Overview of Human Response

Thoughts on the study of Human Response

Having graduated with a bachelor in architecture and two years of work experience in the related field, I would have through I have a sufficient level of understanding in how human response in the built environment.  Looking back to those years of study and work, I can say that I did not pay enough attention to this topic, as I should have.  In architecture, many attentions have been placed on how the building would influence and impact the surroundings.  The focus is on the external factors and not internally.  As the buildings are designed for human, I feel that the focus on how human interact inside those spaces is just as important as how they would affect the surroundings.  For a project to be successful, designers must design for both the human and the surrounding.

During this course, I have became more critical in interior space of different settings, looking for elements that could cause discomfort and negative effects to the human, hence also what could be done to achieve a better environment, designing for our well being.  It prepared me to design at a more in depth level and it got me to look at things more in the user’s perspective.  I have also taken in lots of different results from numerous studies and experiments, looking at how human react under a certain element inside the interior environment.  One of the most interesting one was how integrating nature into the interior space could have a restorative effects on human.  I have always known the importance of having nature inside the interior environment but I did not know it would have such astonishing effect.  I was also fascinated by the topic on good ergonomics designs, increasing my awareness of both short and long-term benefits it could have on human.  It inspired me to put more consideration on the users, creating better working and living environments.  The class on five sensory was also of my interest.  I remembered that we were asked how we could design for smell; it got me to think more on how a space would interact with human through their five senses like never before.   Trained me to think and design for an enhance experience in the future.

This study of human response is very essential to me, developed me into a better designer for the field of architecture and interior design.  It taught me to design and be more thoughtful on the occupants, building for their well-being.  In addition, this course also educated me on the differences and requirements of different types of settings, such as residential, working, educational, exhibits and healthcare environments.  It was very interesting to look at prison and institutional environments too, as I have never came across prison designs.  They all got me thinking that human response is essential in our built environments, as designers, we should put more consideration on how human would react within the space and how we could create a positive environment for them in all different types of settings.  

Human response to Museums and Exhibits

Purposeful Manipulation of Human Response in Interior spaces

In my undergraduate architecture course, I remembered one of my final projects was to design an extension for the London Tate Modern.  It was a huge power station, which later on transformed into an art museum at the heart of London.  I knew then the circulation and flexible exhibition space were essential factor, hence the ease of navigate inside the museum were also as important.  Day lighting was also a major area I looked at in my project.  In addition, from my own experience, I know that by integrating food and beverages areas into the museum could further enhance the experience of the visit.  As a result, I put a lot of focus into those elements when I was designing the project (fig.1 and 2). 

However, after my human response class on museum and exhibit, I found out a lot more important elements than those I knew before.  Temperature, lighting, security, and humidity are the most notable aspects I could have designed for in my project.  Apart for the human response inside the exhibit spaces, I feel that the care for the artwork is just as important.  Lighting is essential in exhibit spaces, as a sufficient level of lighting is required for visitors to be able to visually access the work at a comfortable level, hence, designers should be careful of any light glare created by lights, causing discomfort to the visitors.  Furthermore, UV ray are said to be damaging to works of art, hence lighting should not be shined directly onto artworks as light could be damaging to the works over time.  Therefore, designers should keep in mind what kinds of work are on display when they select which type of lighting.  The color inside exhibit spaces is essential too.  For example, if the background color is too bright, then the work on display will lost its focal point inside the exhibit.  Therefore, keeping a neutral background might help to bring out the best visual effect of the displays.  

Temperature and humidity are critical elements in keeping a comfortable exhibit environment for the visitors, and damage free surrounding for the artwork.  Depending on the work on display, ideally the temperature and humidity should be kept at 60-80 degrees and 55 to 65 percent relative humidity - experts from Chubb Group.

Security and fire protection should be in place for the safety of both the visitors and artworks.  Fire and security shutters could be installed around artworks to reduce chances of any lost due to fire and theft.

Lastly, furniture inside exhibit spaces could be introduced to increase the comfort and experience for visitors.  Sitting arranged in the direction of artwork could provide additional comfort to visitors while they perceive the works. 

Human Response to Prison and Institutional Environments

Challenges of Human Response in Interior of Prison and Institutional

In my class on prison and institutional design, I came across some very interesting facts about prisons.  Historically, the conditions of the prisons were very poor, where they had mixed inmates of men, women and children (fig.1).  The lighting was very limited and the prisons were usually located in the basements or in tower.  It is also said that prison are a combination of workhouse, poor house and jail.  The HM Prison Wandsworth, United Kingdom, is an example of a workhouse jail (discipline plus work), where the objective was to install a habit of industry.  The prison was built in 1851 when it was known as "Surrey House of Correction". The Inmates had to farm and produce products that were sold in the market (fig.2). 

It was very interesting to see early prison designs.  Jeremy Bentham (1748-1832), an English advocate of the prison reform, also the founder of “Panopticon” prison design.  The prison was designed in circular form, with all the cells located around the radius of the structure (fig.3).  Bentham invented a watchtower at the center of the space, so the guards could see all the inmates with ease.  However, due to security problems most of the Panopticon prisons have been closed.

In the United State of America, There are different types of prisons for different level of security (max, medium and minimum.)  The common objectives of all levels of secure prisons are to organize and operate to minimize the possibility of escape and violence, impose limitation on movement and freedom of inmates.   However, as the security level reduces, the freedom and movement would increase.   I have different feelings about the idea of having different prisons for different level of security.  For example, if ones were to be moved from a medium level to a minimum level of secure prison, they would have to be transported from one to the other, which in turn would increase the chance for them to escape.   Therefore, having a prison with different levels of security would greatly reduce the chance of escape, as the transportation between levels would still be inside the prison.  Hence, introducing security gates in between spaces could further increase order and security within prison. 

In addition to designing for safety and security, the selection of furniture and materials are also essential.  Designers should consider using fixed furniture that does not have any sharp edges.  This would greatly reduce the chance of inmates using furniture as a weapon during riot (fig.4).  I also feel that by incorporating nature into prison’s environment could help create calmness to the inmates, which in turn might help reduce the chances of fights and riot.  I believe in making a better living environment could help to reduce the hatred and anger inside the inmates, creating a happier environment could promote them to change the way they treat themselves and others, bettering themselves as a person.  The following images are examples of living environments inside different prisons.  

Human Response to Healthcare Environments

Infection Control and Human Response to Healthcare Environments

In my recent human response class, we looked at some interesting facts on HAI – hospital acquired infections.  I was amazed at the number of people that got acquired infection in hospitals.  The figure stands at 1.7 million people in the year 2002, around 4.5 people per 100 admissions, furthermore, 99,000 died from HAI.  In 2007, some 6.65 billion of dollars were spent fighting HAI - figures shown in a report by Jan Malkin (2010).  However, it was interesting to see how much money could have been saved just by preventing one person from HAI ($20,542 - $25,903).  Looking at those figures, I feel that, as designers we should look for ways to prevent and control the spreading of viruses within our healthcare environments. 

To tackle this problem, first we need to know how bacteria spread and what they need to grow from.  Those microorganisms can spread everywhere, such as through air, water and human contacts.  They need oxygen, food (dirt and moist) and a surface to survive.  Therefore, it is essential to keep those in mind when designing for infection control.

I remember some time ago, when Hong Kong was hit by an outbreak of the SARZ virus.  Hundreds of people were infected in a matter of days.  At that time, nobody knows how so many were infected in a short space of time, and as a result, people had to evacuate their homes to go to a safer place.  It was a truly frightening time for people of Hong Kong, as the virus was unknown at the time.  Later on, investigation conducted by experts shows that, the plumbing and ventilation systems were the main cause for the fast rate of spreading.  Because of the denseness of the apartment units, the virus would exit ones ventilation system and enter nearby units through openings.  Similarly, the virus spread in alike fashion through the plumbing systems.  For that reason, I see the importance of having controlled ventilation with high capacity filter and plumbing systems in our healthcare environment, as they could greatly reduce the spreading of bacteria through those systems.  Hence, to further control the spreading, room humidity should be controlled, as this would reduce the growth of microorganisms. 

Furthermore, materials with solid surfaces, such as stainless steel are better for reducing the growth of virus.  Therefore, designers should apply materials of solid surfaces to areas where infection control are required.  In those spaces, designers should also consider the ease of cleaning, as regular cleaning is essential in killing the viruses.  In addition, incorporating biocide to the finishes could further reduce the growth of the bacteria. 

Finally, it is just as important to educate patients the importance of self-cleanliness in combating HAI.  Hand sanitizers and sinks should be placed at visible locations to promote hygiene throughout the healthcare environments.

Human Response to Healthcare Environments

Designing for health in health care Environments

I have never thought about health environments until recently.  I have been to quite a few different hospitals in Hong Kong, depending on the ownership of the hospitals (private or government), their interior environments can be quite different.  I recently went on a field trip to the Emory University hospital; it was very interesting to see the differences in the hospitals environment of different culture.  We were only allowed to tour the ground level of the hospital, therefore our observation was limited.  However, there were many elements of the interior that caught my attention, such as the scale of the lobby, amount of natural light, integrating of animals and ease of way finding.  Some of those elements are very similar to the hospitals in Hong Kong but some I have never seen before.

Recently, the main lobby of the Emory hospital had been renovated.  Although the differences in scale, it actually reminded me of a private hospital in Hong Kong.  The lobby was designed in similar fashion of the hotel lobbies, the environment feels very comfortable with the reception desk very visible and a lot of sitting arrangements located throughout.  As hospitals generally give out a negative feeling, I think it is essential to create the interior environment as relaxing and as comfortable as possible to help ease that negative feeling amongst the patients.  In addition to create a comfortable space, the architects incorporated a lot of natural light and natural elements into the interior, further enhancing the level of comfort.  Natural light were able to fill the interior through the curtain walls and the skylight.   Trees, plants and water features were located in visible areas, generating a natural feeling to the atmosphere.

The other thing I have also noticed, was that the distant smell of hospital wasn’t present at the touring areas.  I feel that, to create a comfortable health care environment, removing that smell is just as important as bring natural elements into the interior.  Having that hospital smell would create a negative psychological effect on the occupants and in turn reducing their well being.

The biggest difference of the hospitals from Hong Kong and this hospital was the availability of nature.  In the Emory Hospital, connections with nature were located throughout the ground floor.  People could go outside and sit in the healing garden or the water pond.  Furthermore, they could watch the birds flying around in the two display rooms along the corridor.    As suggested by the Gifford book (p.xxx), a patient with a view to nature recovers faster than the ones without.  Therefore, having nature in the health environment are essential in the healing and restoring process of the patients.

Way Finding is also a very important elements in health care environments.  In many hospitals, the ease of way finding is very poor.  I remember a hospital in Hong Kong used stickers along the floor to indicate different directions to different departments.  From time to time, those stickers would come off and people would be lost and navigation becomes difficult.  In the Emory Hospital, the signs or directories are located throughout.  Although the font were not very big, but they were still quite clear as the text were contrasted to a white background.  Directories were placed at visible areas along the walls, hanged from the ceiling or placed in common areas in forms of stands.

From the lecture, it was interesting to know that doctors and nurses were trained to perform with the head boards on their left hand side.  Studies have shown, medical errors would reduce having the head boards on the left side of the medical staff.  For that result, when designing health care units, designers should keep that in mind. 

Reference –

http://www.healthcaredesignmagazine.com/ME2/dirmod.asp?sid=9B6FFC446FF7486981EA3C0C3CCE4943&nm=Articles&type=Publishing&mod=Publications::Article&mid=8F3A7027421841978F18BE895F87F791&tier=4&id=58A9E934CD6248828966D832792764F8