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Name: Sensory Design by Joy Monice Malnar and Frank Vodvarka
URL: Sensory Design
Purpose: to explain in-depth and clearly how humans interact and perceive architectural design
THIS BOOK IS MUCH NEEDED IN OUR DISCIPLINE
Sensory Design is a book to really make you, as an architect, more aware of how your designs impact people. Taking and in-depth look at how humans perceive space and built form, Sensory Design is really quite a remarkable publication.
Written by Joy Monice Malnar and Frank Vodvarka, every page is filled with insight that will help you to become a better designer. Their unique way of presenting diagrams, illustrations and photographs really help to make an otherwise complex topic easy to understand.
Many of you, my readers, email me looking for a good resource on the topic of human perception and architectural design. Very often, I find myself recommending this book. In fact, there are very few books that seriously delve into the topic of sensory perception and design in such a detailed fashion. It brings modern day practice together with historical trends and then it ties theories together with findings about the brain to really help designers understand why certain design decision might work and why some might not.
Again, Sensory Design is a great find as it is much needed in the architectural discipline.
WRITTEN FOR A DESIGNER — ABOUT THE HUMAN PERCEPTUAL PROCESS
As you’ve probably heard me say before, the topic which this book covers is very important for architects and other designers to understand. Plus, I like that the authors go an extra step further by explaining human perception from a designer’s stand-point.
I think it best to show you what I’m talking about. Here is an excerpt that I particularly like: Read more
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Image: Norebbo | Dreamstime
We all know that computer technology has done a lot to advance not only the way the design process can work, but also to improve the constructed outcome of that design process.
That’s why I think it’s important to shed some light on what “aural renderings” can do. (1) You, as an architect, can actually listen to a designed space as built to the parameters of your three dimensional CAD model. Here is a detailed description of the process that goes into creating such an aural rendering: Read more
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Image: Dejanj01 | Dreamstime
This article is the third article in a three part series. To read the first and second article in the series, please click on the links below:
- Previous Article: Designing Architecture for a Sense of Building Safety — Part 1
- Previous Article: Keeping Your Occupants Safe by Building Community — Part 2
THE MANY TYPES OF FEAR
There are so many places where just approaching a building can cause fear, simply because of the institution type. Take hospitals, for instance. Patients like to feel safe and that they’re getting the best treatment; however, factors like medical technologies that beep and buzz make sounds that can sometimes cause patients to feel fear during their recovery process.
That is one type of fear, but there are others. What about hotel security? For that matter, what about office buildings located in urban settings where their mere locations can pose a threat to occupants.
A building can be wonderful inside, but the way it meets its surrounding site and interacts with its surrounding neighbors can work wonders when trying to turn fear into feelings of safety for occupants.
THE IMPORTANCE OF YOUR LANDSCAPE
Actually, simple things can make a big difference. For instance, for apartment complexes you might want to pay particular attention to the height of bushes and the location of the garbage dumpster. It is found that persons “up to no-good” can hide behind or within such nooks.
Another simple thing you can do is to pay attention to how you Read more
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As you design architecture, it is important to consider your occupant’s memory. You should consider not only what your occupants remember, but also how they remember.
Why?
Just after experiencing your building design, your occupant will be full of a large portion of the information they just absorbed. The memory of walking through your design will be fresh in their mind and the nuances about their experience will be easy to recall. But, what do you want them to remember about their experience? Do you have any control over what they remember as a great moment? Do you want to have a say?
HOW OCCUPANTS REMEMBER
When your occupant processes an architectural “scene”, they actually dismiss a lot that they don’t think is important…. In the video below you will watch a scholar from Princeton University further explain that the brain uses processes (like shortcuts) to help people Read more
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Image: andyj682 | Flickr
WHEN THE HUMAN EYE BLINKS…
Did you know that the second most complex organ in your body after your brain is your eye? (1) The human eye contains many processes all working together to help you perceive visual queues in a continuous way. However, when foreign matter or heightened stimuli (like loud sounds or bright lights) occur, a blinking reflex is activated — and usually when one eye blinks the other follows.
GEOFF MANAUGH ON “BLINKSPOTS”
In a thought-provoking post entitled Architecture of the Blink, some interesting questions surface regarding how blinking might affect our perception of architectural design. In this article, Geoff Manaugh explores “blinkspots” — moments or spaces where blinking shuts down our awareness of less important details.
This got me thinking…
DO YOU WANT A “SECOND LOOK”?
When architecture is more “interactive”, with more moving and/or flashing elements, does that mean occupants will Read more
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Image: LiTraCon Bricks by es0teric
Have you heard about translucent or ductal concrete?
Here’s the latest on concrete materials…
Kinder, Stronger Concrete
It’s not just opaque anymore. Glass fibers can be added to the mix, for fortification and translucency. That’s just one of the innovations in the cement-mortar marriage. Another one is Ductal concrete, designed to be 6 to 8 times more resistant to abrasion, pollution and scratching than its conventional cousin. How do engineers do it? Ductal concrete contains metal fibers that make it ductile, or transformable. Those fibers give the tough stuff more give, making it flexible and stronger. Its manufacturer, Lafarge, says Ductal concrete (also known as ultra-high performance, fiber-reinforced concrete) can stand up to bending and breaking far better than traditional concrete because it has 5 to 10 times the compressive strength of conventional concrete, without any added weight. (1)
Although traditional concrete is used rather successfully in some designs, these advances involving concrete materials will allow for some creative design solutions. Concrete gaining light, strength and flexibility should bring about a few changes — perhaps architects will find some renewed ways for concrete to feed the senses.
(1) Silver, Laura. Hot to Trot. Popular Science. February 24, 2009.
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How can you use what is known about design and emotion to better your building projects? To give you a better idea of how emotion is integral to design, you should watch the following video. Many of the concepts will ring true for building design and other forms of creative thinking. Watch for the three emotional cues that most designs should achieve to be successful.
You can read more about Don Norman here: http://www.ted.com/speakers/don_norman.html
WHY DO GOOD DESIGNS WORK?
Emotion is an integral part of any design and to understand why Read more
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The Pantheon | Image: Frankix | Dreamstime
FOCAL POINTS HELP OCCUPANTS MAKE DECISIONS
There are so many details that come together to make a wonderful architectural design; but what gets the most visual attention when someone sees a work of architecture? How does visual attention play into an occupant’s experience? The key is to understand that attention is a gradual process of adaptation where what gets our attention in the first moment may not get our attention moments later. Let me explain…
“Attention dynamically routes relevant information to decision-making areas in the brain and suppresses the surrounding center.” (1)
In other words, we are wired to visually find focal points that Read more
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Image: Darrenw | Dreamstime
HOW ARCHITECTURE INFLUENCES YOUR BEHAVIOR
The architecture which surrounds you influences your thought, and subsequently your behavior. Understanding this relationship between the environment and your mind is important – particularly if you are a designer of such environments. Your brain is not only hard-wired to interpret certain spatial characteristics in certain ways, but your mind also plays a role in how you make decisions based on those interpretations. All in all, architecture is a type of “food for thought” where your designed surroundings impact not only how you perceive that world, but also how you interact within it.
In Scientific American Mind’s most recent issue, an article by Emily Athens called “Building Around the Mind” highlights various architectural factors that influence the human mind. As described in the article Read more
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Image: Kuco | Dreamstime
All too often, architectural designs rely more heavily on just one primary sense – the visual one. The other senses are unfortunately frequently neglected. This is unfortunate since it is through the senses that architecture can have profound effect. For instance, architectural building can more truly relate to the surrounding culture through all of the senses. Addressing historic, traditional or present-day cultural patterns can make a work of architecture a success when the senses are not ignored.
The architect must act as a composer that orchestrates space into a synchronization for function and beauty through the senses – and how the human body engages space is of prime importance. As the human body moves, sees, smells, touches, hears and even tastes within a space – the architecture comes to life.
The rhythm of an architecture can be felt by occupants as a result of the architect’s composition – or arrangement of all the sensorial qualities of space. By arranging spatial sensorial features, an architect can lead occupants through the functional and aesthetic rhythms of a created place. Architectural building for all the senses can serve to move occupants – elevating their experience.
Architectural space is about layering for all of the senses. Like a musical composition, spatial features come together into a symphony for occupants to experience. Bringing a space to life means that architectural function and form is not just primarily for the visual sense. By engaging all of the senses, form and function may be more fully expressed so occupants can have deeper, more meaningful moments – feeling the bouquet of their surroundings in all of its dimensions.
