EXP 3 Mashup - Does Architecture Influences Human Behaviour ?

“There is no doubt whatever about the influence of architecture and structure upon human character and action. We make our buildings and afterwards they make us. They regulate the course of our lives.”

Winston Churchill, addressing the English Architectural Association, 1924

 “I made up my mind . . . that I would never try to reform man—that’s much too difficult. What I would do was to try to modify the environment in such away as to get man moving in preferred directions.” (R. Buckminster Fuller, Architect 1966)

What might the effect of this be on the design of our universities? Do architects believe that they can influence the behavior, actions and perhaps the learning that goes on in the university buildings that they design? … [architecture could] “produce positive effects when the liberating intentions of the architect coincide with the real practice of people in the exercise of their freedom” (Foucault, M. 1982. Space, Knowledge and Power an interview with Paul Rabinow, quoted in in Leach, 1997)

 Architects can create spaces that bring people together or ones that set them apart. They can reinforce feelings of familiarity and trust or emphasize harshness and social chaos. Sociological and psychological work confirms the impact of design on behavior and attitudes.

The theory of how architecture shapes tastes has been developed within the field of environmental psychology and has been largely ignored by law schools due to their focus on the use of legal codes to regulate conduct.

The general upshot of this work is that architecture can alter human behavior. Many of these influences occur on a subliminal level, and their effects are not always thought out. For example, when individuals walk into a room, they will be cued by features of the room—whether it is occupied (and to what extent), whether it is furnished (and in what manner), and so on. Some of these features will be consciously noticed, others will not. But the unconscious ones can influence behavior and attitudes too, as evidence from psychiatric wards, prisons, and elsewhere reveals.

Bibliography

Katyal, Neal Kumar. Architecture as Crime Control. 12 02, 2002. http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/blogs/housingcomplex/files/2011/03/KatyalFINAL.pdf (accessed 06 24, 2014).

Lockton, Dan. Architecture, urbanism, design and behaviour: a brief review. 09 12, 2011. http://architectures.danlockton.co.uk/2011/09/12/architecture-urbanism-design-and-behaviour-a-brief-review/ (accessed 06 24, 2014).

Whitton, Pete. Architecture & Morality. 11 1, 2013. http://petewhitton.wordpress.com/tag/behavior/ (accessed 06 24, 2014).