how uh
1:41our behavior is shaped by our
1:42environment but when we're talking about
1:44architectural determinant determinism
1:46it's really talking about how your
1:49physical environment the built
1:51environment and the architecture around
1:53you shapes your behavior well so what
1:57exactly are we talking about you know
1:59could be something as simple
2:02as if something is painted a certain
2:05color and we have either a psychological
2:08reaction to that or a physiological
2:11reaction to that and it causes us to
2:14behave in a way that's different than if
2:16the room were painted another color then
2:19that's architectural determinism where
2:22if you have a variable and you change
2:24that or if you don't have a variable
2:27necessarily but if that
2:30component of Architecture is affecting
2:32the way in which you behave then you
2:35know you're starting to become affected
2:36by that now this can be positive or it
2:39can be
2:41negative and so the reason why we talk
2:43about this is because you know when
2:46we're starting to affect change in our
2:49environment or you think about designing
2:53something you want to know the ways in
2:56which people are impacted by it in other
2:59lectures we've talked about how
3:01architecture is not just a standalone
3:04entity you know it's not just an art
3:06form or piece of sculpture but it's
3:09something that people inhabit so we're
3:11really talking about you know what is
3:14its impact on people and if it begins to
3:17change and affect Behavior then you know
3:20we're hoping that it has a positive
3:23impact or it uh changes and affects
3:26people for good now there can be
3:29negative ramifications of
3:33determinism um sometimes those are
3:35unintended sometimes those are intended
3:38you know if we look at um prisons or
3:42forms of
3:44incarceration sometimes those are meant
3:46to be kind of negative reinforcements of
3:49architectural determinism where either
3:52your you know punishment or Consequences
3:57of some action is linked to being put in
3:59environment that you will either respond
4:02negative to negatively to or that is
4:05less than ideal compared to what you
4:08would like to be experiencing in your
4:11environment now usually on the design
4:14side for
4:15Architects we're trying to analyze all
4:17these options so that uh determinism has
4:21a positive impact on Behavior so that
4:24you know for example if you're designing
4:26a school that you provide natural light
4:29so that uh children perform better or
4:32that their behavior is better or you
4:35have a uh hospital then you want to have
4:39adequate lighting so that um whoever's
4:42performing surgery is able to do the
4:45best possible job and so it can be
4:47simple things like that but we want to
4:50look at how the environment itself
4:54begins to impact
4:58Behavior now human behavior is you know
5:02often studied and it's often mysterious
5:07as well so you know we're trying to look
5:09for this link in architecture between
5:12physical environments and behavior
5:15itself and so this is uh kind of a
5:18cartoonish drawing of a uh an urban
5:23structure and looking
5:25at you know how people are affected by
5:30their environment and when people start
5:33to live in close proximity to one
5:35another you know how do they start to
5:37behave do they start to you know write
5:40on the walls do they start to identify
5:42with their particular portion of uh a
5:46built environment you know how do they
5:48evolve
5:50and uh grow based on the environment
5:53they're they're put
5:55in and you know people often look at
5:57architecture in terms of
6:00uh the indoor outdoor impact you know
6:03how much fresh air do you get how much
6:06green space do you have that typically
6:09has an impact on your life on your
6:11behavior on your physical and
6:14psychological well-be um you know there
6:17are often uh studies and research done
6:20on if people can look outside from
6:24inside you know if they don't have a
6:25connection with a even a window or view
6:28to the outside
6:30how that impacts their
6:32behavior how that impacts their work day
6:34or their school day and you know how
6:38that affects us
6:40psychologically so we're always trying
6:42to have kind of the most positive
6:45behavioral reaction by the environment
6:48that we create for other people as
6:50Architects and as designers and so uh
6:55that's not um that's not something to be
6:58ignored and it's something that can have
7:01a huge impact on the users of the
7:04building often we don't know who the
7:06users of the building are going to be
7:08you know sometimes we do if it's maybe
7:11residential or you know it's a more
7:13customized facility but often especially
7:15with public projects um it could be
7:18anyone and so we're trying to have the
7:20maximum most positive impact on you know
7:25behavior and mood and well-being that uh
7:30is for the good of most
7:35people often we can have psychological
7:38reactions from different you know
7:44environments um sometimes those are
7:45brought about by shape or size or color
7:50or design um this building it has kind
7:55of an optical illusion uh the portion in
7:59in the um kind of the colored portion is
8:04in the background and then there's
8:05another piece of this that's in the
8:07foreground and so you're kind of trying
8:10to decipher what's happening with this
8:13uh structure now there are other things
8:16that can have and impact psychological
8:19reactions in people it could
8:21be um the size of architecture it could
8:26be the color surfaces
8:30texture um
8:32reflectance light quality um for example
8:35if you're in a
8:37room and your the room size is let's say
8:42it's about a 10t x 10t room um you're
8:45going to have a different psychological
8:47reaction in that room if the ceiling is
8:5030 ft High you know you might feel like
8:53you're in kind of a silo or there's
8:55something that's supposed to be
8:57happening above you or you might feel
9:00like um the room is too tall for example
9:04but if that same room
9:07were you know 3T high and you couldn't
9:10sit up you couldn't stand up in that
9:12room you definitely have a different
9:14reaction to that room um you'd feel you
9:17know perhaps claustrophobic you'd feel
9:19like the ceiling was kind of caving in
9:22on you even if nothing were physically
9:24happening other than just the location
9:27of the ceiling plane and so we tend to
9:29have psychological reactions to our
9:32environment whether we're aware of that
9:35or
9:37not some of that has to do with our
9:40perception so our perception of
9:42architecture can be just as critical as
9:45the actual built environment now there
9:48are all kinds of things that affect our
9:50perception and sometimes we can't
9:54anticipate how people are going to
9:57perceive uh different
9:59elements in architecture but we're
10:02always trying to kind of
10:04um you know project onto what the user
10:09will experience as they're either moving
10:12through a space or when they enter a
10:14space you know what is the light quality
10:17um you know what is the color quality
10:20what is the um visual impact that
10:24something is going to have on on a
10:27person or a user of the building
10:31you can think of an example of
10:33this with something like a haunted house
10:37and not a truly haunted house but let's
10:40say you're going to visit a haunted
10:43house that's put on during Halloween and
10:47often people's perception of what is
10:50going to take place there impacts them
10:53more than the actual physical space so
10:56perhaps there's dark rooms and maybe
11:01there's you know like spooky sounds that
11:04are playing but our perception that
11:07something either scary is going to
11:09happen or something that is
11:13um you know going to be a surprise
11:16impacts in us in a way that we might
11:19perceive the situation as fearful and
11:22not truly fearful but you know maybe for
11:24entertainment value but you're kind of
11:26more on edge when you if you were to
11:29look at the building and maybe if they
11:31turned all the lights on you'd think oh
11:34this is just a regular room or maybe
11:36this is just like a regular space that I
11:39don't know why I was so freaked out
11:41about what was going to happen but if
11:44you have the perception that something
11:48is either going to take place in a
11:50certain room or that it's going to be
11:53scary or fearful then that will
11:56definitely color your view of uh you
12:00know what is actually taking place um
12:03versus
12:04reality now sometimes when we think of
12:07this uh you might think of where you
12:09went to school as a child and if you go
12:13back to that place as an adult you might
12:16think oh my gosh this is this place is
12:18really small and it's because your
12:21perception as a child was that
12:23everything was bigger than you and that
12:26everything was nearly over whelming
12:29sizewise and when you go back it's not
12:33just that you yourself are actually
12:35bigger as an adult it's just that your
12:38perception of things is now in a more
12:43level kind of uh adult Centric way and
12:47you're able to understand that you know
12:50things are not intimidating
12:53architecturally or that uh certain
12:55things are not overwhelming and so you
12:57don't Max maximize the space in your
13:00mind that you might do when you're a
13:03child so our perception really can color
13:06our view um in terms of perceiving
13:11architecture it might uh change our
13:14memories of spaces Um this can happen
13:18you know if you haven't been to a place
13:20where you lived many years ago and you
13:23might think that things were either like
13:25bigger or smaller or different color or
13:28you know
13:29um whatever it happens to be and this
13:33can uh be colored in a positive way or a
13:36negative way and so our perception
13:40really impacts the memory of
13:43architecture um the way we we think
13:46about certain spaces that we've been in
13:48in the past um or you know we might
13:52project certain things onto buildings
13:55maybe something that happened in a
13:56building that will change our perception
13:59of it when really that building was the
14:02same whether or not you you thought of
14:05that uh in a certain way and someone
14:07else might have a completely different
14:09perception of that particular
14:14building you know something else that we
14:16look at is illusion now it can be an
14:19optical illusion like in this um
14:23photograph this is an artist who does
14:26these water spouts that look as if
14:28they're floating in midair and then the
14:30water is coming out where in reality the
14:33attachment is happening um through where
14:36the water spout is but our expectation
14:39is that if that spout isn't mounted to
14:43something physical that some magic is
14:47taking place right and so this idea of
14:51Illusion in architecture now this is an
14:53art example but um we might incorporate
14:57that as design designers because people
15:00have mental expectations about what
15:03buildings are going to be like or what
15:06certain features of architecture should
15:08or should not exist and so you can
15:11either utilize the concept of Illusion
15:15to create um a certain environment or
15:19you can change people's perception or
15:21their behavior in a building and
15:25depending on the use of the building
15:27depending on the function of it you
15:29might kind of use that to your advantage
15:31you might make
15:33something seem larger um through certain
15:38kind of optical tricks or you know
15:41Optical features when you don't really
15:43have that much space or you might use it
15:46for some other purpose but the idea of
15:49Illusion can be
15:52something uh that is intentional by the
15:55architect it can be something that's
15:57unintentional and is based on the user's
16:01experience of that building or that
16:07space scale is something that we talk
16:10about a lot and we've talked about it in
16:12previous lectures where scale is really
16:15the relationship of architecture to
16:18humans and if you don't have something
16:21that you can relate to in terms
16:25of you know what you're perceiving and
16:28and you know how that makes you feel or
16:30how that makes you behave then it's hard
16:33to determine how how large something is
16:36or the scale of something so this image
16:38that we're looking at because we don't
16:41have anything that references human
16:43beings you know we don't have somebody's
16:46head or their hands or you know this
16:49could be the size of a whole building or
16:51this could be the size of a 2in square
16:55looking at some textural piece of a wall
16:58or some object and so scale is really
17:02important when we talk about human
17:05behavior because if we don't feel
17:08psychologically like we fit as humans in
17:11that space then it makes it hard for us
17:15to understand what the function of that
17:17space is and all of these things are
17:21probably happening subconsciously you
17:23know I doubt that every time you walk
17:26into a building you're thinking
17:28consciously about architectural
17:31determinism and how that space is
17:33impacting you in that moment now maybe
17:36after this you will start to consider
17:38that and you'll start to think of it but
17:41scale is one of those things that
17:42affects our behavior and our perception
17:46within a
17:48space proportion is something that also
17:53impacts how we interact with a space
17:57we've talked about this in other
17:59lectures that proportion is the
18:02relationship of a building's parts to
18:04itself you know do things seem ordered
18:07do things seem organized if they're not
18:12organized um it can kind of instill a
18:16feeling of Chaos in us or um you know
18:20maybe unease now that doesn't
18:23always uh impact people for the negative
18:26if if something is not seeming
18:29symmetrical or proportional but you know
18:32if you look at proportion often times
18:36we're looking at ordered objects or
18:39rhythmic objects and if you have
18:42something that has a certain order or
18:44repetition or Rhythm you have a
18:46psychological expectation of what comes
18:49next and so sometimes if you don't have
18:52that and you're either going to a
18:54building for the first time and you you
18:57might uh be a little ill at ease you
18:59might have
19:01some uh
19:04uneasiness about moving through the
19:07space and again that could be
19:09subconscious um but
19:12proportion sometimes if we have the
19:15expectation that things are going to be
19:17ordered and it feels that way spatially
19:20then we might be more comfortable moving
19:23through that space and interacting with
19:26it wayf finding
19:29is the idea that you are able to find
19:34your way obviously uh through a space
19:37now that can be through the use of
19:40signage or symbols
19:44or something telling you where to go but
19:48the idea of wayf finding an architecture
19:50is
19:51that basically you'll be able to kind of
19:55figure out where to use the space or
19:58where to use the spaces that you need to
20:01without you know going and asking for a
20:03person to tell you where to go um you
20:07know sometimes the most successful
20:09buildings are the ones where it just
20:11seems natural that certain spaces exist
20:16um within certain parts of the building
20:18or that certain functions take place
20:20within certain parts of the building um
20:24and you know this is kind of a
20:27constantly researched and studied topic
20:30about how you're able to move people
20:33through different spaces um you know
20:36sometimes we think about signs as just
20:38like words on a placard but you know if
20:42you really think about it if people
20:44perceive things differently depending on
20:47their experience their culture their
20:50language um their gender you know then
20:54are you biasing your wayf finding or
20:57your signage to one particular group um
21:00for example if you have a sign and it's
21:03written in a specific language then your
21:08wayf finding is targeted toward first of
21:10all people who read people who are
21:14reading that particular
21:17language and way finding also starts to
21:19have an impact on Behavior because if
21:22you're unable to utilize the space if
21:25you don't feel like that space is for
21:27you or you're not able to navigate it
21:31properly then you can start
21:34to have um negative feelings or negative
21:38psychological reactions you might start
21:41to get panicked because you don't know
21:42where to go um you start to become
21:45disoriented and so all of these issues
21:49of way finding are very important and
21:51they also need to be considered for
21:53people of different ages people of
21:55different experience levels um
21:58especially if you're going to have lots
21:59of people coming through a space that
22:02have never been there before you know we
22:04use this a lot with um airports and
22:07train stations and transportation you're
22:09trying to move people through in a
22:11specific amount of time who are probably
22:14unfamiliar with the space and so you
22:15want the way finding to be as easy for
22:18people as
22:23possible so we've talked up to this
22:26point about psychological reactions to
22:30architecture how architecture impacts
22:32our behavior um but there are also
22:36physiological reactions that we
22:38experience in our environment now those
22:41could be as a result of climate perhaps
22:45you know temperature
22:48humidity wind you know all other things
22:52that might influence us physically
22:56but you know architecture definitely has
22:58an
22:59impact on the way that we feel
23:03physically and so we do talk about that
23:06with determinism because not only is it
23:09affecting our um could our physical
23:13reactions affect our Behavior it could
23:16also affect um you know other things
23:20psychologically so it's really hard to
23:24separate um sometimes the physiological
23:27reaction retions or physical reactions
23:29we have to the built environment from
23:33the psychological reactions that we
23:38have one thing that we talk about when
23:40we're talking about physiological
23:43reactions is human comfort so human
23:48Comfort has a few different facets that
23:50we tend to look at in architecture one
23:53of them can be thermal human comfort and
23:56when we talk about thermal human Comfort
23:59it means kind of how hot or how cold you
24:02are but it's not just the temperature it
24:06has to do in
24:08this kind of uh depiction that we're
24:11seeing here has to do with the relative
24:15humidity of a building has to do with
24:18the air temperature in a room it could
24:20be the radiant temperature
24:23outside um you know is it a summer
24:26condition is it a winter condition
24:29and even if we say well the thermostat
24:31is set to a certain set temperature
24:34inside that doesn't mean that it's going
24:36to feel the same all the time if you're
24:39in
24:40a cold environment outside and you're
24:43coming into a certain temperature you
24:45might have different expectations than
24:46if it's a really hot summer day and you
24:49come into that same temperature it's
24:51actually going to feel different because
24:53your body is becoming accustomed to the
24:56season that it's in the relative
24:58humidity that's occurring
25:00outside perhaps the relative humidity
25:03that's occurring inside and
25:06so you know we look at all these things
25:09in relation to our thermal human Comfort
25:13also our physical reaction to the
25:16environment um you know that could do
25:18have to do with the person's size um the
25:22person's
25:24metabolism your uh weight your
25:28kind of physical reactions to things how
25:31hot or cold you tend to be um all the
25:34time and so human Comfort is definitely
25:39an issue that we look at um when we're
25:41designing environments and that really
25:44goes hand inand with psychological
25:47performance psychological states of
25:49people using the building especially
25:52when we're talking about things where a
25:54certain level of uh kind of achievement
25:58or performance is concerned you know we
26:00don't tend to focus on how we're
26:04performing in a building but there are
26:07expectations for human Comfort when
26:10we're performing a certain task
26:14so let's say we're in an office
26:16environment you know there are some
26:18expectations about how comfortable it
26:21will be physically and thermally so that
26:24people can do their work you know if
26:26people are too hot or too cold or
26:28they're sweating profusely or they feel
26:31sick they're not able to perform their
26:34work functions or they're not able to
26:36learn or they're not able to help other
26:39people with the task that they're
26:41supposed to do for their job and so
26:45there really are certain conditions that
26:47are optimal and
26:49also most of the time they're they're
26:52necessary for people to be able to feel
26:54comfortable enough to be able to
26:56function
26:58um now this goes for other environments
27:01too like retail environments you know
27:04people who own businesses know that if
27:06people are not physically and thermally
27:09comfortable they're not going to stay in
27:11that store and Shop they're not going to
27:13spend money at their business um you
27:15know they're trying to make it
27:18acoustically comfortable so that it's
27:20not too loud or you know that that's why
27:23they try and play Pleasant music you
27:26know even though not everybody likes
27:27that uh but they're trying to create an
27:32atmosphere both physically and
27:35psychologically that will be most um
27:38comfortable for people and most
27:40beneficial to them and most optimal for
27:43them to focus on other tasks so the idea
27:45is that you're taking the focus off of
27:50you know kind of that human survival
27:53Instinct um kind of that fight ORF
27:55flight instinct you don't want that to
27:58kick in every time you go into a
27:59building you want people to be
28:01comfortable and calm physically so that
28:04they can focus in on other
28:08tasks um anthropometry is something that
28:11we have discussed in previous lectures
28:15but it's basically the study of the
28:18measurement of the human body and the
28:21reason why we look at this in terms of
28:24behavior and um human comfort
28:28and Architectural determination is
28:31because if if our environment impacts
28:34our behavior and we're trying to achieve
28:39uh a certain positive outcome in terms
28:42of people's behavior then we want to
28:46design and tailor an an environment that
28:50is customized to humans right if if
28:53humans feel most comfortable physically
28:56um then then they're going to be able to
28:59perform the task that they need
29:01to and so we look at things like you
29:04know what are the measurements of
29:05average people sitting or standing or
29:09performing certain functions you know
29:11how far can people reach with their arms
29:14um but you know even that anthropometry
29:17is kind of a a biased study because
29:20you're saying well this is perhaps um
29:26what the IDE ideal measurements of a
29:29person are and that there just aren't
29:31ideal measurements you know people are
29:32all different shapes and sizes and um
29:35you know people have certain abilities
29:37or they might have certain
29:39disabilities um and so we need to keep
29:42that in mind so we don't go so far to
29:45one side and say well this is the kind
29:47of Ideal average person that probably
29:51doesn't exist but um you know we might
29:54favor a certain type of person and kind
29:57of disfavor others so we're trying to
30:00have a
30:01range of measurements that are
30:03comfortable for the most amount of
30:07people now ergonomics is related to
30:10anthropometry so if anthropometry is the
30:14measurement of humans and studying human
30:17measurement and um you know human reach
30:21and uh motion then ergonomics is talking
30:24about the design of a space that that is
30:27using anthropometry as its influence so
30:31we're we're talking about designing
30:32spaces that are um measured to human
30:36form that are measured to human scale
30:39and so you know like the image on the
30:41left if we're looking at um you know
30:45where to place light switches or how
30:48you're going to um interact with this
30:52countertop and the you know upper
30:55cabinets we want want to say okay we
30:58want it to be something that a person
31:00can reach um that if there are things
31:03that they're going to use all the time
31:05perhaps those are at IE level um we want
31:09the countertop to be at a height that
31:11it's comfortable to perform those
31:13functions so when you see like ergonomic
31:15chairs or ergonomic uh door handles or
31:20ergonomic computer keyboards it's things
31:22that are designed so that people are
31:24most comfortable to be able to use them
31:26so they're not having to strain
31:28themselves to um use those things and
31:32the image on the right when we look at
31:36where we're placing things like um you
31:39know this image basically says if you
31:41have something in a drawer and somebody
31:44doesn't have to crouch down and look
31:46then that is ergonomically more
31:48beneficial because you're not going to
31:50strain your knees every time you're not
31:52going to um have to kind of Crouch down
31:55and get on the floor basically and look
31:57to see what's on that shelf um so the
32:00thing on the right is not as ergonomic
32:02because um we're not uh designing
32:06something in a way that favors human
32:09motion or human measurements um and you
32:12can actually have the same thing so it's
32:15like if you put that bowl on the right
32:16hand side if you put that in a drawer
32:19you can see that perfectly well but you
32:22don't have to crouch down to do it you
32:24can put it it's basically like taking
32:26that shelf and letting it slide to you
32:29instead of you having to crouch down and
32:31look back and see what's on the
32:33Shelf um so you see quite a bit more of
32:36that in things like kitchen design
32:39office design bathroom design so that
32:42you're making it a bit easier for people
32:45to use a lot of times people are not
32:47even aware when they use these types of
32:49spaces why or how things are easier to
32:52use but um they might just say you know
32:55I really I really like using this uh set
32:58of drawers or something and you know
33:01they may not be aware that it's because
33:03it's probably a bit easier on them
33:04physically uh to to utilize that um you
33:09can perform functions more quickly you
33:11can find things more easily and so
33:14ergonomics uh takes those um the
33:17information that we get from
33:19anthropometry and incorporates that into
33:22the design of the
33:25space proximity is the study of
33:28nonverbal communication so it really has
33:32to do with personal space I mean that's
33:35kind of what it boils down to and it it
33:39has to do with you know how comfortable
33:41you are with people being in a certain
33:44proximity to you and this is one that is
33:48both physical and psychological because
33:51we can say well it's physical because
33:53you know if people are standing a
33:55certain distance from you then you know
33:58they fall into one of these kind of four
34:02categories but it's also psychological
34:04because this is definitely a cultural
34:08norm right this varies from culture to
34:10culture some cultures are uh more formal
34:14and they are not comfortable with close
34:17um physical proximity some cultures
34:21that's all they're about you know that
34:23that is um kind of a standard of the
34:26culture is that people um maybe they're
34:30in an urban environment even or that
34:33just culturally they talk closely to one
34:36another um and they're more comfortable
34:38with that so this varies widely from
34:41culture to culture but if we look at
34:43this kind of range of
34:46spacing um typically we're going to say
34:49that and this is kind of a North
34:51American Norm like uh when we're talking
34:55about uh how people are spaced out so if
34:58someone is within two feet of you it
35:01tends to be a more intimate uh
35:03relationship or an intimate form of
35:06communication and that's just nonverbal
35:08so kind of your body language is
35:10indicating uh that's that's a more
35:13intimate connection now between about 2
35:16feet and 4 feet that's what we would
35:20refer to as personal space or personal
35:24zone of contact and you know some that
35:27you're familiar with maybe you're
35:28friendly with um but you can you know
35:32talk to them and uh have a one-on-one
35:36conversation and then between about 4T
35:39away from the person to about 12T is a
35:42considered a social space
35:45where you know people are kind of moving
35:48around you you might say hello to
35:49someone but it's you're not having like
35:51a a personal conversation and then more
35:55than 12 feet away from you you know
35:57there might be people moving around but
35:59it's that tends to be a more public Zone
36:02um and so proximax is really the study
36:05of non-verbal communication as it deals
36:08with your personal space and the
36:11relationship of people as they're spaced
36:15either closer to you or farther away
36:17from
36:19you now proxemic um influences
36:23architecture in a few different ways um
36:27obviously it influences people
36:29psychologically because you know
36:31depending on how close or far away
36:34people are that kind of determines the
36:36relationship that you have
36:39interpersonally but if you are you know
36:43looking
36:44at for example American culture and we
36:47use kind of those four rings of the
36:49spacing then it determines your
36:52architectural boundaries and the spacing
36:54that you need around people's workspace
36:58their living
36:59spaces um you know how they eat um you
37:04know and just how they kind of move
37:05around and how much space you dedicate
37:07per
37:09person to specific functions and so if
37:12we look at this kind of uh plan
37:16diagram um in an office it really
37:20influences how you react with others so
37:23um the one on the top that would be
37:25considered a more open
37:28space meaning you know that person could
37:30slide out from their
37:32desk and they could be facing each other
37:35kind of knees to knees and not have
37:37anything between them um and so we tend
37:41to think of that as being more open some
37:43people are more comfortable with that a
37:45closed relationship would be if you have
37:47the your back to the person and you're
37:50not going to turn around um now
37:53interpersonally that's a bit weird
37:54because you're not making eye contact
37:57with somebody and conceivably you'd be
37:59wanting to talk to them um but any in
38:02any situation a closed relationship is
38:05one where there's not um that direct
38:08link or that direct
38:13contact if we look at the diagram on the
38:16bottom this is a more blocked
38:18relationship and you see this a lot
38:20actually in offices where um kind of the
38:23difference between the one in the top is
38:26that
38:27that you know you could conceivably move
38:30toward the person in the open
38:32relationship and um you know be face to
38:36face or kind of knees to knees with the
38:38person but the one on the
38:40bottom um is a more blocked relationship
38:44and you this would be even more
38:45pronounced if the person to the right
38:48were on the opposite side of the desk
38:50that would be a more blocked
38:51relationship now you see this a lot in
38:54offices because people might be more com
38:56comfortable being behind a desk and
38:58that's just like a psychological thing
39:00it makes them feel kind of more
39:03protected um this is really common
39:05especially if you have people come into
39:07your office all the time that you don't
39:08know um having the desk Between You is
39:13kind of a psychological and physical
39:16barrier um but it's all influenced by
39:20proxic so like what you're comfortable
39:22with what's culturally acceptable what's
39:24acceptable for that job or your
39:28possession um and so we study this as a
39:31means of determining how big or how
39:34small to make things how big or how
39:36small to make certain
39:40spaces um corporate reality this is just
39:43the idea that we have a physical world
39:47and these are a series of photographs
39:50that somebody took of people getting wet
39:53and kind of experiencing that so it just
39:56means that the idea that we don't live
40:00in a virtual world like in architecture
40:03a lot of times we'll make these um
40:06digital models or these computer
40:08renderings and you know they can look
40:12beautiful but we are making physical
40:16buildings for people to inhabit and so
40:19we can't lose sight of the fact that um
40:22we still have a tangible world that has
40:25you know uh weather and thermal
40:29conditions and physical and
40:31psychological conditions and so Corporal
40:33reality just says um that people have
40:38bodies and we need
40:40to um have something that is always
40:45reminding us that we live in a real
40:47physical world and so it's kind of the
40:50study of the human body and um you know
40:56as it deals with architecture
40:58maintaining the idea that that we have
41:00physical conditions that need to be
41:04addressed

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