Introduction
There is a general agreement among psychologists on the effect of architecture on environment, where this means the human behaviour. People tend to react differently depending on their space and their values, beliefs and attitudes. Using these variables, human behaviour can be predicted using certain designs of buildings. The essay also discusses on the importance of architectural development supporting sustainable development. This paper also discusses how different factors, such as spaces, in a building affect the psyche of human beings and how architects and designs can use this to their advantage to design buildings that are more inhabitable.
Effects of physical structure on human behaviour
Environment has often been associated with behaviour that is exhibited with the humans. Psychologistsand sociologists believe that environmentcontains human stressors that bode the kind the behaviour that will be displayed by people. The position of a person in the society will often determine the level of exposure to these stressors such as poverty, unemployment, social class and racism. Thus, different people will also be exposed to different population density, toxic chemicals, pollution and heat. According to Savall and Zardet, human efficiency is influenced by the kind of structures in their surroundings. As such, people that are exposed to excessive structures from physical structures, they tend to fall ill more often, are less efficient in their duties, have more mental fatigue and are more prone to accidents.
How designs influence human behaviour
On the other hand, the designs of architectural designs have influence of humans on how they perceive the space in which they occupy. The interior design of buildings should be such that people are not restricted to move about. Depending on the age of different people, architecture can influence on the way in which people feel and react, thereby influencing their behaviour.
How spaces influence human behaviour
One of the ways in which architecture influences human is through space. Where elderly people are encouraged to move about within the building, they develop a sense of independency and confident (Moore, 1971pg, 1). Generally where there is space within the building, people tend to feel stronger and control as opposed to where their movements are restricted (Psychology Musings).
On other hand, crowded spaces tend to arouse a feeling of pressure and a tendency to avoid social gatherings. Nagar (2006, pg. 126) noted that people that lived in crowded spaces lacked control and they were unlikely to ask for support even if they needed one. This is opposed to those that live in spacious placed who were likely to associate with their peers. Crowding only increases physiological arousaland aggression.
How architects use designs to make buildings more conducive
The author adds that architecture can influence the physical, intellectual and social aspects of growth in beings. This has implication to the designers and architects to design buildings that are conducive to its inhabitants. Nagar (2006) noted that in design, architects consider other factors such as culture, socio-economic backgrounds to ensure there must be congruency between the needs of the users and what the environment of the buildings provides. Any diversion of this would result in stress and a change in behaviour of the users.
Given this close relationship, there is a general understanding that environment can be used to control behaviour. Given this understanding, then buildings can be modified in a way that influence behaviour in a certain way or create a diversion from a given. This is because people’s behaviour is consistent with their “beliefs, values and attitudes” (Centerline, 2010).
According to (Centerline, 2010), attitudes are not a good predictor of behaviour although some people will be influenced to behave in a certain way basing on the environment they are placed in. this can include motivations to save energy, etc. Although some people may hold attitudes towards certain concepts such as environmentalism, they may still gadgets that are not inefficient in their homes. Hence, attitudes may not predict behaviour accurately.
Buildings have patterns and that influence human behaviour. In the activity node, the end of “putting people in a concentrations in a community”, buildings are designed by placing buildings to have facilities placed around small public squares. Main gateways in UK have their boundaries have an important human meaning marked so as to influence people to identify it as it correctly (Lockton) . These and other strategies are used to influence people to behave in a certain way.
Importance of architectural development supporting sustainable development
Buildings can be structured in a manner that promotes environmental sustainability. This is through designing buildings that do not encourage increased production of greenhouse gases to the atmosphere. Architecture development can be used to design structures that let in more of sunlight rather than using electricity that is generated using fossil fuels. Fossil fuels are known to be non-renewable energy sources that produce noxious gases to the atmosphere. The general idea is to have buildings that have very minimal adverse effects on the environment as possible. According to Architecture Student Chronicles,some of the features that sustainable buildings should have are ability to harvest all water, improve the wellbeing of occupants of the buildings, encourage use of natural light as much as possible and generate less or no waste at all. Sustainable buildings can hence be used to promote environmental sustainability if architects plan their designs with this goal in mind.
Conclusion
The link between physical structures and human behaviour has been known for long and modern buildings are designed with the occupants in mind. This is because people have different attitudes, values and beliefs which can be used to control and predict behaviour. Importance in designing of buildings also extends to the environmental sustainability where buildings are constructed to encourage more natural environment, less release of toxic wastes and efficient use of available resources.
References
Ashford, J B, LeCroy, C W &Lotie, K L (2009) Human Behavior in the Social Environment:
A Multidimensional Perspective, New York Cengage Learning
Centreline, 2010 Behaviour and Buildings, http://www.cbe.berkeley.edu/centerline/summer2010.pdf
Lockton, D (nd) Design with intent, retrieved on 19 November from,
http://architectures.danlockton.co.uk/2011/09/12/architecture-urbanism-design-and-behaviour-a-brief-review/
Moore, G T (1971) Architecture and Human behaviour: The place of environment-behaviour studies, The UWM Magazine, Vol. 5 Wh9ile No. 3 pg. pg. 18-22,
http://sydney.edu.au/architecture/documents/staff/garymoore/28.pdf
Nagar, D (2006) Environmental psychology, New Delhi: Concept Publishing
Psychological Musings, Architecture and the environment, http://psychological-musings.blogspot.com/2011/08/architecture-and-environment.html
Savall, H &Zardet, V R (2010) TheQualimetrics Approach: Observing the Complex Object (Hc), IAP
