Design Of Physical Environment Research Articles

An empirical study of the effects of the design of the display galleries of an art gallery on the movement of visitors

Overview During this exploratory research, undertaken at a Canadian art gallery, the present authors studied the relationship between the movement of visitors and the effects attributable to the design of its display galleries. These data were gathered from a sample of 60 visitors to this art gallery when exhibiting contemporary abstract works of art. Two experimental situations were created whereby the flow of traffic was reversed for one half of the sample. The analysis of these data was undertaken from qualitative observations made by the researchers and from the sketches made then on a plan of the art gallery of the pathways followed by the subjects. The results tend to show that the design of the physical environment, and its architectural characteristics, have a significant influence on the movement of visitors.

From Census Tract to Neighborhood Planning

In recent years, applied anthropologists in urban research have begun to focus attention upon the process of urban planning. Traditionally, urban planners in the United States were drawn from architecture, engineering, and geography. These planners were primarily concerned with the physical environment, land use, and architectural design. A problem with their planning policies was that they reflected planners' strong physical interests and seemingly neglected to consider the human society for which planning was being done. In recognition of this problem, the applied anthropologists can make a significant contribution to the evaluation and development of more comprehensive, humanistic planning policies. The socio-cultural perspective of the anthropologists complements that of the "physical" planners. Furthermore, applied anthropology concepts and methodology, which facilitate direct observation of a population within its environment, function to articulate the social with the physical elements of a plan. In doing so, human behavior patterns and felt needs can be related to the physical environment, land use, and architectural design and can thus improve the overall quality of urban planning.

Privacy Regulation in Small and Large Groups

The contrasting interaction potentials of commonly used seating ar rangements for small and large group meetings are discussed from the vantage point of contemporary definitions of privacy, which define pri vacy as the right individuals have to control what information about themselves should or should not be communicated to others and under what circumstances. Privacy is further defined as a functional aspect of the design of physical environments. Research is reviewed to show that seat location is associated with verbal interaction rates and visual acces sibility among and between group members and leaders. Furthermore, it is argued that group members' seating choices may be manifestations of coping behavior and privacy regulation and that it might be appropriate, therefore, to design and test seating layouts that allow individual users self-selected options for involvement or withdrawal. A seating arrange ment that provides these options is suggested along with some pos sibilities for enhancing privacy regulation by individuals. The paper concludes with the suggestion that user-initiated interventions into the design of physical environments can follow awareness of the dynamics of these environments.