Environmental determinism, critical period, Environmental determinism: physical environment has a direct effect on human health or behavior Individuals

ls reactions are not influenced by what people think about the environment. The meaning or symbolism of the environment does not affect human response Plasticity and Critical period: some aspects of human responses are plastic, malleable with respect to environmental influences. The degree of plasticity often varies as a function of particular time periods during development. These critical periods may differ across species and often vary with different environmental dimensions. Cognitive appraisal Human relations to the environment are influenced by the meaning and symbolism of the object or setting. Individual differences in culture, gender, ethnicity, personality, or experience (history), can profoundly alter human responses to a particular environment because they alter cognitive appraisal. Wiki: personal interpretation of a situation, how an individual views a situation. It determines if an event will be perceived as stressful. Dual heritageHuman evolution: biological, sociocultural Manifest vs. latent function Manifest function: Identified properties, purpose, objective function, explicit meanings. Wiki: any function of an institution or other social phenomenon that is planned and intentional. Latent function: symbolic, sociocultural meanings, values, implicit meanings. Wiki: any function of an institution or other social phenomenon that is unintentional and often unrecognized. Manifest function of home Shelter, protection (protect from weather, outside danger); social interaction (with family members); Latent function of home HER process, Homeyness Homeyness (in course packet) Physical, design attributes, religion, gender, culture (examples for each category) Diminutive: not too big, coziness? Variable: personal stuff laying around, making space more personal Embracing: ? Engaging: welcoming Mnemonic: ? Aesthetic:

Homeyness and Cognitive Appraisal A house becomes a home because of cognitive appraisal. Various physical forms are symbolic and trigger feelings of familiarity, identity, or place attachment. The manifest functions make it a house, a shelter. The latent functions render our home. HER process (Human Environment Relation process) Environmental stimulation (stimulation levels) Homeyness Personal space: personal space bubbles, proximity with others. Contact animal, noncontact animal (Sommer, Spatial invasion), experiment in disc, difference between cultures, gender, etc. Interpersonal distance (IPD). Personal space theory: stress, stimulation/information overload, intimacy equilibrium (need more) Stimulus overload the amount of information/stimulation is too much for a person when at a close person distance. Equilibrium theory we regulate/balance intimacy, one such mechanism is through the use of interpersonal distance. Other mechanisms include eye contact or body posture. Territoriality Human territory types Primary Secondary (group) Public Research: Marking, group relationships, dominance, culture, design and physical environment o Dominance: Home court advantage (sports) o Culture: Traditional Shi He Yuan (multiple gates within the house) Privacy Privacy as an optimization process: balancing between desired social interaction and achieved social interaction, regulating social interaction. Crowing: Desired social interaction < Achieved social interaction Loneliness: Desired social interaction > Achieved social interaction Research: age, culture, design Age: Young (alone), teenage (get out), 13< (information Culture: Visual privacy (in some indigenous culture, Iben?) Defensible Space Crime is not random, criminals are rational Physical elements and crime: lack of territory (tall buildings), poor surveillance Absence of secondary territory: tall buildings

Social Illegibility: dont know who belongs where; size of the building, entrance (bigger building should have more than one entrance) Parental Control: tall buildings, parents have less control Adjacent land use: construction sites, abandoned buildings Ambience of Caring/Incivilities: the broken window hypothesis, vandalism (more graffiti, less caring Concealment and Surveillance: high concealment, low surveillance high crime, low concealment, high surveillance low crime Application: crime prevention through design, POE & programming, college dorms Design to reduce crime: not a panacea, crime can re-locate, obviously many other factors such as poverty, drugs, age and gender influence crime POE (post occupancy evaluation): Evaluating satisfaction of user needs in a setting. How big is the gap between designer and user? Architectural programming: determination of the performance requirements of the setting. What is the space supposed to do (functions)? User goals and needs: how is the space used and what role does it play in user needs? One user or many: are there subgroups of users with variable needs and concerns? Design as a Process:

User-Designer gap Example: Brazils capital Brasilia and lack of street life Preference ratings of designers and laypersons differ greatly Determinism vs. cognitive appraisal Equilibrium theory vs. stimulus overload theory Spatial hierarchy POE