Introduction
Psychology is a broad field that involves various aspects of life. Psychology is important in the life of mankind since it assists in the analysis of human behavior. This gives the implication that human behavior is an aspect of psychology and hence influenced by a variety of factors. Architecture is one of the factors that have significant impact in psychology especially in the analysis of human behavior. Different architectural structures will have different psychological impacts on the behavior of different individuals at the work setting or home setting. The study of how architecture affects human behavior falls under the branch of psychology referred to as environmental psychology.
Describe how physical structure affects human behavior.
The view afforded by a house or building has an intellectual effect to the behavior of an individual. A building which has a clear natural focus tends to develop individuals of high intellectual ability (Gifford 2007). This is because the view tends to enhance the concentration ability of an individual. On the contrary, buildings which have a view of a lot of artificial structures such as other buildings and or vehicles amongst others, tends to act as a source of destruction to the way of thinking of an individual.
Research has revealed that men feel constrained while in buildings or houses with low roofing. The behavior depicted by men living in houses with low roofing is a feeling of discomfort or a restless mood. To enhance this behavior positively, building structures should be designed in such a way that the roofing is of a moderate height. This would enhance the level of comfort for any male person living in the house or building.
Analyze architecture as a means of controlling human behavior
On the analysis of architecture as an influence to human behavior, the structure of buildings can have adverse effects to the behavior of different people. The lighting of a building can affect the people working or residing within the building (Gifford 2007). The aspect of natural light creates the impression of staying alert because it is day time. Darkness on the other hand implicates night fall thereby prompting an individual to take a rest and sleep. School establishments should therefore be well lit so because the contrary would have a sleeping effect to most students. The behavior of the students in this case is controlled by the lighting in the buildings.
The color applied in the inside and outside of different buildings can be used as a means of controlling human behavior. The use of colors such as blue in the inside of buildings creates a calm atmosphere and therefore an excellent place for relaxation or studying. Reading rooms should therefore have cool colors such as blue so as to influence the calm behavior of the people using the rooms. This is contrary to warm colors such as red or orange. These colors signify hyper activity and would therefore not be effective in any reading setting. Instead, these colors would be effective in enhancing the hyper mood or feeling for people in parties of clubs.
A person’s way of thinking might be affected by the way a house or building is designed. Research which involved putting people in rooms with different ceiling heights reveals that the people in the rooms with higher ceilings gave more accurate answers to questions offered than those in rooms with short ceiling heights. Higher ceiling heights give the provision of free thinking while on the contrary shorter ceiling heights act as constraints to thinking. People in the room with the short ceiling would hence depict strenuous behavior mood while the ones in the room with the higher ceiling heights would depict a relaxed behavior mood.
Describe the environmental psychological implications of commercial and residential design, including purpose and considerations.
Commercial and residential designs just as mentioned above have psychological implications on both male and female. For instance, it is said that the employees would prefer working from a room that has not been partitioned (Ittelson et al. 2000). This however does not mean that individual places of work have not been designated. The reason provided for not having to partition the rooms is that when it is done, the employees feel that they have secluded, the space is not enough for them and some especially the men feel uncomfortable due to the squeezed space (Ittelson et al. 2000).
In the commercial sector still, it is said that there is the need to provide the employees with the freedom to arrange their designated areas of work. This includes placing their personal items such as the photos for the purpose of marking their territory. The research indicates that employees who have been given the freedom to control their working environment end up being more productive than their counterparts who are denied such privileges. On the other side, the residential designs have both the emotional and psychological implications. For instance, women prefer living in less populated residential areas while men prefer living in spacious houses. Men are said to naturally like be in spacious rooms since they like space.
Analyze the importance of architectural development supporting sustainable development.
Following the above discussions, the architectural designers ought to make friendly environment for the people bearing in mind that it affects them psychologically. Architectural development is therefore importance in ensuring that people acquire emotional and psychological stability (Proshansky 2003). This mostly applies to areas that are so much densely populated. As observed above, the residential houses made in populated areas should be designed in a way that the ceilings are high. In addition to that, they should have large windows, while the room itself should be rectangular in shape.
Therefore, the architectural knowledge is imperative in ensuring that the psychological state of people is taken to account. The colors of the walls also elicit different emotions from the individuals. The red color for instance is associated with merry making while the blue one sends feelings of a calm state. For that purpose the designer should ensure that the decorations take into account the emotional state of the people. The shopping areas should be many and decentralized for the purpose of ensuring that there is minimal overcrowding. Modern architectures employ such techniques for the purpose of ensuring that people especially the women, do not become apprehensive and develop anxiety because of overcrowded places.
Conclusion
Psychology is a broad field of science that requires absolute attention because it covers crucial topics on human life such as behavior. Architecture is one aspect of life that has been observed to affect human behavior in a psychological way. This is the reason why it would be imperative for architectures to have psychological knowledge when designing houses or buildings. This would be important because architects would come up with buildings that positively influence human behavior.
References
Gifford, R. (2007). Environmental Psychology: Principles and Practice (4th Ed.). Colville, WA: Optimal Books.
Ittelson, W. H., Proshansky, H., Revlon, L., & Winkel, G. (2000). An Introduction to Environmental Psychology. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston. Translated into German and Japanese.
Proshansky, H.M. (2003). "The field of environmental psychology: securing its future." 'Handbook of environmental psychology.' D. Stokols and I. Altman. New York, John Wiley & Sons.
