I find it interesting to know that physical environments can influence human behaviors. The social design process that has been developed over that last forty years is extremely important when buildings are being engineered and built for people to use. Rather than focusing on the aspects of the materials and the engineering side of architecture itself, we must focus on people. If people are involved in the building process, the project can be successful and create a building that individuals can live in and or use effectively (Schneider, Gruman & Coutts, 2012).
A collaboration or competitive design process can motivate building designers to incorporate functionality, not just create something for the beauty of it. Instead, the focus should be on the people who will be affected by the building and using it on a regular basis. In order to do this effectively architects and social psychologists need to collaborate with one another; this process is called placemaking. Placemaking is when real people are imagined in real spaces. This allows both parties to look at the functionality of the building and imagine how it will be used in real world context. Of course, this process will be more time consuming (Schneider et al, 2012).
Not all buildings need to be built with a social design focus. In the past, when the communities were smaller, groups within the community would gather together and build as needed. This was called preindustrial vernacular, where the people who built within the community were also the occupants of the building (Schneider et al, 2012). This process has changed overtime as the populations have risen. As a child I heard stories of grandparents and great grandparents that were involved in the building process of their own homes and even created the blueprints and floor plans for it. This is not a standard process we use today, many of us purchase our homes after seeing it years after its been built and or after choosing the style or floor plan provided to us by the builders.
According to Nan’s journal (2003) the idea of social design has become a “quiet” revolution within the field of architecture. The basic idea behind the concept is having a sensitivity to the people and their environment. Using this concept is reshaping our physical environment in landscape and in buildings. For an example, I would have liked to be involved in the discussion of my city deciding to build a new gas station within a quarter of a mile from my home and I would have loved to be pulled into that design discussion because over the hill there are two other gas stations less than half a mile away. If social design was integrated into the city’s plans and architectural structures the community would be more open to changes that make sense, rather than changes that appear to be senseless.
References
Ellin, Nan (01/01/2003). “Culture, environmental action and sustainability”. Culture, environmental action and sustainability, p. 61.
Schneider, F. W., Gruman, J. A., & Coutts, L. M. (2012). Applied social psychology: Understanding and addressing social and practical problems (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.