Architecture and Human Behavior

[Architecture 302]

Spring 2015. Lecture: TTh 11-11:50 AM. Discussion Section: TTH 12-12:50 PM.

Instructors

Arijit Sen;

Office Hours: By Appointment

Andreya Suzanna Veintimilla;

Office Hours:

Sections: TR 12:00-12:50, Location: AUP

Emily Christine Newton,

Office Hours:

Sections: TR 12:00-12:50, Location: AUP

Hongyan Yang.

Office Hours:

Sections: TR 12:00-12:50, Location: AUP

Course Objectives

[A] The primary goal of professionals engaged in the design, maintenance and making of the built environment is to serve the users who will use these places once they are built. The objective of this class is to train you as responsible stewards and builders of the built environment, to introduce to techniques of reading the social, cultural and material world as evidence for design interventions, to make you proficient with user centric design principles, and to familiarize you with the concept of public interest design. In order to achieve that goal, we willexamine the complex relationship between humans and their physical world. We will explore ways to act in this world—ways that are sustainable, ethical and compassionate. In this course we will ask the following questions:

What is the right question?

The relationship between humans and their physical world is never constant and consistent. This knowledge depends on many factors, such as, cultural background, gender, race, economics, political context, physical features of place, geography and climate. We have to learn to ask the right questions in order to develop a sophisticated understanding of human-centric design.

How do we find answers to these questions?

Once you decide on the right question, you will need skills to find the answers. You will need to collect data, analyze what you find, and interpret them. The various strategies that you apply in order to answer your questions are skills and methods that you will need.

Why is this issue relevant to us?

This is perhaps the most important question: Why is it necessary to study the relationship between humans and their environment? Each of you will have different reasons for studying this. But this question is essentially an ethical one. Some of you may respond that the reason why it is important to consider the complex relationship between humans and their environment is because of our urgent need to save and sustain our ecology. Others may have economic or political reasons to engage in this process. As students who are interested in becoming professionals, it is also important that we know how to converse with and understand our clients—we need to know why we are doing what we do. Situating our question within a larger context, figuring out the “why” or “so what” of our actions is called “framing” your project. Philip Manning in the Encyclopedia of Social Theory refers to sociologist Erving Goffman to explain that a frame is, “a way of organizing experiences: we use frames to identify what is taking place. … Frame analysis is therefore the study of the ‘organization of experience’.”

There is no formula that will help you answer these questions. Each of you will have to form your own questions, craft your own answers and figure out how you frame issues. So this class will not provide you with formulaic answers that you may learn and apply with ease. Instead, you will learn methods—how to ask questions, how to collect information, how to interpret information, how to become people-centered designers.

[B] The second goal of this course is to introduce you to public interest design and the concept of citizen architecture. The American Institute of Architects suggests that architects become active citizens. Active and engaged professionals ensure sustainable, livable, healthy, and quality-designed environments for future generations. The AIA website urges, “The Citizen Architect uses his/her insights, talents, training, and experience to contribute meaningfully, beyond self, to the improvement of the community and human condition. The Citizen Architect stays informed on local, state, and federal issues, and makes time for service to the community. The Citizen Architect advocates for higher living standards, the creation of a sustainable environment, quality of life, and the greater good.” In order to help you consider how to become citizen architects this course will focus on real neighborhoods, real people, real assets and contemporary problems, and ask you to engage with those directly. This will take you beyond class lectures and rote learning, out of your comfort zone. This is a class that requires you to step outside the classroom and take an active role in your community and your class grade reflects your ability to do so.

Learning objectives

On completion of this course students are expected to demonstrate an expert level of comprehension and learning in following:

A3. Investigative Skills: Demonstrate an ability to ask questions and formulate strategies that will help them make the world a sustainable, livable, healthy, and well-designed place.
A3. Investigative Skills: Demonstrate an ability to collect information necessary for public interest design. This involves the ability to think, research, and consider issues before rushing into action. Demonstrate an ability to read, document and represent knowledge of the social and material aspects of cultural landscapes in visual and textual forms.
A8. Cultural Diversity and Social Equity: Demonstrate an advanced ability to interpret social and material evidence. Demonstrate an ability to read, evaluate, and interpret the built environment as cultural artifact; uncover the ideological and symbolic underpinnings of the material world.
D1. Stakeholders Role in Architecture: Understand the relationship among key stakeholders such as the architect, client, user group and local community and the architect’s role to reconcile stakeholder needs.

Required Text:

On reserve:

For additional readings and resources visit the Arch 302 D2L page.

Books that are useful references for Assignments

Jan Gehl and Birgitte Svarre, How to Study Public Life, (Washington DC: Island Press, 2013)

Emily Talen, Design for Diversity: Exploring Socially Mixed Neighborhoods, (Architectural Press, 2008),

Sue McGlynn, Ian Bentley, Graham Smith, Alan Alcock, Paul Murrain, and John Bennett,Responsive Environments,(London: Architectural Press,1985).
Anthony M. Orum, Zachary P. Neal, Editors, Common Ground: Readings and Reflections on Public Space, (New York: Routledge, 2009

Irwin Altman and Martin M. Chemers (editors), “Privacy,” and “Personal Space,” Culture and Environment, (Monterrey, CA: Brooks/Cole Publishing Co., 1984): 75-119

Galen Cranz, Eleftherios Pavlides, Environmental Design Research: The Body, The City, and the Buildings in Between, San Diego: Cognella, 2013.

Grading

Your grades reflect your ability to conduct research, apply and engage with weekly readings, and engage with public interest design. When we grade your papers and assignments we will consider:

How rigorous, innovative, and diligent is your research?
Did you apply your weekly readings into your assignments?
How successful were you in engaging with communities and people you studied?
Writing style: spellings, sentence syntax, editing, citations and clarity of expression.

Assignments 1-4:60% of your final grades

Attendance and participation: 30% of your final grades

1 excused absence allowed. Thereafter you loose 1/3 grade for each unexcused absence. That means if you were getting an A grade and you miss a class or discussion section without an valid reason or without permission your grade becomes A-. Two unexcused absence; it reduces to B+. Three unexcused absenceand it turns into a B. Excused absences include a doctor’s note stating cause of your absence, documented religious reasons, and documented jury or military duty.

Final Exams: 10%

As a policy we will not give an incomplete for this class except in the case of circumstances listed below.

University policies

In this course, university policies and procedures will be followed for academic misconduct, accommodation for disability and religious observation, discriminatory conduct, sexual harassment, and other matters.

Academic Honesty

The university has a responsibility to promote academic honesty and integrity and to develop procedures to deal effectively with instances of academic dishonesty. Students are responsible for the honest completion and representation of their work, for the appropriate citation of sources, and for respect of others' academic endeavors.

Special Needs

If you need special accommodations in order to meet any of the requirements of this course, please contact me as soon as possible.

Please see me if you anticipate a conflict in attending a class because of a religious observation.

For university policies on accommodations for absences due to call-up of reserves to active military duty see,

Gender Equality

Sexual harassment will not be tolerated by the university. It subverts the university's mission and threatens the careers, educational experience, and well-being of students, faculty and staff. The university will not tolerate behavior between or among members of the university community that creates an unacceptable working environment.

Environmental Health

All projects shall be designed to engage the environment in a way that dramatically reduces or eliminates the need for fossil fuels, and to convey an ethical position in regard to the use of non-renewable materials and materials that pose a threat to human and environmental health.

Grades

A notation of "incomplete" may be given in lieu of a final grade to a student who has carried a subject successfully until the end of a semester but who, because of illness or other unusual and substantiated cause beyond the student's control, has been unable to take or complete the final examination or to complete some limited amount of term work.

A student may appeal a grade on the grounds that it is based on a capricious or arbitrary decision of the course instructor. Such an appeal shall follow the established procedures adopted by the department, college, or school in which the course resides or in the case of graduate students, the Graduate School. These procedures are available in writing from the respective department chairperson or the Academic Dean of the College/School.

Conduct

Discriminatory conduct will not be tolerated by the University. It poisons the work and learning environment of the University and threatens the careers, educational experience, and well-being of students, faculty, and staff. Cheating on exams or plagiarism are violations of the academic honor code and carry severe sanctions, including failing a course or even suspension or dismissal from the University.

Complaint procedures

Students may direct complaints to the head of the academic unit or department in which the complaint occurs. If the complaint allegedly violates a specific university policy, it may be directed to the head of the department or academic unit in which the complaint occurred or to the appropriate university office responsible for enforcing the policy.

Other

The final exam requirement, the final exam date requirement, etc.

Firearms and Dangerous Weapons Policy.

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Weekly Schedule

SECTION 1

INTRODUCTION: What is socially relevant design?

______

WEEK 1: INTRODUCTION

Readings:

Assignment 1 handed out in lecture

______Lecture 1, Jan 272015: Introduction to this class and its goals.

______Lecture 2, Jan 292015: What is public interest design and citizen architecture?

______

WEEK 2: UNDERSTANDING AGENCY OF SCALES

Readings

Peirce Lewis, "Common Landscapes as Historic Documents," in History from Things: Essays on Material Culture, ed. Steven Lubar and W. David Kingery, (Washington DC: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1993), 115-138.

______Lecture 3, Feb 32015: Physical space at multiple scales, Villa Uhrig story

______Lecture 4, Feb 52015: The human body at multiple scales: everyday, historical (political, representational), and environmental, Powers of ten story

______

WEEK 3: REVISION

Readings

Dolores Hayden, “Contested Terrain,” GIA Newsletter 8: 2 (Fall 1997), (Accessed January 5, 2014)

Assignment 1 due in section

Assignment 2 handed out in lecture

______Lecture 5, Feb 102015: In class discussion of readings and prior lectures

______Lecture 6, Feb 122015: Guest Lecture

SECTION 2

DATA AND ANALYSIS

______

WEEK 4: DATA, MAKING SENSE OF PLACE

Readings

Roger Trancik, “Three Theories of Urban Spatial Design.” In Finding Lost Space: Theories of Urban Design, (New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold, 1986), 97-124.

Watch before class: VHS-2962 Cities for people

______Lecture 7, Feb 172015: Aggregate data and archival data, Villa Terrace story

______Lecture 8, Feb 192015: Maps, tables and numbers, landscape urbanism

______

WEEK 5: DATA, MAKING SENSE OF PEOPLE

Readings

Julia W. Robinson, “The Question of Type,” In Ordering Space: Types in Architecture and Design, pp. 179-194, Karen A. Franck and Lynda H. Schneekloth (Editors), New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold, 1994

Watch before class: The Social life of small urban spaces

______Lecture 9, Feb 242015: Typology, use types, form types and structural types, foursquare and duplex story

______Lecture 10, Feb 262015: Morphology and imageability, 9 goals for a responsive environment

______

WEEK 6: INTERPRETING DATA

Readings

Eleftherios Pavlides and Galen Cranz, “Ethnographic Methods in Support of ArchitecturalPractice,” Enhancing Building and Environmental Performance, Shauna Mallory-Hill,Wolfgang Preiser,Chris Watson (eds.),

Assignment 2 due in section

Assignment 3 handed out in lecture

______Lecture 11, Mar 32015: Human behavior, rhythms, social life of public space, personalization, thick edge

______Lecture 12, Mar 52015: Interviewing and observations, Dolores Hayden and the power of place

______

WEEK 7: REVISION/IN-CLASS EXAM

Readings

Amos Rapoport, “On the Cultural Responsiveness of Architecture,” Journal of Architectural Education 41: 1 (Autumn, 1987), 10-15.

______Lecture 13, Mar 102015: In class discussion of readings and lectures

______Lecture 14, Mar 122015: Keith Hayes and others

______

WEEK 8: SPRING RECESS

SECTION 3

APPLICATION

______

WEEK 9: CULTURAL ORDER

Readings

Howard Davis, “Shared Architectural Knowledge,” In The Culture of Building, (New York: Oxford University Press, 2006), 131-158.

______Lecture 15, Mar 24 2015: Open Buildings, Vernacular Architecture, Informal Settlements, Catalytic design, and Prototypes

______Lecture 16, Mar 26 2015: Accessibility and universal design

Wheel chair exercise during section

______

WEEK 10: ENVIRONMENTAL ORDER

Readings

Michael Mehaffy and Nikos A. Salingaros, “Toward Resilient Architectures 1: Biology Lessons,” The Metropolis Blog, Point of View, Mar 22, 2013, (Accessed, January 6, 2014).

Watch before class: VHS-4736 Creating community

______Lecture 17, Mar 312015: Socially responsible site design, sustainability, climate, and resource access

______Lecture 18, Apr 22015: Resilience and Capacity

WEEK 11: EXPERIENTIAL ORDER

Readings

Quentin Stevens, “The Social Dimension of Urban Space,” Ludic City: Exploring the Potential of Public Spaces, (New York: Routledge, 2007), 54-66.

Juhani Pallasmaa, "Hapticity and Time: Notes on a Fragile Architecture", The Architectural Review (May, 2000), pp. 78-84

______Lecture 19, Apr 72015: Color, light, climate, comfort

______Lecture 20, Apr 92015:Time, Experience, access, and procession, proxemics

______

WEEK 12: POLITICAL ORDER

Readings

James Rojas, “Enacted Environment,” In Everyday America: Cultural Landscape Studies after J. B. Jackson, Chris Wilson and Paul Groth (editors), Berkeley: University of California Press, 2003, pp. 275-292.

Mona Domosh, Joni Seager, “Home,” In Putting Women in Place: Feminist Geographers Make Sense of the World, (New York: Guilford Press, 2001), 1-34

______Lecture 21, Apr 14 2015:Socially responsible interior design, flexibility, and capacity

______Lecture 22, Apr 162015:Race, Gender, Class and Identity

______

WEEK 13: FORMAL ORDER

Readings

Renee Chow, “House Form and Choice,” TDSR 9:11 (1998): 51-62.

______Lecture 23, Apr 212015: Form, Tectonics,Privacies

______Lecture 24, Apr 232015: In class discussions of readings and lectures

SECTION 4

ETHICS AND VALUES

______

WEEK 14: VALUES

Readings

Watch before class: DVD-5307 Claiming open spaces

______Lecture 25, Apr 282015: Power, Race and Class

______Lecture 26, Apr 302015: Rights to the City and Social Equity in Ecological discussion

______

WEEK 15: SUMMARY

______Lecture 27, May 52015: Professional ethics in class graded workshop and Summary

______Lecture 28, May 7 2015: Final discussion

Assignment 4 due

______

WK / DATE / LECTURE TOPIC / READINGS (to be completed before coming to class) / ASSIGNMENT INFORMATION
SECTION 1: INTRODUCTION
1 / Jan 27 2015 / INTRODUCTION / Readings: / Assignment 1 handed out
Assignment asks you to frame a particular case study (assigned to you) within multiple scales in order to tell us a story.
Resource
Dolores Hayden, “Contested Terrain,” GIA Newsletter 8: 2 (Fall 1997), (Accessed January 5, 2014)
Assignment 1 due
Assignment 2 handed out
Jan 29 2015
2 / Feb 3 2015 / UNDERSTANDING AGENCY OF SCALES / Readings

Peirce Lewis, "Common Landscapes as Historic Documents," in History from Things: Essays on Material Culture, ed. Steven Lubar and W. David Kingery, (Washington DC: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1993), 115-138.
Feb 5 2015
3 / Feb 10 2015 / REVISION / Readings
Dolores Hayden, “Contested Terrain,” GIA Newsletter 8: 2 (Fall 1997), (Accessed January 5, 2014)
Feb 12 2015
SECTION 2: DATA AND ANALYSIS
4 / Feb 17 2015 / DATA, MAKING SENSE OF PLACE / Readings
Roger Trancik, “Three Theories of Urban Spatial Design.” In Finding Lost Space: Theories of Urban Design, (New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold, 1986), 97-124. / Assignment 2 asks you to explore demographic data and physical morphology of the case study to tell us a story.
Resources
Jan Gehl and Birgitte Svarre, How to Study Public Life, (Washington DC: Island Press, 2013)
Sue McGlynn, Ian Bentley, Graham Smith, Alan Alcock, Paul Murrain, and John Bennett, Responsive Environments, (London: Architectural Press, 1985)
Assignment 2 due
Assignment 3 handed out
Feb 19 2015
5 / Feb 24 2015
City Hall Exhibit / DATA, MAKING SENSE OF PEOPLE / Readings
Julia W. Robinson, “The Question of Type,” In Ordering Space: Types in Architecture and Design, pp. 179-194, Karen A. Franck and Lynda H. Schneekloth (Editors), New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold, 1994
Feb 26 2015
City Hall Exhibit
6 / Mar 3 2015 / INTERPRETING DATA / Readings
Eleftherios Pavlides and Galen Cranz, “Ethnographic Methods in Support of Architectural Practice,” Enhancing Building and Environmental Performance, Shauna Mallory-Hill, Wolfgang Preiser, Chris Watson (eds.),
Mar 5 2015
7 / Mar 10 2015 / REVISION/IN-CLASS EXAM / Readings
Amos Rapoport, “On the Cultural Responsiveness of Architecture,” Journal of Architectural Education 41: 1 (Autumn, 1987), 10-15. / Assignment 3
Assignment 3 asks you to observe and interview people to tell us a story
Mar 12 2015
8 / Mar 17 2015 / S P R I N G R E C E S S
Mar 19 2015
SECTION 3: APPLICATIONS
9 / Mar 24 2015 / CULTURAL ORDER / Readings
Howard Davis, “Shared Architectural Knowledge,” In The Culture of Building, (New York: Oxford University Press, 2006), 131-158. / Assignment 3
Resources
Anthony M. Orum, Zachary P. Neal, Editors,Common Ground: Readings and Reflections on Public Space, (New York: Routledge, 2009

Assignment 3 due
Assignment 4 handed out
Mar 26 2015
10 / Mar 31 2015 / ENVIRONMENTAL ORDER / Readings
Michael Mehaffy and Nikos A. Salingaros, “Toward Resilient Architectures 1: Biology Lessons,” The Metropolis Blog, Point of View, Mar 22, 2013, (Accessed, January 6, 2014).
Apr 2 2015
11 / Apr 7 2015 / EXPERIENTIAL ORDER / Readings
Quentin Stevens, “The Social Dimension of Urban Space,” Ludic City: Exploring the Potential of Public Spaces, (New York: Routledge, 2007), 54-66.
Juhani Pallasmaa, "Hapticity and Time: Notes on a Fragile Architecture", The Architectural Review (May, 2000), pp. 78-84
Apr 92015
12 / Apr 14 2015 / POLITICAL ORDER / Readings
James Rojas, “Enacted Environment,” In Everyday America: Cultural Landscape Studies after J. B. Jackson, Chris Wilson and Paul Groth (editors), Berkeley: University of California Press, 2003, pp. 275-292.
Mona Domosh, Joni Seager, “Home,” In Putting Women in Place: Feminist Geographers Make Sense of the World, (New York: Guilford Press, 2001), 1-34 / Assignment 4
Assignment 4 is a design project
Resources
Giovanna Borasi, Mirko Zardini, Actions: What You Can Do With the City, Montreal: Sun Publishers, 2008

Apr 16 2015
13 / Apr 21 2015 / FORMAL ORDER / Readings
Renee Chow, “House Form and Choice,” TDSR 9:11 (1998): 51-62.

Apr 23 2015
SECTION 4: ETHICS
14 / Apr 28 2015 / VALUES / Readings
/ Final exhibit
Apr 30 2015
15 / May 5 2015 / SUMMARY / NO READINGS
May 7 2015