What is a window….? If we ask someone to draw a window on a wall probably what we will get is a rectangular somewhere in the middle of another rectangular which will be the wall… maybe we get a circle if someone has been living on a ship in all his life…
So architects design spaces and openings to let the natural light come in. The word opening is more appropriate to use, but I feel that the word window come closer to our daily experiences. So I start with the question what is a window... to speak about openings.
Why do we like windows? Could be for many reasons… I will focus on two things which I believe have a determinative role in the interior atmosphere. The one is that through windows we communicate with the outer environment. They form a frame to view the exterior. So what we see is very important. The other thing is the way windows let the natural light come in. We say that natural light is desirable but sometimes the glaring can be unbearable. Curtains can do the work but what can we do with architecture?
At our last meeting Andre encouraged me to bring some ideas from my presentation as I progress my research… I think it would be interesting to blend those two things I mentioned above. Which is what we see and how can the light affect the interior atmosphere and sense of intimacy. One could affect the other in the way we organize the openings in a space.
But still… before I get there I have to start from the very initial questions, and find some answers to those, so the research has to go step by step to help me reach a solution and find some arguments for those.
The way we can analyze a space at a specific site is very complex. Even these two things I mentioned before... The communication with the exterior is affected by the location, climate, the adjacent surroundings that create the environment buildings or nature, the history of the place, memories, movements of people inside and outside of the space, smell and sounds.
For my research it would be interesting to choose a specific existing site and research possible ways to bring natural light in, but I am thinking I won’t. So what I have in mind is examine all these in an imaginary space which there I have less aspects to take into account and I will focus only on these two things I mentioned. So it will be an exercise.
Sunday, February 22, 2009
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
about the survey
Review: my interest is in interiors and factors that can make a space look intimate and friendly. I choose to search that using natural lighting and check how the alterations in a light source can affect the interior ambience. by asking peoples opinion on pictures. I thought that doing the survey at the same time I am still experimenting would be interesting since I would have some results that could contribute in a way to my further investigation.
Before I start, I have to express my worries about those tests based on perspective since I am not sure about the objectivity of the results… and I should explain what I mean. Here there are some thoughts I have about how I should work on the survey, what I should take into account and what are the problems I might confront.
A survey has to be organized and set carefully. First of all the researcher has to have a clear plan of what he wants to search and seek the required answers by making the proper questions. The use of words is important.
Since we are talking about the response of people to images the creation and selection of images should be carefully made. For example since my plan is to create a space and change the source of light that affects the ambience of the interior… those changes should have a meaning and be done in critical ways in order have critical results. I mean that after some trials I have to choose which of the pictures I will use at the survey.
Another thing is the available tools. Tests that concern perceptions of interiors should be made in 1:1 scale for more realistic results. Now the same test will be made using pictures of an interior space. Like in photographs the specific view that is chosen affects the impression of a space. At the renders or sketches I will make I should take this into account. My perspectives will affect the people’s perception.
The variety of people that will take the test concerning age, nationalities, sex, cultural level and the number of people are important aspects as well. Bigger number and variety of people groups can have more objective results. The problem is that I might cannot control that.
People many times while participating in a test they react different that in reality. Taking a test many times can trap someone on questions like “what is right for that question?” and they loose their own will. On the other hand some others don’t pay attention and give random answers. And of course since we are talking for a subjective test answers might differ since people differ.
There are in the nature of these kind of surveys about psychological perception some aspects that cannot be predicted or ensure the objectivity of the outcome and some other aspects that are more controlled.
I felt that I should share with you my thoughts about this survey. There should be more aspects that haven’t crossed my mind… So, it is an experiment. Despite the problems, I think the most important is to mention the way I will approach this survey.
Before I start, I have to express my worries about those tests based on perspective since I am not sure about the objectivity of the results… and I should explain what I mean. Here there are some thoughts I have about how I should work on the survey, what I should take into account and what are the problems I might confront.
A survey has to be organized and set carefully. First of all the researcher has to have a clear plan of what he wants to search and seek the required answers by making the proper questions. The use of words is important.
Since we are talking about the response of people to images the creation and selection of images should be carefully made. For example since my plan is to create a space and change the source of light that affects the ambience of the interior… those changes should have a meaning and be done in critical ways in order have critical results. I mean that after some trials I have to choose which of the pictures I will use at the survey.
Another thing is the available tools. Tests that concern perceptions of interiors should be made in 1:1 scale for more realistic results. Now the same test will be made using pictures of an interior space. Like in photographs the specific view that is chosen affects the impression of a space. At the renders or sketches I will make I should take this into account. My perspectives will affect the people’s perception.
The variety of people that will take the test concerning age, nationalities, sex, cultural level and the number of people are important aspects as well. Bigger number and variety of people groups can have more objective results. The problem is that I might cannot control that.
People many times while participating in a test they react different that in reality. Taking a test many times can trap someone on questions like “what is right for that question?” and they loose their own will. On the other hand some others don’t pay attention and give random answers. And of course since we are talking for a subjective test answers might differ since people differ.
There are in the nature of these kind of surveys about psychological perception some aspects that cannot be predicted or ensure the objectivity of the outcome and some other aspects that are more controlled.
I felt that I should share with you my thoughts about this survey. There should be more aspects that haven’t crossed my mind… So, it is an experiment. Despite the problems, I think the most important is to mention the way I will approach this survey.
Saturday, February 14, 2009
thoughts after the presentation
Thinking of my presentation, I feel that I have to reduce the fields of my interest more in order to reach a solution. I mentioned my interest in interior and factors that affect the inner comfort for a space. There are many different ways to examine the interior and inner comfort or the perception of space and many different fields to search.
To do a short review here are my research questions from Monday’s presentation:
• what are the needs of a user for a specific place?
• which are the factors that contribute to the inner comfort?
• how can natural lighting affect the perception for a space?
• how can all these factors lead to a design solution?
Some of them I should reevaluate and some need more specific approach
My reference to nature (as a possible field for my research) seems that it could have been missing from the presentation since it does not affect directly the research questions… I think for now I should keep it out of the scenery so that things become more clear to me.
So, I think it would be better if I choose one main factor that affects the interior ambience and try to combine it with more (one or two… more factors would make it complicated and difficult to control) and choose a process of testing my questions with orientation to the main factor. One of the main factors that interest me, as I mentioned in my presentation is natural lighting.
Talking about natural lighting in the interior the first thing that comes to my mind is the source of the light, easily translated to windows or in broad sense openings. A specific opening (area) for instance can let a specific amount of light to enter a space. The position of the opening can affect the amount of light that enters a space according to the sun position and the shape or the division in smaller openings (keeping the same area) can affect the way the natural light enters a place and the perception of people for the interior.
To do a short review here are my research questions from Monday’s presentation:
• what are the needs of a user for a specific place?
• which are the factors that contribute to the inner comfort?
• how can natural lighting affect the perception for a space?
• how can all these factors lead to a design solution?
Some of them I should reevaluate and some need more specific approach
My reference to nature (as a possible field for my research) seems that it could have been missing from the presentation since it does not affect directly the research questions… I think for now I should keep it out of the scenery so that things become more clear to me.
So, I think it would be better if I choose one main factor that affects the interior ambience and try to combine it with more (one or two… more factors would make it complicated and difficult to control) and choose a process of testing my questions with orientation to the main factor. One of the main factors that interest me, as I mentioned in my presentation is natural lighting.
Talking about natural lighting in the interior the first thing that comes to my mind is the source of the light, easily translated to windows or in broad sense openings. A specific opening (area) for instance can let a specific amount of light to enter a space. The position of the opening can affect the amount of light that enters a space according to the sun position and the shape or the division in smaller openings (keeping the same area) can affect the way the natural light enters a place and the perception of people for the interior.
I am thinking I could start with a space and an opening with certain dimensions, and then change the position or shape of this light source keeping the same area. The same area can be divided to smaller pieces so that the light enters the space in different ways. Then with research by asking other people opinion or by using software for lighting or even doing both and compare the results I could reach a sort of solution and have some answers to my questions.
Before starting any research it should be clear which data I want to use from the software, if they are comparable to the peoples opinion and which questions I should ask for…
Thursday, February 5, 2009
Having to think of a topic that “fascinates us” the first thing that came to my mind is nature and what is the connection with architecture. Learning from that, what should we think as architects for our propositions? Examples from primitive to contemporary architecture show that our environment has always been inspired from nature.
This topic is huge and has many different ways to approach. There are several things that came to my mind, things that I came across lately in articles, images, discussions…
At a discussion long time ago we commented on how architects and engineers work as a team to design a building. Each specialized person has to deal with a specific part of the building or at a specific stage. It is difficult for one person to have the whole overview of the design.
It would be interesting for me to start from the small scale and inquire the process of the design from that point. To research more on the inner needs of a space in physical and psychological comfort.
One topic I thought, is to try to combine both inspiration from nature and interior comfort for a space and find possible solutions for the design of a facade. To start the research I might have something more specific like visual comfort.
This topic is huge and has many different ways to approach. There are several things that came to my mind, things that I came across lately in articles, images, discussions…
At a discussion long time ago we commented on how architects and engineers work as a team to design a building. Each specialized person has to deal with a specific part of the building or at a specific stage. It is difficult for one person to have the whole overview of the design.
It would be interesting for me to start from the small scale and inquire the process of the design from that point. To research more on the inner needs of a space in physical and psychological comfort.
One topic I thought, is to try to combine both inspiration from nature and interior comfort for a space and find possible solutions for the design of a facade. To start the research I might have something more specific like visual comfort.
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