¶ … Edr
What is Environmental Design Research?
Design and art can accept scientific principles
Environmental Design Research (EDR) = the study of the mutual relationships between human beings and the physical environment at all scales, and applications of the knowledge thus gained to improving the quality of life through better informed environmental policy, planning, design, and education. (passive and active definition)
EDR is related to many other areas of the social sciences
EDR is NOT:
building science or structural engineering
Design practice
Eg. An architect does research to apply to a single building project, but EDR applies research to things like job satisfaction and other measurable results that advance the whole field.
EDR Is:
Basic Research (generation, discovery of knowledge)
Applied Research (answering specific questions related to specific social policy or context)
Research Applications (apply research to policy, plans, designs)
**Must communicate results to policy/professional applications
EDR = Environmental Psychology = Environmental Behavior Studies
2. History and Impact of the Field
Systematic research began in 1950s:
Firey (1945) study city symbolism in sociology
Lewin (1946) child behavior and total situation
Wright (1947) geog study of changing mental conceptions
Festinger, Shacter, Back (1950) social psychology of development of informal groups in university housing as a function of design factors
Barker & Wright (1955) relationship of behavior to characteristics in small towns
Sommer & Ross (1958) territoriality in geriatric wards
Hall (1959)silent language and hidden dimensions of behavioral and perceived space in diff cultures
1960s and 1970s -- became one of fastest growing areas in psychology, architecture, anthropology
Rappaport (1969) -- relation of culture to house form
Lynch (1960) -- image of city
Larson (1965) bibliography
Gans (1959) -- study of life, space, housing of immigrant groups
Altman & Haythorne (1967) -- ecology of isolated groups
Stea (1969) -- cognitive mapping
MIT 1968 meeting -- first International Conference of the Design Methods Group
Architectural Psychology Newsletter + Design Methods Group = Environmental Design Research Association (EDRA)
EDRA first meeting in 1969**
Annual publication of EDRA = Proceedings
EDRA = oldest, largest organization in the world dedicated to environmental-behavior-design studies and its applications
Journal Environment and Behavior, started in 1969 and published...
1981 IAPS
Research showing the ratio of personnel to capital costs in major corporations = 30:1
First year costs = 2:1 between salaries and construction
Over 25-year life span, capital costs drop to less than 3% of total operating costs of large corporations
**establishes clear causal relationship between design of office environment and productivity of office workers
Job satisfaction affects productivity
Lower absenteeism
Lower turnover rates
Fewer grievance actions
Office environment important to job satisfaction
Privacy
Lighting
Furniture
Making investments in environment can yield cost benefits overall
Schorr, 1963, Slums and Social Insecurity
Housing impacts:
Perception of self
Stress level
Health
Social security v. insecurity
Elements of Housing most important:
Design and adequacy of house
Phys. Structure of Neighborhood
Amount and character of planned open space
II. Schorr's work led to creation of U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)
HUD sees poverty within EDR framework
Vandalism and Crime Research:
Vandalism less likely in schools when:
Aesthetically pleasing
Good maintenance
Location of diverse usage
Natural surveillance
Area of high illumination
Led to redesigning schools
III. Newman's studies on vandalism
4 Major factors contribute to REDUCED vandalism:
natural surveillance well-defined territories image of security and upkeep proximity to safe zones
Crime Prevention through Environmental Design Program (developed by U.S. Law Enforcement Assistance Administration)
IV. Nursing Homes
Dramatic increase in mortality rate among elderly forced to move from one home to another ("transfer trauma")
Civil rights related legislation -- linked to environmental design research and the elderly led to bills and laws
US Consumer Protection Safety Commission
Stairs and children's playground -- in top ten of all consumer accidents
Research accidents and redesign stairs
V. American National Standards Institute (ANSI)
Voluntary standards for building accessibility (visually and physically handicapped)
National Fire Protection Association Life Safety Code, 1976
Conclusion: EDR = Basic and applied (research + application in law)
3. Goals, Values, Orientations
EDR…
Summary Ideas are part of the grand process of business. Businesses create unique products and services that are then marketed to a customer base. This involves the use of innovation, commercialization and intellectual property rights to both create something unique, have the ability to market, and have the rights to protect it. Without either of these aspects, it can be difficult for a business to generate something worthwhile. The case study of