Featured Image Takeaway Design Strategy:

The image above of The Palais Des Congres De Montreal shows how the selection of an architectural material (colored glass exterior panels) can have numerous effects that reach well into the realm of providing for a unique and positive occupant experience. As you select materials for your built space, think of more than simply how it will sit in its static position within the architecture. Think of its transient properties — created when light passes through, when occupants walk by, when the exterior temperature changes, or when the material can morph kinetically. These are just a few examples, but really the possibilities are almost endless. Then, be sure to factor the effects of the material’s behavior upon your future building occupants. After all, some materials like glass can have positive or negative effects, depending on how they are used. The main idea is to explore your materials thoroughly during your design process — to capture both their static and transient qualities for improved occupant experience.

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Image: MAZZALIARMADI.IT |Flickr

Working memory is a part of everyone’s life. That is, it is the combination of the processes that go on during focused attention. Until now, it has been thought that such working memory is really limited to only one focused task, but now there is a theory that working memory is really a sum total of different processes that go on to accomplish tasks. (1)

For instance, say you’re involved in focused attention to get ready for a presentation. Well, the tasks that you are involved with to finish your presentation may be numerous, and may vary widely in terms of the type of work that needs to be done. Reading is a different task from building a design model, for instance. And when you engage with the task of Read more

Today’s article targets getting you to think about environment and memory, particularly for the aging population. As you design buildings within which the aging live, do you take time within your design process to think about solutions that will help them with their “aging” brains — thus, assisting them with certain aspects of their lifestyle, like suddden confusion, a missplacing of the keys, or other distracted behaviors?

You have often heard me speak about narrative, and this is because it is an important tool for you as a designer to use in order to pick up on the nuances that make up the daily lives of your building occupants. By better understanding your occupant’s “story”, you are better able to design appropriate solutions that will make for maximum positive benefit in their lives.

And for the aging, an environment can make a positive difference when it is better Read more

Featured Image Takeaway Design Strategy:

Have you ever thought about a building skin being used to broadcast real-time information? Perhaps it doesn’t have to be a direct broadcast, but rather an interpretation of information — a sort of architectural information visualization. The image above is simply to get you thinking about the exterior of your building skin, as an element which can pull or push data. Such data can be conveyed to occupants within or to building visitors in the exterior, or even perhaps to a surrounding community that can see or hear this broadcast. If you could do this for your project, what type of information would you want to broadcast? What type of information would you want to translate through your design? And how would you hope that it impacts your occupants and surrounding culture?

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Image: tr.robinson | Flickr

So often, as an architect, attention is paid to the visual senses as masses, materiality, and even lighting are carefully chosen for a particular design vision. But how do you as an architect target more intangible things, like building air quality?

I read an article recently that describes one way to track patterns of building air quality changes within a room. You see, by using a sensor-embedded Roomba, researchers were able to “map” any detrimental changes in a room’s air quality as the Roomba traveled about its path. So, the next question becomes — what to do with such a map?

First, I would say that air quality within an environment is quite important. And by understanding more about the quality of air within a room’s design, you may be able to spot leaks,off-gasing, or even toxins that invisibly impact your occupant’s health. While using the Roomba is a novel idea, it does invite one to think about Read more

Featured Image Takeaway Design Strategy:

Be sure to think more holistically about what your building skin can accomplish. The building skin in the photo above helps to absorb traffic noise, and is also said to change perceptually as a visitor moves around the building. (1) So, what perceptual advantages does the design of your building skin give your occupants? While temperature control or amazing interior to exterior vistas are wonderful occupant benefits, how else can you use your building skin to shape your occupants’ experiences for the better?

Image Description Citation: (1) http://www.flickr.com/photos/7539060@N06/4819922319/

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There is a principle when it comes to systems optimization which says that if one part of the system is broken, you should look at the part just before it — because it is likely that that is where the problem really originates from. And to me, this principle can be carried through into architecture as you begin to look at how an occupant travels through built forms, from space to space, or from room to room. I think of course that the design of the grand featured and climactic gesture within an architecture is of paramount importance, but I also think that the transition which leads occupants into and from that featured space is of extremely high importance as well. With a transitional space within architecture, you have the power to “set up” an occupant impression. You can give them hints about what is to come, or you can minimize what awaits them to ultimately give them a grand surprise. Similarly, as an occupant exits a main and grand featured architectural space, a transition can help them to synthesize what they have experienced, as they form their last memories and impressions that they will carry with them once exited. Transitions can occur in the exterior and the interior, and within what is between the two. The key is to think about transition as a means of preparation for what is next, or synthesis of what has come. Because your occupants will always be taking next steps as they experience your building, those transitions will help them to synthesize what they are experiencing, while also preparing them for the desirable reaction which you as a designer hope for.

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Boundary within building design involves factors like layering, filtering, and opening or closing. It is a way for you as an architect to communicate to your occupants about where they were, where they are, and where they are going. While boundaries do define, they also reveal — by allowing different entities or spaces to communicate with each other through your buildings occupants’ perceptions. The way your boundary is handled during building design will likely determine how your occupant travels through it, their ability to create a mental map to form memories of the place, and their ability to communicate with their environment, each other, and the exterior world around them. So think of boundary as more than a line which separates two entities — also think of it as a bridge by which those two entities can interrelate. And the way you design your boundaries determine exactly how those two entities interrelate — ultimately impacting how your occupants think, feel, and behave.

Featured Image Takeaway Design Strategy:

There are many aspects within architecture that designers currently take for granted simply because they have been done the same way for so long. While there is reason and need to meet proper building codes and other regulations, I still do think it is good for a design to question even those aspects which seem to not need questioning. Take for instance Carlo Scarpa’s stair, where his design redefines how one might think of and use a stair — where each step, left and right, moves you upward along its path. When encountering such an innovation in design, just imagine what your occupants might think and feel as they travel through. For instance, is such a Scarpa stair preparing them as an entrance would? Or could it be an exit from a memorable building experience? The main idea is to challenge the assumptions which you take for granted, to not always let yourself settle into that “default” way of thinking, and to open up opportunities for you to explore ways in which to enrich your occupants’ experiences as they journey through your building.

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Variation in building design can contribute a lot toward achieving a harmonic design balance. Unified designs often celebrate differences as much as they celebrate sameness, and it is the interaction between the two that may yield a simple complexity. Be aware that your variation does not turn into complication — but instead celebrates needed and essential differences that contribute to the strength of your building design works. Additionally, variation gives way to hierarchy and structure, both of which help in stripping away its unnecessary complications. The key is to tap into the core of your design, where you remove the unessential to reveal what is most meaningful, simply and beautifully. So use the notion of variation to determine, if within your work, what is complex has given way to what is complicated. If it has, delve into reaching into the essence and core of your design by studying its variations— for I think that they will reveal the essential differences and samenesses that will make your work something meaningful to experience.