Concurrents – Environmental Psychology: Outdoor Spaces, Indoor Spaces
What neuroscientists have learned about how people’s minds work inside is directly applicable when courtyards, patios, rooftop gardens, etc., are being designed. For example… With outdoors, just like indoors, it’s important that people have options for their physical environments; comfortable amounts of environmental control boost our mental state in all sorts of desirable ways. Comfortable control means users not only need to be able to choose the conditions in which they spend their time – in the sun, in the shade, etc. – but also that they have the opportunity to make a few changes to a space once they pick it, shifting or reclining a seat slightly, for instance. Some of those seats need to support easy eye contact while others need to allow people to gracefully skip the eye contact, if their current situation or culture make staring into someone else’s eyes difficult. A curving continuum of seats, …
Log in to Continue Reading
