1# ARCHITECTURAL

PSYCHOLOGY: The
Influence of Architecture
on our Psyche
Or: “How you can kill a human with an
apartment just as well as with an axe.”
(Heinrich Zille)

MargareteFollow
May 31, 2018

Photo by Razvan Chisu on Unsplash

We spend 80–90% of our lives indoors,
surrounded by forms, artificial light, colors,
furniture and soundscapes. Isn’t it time to
ask how much these built environments
affect our lives and our personality? In this
series, we explore questions about how
architecture affects our thinking, our
cognitive abilities, our mental and physical
well-being, and our emotions.
A relatively new field of research, namely “architectural
psychology”, has been intensively dealing with such questions
for several years. The aim of this academic field is to explore the
impacts of architecture on humans, their feelings and behavior,
and to formulate recommendations for the planning and design
of buildings. This research area poses questions about the effect
of outdoor and indoor spaces on people in cognitive, emotional
and social terms? How can homes, offices and buildings in
general be designed and structured, so that they reduce stress or
promote well-being?

Dr. Harald Deinsberger-Deinsweger, from the Institute

for Residential and Architectural Psychology in Austria, is
investigating the question of how residential, working and
recreation rooms must be designed to have the most positive
effects on people and their living together. How can
shortcomings and deficits, but also potentials and
possibilities, be identified in the planning process of
architecture? And what are the concrete areas that
architecture can have an impact on?
Health
“Nobody can escape architecture and its effects.” (Günter
Hertel)
Photo by Samuel Zeller on Unsplash

Deinsberger-Deinsweger, is convinced that ill-conceived and

inferior architecture, combined with other factors, can promote
stress, encourage exhaustion, induce psychosomatic symptoms
and even promote physical discomfort. As a rule, these effects
are not immediately apparent, but often appear after a period of
months or years. This allows for the reverse conclusion that
spaces can also support healing processes and promote well-
being.

Senses and the Nervous System

In order to feel comfortable in an environment, does not only
require a pleasant indoor climate. Light, plants, materials,
construction methods, temperature, and air conditions also play
a role for well-being and health. We have to bear in mind that
humans have a holistic perception: Our senses influence our
thinking, feelings and actions and therefore our entire body. If
our senses are positively stimulated, this can have an
invigorating or calming effect. As a result, spaces can influence
our thinking, action patterns and, thus for example, promote
motivation, our readiness to act, and strengthen our
performance or concentration. If we feel uncomfortable in
spaces, this can lead to restlessness or discomfort,
hypersensitivity, lethargy or even anxiety.

Security and Crime

Spatial structures are also associated with safety and security
issues. If spatial structures fail, measures such as alarm systems
or surveillance cameras often come into play. Certain structures
can therefore attract crime or vandalism, but can also help to
improve security and provide security.

Personality and Evolvement

The living environment in which we dwell and are surrounded
by, and thus also our surrounding built environment is fertile
ground for our individual development and evolution. In a
positive sense, spaces can contribute to strengthening our sense
of self-esteem and satisfaction. Deficits in this area might cause
dissatisfaction, restlessness, alienation and listlessness.

Many buildings, according to the Deinsberger-Deinsweger, have

deficits of various kinds which are usually not immediately
noticeable.

Housing and social policy researcher Danny Friedman also sees

correlations between poor housing conditions/neighborhoods
and individuals’ health, well-being, likelihood of criminality,
and educational attainment. In a study he shows that poor
housing conditions are strongly related to educational
underachievement, the rise of health issues and criminal
grievances. Conversely, this means that
“[I]mproving the quality, size, and quantity of housing, and
improving the quality of neighborhoods and lower income
households will have a positive effect in reducing criminality
and ill-health and improving educational attainment.” (Danny
Friedman)

Use and Behavior

Photo by Martin Wessely on Unsplash
“Spaces determine our behavior — for the most part without
our conscious perception” (Dr. Deinsberger-Deinsweger)

Spatial structures promote certain patterns of behavior, and

designs and equipment animate us to certain ways of dealing
with and using them. Phenomena such as dilapidation,
improper use or vandalism often have structural
causes. If architecture promotes a positive and emotional
attachment to places and strengthen a sense of responsibility,
such consequences can be intercepted. Thus questions about the
How?, Whereby? and Why? for all residential and construction
projects be carefully studied and answered. Living or working
environments can also become instruments of identification for
our personality. If those processes occur, our sense of
responsibility for the spaces we inhabit develops.

In conclusion, the arrangement, equipment and

dimensioning of spaces and their design influence the
human patterns of movement, actions and usage. If
spaces are created in a way that runs counter to our
patterns, it can hamper our movements and actions
and cause anger or frustration. Or, conversely, support
the structures of everyday life and make us feel
comfortable.

Children, Sick and Elderly people

Scientist Tanja Vollmer has found out that the sick, elderly
people and children are much more bound to their living
environment than other people and will therefore be more
strongly influenced by the spatial conditions. The more
insecure we are, the stronger the impact of the
environment on us.

The research group under Dr. Roger Ulrich has proven that
natural light optimally regulates our body rhythms (i.e.
circulation and blood flow) and can even increase occupants’
productivity and comfort. It is no surprise that if we stay in
buildings 80 to 90% of our day our bodies are conflicting with
much of the built environment, rarely providing enough access
to daylight. Therefore principles for designing spaces that
support circadian health should be considered, e.g. with electric
tunable lights, tailored to specific circumstances, providing
physiological and functional aspects.
In an article Ed Clark and Marty Brennan outline six vital principles to follow when
designing spaces that support circadian health.

Therefore, if spaces are deficient, the consequences may be

dysfunctional and destructive patterns of behavior, passive-
aggressive denial or distorted self-perception. In the positive
case, however, well designed architecture canaccelerate healing
processes (e.g. in hospitals), strengthen exercise and vitality,
emotional and cognitive skills, social interactive and
communicative skills.

Maria Lorena Lehman is also convinced that our built

environment can influence how we feel. The construction and
furnishing materials, the light, and the soundscapes have a
certain emotional effect on us. It is therefore essential that
architects keep an eye on the functions and effects on humans.
Depending on the building, specific functions are required for
humans:
A hospital should radiate peace, confidence and hope
accordingly. A school should arouse curiosity, joy and
excitement and an office should support creativity, productivity
and concentration.
Recommendations

The role of an architect will change. They will have to keep the effects of architecture on
humans in mind.

The foremost questions that architects and designers have to

answer are those: What feelings and emotions and states
of mind do I want to trigger in the occupiers of the
building?It must also be clear that the patterns of behavior
differ according to the building. With appropriate design, the
healthy patterns can be underlined.

However, since architecture has a different effect on everyone,

because different patterns of perception, personalities and
cultural imprints come into play, it is difficult to define clear
measures or tips.

Yet there are a few recommendations for

measurements that different researchers like Vollmer
suggest:
1. In order to create positive (social) spaces, it makes sense to
integrate the criteria for a project before the planning
process. Here, for example, the reference to the five pillars of
the “SANCT model” can be helpful: This approach — not only
valid for architectural processes but in all areas of life — 
should support the following elements: Self-esteem,
Autonomy, Normality, Control and moTivation. If
these elements are taken into account for the
planning process, buildings can merge with new
forms of housing, housing with new urban
structures and thus, those can be enriched with new
functions.

2. During the planning phase, the project should be

accompanied and continuously optimised so that
shortcomings can be resolved prophylactically and damage
prevention can be carried out. Therefore, various interest
groups such as health managers, architects, city
planners, psychologists and physicians should be
integrated in order to gather know-how. “As the
planning processes become more concrete, the voice
of users should be integrated.” In the
future,Vollmer predicts, their participation in the design
process, and the scientific demonstration of the impact of
architecture on health, will become more and more
important. The need orientation will replace the demand
orientation. Architectural psychology, with its
comprehensive understanding of the interactions between
humans and the built environment, will be an important
instrument in developing sustainable solutions and
innovations. The architect themself has an increasingly
complex role to play — with in-depth knowledge of human
psychology.

3. Also analysing the design, facilities and use aspects of

existing buildings is worthwhile in order to improve
buildings for the residents. In order to create something
new out of the existing, people must sometimes
 discard old concepts to create room for creativity — 
of course only to an extent that afterwards architecture and a
concept that serves the occupiers go hand in hand.

Dr. Upali Nanda (Director of HKS’s Center for Advanced Design

Research and Evaluation), who Sara Polsky refers to in her
article on psychology and architecture, sees a “tremendous
innovation in the building technology industry, as well as the
cognitive sciences, including neuroscience.” Maybe new
technological tools in the architectural sector will soon be able
to track “the human response to changing space and place
parameters so we can develop a paradigm of responsive
architecture.”

We will see what the future will bring us.

If you like my article, I am happy if you give me some claps. In

the next story of this series we will take a look at examples of
how architecture influences our psyche. If you want to learn
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