Early thoughts on bringing natural elements to the built environment

Transcript

1. Nature & the built environment An urban office worker needs to feel surprised and delighted by 'natural' ambient sensations because the office environment feels stagnant and artificial. How might we: ...create the right amount of variation and consistency in ambient sensations? ...take some data about a real-time natural phenomenon and make it sensible? ...introduce more smell, airflow, and tactile experiences into the workplace? Luke Dahl Maria Molfino Cassidy Saenz Jonathan (Jasper) Sherman-Presser
2. Quotes - "At the music library...there's a giant glass window... I'm sitting at the edge of being outside and inside." - Kunal, 26 - "The HVAC system is constant and monotonous. There's no ebb and flow like a natural breeze." - John, 31 - "I don't like how cluttered [indoors] can get. In nature, clutter doesn't apply. It's full of things, but it's supposed to be full of things. There's a feeling of openness." - Zoe, 28 - "I don't like what technology does to the air. It's like being in an airplane." - Denni, 55 8 Interviewees: Kunal, 26 (Stanford grad student); Rahmin, 28 (works at startup); Melissa, 29 (civil rights lawyer); John, 31 (software engineer); Steve, 65 (lawyer); Zoe, 28 (former journalist); Ernest, 50- 60 (math teacher in Japan); Denni, 55 (associate director of Native American Cultural Center on campus)
3. Some insights The interplay between predictability and variation is a powerful element of people's experience outdoors People experience multiple cycles and scales of tapping into nature (twice yearly trips, weekend hikes, daily commute, breezes in the office) Scent and quality of air are a particular nexus of something present, stimulating, and memorable in the outdoors but largely missing indoors.
4. Initial Stress Model Indoor/built environment Sterile, drab, unchanging surroundings Monotonous scale and patterns of most stimuli Deviations (clutter, noises, smells) cause distraction, stress; non- variation causes stagnation Natural environment Variation in scale of objects Multi-sensory stimulation Organic patterns of consistent, varying stimuli Richness of experience causes wonder, calmness, relaxation vs