Image: Borya | Flickr

We all have similar urban spaces that we don’t like to hang around. Train stations, bus stations and just outside retail stores after hours. I’m sure when you have to pass through these places, you like to move quickly. And why is this? This is probably because it isn’t so safe.

So, what does this have to do with architectural design?

THE AFTER-HOURS BUILDING “PULSE”

The next time you are involved in a design for these types of places, you really should consider what goes on there after hours. You should design for what you would like to encourage during those off peak times. Your lighting, acoustics, material selection, window placements and site design all play a part.

As you design, don’t forget that your building occupant’s needs may be different at night compared to the day. Often, built environments need a pulse after hours and you, as the architect, play a role in making sure that whatever that “pulse” is yields an architecture that is pleasant and safe.

AN EXAMPLE: CLASSICAL MUSIC WARDS OFF CRIME

In many subway stations and bus stations there are often loiterers that disrupt the public, bring down the social climate of a place, vandalize the built structures or even engage in crime. In one project, decision-makers came up with a win-win solution that drove away delinquent behavior and improved passenger comfort and mood. This is what they did…

• Through a sound system authorities played classical music for all to hear.

It seems that Mozart does not go hand-in-hand with delinquent behavior and unwanted loitering activities. Additionally, hearing this type of music often helps passengers feel safe and even serves to put them in a good mood.

TAPPING INTO THE BRAIN

In the article entitled Businesses Using Music to Deter Crime and Loitering, neurologists explain why certain types of music can have these effects. You see, for those that like classical music, dopamine is released in the brain and that creates a happier and more pleasurable mood – as if your body is being rewarded. On the other hand, for those that don’t like classical music, dopamine is inhibited and that dampens a person’s mood – causing them to get away from the music.

7 KEY QUESTIONS TO HELP YOU DESIGN CONSCIOUSLY

As you design, try asking yourself the following 7 questions. It is important to think of each question in terms of “off-peak hours”. The key is to think of answers that will help you design consciously for your building’s off-peak times.

1. What design ideas might give my building an appropriate “pulse” during off-peak times?
2. What occupant behaviors should my design foster to promote safety?
3. How can my building help the community, even while it is not in use?
4. Within my design, what human senses can I tap into during off-peak hours?
5. What community problems and social needs can my design help with?
6. Do I need to deter people or bring them closer during off-peak times?
7. What human activities, both intended and unintended, will my design invite?

For instance, buildings that completely shut down during the night often have to enforce security. Similarly, buildings that are completely open during the night often attract some unwanted people that engage in unwanted behaviors.

As an architect, you should find the right balance so your design is pleasant, safe and positively adds to its surrounding environment.

PLEASE TELL ME WHAT YOU THINK

I would really like to get your feedback on my post today, so please leave me a comment in the form below. And if you enjoyed it, make sure you share it with your Twitter followers by “tweeting” it using the re-tweet button on this page.

© 2008-2011 Sensing Architecture by Maria Lorena Lehman

Image: Erdosain | Dreamstime

This article is the second article in a three part series. To read the first article in the series, please click on the link below:

• Previous Article: Designing Architecture for a Sense of Building Safety — Part 1

SAFETY INSIDE AND OUT

In my previous article entitled Designing Architecture for a Sense of Safety — Part 1, I explained why the “context” surrounding your building is so important. This led to my discussing “The Big Question” that cuts to the heart of what your building is truly promoting — fortress-like protection or a shelter that also provides a sense of safety which spreads into the surrounding community.

It is so important to provide your visitors with a sense of safety through your architectural designs. Of course, the way you go about doing this can take different forms, but there are some overriding principles that can help your building to foster these feelings of safety. This involves building an environment which promotes trust by building community. (1)

IN AN IDEAL WORLD

Many buildings today, depending on their surroundings and context, seek to have a presence which is unique, safe and extends out into the community.

Yet, in some places around the world, crime is rising to a point that is “forcing” designers to turn their built environments inward, to shut their occupants out from their surroundings. Yes, this is a form of protection, but does it really provide occupants with feelings of safety? And is this “gated-type” approach truly helping the overall problem? (1)

In an ideal world, buildings should foster both security and community. So, in a crime-ridden world, this becomes a major first step for architects to contribute to a solution.

HOW CAN BUILDING A COMMUNITY HELP?

The example talked about in the radio broadcast entitled Earthbeat: Safety in Cities and the Architecture of Fear, painted the picture of how the Borneo-Sporenburg Project in Amsterdam dealt with issues of safety.

The most powerful message from this radio discussion is the notion that sometimes it’s beneficial to design outward facing entrances. The beauty of this project’s design is that all of the homes’ doors face outward onto sidewalks which also face a larger green-scape. (1)

The result is that homeowners plant flowers to line the sidewalks and children play within the green-scape. Consequently, neighbors act as natural surveillance while streets gain much needed life full of purposeful interactions. (1)

A lot can be learned from such a project. In particular, the way your building communicates with its context is key. Your building can be designed to feel safe inside as well as outside. Strive to make the immediate surroundings lively, interactive and enjoyable. This sort of designing will build “trust amongst strangers”. (1)

FEELINGS OF FEAR

Too much security can actually cause feelings of fear. The author Anna Milton says it best when she states “The more security they have the more security they want.” (1)

In the next article you will lean more about how to reduce feelings of fear for your occupants when they’re interacting with your building design. It is a delicate balance to build safety while reducing fear. Hospitals, hotels and office buildings are only a few examples that bring home this point.

READ THE REST OF THIS ARTICLE SERIES:

• Previous Article: Designing Architecture for a Sense of Building Safety — Part 1
• Next Article: Buildings that Cause Occupants to Feel Fear — Part 3

(1) Earthbeat – Safety in cities and the architecture of fear. RNW – Radio Netherlands Worldwide. On Air: September 17-19, 2009.

© 2008-2011 Sensing Architecture by Maria Lorena Lehman

Image: Nikolais | Dreamstime

IT’S WHAT YOU WANT

Everyone wants a safe(r) place to live, to work and to do everything in between. I’m sure you’re no different.

So how does architecture contribute to safety? And what is its connection with a person’s sense of safety? What role does architectural design play?

Safety is a really important part of what architecture can do. In buildings, your occupant should feel not only healthy and comfortable, but also safe.

That’s why I’m writing this article as the first of a three part series dedicated to architecture and safety.

LOOK AROUND

A good place to start with this complex topic is what I call the “surrounding area”. Your building’s site resides within a certain context: whether it be a neighborhood, urban city or other surrounding. As a designer you should understand the safety climate and design accordingly.

But how do you do that?

Well, what goes on outside, can be carried inside. This can be either good or bad. That’s why your building’s surrounding area is so important.

The way your architecture communicates through its exterior environment may call for you to ask specific questions regarding its shared exterior spaces, green-spaces, site plan, traffic patterns and so on.

Of course, as an architect you also need to be concerned with your occupant’s safety by designing with water, fire, barrier and accidents in mind. (1) But there is a core question which cuts to the heart of why your building might or might not illicit a sense of safety from the moment your visitors approach your building.

THE BIG QUESTION

It’s all about Community. I just heard this great radio broadcast from Radio Netherlands Worldwide where the author Anna Milton discusses this exact point. She explains that people don’t just feel safer because they have locks on their doors; but, that people feel safer in environments that foster and promote “trust between strangers”. (2)

Milton’s remarks lead to the big question: Does your architecture evoke feelings of safety because it shelters its occupants from the rest of the surrounding area, or does your architecture evoke feelings of safety because it is an environment that is designed to foster trust? (2)

In other words, when you design your building, is it to be an “island” that shuts out the rest of the crime-ridden surrounding area — driving people to isolate themselves from the rest of the community?

Of course, architecture needs to shelter its occupants to some extent; but doing this too much may actually be contributing to the crime problem, and your occupant’s sense of fear.

HOW TO BUILD FOR A SENSE OF SAFETY

In the next article, Part 2, you will learn how to design to foster safety without going to such extremes. Your designs will balance the best of both worlds, where you provide shelter and refuge for your occupants while also giving them a way to connect with their local surroundings.

By bringing safety through your design to the surrounding community, you will help not only your occupants inside, but also the crime-ridden neighboring areas — two steps toward helping to solve the problem.

TO FINISH THIS ARTICLE SERIES, READ:

• Next Article: Keeping Your Occupants Safe by Building Community — Part 2
• Next Article: Buildings that Cause Occupants to Feel Fear — Part 3

(1) Objectives of Architecture. Archi-field. June 19.2008.

(2) Earthbeat – Safety in cities and the architecture of fear. RNW – Radio Netherlands Worldwide. On Air: September 17-19, 2009.

© 2008-2011 Sensing Architecture by Maria Lorena Lehman