Prospect-Refuge

Every January for the past two years I've had the opportunity to travel to Big Sky, Montana to snowboard at Big Sky Resort with my boyfriend. The altitude change can be a little overwhelming for a girl form the south. Tennessee mountains look like hills compared to some of the monsters out west. Let's not forget about the intense amount of snow on the mountain. Luckily, my boyfriend worked at the resort so he became very familiar with the mountains. Through the slopes, tiny wooden refuges are hidden in the woods that were built by employees or locals. These shacks resemble tree houses or wooden igloos, and are created as a safe spot to offer rest and relaxation while viewing the Rockies. Keeping in mind the shacks are hidden and off the grid from the ski runs, the prospect/refuge theory plays a major role here.

Photo by me
One of the many secluded ski shacks. As you can see from the back ground, these are located in the forests so they are almost impossible to find if you don't know the exact location.  These refuges offer warmth and safety. Many of them are tree houses so the elevated top level offers prospect of the mountain range.

Prospect-refuge is a theory applied to a space that allows for opportunity and control in a place of safety. This theory explains why particular environments make you feel secure and meets basic human psychological needs. You can see prospect, but you are in refuge. This theory is not only applied to design, but nature as well. For instance, a baby bird can peak out (prospect), but it is protected in a tree (refuge).

Prospect is damaged if it doesn't show a natural view. Prospect could anything from window at your kitchen sink to a mountain range or large natural wonder. Prospect offers a sense of control too because you can see what is going on around you. Let's say your house has an open floor plan with a giant great room and tall ceilings. From your kitchen, you can see the activity happening in the dining and living area. This gives you control of your space because you have a wide span of your prospect in the space. 

Sketch by me
Apartment bedroom has prospect of city from the large window wall.

Refuge is what gives us an escape from daily overstimulation such as stress, crowding, or even the weather. In Montana, the ski shacks offered refuge from crowding and snow. A refuge could be a canopy bed, or even a tree that provides shade from the heat. Refuge is simply any physical object to hide behind or cover you.  

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The walls of the tent provide refuge as an outdoor canopy. This space is intended  for relaxation and escape,  with the prospect of the pool and natural wonders.

When Prospect and Refuge work together, the end result is a desired environment in which the user has observational control while feeling safe and being hidden. Sometimes prospect-refuge can cause uncomfort in the wrong setting. At a doctor's office, big windows would not be appropriate in the patient's room. PEEPING TOM'S EXIST PEOPLE. At my dentist office, driving up to park you can see into every room where you have a lovely view of someone's root canal. Now let's say big windows were put into a patient's room at a hospital. This is different because elevation is factored in. Passerby's 200 feet below cannot see the patient or what is going on in their room. Also, time is factored in as well. The broad prospect from the patient's room might be the only aspect of the outside world they get to experience for days or weeks, so it is appropriate for a larger window to be in this setting. 

Prospect-refuge plays a major role in spaces all around us. Before I was educated on the subject I never realized how almost every building I walked into is circulated around prospect-refuge. It's interesting to see the impact this strategy has on how we feel in a space. 

References

Bogaard, K. (2017, May 17). Interior Habitats: The Theory of Prospect and Refuge. Retrieved November 2, 2018, from https://www.contractdesign.com/practice/healthcare/interior-habitats-the-theory-of-prospect-and-refuge/

Dosen, A. S. (2013, January). (PDF) Prospect and refuge theory: Constructing a critical ... Retrieved November 2, 2018, from https://www.researchgate.net/publication/286123657_Prospect_and_refuge_theory_Constructing_a_critical_definition_for_architecture_and_design

Sugihto, E. (2016, May 17). Prospect - refuge theory – Esther Sugihto – Medium. Retrieved November 2, 2018, from https://medium.com/@social_archi/prospect-refuge-theory-ca5d80379e51

Proxemics

Have you ever sat in a doctors office and somehow ended up between the two sickest people there? I sure have. The person on the left side of me was blowing snot rockets into a tissue she placed on MY arm rest and the person on the right was basically coughing in my ear... maybe that visit wouldn’t have been so traumatic if I would’ve moved to the seat by the corner window where there wasn’t another human body close enough to breathe on me. And maybe proxemics was not considered thoroughly in the design of this waiting room.

Proxemics is the use of distancing people in design. Whether it’s the booths in a restaurant or partitions in an office, there are multiple design methods created to ensure your personal bubble is not popped.

My dog Izzy walks so close to me that sometimes she steps on the back of my heels.  Izzy is the only mammal  allowed to pop my bubble like this. (Photo by me)

Proxemics is measured with invisible boundary lines called zones. The intimate zone is your personal bubble. If you can smell someone’s breath, they’re probably invading your intimate zone. Following this is the personal zone, which would be the distance in which you interact with good friends or family. The third zone is for acquaintances. The distance you stand from your close friend is going to be different than how you interact with a neighbor or fellow employee. The last zone is the public zone. This zone is measured in public speaking ranges.

Proxemic Interaction Zones
Sketch by me

These zones help designers plan a space. Furniture arrangement is key to ensure users of the space feel comfortable and prevent overstimulation, arousal, and stress from invasion of one’s personal space. The close proximity of a parent’s bedroom to a child’s bedroom reduces personal space as well. This is a result of inappropriate distancing.

Social-petal and socio-fugal arrangements aid in design for the intended use of the space. Sociopetal encourages interacted while sociofugal decreases it. Socio-petal arrangements can be seen around a fire pit or in a collaborative work environment. Socio-fugal is seen with partitions in offices, booth style seating, and in airplane seating.

This library offers a socio-petal seating arrangement against the wall and a Sio-fugal seating arrangement near the bookshelf.
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Along with personal space comes territoriality. We are territorial over our spaces. When a sibling is caught going through your clothes or someone opens your bedroom door without knocking, the irritation we feel is a result of our territory being invaded.

When Proxemics is applied to interior design, spaces are more functional for the intended use and users. As a designer, it is important to remember these design decisions have impacts on people and how they feel in a space.

REFERENCES

Edwards, P. (2016, July 5). Proxemics: The study of personal space [Video post]. Retrieved October 26, 2018, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pw3FZ3xOBVo

Control Theories

Almost everything you do is affected by control theories, and whether you realize it or not, many aspects of the environment control you. Control Theories revolve around our perspectives of control and the actions we take from the perspectives.

Behavioral Control Theory

The ability to change an environmental event is behavioral control, also known as theory of planned behavior. Sometimes in architectural settings specific behaviors can be targeted with design interventions such as line directors in a store, or bright flashings lights on store signs to draw customers in. These interventions affect where people walk and whether or not a business has customers.

Sketch by me

Numerous amounts of vendors are at festivals competing for customer's attention. Instigators such as balloons, lights, samples, or bright colors can control buyers behaviors by catching their attention and drawing their interest in.

Cognitive Control Theory

Cognitive control is how your mental perception will guide you to a behavior. An example would be your emotional response to an environment. Everyone’s perception is different. While person A is uncomfortable at a sketchy run down gas station, person B might not be. Because person A felt uncomfortable, they left and went to the brand new seven-eleven down the street. Since person B was not affected by the appearance of the sketchy run down gas station, they stayed.

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What would your instincts be telling you as you drive up to this gas station in the middle of the night? Would you feel unsafe and leave? The feelings you get when you see something that makes you uncomfortable is your cognitive perception. These feelings might come in a different environment setting for someone else.

Decisional Control Theory

Your ability to choose a response is decisional control. The menu at a fast food restaurant provides decisional control because you have multiples choices of what you can buy.

Photo by me

You have decisional control of what you buy at stores. Retail store Victoria's Secret has multiple perfume scents filled into the walls and on tables to offer a variety of options for purchase.



References:

http://carterlab.ucdavis.edu/research/control.php Cognitive Control. (n.d.) Retrieved October 18, 2018.

Theory of Planned Behavior. [HC3 Research Primer] (2018, October 18).

Design Philosophy

As a young girl, my favorite thing to do was to look at buildings. Old or new, pink or blue, it didn't really matter. When I was in third grade, my mom started working with an architect. I admired him more than anyone in the world because through my eyes, he was changing the world (or at least someone's world) for the better one floor plan at a time.  He had the capability to create buildings that contributed beauty and curiosity onto a street that was once bland and vacant. The year my mother worked with that architect was the year I figured out what I wanted to do for the rest of my life. At times she probably regrets introducing me to this field so early because I can't tell you the number of times I neglected homework to draw houses instead. Over the years books filled one by one full of floor plans and sketches.

Photo of two of my drafting books from middle school.

Taken by Alexis Armitage.

Car rides became my favorite past time. I would peek out the window and begin to imagine how I could transform houses that were broken down and abandoned. "Maybe a fresh paint job will do the trick, some new windows possibly? Stone sure would make a statement." From house to house ideas would fill my mind, and then eventually fill a sketch book. One man's trash is another man's treasure, right?

My design philosophy is encrypted with the passion I have for architecture, helping others, and my love for the Earth. As a designer, I will create successful environments for clients and the end users with design principles and elements, functionality, detail, and delight. The created built environment will respect the natural environment through sustainable practices, and reflect it as well. Innovative details in the design will represent the client throughout the space, captivating them and the end users.

Four aids in a successful environment.

sketch by me.

The Falling Water house by Frank Lloyd Wright is innovation at it's finest. 

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