ARCHITECTURE IS FOR PEOPLE

SBEA2138 DESIGN 3

ASSOC. PROF. DR. MAHMUD BIN MOHD JUSAN

DEPARTMENT OF ARCHITECTURE, FACULTY OF BUILT
ENVIRONMENT,
UNIVERSITI TEKNOLOGI MALAYSIA

ABOUT THIS LECTURE

This lecture is meant to: define behavior and its contents/coverage in the
field of architecture, by focusing on personal and
environmental factors.
provide basic understanding on how to relate the
person and the environment using systematic
methods/concepts
explain important usage of behavioral data in
architectural design.

THE BUILT ENVIRONMENT &

HUMAN BEHAVIOUR

WHAT IS BEHAVIOUR
Behaviour is what an organism is doing at any
moment

THE BUILT ENVIRONMENT&HUMAN

BEHAVIOUR
IMPORTANT FACTS!!
In environmental behavior, another element is
introduced..

ENVIRONMENTAL
CONTEXT

THE BUILT ENVIRONMENT&HUMAN

BEHAVIOUR
IMPORTANT FACTS!!
There is always a surrounding environment and
thus always a behavior-environment relationship
(Bechtel and Zeisel, 1987)

THE BUILT ENVIRONMENT&HUMAN

BEHAVIOUR
IMPORTANT FACTS!!
Man environment relationship is complex and
varied, because man and the environment are
complex and full of uncertainties.
(Jusan, 2010)

THE BUILT ENVIRONMENT&HUMAN

BEHAVIOUR
IMPORTANT FACTS!!
ARCHITECTURAL DETERMINISM
(eu.lib.kmutt.ac.th/elearning/Courseware/ARC359/Determinism.doc)

We shape our buildings, and afterwards our buildings

shape us. Winston Churchill
The philosophical doctrine that human action is not
free but necessarily determined by motives which are
regarded as external forces acting upon the will.
Often determinism is related to the will of God or to
fate. For the psychological theories of behaviourism
it is related to the environment surrounding an
organism.

THE BUILT ENVIRONMENT&HUMAN

BEHAVIOUR
IMPORTANT FACTS!!
The ultimate goal of creating environmental
settings is to achieve Person-Environment
Congruence (PEC)
(Jusan, 2010)

ARCHITECTURE AND BEHAVIORISM

To effectively relate the environment with the users
hence to achieve PEC, it is necessary to understand
behaviour and the environment using scientific
methods.
Behaviourism as a psychological approach is
based on empirical observation of human (and
animal) behaviourstimuli in the environment, and
the behavioural responses which followand attempts
in turn to apply stimuli to provoke desired responses

FROM BEHAVIORISM TO
ARCHITECTURE
UNDERSTANDING THE PERSON AND THE ENVIRONMENT
PERSONAL FACTORS
ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS

UNDERSTANDING PERSON-ENVIRONMENT RELATIONSHIP

CREATING RESPONSES IN TERMS OF BUILDING PROGRAM

PERSONAL FACTORS
Influencing personal factors in built environment include:

Needs
Norms
Personality
Values
Goals

All these are expressions of culture

Personal factors are not static, they are changing and
varied

PERSONAL FACTORS
CULTURE: DEFINITION
The configuration of learned behaviour and
results of behaviour whose component elements
are shared and transmitted by the members of a
particular society
Transmitted and created content and patterns of
values, ideas, and other symbolic-meaningful
systems as factors in the shaping of human
behaviour and the artifact produced through
behaviour

PERSONAL FACTORS
CHARACTERISTIC OF CULTURE
A guide to action
Standards and norms for judging behaviour
Culture is a set of learned responses
Learned responses are value laden
Facilitate problem solving
Culture is man-made?/ (revealed)

PERSONAL FACTORS
NEEDS
Functions of built environment as required by
personal factors (needs) include
shelter and security,
social contact
task instrumentality
the mechanism that help to attain the above
These functions are influenced by various levels
of user needs.

PERSONAL FACTORS
MASLOWS HIERARCHY OF NEEDS
COGNITIVE AND AESTHETIC SATISFACTION
SELF-ACTUALIZATION
Fulfillment of individual potentialities

ESTEEM
Self-respect, esteem of others

SOCIAL
Love, affection, belongingness

SECURITY
Freedom from fear, need for order and rules to guide
action

PHYSIOLOGICAL
Water, food, sleep, sex

PERSONAL FACTORS
COMPETENCE
Users competence level also determine their
ability to perform the intended activities in an
environment. Eg. certain buildings layout affect
the mobility of handicapped persons

ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS
CLASSIFICATIONS
OF
ENVIRONMENTAL
ATTRIBUTES
Attributes of environment (Based on Gutmans
Theory of Means-end chain) consist of: Concrete attributes (attributes that are
visible, e.g colour, shape, layout, etc.)
Abstract attributes (attributes that are
invisible, eg. Meanings, atmosphere, e.g.)

ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS
CLASSIFICATION OF ENVIRONMENT 1
Terrestrial, animate , and cultural environment
The terrestrial, or geographical environment
(non-social and non-cultural aspects of the
environment e.g. light, sound, climate, etc.)
The animate environment (human are in
control of the environment). They provide
visual, sonic, chemical, mechanical and
thermal stimulations to other human or
animals.

ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS
The cultural environment (culture influences
norms, values, personality, standards, schemata
of a person) that in turn influence the formation
of their environment.
Built environment is a part of the terrestrial and
cultural environment

UNDERSTANDING PERSON
ENVIRONMENT RELATIONSHIP
PERSON-ENVIRO
NEEDS

ASPECT TO
ADDRESS

DATA SOURCES

APPROPRIATENESS (PHYSICAL/DIMENSIONAL)
Environmental
Anthropometric
needs in relation to
s (human body
physiological needs
and
its
dimensions)
Ergonomics
(human
comfort
and
the ability of
carrying
out
tasks)
Competence

Book of standard/building bylaw/planning requirement.

Observation
Comparative study
Case study (Precedent Study)
Case study visit

APPROPRIATENESS
(PSYCHOLOGICAL/SOCIOLOGICAL)
User needs
(psychological/soci

Environment as
perceived by the

Interview (perception)
Questionnaire

UNDERSTANDING PERSON
ENVIRONMENT RELATIONSHIP
PERSON-ENVIRO
NEEDS

ASPECT TO
ADDRESS

METHODS OF DATA
COLLECTION

images that
affect peoples
way findings.
physical
structure of the
environment
that affect their
images

COGNITION
Cognitive images
of buildings and
cities.

Secondary data
Observation
Interview
Questionnaire

CREATING RESPONSES IN TERMS

OF BUILDING PROGRAM
Designing the behavioral program (a process of
environment adaptation changing physical
settings in response to changes in activities or
aesthetic tastes, or changes in demands for
person-environment congruence.
Method (eg)
Activity analysis - Findings from studies on behavior
environment relationship are used in the analysis
of activities. This is an exploratory design process
which put the behavioral data into the process of
creating the best setting for the behavior.

CREATING RESPONSES IN TERMS

OF BUILDING PROGRAM
Designing Building program (the quality of design
outcomes depends on the building program.
Traditionally: room lists with the appropriate
sizing
Performance requirements (furniture that is
appropriate, privacy, territorial control, linkage
between activities, the user, and the spaces,
etc.)

THANK YOU