high minded_thesis

high-minded thesis:
http://dl.getdropbox.com/u/917017/high-minded_thesis/rachel%20baker_thesis_high%20minded.pdf


table of spatial considerations:
http://dl.getdropbox.com/u/917017/high-minded_thesis/rachel%20baker_thesis_table%20of%20spatial%20findings.pdf

appendix 1_spatial tool cards:
http://dl.getdropbox.com/u/917017/high-minded_thesis/rachel%20baker_thesis_appendix1_spatial%20tool%20cards.pdf

appendix 2_documentation drawings:
http://dl.getdropbox.com/u/917017/high-minded_thesis/rachel%20baker_thesis_appendix2_documentation%20drawings.pdf

thesis final

http://dl.getdropbox.com/u/917017/thesis/rachel%20baker_thesis.pdf

http://dl.getdropbox.com/u/917017/thesis/spatial%20tool%20cards.pdf

http://dl.getdropbox.com/u/917017/thesis/table%20one_%20qualitative%20spatial%20considerations.pdf

Thesis Update 2 with Images and Quotes

http://dl.getdropbox.com/u/917017/rachel.baker_thesis%20draft%202.pdf
http://dl.getdropbox.com/u/917017/spatial%20tool%20cards.pdf

Thesis Update with Images and Quotes

http://dl.getdropbox.com/u/917017/rachel.baker_thesis%20draft.pdf

RQ. How can design address the reflective mind in fast paced western society?

(insert on it’s own page at the front of the book)
“Feelings of security, comfort, meaning and familiarity are of particular importance, the sensible organisation of the environment, the unconscious meanings and messages of the space, scale, and the sensory and stimulating context are natural to the therapeutic environment of the mentally disturbed”
Alvar Aalto on designing Paimio Sanatorium, Finland

RQ. How can design address the reflective mind in fast paced western society?

Abstract

“In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity” Albert Einstein
Pressured conformity to the mechanical ideals of fast paced Western society is taking its toll on the mental capabilities of its population at large. Through pressuring the human mind to constantly operate in mechanical mode, far beyond its ‘normal’ jurisdiction, we are mentally suffering the consequences. Due to this phenomenon, we are indeed in a historical rift, where the rate of mental instability in our Western society is dangerously skyrocketing. That being said, there is a serious opportunity for design to intervene in the mental well-being arena. Design can assist our mental wellbeing through addressing the human mind in a context that reflects its natural operation, where the personal stresses of society can be more considered in a way that the mentally balanced mind can deal with better. This research will explore how the concept of escapism can be designed in everyday activities to assist the essential human nature of the reflective mind to find mental release from the increased stresses of society. This research will also describe how through accentuating the emotional experience of these activities in the design approach will allow an opportunity for design to respond to the human mind on ‘reflective’ rather than mechanically reactive grounds.

Introduction

1550 BC, in the oldest medical journal ever discovered, the Ancient Egyptians described what we know today as depression. Over three and a half thousand years later, mental illness affects tens of millions of people internationally and rising. What is interesting is that this number alarmingly increased with the fast paced mechanical ideals of post industrial society. This design research will look at how design can find an opportunity through this phenomenon to address the mental needs of people in society, as we know it today. The initial stages of design research will explore this occurrence in more detail, looking specifically at how society has been moulded to the ideals of the industrial revolution and what the ramifications have been on the mental well-being of it’s population. The first chapter will also explore the concept of social conformity to reactive thought, how we can break away from reactive thought by addressing the more humanly natural reflective thought and finally how design can assist us in this endeavour. The second chapter will analyse the findings of a study that was conducted for the purposes of this design research to establish what spatial values are relevant in addressing the mental well being of those living in a stress pressured western society. Finally this design research will explore a contextual platform and means that design can offer opportunities for our population to manifest their reflective mind untainted by the conditioning of fast paced western societal ideals.


Chapter One. “But we have made our biggest mistake in confusing conformity in action with conformity in thought” Victor Papanek

“Good girls don’t cry”, is a value in childhood teachings, familiar to probably most of us growing up in a western society. We live in a society that does in fact, place a lot of value on conformity, especially from an early age. In some cases, conformity is not all that bad, that is, until conformity starts to govern more than just the aspects of society fit for it’s purpose. The conformist ideal becomes particularly dangerous when it is coupled with the mechanical speed ideal following from the industrial age (Honore 2005, p15). When the mechanical speed ideal was accepted as integral in the way of life of post industrial western society, to keep up with this fast pace, we were expected to accept the machine as our life model; to not only behave like machines, but also think like machines (Honore 2005, p16). The major consequence of this utilitarian approach to society is that there are no allowances for human error, particularly in relation to how exactly the human speed of thought can adequately conform to this ideal, or more commonly not (Bohm 1996, p6). The paradox is that instead of questioning the validity of a fast paced mechanically driven society on the basic nature of our human existence, we fall back into the conformist trend of not ‘wanting to rock the boat’ of how collective society accepts the fast paced mechanical society as the accepted norm (Papanek 1997, p155). Therefore our struggle is two fold, on one hand we either mentally suffer in silence trying to maintain an appearance that this societal norm actually works for us, or alternatively, we mentally suffer in silence in fear of ostricisation from our own society as the idea of human ‘weakness’ does not fit in with the utilitarian ideal.

(insert own photograph related to mechanical conformity in thought with quote. “the human brain naturally flits from one thought to the next. In today’s fast society where we are all under pressure to think quickly, reaction rather that reflection is the order of the day” Norman 2004, p120)

“What happens if we are unable to operate in such an aggressively conformist environment? We “blow our top” and are taken to the nearest psychiatrist for help. The first thing this human specialist in human thought and motivation may want to say (if not in so many words) is “well, now, we must adjust you” and what is adjustment, if not another word for conformity?” (Victor Papanek 1997, p154). What Papanek is describing is a reactive thought process exhibited by his psychiatrist, which is a result of the mechanical conditioning of our Western society. Paradoxically, the response that was given by Papaneks psychiatrist, which is common within the framework of a utilitarian society, is not actually helping the situation at hand, by any means. Ultimately, one could say that, it is even worsening the problem, because not only is it trying to fix a problem using the same utilitarian framework that harnessed the problem in the first place but also this reaction does not give validity to the fact that the feelings of mental inadequacies we are feeling, have serious negative ramifications in motivation, perception, action and operate very persuasively in almost everything we do (Bohm 1996, p81). Actually, these negative ramifications are quite evident in the fact that western society today is experiencing unprecedented stress levels in our general population than ever before, where there is a steep and steady increase from the industrialisation period (AIHW 1998). This illustrates that no matter how hard we try to suppress these feelings of mental inadequacy, the human brain cannot constantly function under a mechanical regime (ibid), and consequentially we are stressing ourselves out more and more by trying to force our brains to act in this way where naturally it cannot commit.

(insert own photograph related to stress with criticism from Italian resident and shop owner in the Citta Slow town of Umbria “It is all very well for politicians to talk about slow this and slow that, but in the real world it is not so easy” Honore 2005, p81)

American Physician David Bohm (1996, p81) suggests that there is a way for the brain to break free from its mechanically conditioned mode of thinking captor. Bohm (1997, p8) outlines, that “unless there is an opportunity for reflective thought to respond beyond the framework of such mechanical mode of operation, thought as a whole will inevitably entangle itself in a growing mass of problems and difficulties that it cannot resolve”. What Bohn is addressing is a platform in which design can intervene to assist in creating design opportunities that can look at how design can stimulate reflective rather than reactive thinking, where the end goal is to assist the individual to break free from the conditioning of the ideals of our mechanical society and start to think in ways that reflect better the way in which the human brain organically and creatively operates. Theoretician and Architect, Juhani Pallasmaa (2001, p213) states, “the values inherent in our built environment should be the values inherent in our basic human needs”. If this is the case, we are at a specific time in history where our surrounding environment has to consider the fundamental need of human mental wellbeing more than ever. This is supported by the notion that thinking is a process that can only take place from within ourselves, but this process can be stimulated and supported by the things outside us (Day, 2004 p216). Thus, rendering the influence that our built environment can have in motivating our natural mental processes.

(insert own photograph related to the built environment as a mental stimulator with the quote “To be nourishing architecture (design) must match what we need” (Day 1990, p35))

Australian Architect and Theorist, Kim Dovey (2004, p96), states, ”Healthy places often have a strong sense of cohesion or emotional connection between people and built form. The inhabitants feel identified within it’s forms and they share its meanings” A physical architectural example that demonstrates how this can actually work are the Maggies Centres in the UK. The Maggie’s Centres are drop-in centres for people affected by cancer. Journalist Edwin Heathcote (2008) on speaking about the Maggie’s Centres states, "They are buildings to make people feel human when they are at their most vulnerable." One patron’s note in the London Maggie’s Centre guest book supports this claim by reading “ … it seems like this place understands what I am feeling and lets me be not quite so afraid about my cancer”. Another patron Andy Milward (2008) can explain the experience of the Maggie’s Centre as "Although the design and aesthetics of the building are key elements of the Maggie's philosophy, those first impressions of light, calm, comfort, welcome and difference were mesmerising as we gradually took in the surroundings". The emphasis on the emotional values that are facilitated by experiencing the Maggie’s Centre in the above statement gives confidence to the idea that design can also accommodate experientially to the needs of people suffering from mental unease caused by conformity to mechanical thinking in today’s society. This being said, one fundamental importance is that the Maggie’s Centre is a specific place that is designed for a specific niche of the population affected by cancer. What will prove fundamentally important to this design research will be to understand the values in design that can be directly related to the mental needs of people suffering from the mental pressure to conform to a mechanical society.

(insert own photograph of Maggies Centre with the quote “Good behavioural design should be human centred, focusing upon understanding and satisfying the needs of the people that actually use the product” (Foster 2004, p81)


Chapter two . F(l)ight or flight, ‘When the going get’s tough, the tough get going’, American Singer, Billy Ocean

“When things happen so fast, nobody can be sure of anything, not even about themselves” (Kundera 2005, p9), We perceive the world through our senses and nervous system and when society promotes the mechanical fastness ideal that is fundamentally incompatible with how we think on human terms, we feel confused or threatened, our heart rate increases, we start to panic and our instinctual nervous system response resorts to fight or flight mode (Fischer 1994, p79). Of course, as we saw in the previous chapter, this phenomenon is like a dog chasing it’s own tail, as the fundamental reason why we are feeling so mentally uncomfortable is concealed behind the social norm of mental mechanical conformity, and therefore the overarching reason for the mental dilemma is either ambiguous to the person subscribing to this ideal, or alternatively it would go against the gain of society for this person to contest it. Therefore, of course we take flight to escape from the pressure. The concept of escapism is consistent with the findings from 20 participants (mixed gender, from eight different nationalities and aged between 19 to 33 years), in a study conducted for the purpose of this design research. The participants were asked the question; Could you please tell me about the spatial qualities of the place that you go to when you are feeling stressed or pressured? (The participants were probed on their responses using specific questions regarding experiential, atmospheric, sensorial and emotional qualities of their specific spaces). There were consistent values of escapism that were expressed in varying degrees by all participants. These values will be discussed in the proceeding paragraphs, and include the concept of ontological safety and belonging, multisensorial distraction and physical isolation from the stressful threat.

(insert own photograph related to the concept of escapism with the quote “Society is where everyone hides their real character, then reveals it by hiding – American Sitcom One Tree Hill)

In 1943, Psychologist Abraham Maslow (1943, p376) proclaimed, “Some neurotic adults in our society are, in many ways, like the unsafe child in their desire for safety“ In today’s accelerated and uncertain society, it can be argued that we all have the same childlike desire for ontological safety in varying degrees. Almost all participants in the study described an environment that exerted the concept of safety as a prerequisite to a mentally easing space. The majority or responses were based on the idea of safe places within a home. The idea of home as a safe haven for the mind is not a foreign concept to historical literature. French Philosopher Gaston Bachelard (1994, p6) describes the chief benefit of the house as “a shelter for daydreaming, the house protects the dreamer, the house allows one to dream in peace”. This frame of reference is consistent with what many participants described as the experiential or emotional values attributed to the home. One participant reminisced about the hiding under the bed covers when they were a child and feeling like “nothing can touch you” meanwhile, the sofa to another participant had the feeling of safety as it “reassures you and surrounds you” it was a human scaled place to “escape into” as the soft fabrics “cocooned” your body, and comfortably “cradled you” it was described as a place “were you felt like you belonged”.

(insert own photograph related to safety/belonging with the quote “Our house is our corner of the world” Gaston Bachelard or “the process of feeling like you belong to a space arrives when the space has become personal, as though the body has accepted a subconscious alliance with it, and it has become an extension of the body” Merleau-Ponty)

Another common finding between all participants was the experience of multisensorial distraction as a means of escapism. For example, one participant noted the experience of the fireplace as a catalyst for multisensorial escapism from their stressful pressures. The key values found in this experience were “helping you focus on something else” or “being able to turn off”. This value was manifested from the senses being “hypnotised” by the inherent attributes of the fire; “the smell of the wood burning”, “the warmth from the heat on your skin” and “the colours and movement of the flames that were visually mesmerising”. For another participant, the experience of the bath had the same multisensorial escape value that “takes you away from stress”. For them, “turning off the lights” and being submerged in water allows your ears to enter “into a world of different acoustic sounds”, a place where there was “no pressure on your body”, the tactile sensation of the bath water was likened to “a blanket that warmed the body” which was emphasised by the “coldness of the space around”, the “smells of the bathroom” and the “taste of the steam” was for this participant, all part of the experience of “changing scenery from daily stresses”. In all of the participants’ responses that were linked to the multisensorial escapism value, they seemed to share a consistent underlying characteristic. This characteristic was that the participants felt that they were somehow in control of the situation or at least their personal interaction within a situation through their senses that was foreign to the fast paced pressure situation that was causing the mental grief.

(insert own photograph related to multisensorial stimulation with the quote “helping you focus on something else” or “being able to turn off”)

A final common response from many participants was the desire for physical escape from the pressures of their stress. Physical escapism can be extrapolated from the reflections given as; the desire for solitude in the action of displacing ones body away from the perceived threatening catalyst. This can be seen in an example of one participant’s personal safety zone in the shower. The running water was a “security alarm”, “warning others not to enter” as well as ensuring the participant that they were in a place where ”you and your thoughts could be alone”. Lighting also played an important role in this response (similarly across many responses). The preferred lighting was either dimly diffused or natural light and shadows. This response makes sense when you take into consideration the fact that we spend on average 90 per cent of our stress induced day in mostly artificially lit environments (Alexander, 1997, p201). Another type of physical separation was into nature. Where many participant rejoiced in the change of scenery from fast paced society to the natural surroundings of woods, forests, rivers and beaches in attempt to “clear the mind”. One participant reminisced about his childhood and escaping into the woods where he would climb a tree “to see everything passing you by, but you are not apart of it. Other participants expressed the “sounds of branches in the wind”, “singing birds”, “running water”, “moving shadows from trees”, “isolated from daily noise and society” as the “smells that just come natural from being in nature” and key characteristics that symbolised their physical separation from their stressful situations.

(insert own photograph related to physical dislocation with the quote about prospect refuge theory by Jay Appleton”)

The qualitative aspects of safety, belonging, multisensorial distraction and physical separation inherent in the concept of escapism are definitely strong considerations in designing spaces that address the reflective human mind in our fast paced society. But in addition to these qualitative aspects of escapism, we need to know what spatial context would be most applicable to the people that we are trying to address, as well as, by what means a space can communicate these qualities to the best possible outcome.



Chapter three “Architecture (design) is a human gesture in a human world, and like every human gesture it is judged in terms of its meaning” Amos Rapoport

In the previous chapter the values of escapism were discussed as biologically and emotionally important when someone is trying to mentally deal with a stressful situation, but in reality, escape is not always possible. What is possible is to look at the situations in our daily lives where we find quiet moments to ourselves where the qualities of escapism can be expressed in the spatial design. Bachelard (1996, p136) states “Every corner in a house, every angle in a room, every inch of secluded space in which we like to hide, or withdraw into ourselves is a symbol of solitude for the imagination” Sociologist Lewis Mumford (2001, p67) offers addition insight to this phenomenon in his statement “Today, the degradation of the inner life is symbolised by the fact that the only place sacred from interruption is the private toilet”, even though Mumford was criticising the human ramifications of society today, more importantly, like Bachelard he is offering a platform in which design can address the reflective mind in a context that already allows some personal downtime. Everyday activities such as toileting, bathing, brushing our teeth, putting on clothes, cleaning our house, cleaning the car, shaving, eating, sleeping, relaxing and so on, are all activities in which design can address the reflective mind free from the mechanical conditioning of the reactive mind, utilising the qualities seen in the concept of escapism (Bohm 1996, p48). This being said, a more creative response to the dilemma at hand could suggest that if we were to find a non-rational way for design to express the values of escapism in everyday activities, then we should focus intently on the human experience of the space where the activity takes place.

(insert own photograph related to everyday activities with the quote ”In our peaceful moments we are the sensitive inhabitants of the forests of ourselves” Poet Jules Suervielle)

An experience opposes anything mechanical or rational. It is a quality of humanness that has the possibility to speak to the reflective mind in an emotional way that the rational mind cannot. There are many architectural examples that illustrate how the experience of space goes above and beyond the function of the space and therefore above the faculty of rational thinking. One example is the Brion-Vega Cemetery in Italy, which was designed by Carlo Scarpa. The spatial experience of Brion-Vega Cemetery heads down a path of human consideration on a gestural level. These human considerations include; how one enters the space, how one journeys through the space, how the space responds to human scale, how the space responds to the surrounding context and how the space utilises materials/nature/light/shadow and colour. All of these considerations fundamentally speak to how one emotionally experiences the space. As outlined in chapter one, emotions do in fact change the way we think, they help us gain meaning from our surroundings both consciously and subconsciously and therefore if a space were to express the values of escapism in everyday activities then the human considerations as outlined in the Brion-Vega experience are essentially important to the current design process. Furthermore, through addressing the human mind in a way that reflects its natural operation by accentuating the values of escapism through the experience of everyday activities, this can suggest a positive mental outcome would arise if the reflective mind were given more chances to be freed from societal conditioning. Ultimately, what this could pertain to would be that the mind could be more at ease in dealing with the perpetuating stresses of mechanically pressured daily life in a more creative and successful way that reflected it’s natural mode of operation.
(insert own photograph Brion-Vega related to experience with the quote “Architecture (design) wont be health giving if it is imposed” Day 2004, p215 or/and “We live in a world of the mind in which the experience, remembered, and imagined are intertwined” Day, 1990, p215)


Conclusion

It is true that we are bound to a fast paced society that does indeed promote the ideals of post industrial mechanicalness, as it is also true that there are negative ramifications for the increasing amount of people that are not able to mentally conform to such mechanical ideals. A third and pivotal truth is that we are unable to address this problem in the realm of rational thought and if we want to honestly address this problem in the design context, we need to look at how design can address the qualities of the ‘real’ human mind; the emotional reflective mind. It is my belief that design can address the reflective mind in fast paced Western society, where we can have the opportunity to think more open and creatively to the world around us This can be achieved by offering an opportunity for the reflective mind to manifest itself untainted by the mechanical conditioning of fast paced western society. There are a few key insights that can contribute to the design process that can assist this mental manifestation. These insights include a valuable insight into what meanings and messages the space can convey, as well as the idea of escapism with consideration to its inherent values of safety, belonging, multisensorial distraction in a way that feels humanly comprehensible as well physical dislocation and isolation. Another insight is to look at everyday activities that already provide a platform for mental reflection, such as; toileting, bathing, brushing our teeth, putting on clothes, cleaning our house, cleaning the car, shaving, eating, sleeping, relaxing and so forth. A final insight arose from understanding that people’s emotions play a large part in how we read messages consciously and subconsciously from a space. These emotions can be facilitated by human considerations in the design process such as; how one enters the space, how one journeys through the space, how the space responds to human scale, how the space responds to the surrounding context and how the space utilises materials/nature/light/shadow and colour.




Bibliography
Aalto, A, as cited in Pallasmaa, J. 2001. The Mind of the Environment, Cited in Aesthetics, Well-being and Health – Essays within architecture and environmental aesthetics, Edited by Birgit Cole, Ashgate Publishers, England.
Alexander, C. 1977. A Pattern Language: Towns, Buildings, Construction, Oxford University Press, New York
Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, 1998. “National Health Priority Areas Mental Health: A Report Focusing on Depression.” Depression statistics in Australia are comparable to those of the US and UK.
Bachelard, G, 1994, Poetics of Space, Beacon Press, Boston.
Ballantyne, A, 2002, What is Architecture, Routledge, London & New York
Bohm, D. 1996. On Creativity. Routledge Classics, London & New York.
Day, C. 2004. Places of the Soul – Architecture and environmental design as a healing art, 2nd Edition, Architectural Press, Amsterdam
Dovey, K. 2001. The Aesthetics of Place, cited in the book Aesthetics, Well-being and Health within Architecture and Environmental Aesthetics, Ashgate Publishers, London.
Fischer, J, 1984, Environmental Psychology, 2nd Ed. Holt, Rinehart and Winston, New York.
Honore, C. 2005. In Praise of Slow – How a worldwide movement is changing the cult of speed. Orion Books, London.
Hadid, Z, 1997, The Eighty-Nine Degrees as cited in Theories and Manifestoes of Contemporary Architecture by C Jencks and K Kropf, Wiley Academy, Great Britain.
Holl, S, as cited in Pallasmaa, J, (2005) The Eyes of the Skin - Architecture and the senses, Wiley Academy, Great Britain.
Lang, R, 2000, The Dwelling Door: Towards a phenomenology of transition, as cited in D Seamon &R Mugeraurer, Dwelling, Place and Environment, Krieger Publishing Company, Malabar, p.203.
Maggie’s Centre 2008, Maggie’s Centres UK, viewed 08 October 2008, .
Maslow, A, H, A Theory of Human Motivation, Psychological Review 50(4) (1943): 370-96.
National Mental Health Association (NMHA) study reported in MSNBC Health Today, March 10, 2004.
Norberg-Schulz, C, as cited in B Bognar, 2000, A Phenomenological Approach to Architecture and its Teaching in the Design Studio, D Seamon & R Mugerauer, Place and Environment, Krieger Publishing Company, Florida.
Norman, D. 2004. Emotional Design. Why we love (or hate) everyday things, Basic Books, New York
Pallasmaa, J. 2001. The Mind of the Environment, cited in the book Aesthetics, Well-being and Health within Architecture and Environmental Aesthetics, Ashgate Publishers, London.
Papanek, V, 1997, Design for the Real World – Human ecology and social change, 2nd Ed. Thames and Hudson, India.
Rapoport, A. 1990, The Meaning of the Built Environment, The University of Arizona Press, Tuscan.
Selye, Hans (1950). "Diseases of adaptation". Wisconsin medical journal 49 (6): 515–6.
Suzuki, D.T. 1993. “Zen and Japanese Culture, Mythos, USA.
Tanizaki, J. 2001. In Praise of Shadows, Vintage, London
Verschaffel, B, 2001, Architecture as (a) Gesture, Quart Publishers, The Netherlands
Vitruvius, 1960, The Books on Architecture, translated by M H Morgan, Dover.

(insert after the bibliography)
…. But Alice had got so used to out-of-the-way things to happen that it seemed quite dull and stupid for life to go on in the common way…

How can design speak to our mental well-being through the built environment?

How can design speak to our mental well-being through the built environment?

“Architecture is a human gesture in a human world, and like every human gesture it is judged in terms of its meaning”
Amos Rapoport

“You cannot divorce man and space. Space is neither an external object nor an internal experience. We do not have man and space beside each other”
Martin Heidegger


Abstract
Rachel: How are you?
Guy: Stressed..
[Responding mechanically without contemplation]

Why has the word ‘stressed’ become such a natural and accepted response to the most common question regarding someone’s mental well-being? And what role can design play to alleviate the skyrocketing prevalence of stress in western society? From this line of questioning as an initial gestation point, this thesis will outline how the built environment today can start to readdress the fundamental needs of the human condition. In conjunction to this architectural exploration, this thesis will explore the many facets of mental instability in our western society including; what is our relationship to stress, how do we physiologically deal with stress, what stresses are most dangerous to our mental instability, what can we learn from our psychological and phenomenological understanding of stress, how can people research influence the design process and what we can learn from the gestural nature of positive examples of architecture that are human centred to seek out design directions and inspirations that can inform a positive spatial design that can support the mental well being needs of the masses of people suffering from stress. The findings suggest that there are a lot of considerations that the design process can benefit from in understanding the nature of stress in western society. Prevalent influential concepts that arose through the gestation of the design research include the idea of self reflection through slower rhythmic spaces, the concept of belonging, self value, acceptance, and a multi-sensorial consideration. Other ideas include spaces that are safe, non-judgemental, connected to nature, calm, trauma free, support social gathering, and understand the behavioural affects of colour and light. Additional inspirations include the concept of homeliness and the notion of humble human gestures in the space such as welcoming, journey, and how the space responds to human scale and experience in a nurturing way.



List of Contents
Introduction…
Chapter One. Values Inherent in Architecture Today - Where we can go from here…
Chapter Two. What can we learn from our relationship with stress in western society today?
Chapter Three. What we can learn from our understanding of how do we physiologically deal with stress?
Chapter Four. Understanding what type of stress is most detrimental to our health and how we specifically deal with these stresses from the physiological alarm to resistance phase with assistance from the built environment?
Chapter Five. What can we learn in the design process from the psychological understanding of stress triggers?
Chapter Six. What can we learn from the most effective medication free treatment method of depression in western society today?
Chapter Seven. Environmental psychology and what aspects of space that can positively affect your mental well-being?
Chapter Eight. What can people research contribute to the process of designing spaces within the built environment that has a positive affect on your mental well-being?
Chapter Nine. What can we learn from the qualities of existing architecture that can assist in stress alleviation?
Conclusion…
List of References…

Introduction
1550 BC, in the oldest medical journal ever discovered, the Ancient Egyptians described what we know today as depression. Over three and a half thousand years later and mental illness affects tens of millions of people internationally and rising. This indicates that we have not learnt adequate treatment methods from the times of our brothers in antiquity. That being said, the time has come that we stop blindly accepting current medication treatments that bandaid the symptoms for mental illness and we start refocusing more diligently and open-mindedly on how we can help people deal with stress before it gets clinically dangerous. This thesis will explore a theory, that in western society, if we start to look more attentively at what design can learn from; the fundamental nature of stress, the physiological process of dealing with stress, the psychological and phenomenological ramifications of stress in our society, the principles behind the current most effective treatment methods of mental illness, what information people can offer through recounting the experiential qualities of their personally desired stress alleviating spaces and what life enriching architecture can tell us about human centred design, then hopefully we can start to express values within our built environments that can make us feel more mentally balanced to deal with our increasing external stress pressures before they reach clinically levels.


Chapter One. Values Inherent in Architecture Today – Where we can go from here…

“We shape our surroundings and our surroundings shape us”
Winston Churchill
“I am the space in which I am”
French Poet Noel Arnaud

Around 30 BC, Vitruvius stated in his Ten Books on Architecture that “Architects should be educated, skilful with the pencil, instructed in geometry, know much history, have followed the philosophers with attention, understand music, have some knowledge of medicine, know the opinions of the jurists, and be acquainted with astronomy and the theory of the heavens” (Vitruvius 1960, p.5). In today’s accelerated and ever-changing society these cross-disciplinary prerequisites of the architect’s knowledge are even more essential that ever before. (Hadid 1997, p.280). As much as we need to start addressing the various conditions that have prevailed through today’s society, there is also a fundamental need to readdress the humanistic (or lack there of) considerations in which our built environment can give value and meaning to the lives that inhabit it today (Ballantyne 2002, p.2). Theoretician and Architect, Juhani Pallasmaa (2001, p.213) states, “the values inherent in our built environment should be the values inherent in our basic human needs and vice versa”. Architectural Theorist Aulis Blomsted (2001, p.214) reiterates this point when he proclaims, “the ability to fantasise space and form is not the most important aspect of an architects talent, but the ability to imagine the human condition”. Unfortunately, many design schools and design practices today still fundamentally conceive a rational approach to architecture as a determining force in guiding architectural designs (Ballantyne 2002, p.2). Much of design today is approached analytically, programmatically, and scientifically, primarily along rational theories and principles (ibid). As stated by Norwegian architect and author Norberg-Schulz (2000, p.184) in offence of such practices ‘’the rationalistic idea of man after the post-medieval epoch is still dominant and the belief that all problems may be solved if we grasp reality as ”reality is” is generally accepted,” even when the relationship of architecture to human responses is considered (or more usually not), the same rationalistic processes prevail (ibid). This approach has serious limitations in regards to a designer’s fundamental grounding in designing meaningful spaces that can understand and address effectively the fundamental characteristics of human needs (ibid). There are many legitimate opportunities for both design and the prevailing conditions of our society to support each other in life enriching ways. One specific design opportunity is to address the prevailing mental well-being needs of our population. The platform for exploration in this area is vital in today’s built environment as not only have these specific needs been largely forgotten or disregarded, but also because we are facing an unprecedented number of persons suffering from mental instability or illness in our society.

Chapter Two. What can we learn from our relationship with stress in western society today?

“What happens if we are unable to operate in such an aggressively conformist environment? We “blow our top” and are taken to the nearest psychiatrist for help. The first thing this human specialist in human thought and motivation may want to say (if not in so many words) is “well, now, we must adjust you” and what is adjustment, if not another word for conformity?”
(Victor Papanek 1997, p.154)

Stress is not discriminatory; it affects each and every one of us in some time of our life (AIHW 1998). Stress can be healthy, but it is also deadly, it has been predicted that by 2020, the most common stress related illness; depression, will be the second largest health problem in western society (ibid). Depression is affecting our population at much younger ages than ever before (NMHA 2004). American preschoolers are the fastest growing consumer group of antidepressant medication, meanwhile the rate of children suffering from clinical depression is rising 23% per annum (ibid). These figures show that we are not winning the race in addressing the serious need for more adequate attention to the mental illness sector of the western population. Therefore, in combat, should we seek out new treatment methods for mental illness, understanding that the current protocol of medication treatment methods have a mere 30% success rate to the 20% of the depressed population seeking help? (Ibid). Or should we be readdressing the bigger picture of mental well being in our Western societies and start to focus on the fundamental ways in which we deal with stress? Exploration into the latter avenue could be imperative to understanding what could be worthwhile design inspirations for the goal of supporting people deal with their stress in more manageable and longer lasting ways that is currently evident in western society today.

Chapter Three. What we can learn from our understanding of how do we physiologically deal with stress.

Stress; The sum of the biological reactions to any adverse stimulus, physical, mental or emotional, internal or external, that tends to disturb the organisms homeostasis, should these compensating reactions be inadequate or inappropriate, they may lead to disorders.
Dictionary of Cell and Molecular Biology

General Adaptation Syndrome is the name given to the three phase physiological process governing our reaction to stress (Selye 1950, p.515). Phase one is alarm, two is resistance and three is exhaustion (ibid). Through the continual subjection to this process, the brain starts to weaken its rejuvenating ability to fight stress, thus causing a depletion of serotonin: the neuronal chemical that makes us happy, therefore causing depression (ibid). This design research will focus primarily on how design can find inspiration and influence through understanding the facets of this process from the first alarm phase to the second resistance phase. The alarm phase is basically the initial stage at which the stress affects us; meanwhile the resistance phase is essentially how we mentally deal with the stressful situation that has alarmed us in the first place (ibid). It has been scientifically tested that an individual who has been exposed to stress and who has learnt to deal with it is in a healthy way will be more successful at dealing better with the next stressful event (Fischer 1984, p.79). Therefore, in relation to the growing number of people that are being seriously affected by stress, one can say that we are generally not propagating healthy relationships with our current stress triggers, which in turn govern the framework for how we deal with our future ones. In the context of today’s faster paced, post-industrial Western society, it is understandable that the increased speed of life is also speeding up the number of stressful triggers affecting our population (Honore 2005, p.27). Although in theory, it would be logical, to simply slow the clogs of today’s fast paced society, in practice this phenomenon seems dictatorial and highly unachievable. Instead what we should be addressing is how spatial design can support people to mentally break from this three phase process so that rather than constantly subjecting themselves to the habitual pattering of alarm to exhaustion there can become a new mental personal understanding that can help people deal with their stresses in the initial phases in better ways.

Chapter Four. Understanding what type of stress is most detrimental to our health and how we specifically deal with these stresses from the physiological alarm to resistance phase.

“When things happen too fast, nobody can be certain about anything, not even about himself”
Author of Slowness, Milan Kundera

In understanding the process of how we physiologically deal with stress, it is of particular importance to understand what type of stress is most detrimental to our health. The most serious type of stress that we deal with comes from ‘background stressors’ (Fischer 1984, p.79). Background stressors are both additive and cumulative (ibid). They are the daily stresses that are persistent, repetitive, and almost routine in our lives (ibid). Their effects are gradual, and they usually add up over time until a state of crisis is reached and symptoms appear i.e. exhaustion phase. (Fischer 1984, p.87) There is a common human behavioural difficulty that arises In relation to dealing with background stressors. David Bohm (1996, p.122), American physicist, explains in his book; On Creativity that we have a tendency to think and perceive things in a fragmentary way. In relation to background stressors, this fleeting thought process stimulates difficulties in being able to process new ways of being able to think about ourselves i.e. self-reflection that could then involve new ways of dealing with background stresses (ibid). Bohm (ibid) outlines that the way that we learn new ways of thinking about things starts with the willingness of the individual. But this phenomenon is coupled with the human tendency to fall back into habitual patterning of responses to external pressures when our thought patterns become ambiguous through fragmentation (Bohm 1996, p.124). In relation to what we learnt from the previous section, the idea of fragmentation in our thought processes makes it difficult to break from the three-phase process, as we are not learning new ways to deal with our stresses in the preliminary stages. What this can suggest in the spatial design process is that we should be looking specifically at spatial design that can take this fragmentary thought process into consideration and start to address spaces that can slow down rhythmically allowing the perceiver to fully experience the space sensorally. We need time to give reason and meaning to the spaces that speak to us, especially in relation to the fragmentary ways in which we think about the happenings in our lives. This can be explained further when you take into consideration the psychological perspective of stress triggers.

Chapter Five. What can we learn in the design process from the psychological and phenomenological understanding of stress triggers?

“Inhabited space transcends geometric space”
Gaston Bachelard

In one of the most referenced psychological papers ever written, Abraham Maslow (1943, p.370) identifies a 5-stage hierarchy of fundamental human needs. Third on the list outlines our social need for belonging and fourth is our personal need for self value, acceptance and respect (ibid). Maslow (1943, p.376) identifies a correlation between the absence of these elements in our daily lives and the increased mental susceptibility to stress and depression. In relation to the fundamental human need for belonging, this phenomenon is not a foreign concept to the phenomenological understanding of how we can inhabit space on a personal level (Lang 2000, p.203). French phenomenologist Merleau-Ponty explains the process of feeling like you belong to a space arrives when the space can become personal, as though the body has accepted a subconscious alliance with it, and it has become an extension of the body (ibid). That being said, this design implication leads itself in the direction of environment/human perception; how we as humans can attain certain meaningful information from a space, such as the feeling of belonging. Environmental perception can be defined as; “the process by which we relate to an environment through our senses based on our preconceived mental constructs of how we see the world, our action within an environment, our orientation within an environment (Fischer 1984, p.22). This process is always influenced by the search of meaning, our feelings and how we evaluate the environment as a whole (ibid). Furthermore, In relation to how much we can attain knowledge from an environment has to do with how confident and secure we feel within an environment (ibid). What is interesting about this explanation is that Steven Holl (2005, p.6), American Architect and theoretician proclaims in his forward to the book, Eyes of the Skin, Architecture for the Senses by Juhani Pallasmaa, “while our experience of the world is formulated by a combination of our five senses, most architecture is produced under the consideration of only one – sight. The suppression of the other sensory realms has lead to an impoverishment of our environment, causing a feeling of detachment and alienation”. The ramifications for this in the design arena suggests that places that can help support people in their plight to deal with their daily stressors should enable not just self-reflection through rhythmic spaces as outlined above, but also a feeling of personal belonging for the persons interacting with the space through a multisensory experience to the space as a whole.


Chapter Six. What can the design process learn from the most effective medication free treatment method today for depression in western society?

“Feelings of security, comfort, meaning and familiarity are of particular importance, the sensible organisation of the environment, the unconscious meanings and messages of the space, scale, and the sensory and stimulating context are natural to the therapeutic environment of the mentally disturbed”
Alvar Aalto on designing Paimio Sanatorium, Finland


In addition to physiological, psychological and phenomenological findings above, investigating current non prescriptive effective treatment methods of mental related illness could offer important insights in designing spaces for people that can assist them in dealing with their stress in better ways. The Uplift Program is the most successful means to date in the terms of depression treatment in western society. Through counselling the Uplift Program works with the individual to understand better the causes of their depression and ways that they can deal with their illness in better ways. The specific values of the Uplift Program that can suggest to the design process are spaces that are; safe, non-judgemental, promote self-esteem, self-value (characteristics of our fundamental human needs as noted above), connected to nature, calm, trauma free and support social gathering. Although there are positive advancements in the Uplift Program in addressing the effective long-term treatment of depression sufferers, unfortunately the fact remains that millions of people in western society are suffering in silence with their stress related mental illnesses, therefore, these values should be inherent in our built environment to assist the prevention of clinical mental illnesses by supporting the people with the earlier stages of stress alleviation.


Chapter Seven. Environmental psychology and what aspects of space can positively affect your mental well-being?

“Healing is a process that can only take place from within ourselves, but this process can be triggered and supported by things outside us”
(Day 1990, p.203)

The study of environmental psychology offers us additional information that can provide other inspiration aspects of designing spaces within the built environment that can assist in a positive affect on our behaviour in addition to our mental well-being (Fischer 1984, p.271). These aspects include the application of lighting and colour (ibid). What is important in understanding these elements is that they will not have the same effect on everyone and in many cases they work together to stimulate a behavioural or emotional effect (ibid). Therefore, generally in the relation to lighting, natural light has a more positive effect on mood meanwhile darker spaces can have a more positive effect on removing communication barriers in group environments (ibid). Meanwhile, different colours have been identified as having different reactions on behaviour and mood. The colours of interest include blue, orange and green (ibid). Blue has the ability to calm people, slow the pulse rate and lower body temperature (ibid). Green is symbolised, as the colour of health and renewal meanwhile, orange is a colour of warmth where it symbolises balance, enthusiasm and vibrancy (ibid). In addition to environmental psychology, people research can be a valuable tool in gaining a wider insight into potential inspirations for designing spaces that have a positive affect on ones mental well being.

Chapter Eight.What can people research contribute to the process of designing spaces within the built environment that has a positive affect on your mental well-being?

“Man does not live in an objective world of material and fact. We live in a world of the mind in which the experienced, remembered, and imagined are intertwined”
(Day 1990, p.215)

“To be nourishing architecture must match what we need” (Day 1990, p.35) And who better to tell us what we need than the people that are suffering from stress dwelling in our architecture? The people research that was obtained for the purposes of this study involved ten participants, mixed gender, from six different nationalities and aged between 19 to 33 years. The research method that was utilised was conversational, where an outline of my thesis topic (How can design speak to our mental well-being?) was explained in detail followed by a question; Could you please tell me about the spatial qualities of the space that you go to when you are felling stressed or sad?. The participants were probed on their responses using specific questions regarding experiential, atmospheric, sensorial and emotional qualities of their specific spaces. There were some interesting and influential findings that were either reoccurring from the findings above or fresh observations that could feed the design process. The findings are outlined below utilising key words as subheadings to reinforce the key inspirations.

Physical Separation/Relaxation/Natural Materials
For one participant the shower was a symbol of physical separation from the workings of a shared house. The running water was a security alarm, warning others not to enter as well as ensuring the participant that they were alone. The water also acted like a warm blanket comforting the body and omitting a steam mist that diffused the light. The shower was a place for physical and sensorial dislocation where relaxation was a desired outcome and where” you and your thoughts could be alone”. For this participant when asked what they would do if they could make their bathroom more nurturing, the response was to add more natural light and natural materials like stone and wood (these were common qualities noted by many participants on their nurturing spaces). The sound and smell of the water were also key qualities, imperative to the relaxation process.

Trauma Free Spaces/ Physical Separation
Similar to the escapism qualities of the shower, for another participant, the bath was also described as a space that “takes you away from stress”. Through self-isolation, turning off all lights and emerging yourself in water to a world of different acoustic sounds was this person’s way of “changing scenery from daily stresses”.

Safe/Secure/Non-judgmental Environment/Belonging
Four participants specifically referenced the nurturing qualities of the bed. One participant reminisced about hiding under the bed covers when they were a child and feeling that “nothing can touch you”, furthermore they described the reassuring feeling of being warm under the covers and listening to the rain beating against the window. Another participant spoke of their favourite place to be when stressed as their bed, where the warmth under the covers dislocated them from the sound outside their bedroom. The cocoon qualities of a sofa were explained by one participant, as being somewhat similar to the qualities of the bed. The sofa to them “reassures you and surrounds you” it was a place to “escape into” the soft fabrics enveloped your body and comfortably cradled you.

Trauma Free Spaces/ Multi-Sensorial Spaces
The qualities of a fireplace were very interesting, especially in the similarities that were observed from many participants as the qualities of watching television for relaxation. These qualities included: “helping you focus on something else” and “turning off”. But where the television lacks total sensorial dislocation, the fireplace supersedes. The smell, sound, warmth and pleasantly hypnotic qualities of the fireplace seem to offer a more fulfilling means of relaxation to the explanation of this participant.

Connection to Nature/Physical and Sensorial Separation from the Stress Triggers/Homeliness
The attic room was another interesting nurturing space express by one participant. The vertical dislocation from the rest of the house, pitched ceiling which accentuated the heightened location and especially visual connection to the sky through a skylight were key characteristics of this nurturing space. The smell of wood joinery, which made the participant feel like he “was at home” and the natural light filled quality of the space was also a noted characteristic contributing to the nurturing atmospheric quality of the space.

Escapism from the Stress Triggers into Nature
The qualities seen in escaping into nature were consistent among all participants. The qualities of nature seemed to address all three separation characteristics defining of escapism. Parks, forests, beaches and riversides were the main natural preferred environments. The sounds of branches in the wind, birds singing, water running and separation from daily noise were consistent qualities observed in the findings. Contact with fresh cold air and trees, isolation from society and the vantage points of being able to climb into trees and “see everything passing by but you are not apart of it” are some of the responses that were attributed to being able to “clear your mind”.
The personal findings of the people research are similar to the varying findings throughout this paper. The reiteration of the desire for belonging within a space, physical and sometimes sensorial separation from the stress, safety, security, multi-sensorial stimulation and non-judgemental spaces were commonly references between participants. Addition desires from the participants that can be inspirational in the design process include the concept of homeliness, inclusion of natural materials and a connection to nature.

Chapter Nine. What can we learn from the qualities of existing architecture that can assist in stress alleviation?

“Architecture is a gesture. Not every purposive movement of the human body is a gesture. And not every functioning building is architecture”
Bart Verschaffel
“Good architecture has ‘life piety’, like the servant, not the slave of exchange, money or success”
Bart Verschaffel

Although post industrialisation architecture has received much criticism regarding its depriortisation of human centeredness, there are examples of architecture in today’s western society, which do address positive aspects of human consideration, and therefore can be potentially inspirational to the task of designing spaces that can alleviate stress through the built environment. Examples of such architecture include The Brion Vega Cemetery and Castelvecchio Museum by Carlo Scarpa, Kolomba Museum and Vals Thermal Baths by Peter Zumthor, Paimio Sanatorium and Villa Maeria by Alvar Aalto and The Church of Light and Church on the Water by Tadao Ando. Diligent attention to human gestures was observed to be the main correlating factor between these different types of architectural buildings and the human experiences of these spaces. The human gestures in these spaces respond to how the design has taken into consideration either how one enters into the space, how one journeys through the space, how the space responds to human scale; human experience and also the site, how materials speak to the human experience and how the spaces responds to size, nature, light (both natural and artificial) and shadow. Examples of how these architectural studies address these various characteristics of gesture can be seen below.
(Insert photos and captions)

These human gestural characteristics can inspire the design process for looking at how an architectural space can positively affect ones mental well-being by enabling a person to feel more considered in the design of the space, more stimulated on a multi sensorial basis and ultimately more significant and belonged as a human being within the space.

Conclusion
Depression is not discriminatory, but it can be treated in better ways than what is the current protocol. The mental process that is commonly affiliated with the depressive cycle can be broken, if desired by the individual. Human centred spatial design can assist this process, although we need to start to readdress the contemporary rationalistic non-human centred approach in which design is permeating our built landscapes. Prevalent influential concepts that arose through the gestation of the design research include the physiological idea of self reflection through slower rhythmic spaces, the psychological concept of belonging to a space, gaining self value and acceptance through the meanings in the space, in addition to the understanding of a multi-sensorial consideration of how we perceive the conscious and subconscious values in the space. Other prevalent ideas that surfaced during the design research process involved principles inherent in effective means of depression treatment where spaces that are safe, non-judgemental, connected to nature, calm, trauma free, support social gathering were of primary significance. Environmental psychology offered us the knowledge of behavioural affects related to specific colour and light. Additional inspirations from people research included the concept of homeliness and escapism and finally the inspiration from architectural observations revealed the notion of humble human gestures in the space such as welcoming, journey, and how the space responds to human scale and experience in a nurturing way. Understanding and implementing these elements in the spatial design context are significant advancements in what could be a worthwhile design opportunity for supporting the alleviation of mental instability among our western population today, and also for the possibilities of opening new treatment pathways to other mental illnesses for tomorrow.


List of references
Aalto, A, as cited in Pallasmaa, J. 2001. The Mind of the Environment, Cited in Aesthetics, Well-being and Health – Essays within architecture and environmental aesthetics, Edited by Birgit Cole, Ashgate Publishers, England.
Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, 1998. “National Health Priority Areas Mental Health: A Report Focusing on Depression.” Depression statistics in Australia are comparable to those of the US and UK.
Bachelard, G, 1994, Poetics of Space, Beacon Press, Boston.
Ballantyne, A, 2002, What is Architecture, Routledge, London & New York
Bohm, D. 1996. On Creativity. Routledge Classics, London & New York.
Day, C. 2004. Places of the Soul – Architecture and environmental design as a healing art, 2nd Edition, Architectural Press, Amsterdam
Fischer, J, 1984, Environmental Psychology, 2nd Ed. Holt, Rinehart and Winston, New York.
Honore, C. 2005. In Praise of Slow – How a worldwide movement is changing the cult of speed. Orion Books, London.
Hadid, Z, 1997, The Eighty-Nine Degrees as cited in Theories and Manifestoes of Contemporary Architecture by C Jencks and K Kropf, Wiley Academy, Great Britain.
Holl, S, as cited in Pallasmaa, J, (2005) The Eyes of the Skin - Architecture and the senses, Wiley Academy, Great Britain.
Lang, R, 2000, The Dwelling Door: Towards a phenomenology of transition, as cited in D Seamon &R Mugeraurer, Dwelling, Place and Environment, Krieger Publishing Company, Malabar, p.203.
Maslow, A, H, A Theory of Human Motivation, Psychological Review 50(4) (1943): 370-96.
National Mental Health Association (NMHA) study reported in MSNBC Health Today, March 10, 2004.
Norberg-Schulz, C, as cited in B Bognar, 2000, A Phenomenological Approach to Architecture and its Teaching in the Design Studio, D Seamon & R Mugerauer, Place and Environment, Krieger Publishing Company, Florida.
Papanek, V, 1997, Design for the Real World – Human ecology and social change, 2nd Ed. Thames and Hudson, India.
Rapoport, A. 1990, The Meaning of the Built Environment, The University of Arizona Press, Tuscan.
Selye, Hans (1950). "Diseases of adaptation". Wisconsin medical journal 49 (6): 515–6.
Verschaffel, B, 2001, Architecture as (a) Gesture, Quart Publishers, The Netherlands
Vitruvius, 1960, The Books on Architecture, translated by M H Morgan, Dover.

How can design speak to our mental well-being through the built environment?

How can design speak to our mental well-being through the built environment?

“Architecture is a human gesture in a human world, and like every human gesture it is judged in terms of its meaning”
Amos Rapoport

“You cannot divorce man and space. Space is neither an external object nor an internal experience. We do not have man and space beside each other”
Martin Heidegger


Abstract
Rachel: How are you?
Guy: Stressed..
[Responding mechanically without contemplation]

Why has the word ‘stressed’ become such a natural and accepted response to the most common question regarding someone’s mental well-being? And what role can design play to alleviate the skyrocketing prevalence of stress in western society? From this line of questioning as an initial gestation point, this thesis will outline how the built environment today can start to readdress the fundamental needs of the human condition. In conjunction to this architectural exploration, this thesis will explore the many facets of mental instability in our western society including; what is our relationship to stress, how do we physiologically deal with stress, what stresses are most dangerous to our mental instability, what can we learn from our psychological and phenomenological understanding of stress, how can people research influence the design process and what we can learn from the gestural nature of positive examples of architecture that are human centred to seek out design directions and inspirations that can inform a positive spatial design that can support the mental well being needs of the masses of people suffering from stress. The findings suggest that there are a lot of considerations that the design process can benefit from in understanding the nature of stress in western society. Prevalent influential concepts that arose through the gestation of the design research include the idea of self reflection through slower rhythmic spaces, the concept of belonging, self value, acceptance, and a multi-sensorial consideration. Other ideas include spaces that are safe, non-judgemental, connected to nature, calm, trauma free, support social gathering, and understand the behavioural affects of colour and light. Additional inspirations include the concept of homeliness and the notion of humble human gestures in the space such as welcoming, journey, and how the space responds to human scale and experience in a nurturing way.



List of Contents
Introduction…
Chapter One. Values Inherent in Architecture Today - Where we can go from here…
Chapter Two. What can we learn from our relationship with stress in western society today?
Chapter Three. What we can learn from our understanding of how do we physiologically deal with stress?
Chapter Four. Understanding what type of stress is most detrimental to our health and how we specifically deal with these stresses from the physiological alarm to resistance phase with assistance from the built environment?
Chapter Five. What can we learn in the design process from the psychological understanding of stress triggers?
Chapter Six. What can we learn from the most effective medication free treatment method of depression in western society today?
Chapter Seven. Environmental psychology and what aspects of space that can positively affect your mental well-being?
Chapter Eight. What can people research contribute to the process of designing spaces within the built environment that has a positive affect on your mental well-being?
Chapter Nine. What can we learn from the qualities of existing architecture that can assist in stress alleviation?
Conclusion…
List of References…

Introduction
1550 BC, in the oldest medical journal ever discovered, the Ancient Egyptians described what we know today as depression. Over three and a half thousand years later and mental illness affects tens of millions of people internationally and rising. This indicates that we have not learnt adequate treatment methods from the times of our brothers in antiquity. That being said, the time has come that we stop blindly accepting current medication treatments that bandaid the symptoms for mental illness and we start refocusing more diligently and open-mindedly on how we can help people deal with stress before it gets clinically dangerous. This thesis will explore a theory, that in western society, if we start to look more attentively at what design can learn from; the fundamental nature of stress, the physiological process of dealing with stress, the psychological and phenomenological ramifications of stress in our society, the principles behind the current most effective treatment methods of mental illness, what information people can offer through recounting the experiential qualities of their personally desired stress alleviating spaces and what life enriching architecture can tell us about human centred design, then hopefully we can start to express values within our built environments that can make us feel more mentally balanced to deal with our increasing external stress pressures before they reach clinically levels.


Chapter One. Values Inherent in Architecture Today – Where we can go from here…

“We shape our surroundings and our surroundings shape us”
Winston Churchill
“I am the space in which I am”
French Poet Noel Arnaud

Around 30 BC, Vitruvius stated in his Ten Books on Architecture that “Architects should be educated, skilful with the pencil, instructed in geometry, know much history, have followed the philosophers with attention, understand music, have some knowledge of medicine, know the opinions of the jurists, and be acquainted with astronomy and the theory of the heavens” (Vitruvius 1960, p.5). In today’s accelerated and ever-changing society these cross-disciplinary prerequisites of the architect’s knowledge are even more essential that ever before. (Hadid 1997, p.280). As much as we need to start addressing the various conditions that have prevailed through today’s society, there is also a fundamental need to readdress the humanistic (or lack there of) considerations in which our built environment can give value and meaning to the lives that inhabit it today (Ballantyne 2002, p.2). Theoretician and Architect, Juhani Pallasmaa (2001, p.213) states, “the values inherent in our built environment should be the values inherent in our basic human needs and vice versa”. Architectural Theorist Aulis Blomsted (2001, p.214) reiterates this point when he proclaims, “the ability to fantasise space and form is not the most important aspect of an architects talent, but the ability to imagine the human condition”. Unfortunately, many design schools and design practices today still fundamentally conceive a rational approach to architecture as a determining force in guiding architectural designs (Ballantyne 2002, p.2). Much of design today is approached analytically, programmatically, and scientifically, primarily along rational theories and principles (ibid). As stated by Norwegian architect and author Norberg-Schulz (2000, p.184) in offence of such practices ‘’the rationalistic idea of man after the post-medieval epoch is still dominant and the belief that all problems may be solved if we grasp reality as ”reality is” is generally accepted,” even when the relationship of architecture to human responses is considered (or more usually not), the same rationalistic processes prevail (ibid). This approach has serious limitations in regards to a designer’s fundamental grounding in designing meaningful spaces that can understand and address effectively the fundamental characteristics of human needs (ibid). There are many legitimate opportunities for both design and the prevailing conditions of our society to support each other in life enriching ways. One specific design opportunity is to address the prevailing mental well-being needs of our population. The platform for exploration in this area is vital in today’s built environment as not only have these specific needs been largely forgotten or disregarded, but also because we are facing an unprecedented number of persons suffering from mental instability or illness in our society.

Chapter Two. What can we learn from our relationship with stress in western society today?

“What happens if we are unable to operate in such an aggressively conformist environment? We “blow our top” and are taken to the nearest psychiatrist for help. The first thing this human specialist in human thought and motivation may want to say (if not in so many words) is “well, now, we must adjust you” and what is adjustment, if not another word for conformity?”
(Victor Papanek 1997, p.154)

Stress is not discriminatory; it affects each and every one of us in some time of our life (AIHW 1998). Stress can be healthy, but it is also deadly, it has been predicted that by 2020, the most common stress related illness; depression, will be the second largest health problem in western society (ibid). Depression is affecting our population at much younger ages than ever before (NMHA 2004). American preschoolers are the fastest growing consumer group of antidepressant medication, meanwhile the rate of children suffering from clinical depression is rising 23% per annum (ibid). These figures show that we are not winning the race in addressing the serious need for more adequate attention to the mental illness sector of the western population. Therefore, in combat, should we seek out new treatment methods for mental illness, understanding that the current protocol of medication treatment methods have a mere 30% success rate to the 20% of the depressed population seeking help? (Ibid). Or should we be readdressing the bigger picture of mental well being in our Western societies and start to focus on the fundamental ways in which we deal with stress? Exploration into the latter avenue could be imperative to understanding what could be worthwhile design inspirations for the goal of supporting people deal with their stress in more manageable and longer lasting ways that is currently evident in western society today.

Chapter Three. What we can learn from our understanding of how do we physiologically deal with stress.

Stress; The sum of the biological reactions to any adverse stimulus, physical, mental or emotional, internal or external, that tends to disturb the organisms homeostasis, should these compensating reactions be inadequate or inappropriate, they may lead to disorders.
Dictionary of Cell and Molecular Biology

General Adaptation Syndrome is the name given to the three phase physiological process governing our reaction to stress (Selye 1950, p.515). Phase one is alarm, two is resistance and three is exhaustion (ibid). Through the continual subjection to this process, the brain starts to weaken its rejuvenating ability to fight stress, thus causing a depletion of serotonin: the neuronal chemical that makes us happy, therefore causing depression (ibid). This design research will focus primarily on how design can find inspiration and influence through understanding the facets of this process from the first alarm phase to the second resistance phase. The alarm phase is basically the initial stage at which the stress affects us; meanwhile the resistance phase is essentially how we mentally deal with the stressful situation that has alarmed us in the first place (ibid). It has been scientifically tested that an individual who has been exposed to stress and who has learnt to deal with it is in a healthy way will be more successful at dealing better with the next stressful event (Fischer 1984, p.79). Therefore, in relation to the growing number of people that are being seriously affected by stress, one can say that we are generally not propagating healthy relationships with our current stress triggers, which in turn govern the framework for how we deal with our future ones. In the context of today’s faster paced, post-industrial Western society, it is understandable that the increased speed of life is also speeding up the number of stressful triggers affecting our population (Honore 2005, p.27). Although in theory, it would be logical, to simply slow the clogs of today’s fast paced society, in practice this phenomenon seems dictatorial and highly unachievable. Instead what we should be addressing is how spatial design can support people to mentally break from this three phase process so that rather than constantly subjecting themselves to the habitual pattering of alarm to exhaustion there can become a new mental personal understanding that can help people deal with their stresses in the initial phases in better ways.

Chapter Four. Understanding what type of stress is most detrimental to our health and how we specifically deal with these stresses from the physiological alarm to resistance phase.

“When things happen too fast, nobody can be certain about anything, not even about himself”
Author of Slowness, Milan Kundera

In understanding the process of how we physiologically deal with stress, it is of particular importance to understand what type of stress is most detrimental to our health. The most serious type of stress that we deal with comes from ‘background stressors’ (Fischer 1984, p.79). Background stressors are both additive and cumulative (ibid). They are the daily stresses that are persistent, repetitive, and almost routine in our lives (ibid). Their effects are gradual, and they usually add up over time until a state of crisis is reached and symptoms appear i.e. exhaustion phase. (Fischer 1984, p.87) There is a common human behavioural difficulty that arises In relation to dealing with background stressors. David Bohm (1996, p.122), American physicist, explains in his book; On Creativity that we have a tendency to think and perceive things in a fragmentary way. In relation to background stressors, this fleeting thought process stimulates difficulties in being able to process new ways of being able to think about ourselves i.e. self-reflection that could then involve new ways of dealing with background stresses (ibid). Bohm (ibid) outlines that the way that we learn new ways of thinking about things starts with the willingness of the individual. But this phenomenon is coupled with the human tendency to fall back into habitual patterning of responses to external pressures when our thought patterns become ambiguous through fragmentation (Bohm 1996, p.124). In relation to what we learnt from the previous section, the idea of fragmentation in our thought processes makes it difficult to break from the three-phase process, as we are not learning new ways to deal with our stresses in the preliminary stages. What this can suggest in the spatial design process is that we should be looking specifically at spatial design that can take this fragmentary thought process into consideration and start to address spaces that can slow down rhythmically allowing the perceiver to fully experience the space sensorally. We need time to give reason and meaning to the spaces that speak to us, especially in relation to the fragmentary ways in which we think about the happenings in our lives. This can be explained further when you take into consideration the psychological perspective of stress triggers.

Chapter Five. What can we learn in the design process from the psychological and phenomenological understanding of stress triggers?

“Inhabited space transcends geometric space”
Gaston Bachelard

In one of the most referenced psychological papers ever written, Abraham Maslow (1943, p.370) identifies a 5-stage hierarchy of fundamental human needs. Third on the list outlines our social need for belonging and fourth is our personal need for self value, acceptance and respect (ibid). Maslow (1943, p.376) identifies a correlation between the absence of these elements in our daily lives and the increased mental susceptibility to stress and depression. In relation to the fundamental human need for belonging, this phenomenon is not a foreign concept to the phenomenological understanding of how we can inhabit space on a personal level (Lang 2000, p.203). French phenomenologist Merleau-Ponty explains the process of feeling like you belong to a space arrives when the space can become personal, as though the body has accepted a subconscious alliance with it, and it has become an extension of the body (ibid). That being said, this design implication leads itself in the direction of environment/human perception; how we as humans can attain certain meaningful information from a space, such as the feeling of belonging. Environmental perception can be defined as; “the process by which we relate to an environment through our senses based on our preconceived mental constructs of how we see the world, our action within an environment, our orientation within an environment (Fischer 1984, p.22). This process is always influenced by the search of meaning, our feelings and how we evaluate the environment as a whole (ibid). Furthermore, In relation to how much we can attain knowledge from an environment has to do with how confident and secure we feel within an environment (ibid). What is interesting about this explanation is that Steven Holl (2005, p.6), American Architect and theoretician proclaims in his forward to the book, Eyes of the Skin, Architecture for the Senses by Juhani Pallasmaa, “while our experience of the world is formulated by a combination of our five senses, most architecture is produced under the consideration of only one – sight. The suppression of the other sensory realms has lead to an impoverishment of our environment, causing a feeling of detachment and alienation”. The ramifications for this in the design arena suggests that places that can help support people in their plight to deal with their daily stressors should enable not just self-reflection through rhythmic spaces as outlined above, but also a feeling of personal belonging for the persons interacting with the space through a multisensory experience to the space as a whole.


Chapter Six. What can the design process learn from the most effective medication free treatment method today for depression in western society?

“Feelings of security, comfort, meaning and familiarity are of particular importance, the sensible organisation of the environment, the unconscious meanings and messages of the space, scale, and the sensory and stimulating context are natural to the therapeutic environment of the mentally disturbed”
Alvar Aalto on designing Paimio Sanatorium, Finland


In addition to physiological, psychological and phenomenological findings above, investigating current non prescriptive effective treatment methods of mental related illness could offer important insights in designing spaces for people that can assist them in dealing with their stress in better ways. The Uplift Program is the most successful means to date in the terms of depression treatment in western society. Through counselling the Uplift Program works with the individual to understand better the causes of their depression and ways that they can deal with their illness in better ways. The specific values of the Uplift Program that can suggest to the design process are spaces that are; safe, non-judgemental, promote self-esteem, self-value (characteristics of our fundamental human needs as noted above), connected to nature, calm, trauma free and support social gathering. Although there are positive advancements in the Uplift Program in addressing the effective long-term treatment of depression sufferers, unfortunately the fact remains that millions of people in western society are suffering in silence with their stress related mental illnesses, therefore, these values should be inherent in our built environment to assist the prevention of clinical mental illnesses by supporting the people with the earlier stages of stress alleviation.


Chapter Seven. Environmental psychology and what aspects of space can positively affect your mental well-being?

“Healing is a process that can only take place from within ourselves, but this process can be triggered and supported by things outside us”
(Day 1990, p.203)

The study of environmental psychology offers us additional information that can provide other inspiration aspects of designing spaces within the built environment that can assist in a positive affect on our behaviour in addition to our mental well-being (Fischer 1984, p.271). These aspects include the application of lighting and colour (ibid). What is important in understanding these elements is that they will not have the same effect on everyone and in many cases they work together to stimulate a behavioural or emotional effect (ibid). Therefore, generally in the relation to lighting, natural light has a more positive effect on mood meanwhile darker spaces can have a more positive effect on removing communication barriers in group environments (ibid). Meanwhile, different colours have been identified as having different reactions on behaviour and mood. The colours of interest include blue, orange and green (ibid). Blue has the ability to calm people, slow the pulse rate and lower body temperature (ibid). Green is symbolised, as the colour of health and renewal meanwhile, orange is a colour of warmth where it symbolises balance, enthusiasm and vibrancy (ibid). In addition to environmental psychology, people research can be a valuable tool in gaining a wider insight into potential inspirations for designing spaces that have a positive affect on ones mental well being.

Chapter Eight.What can people research contribute to the process of designing spaces within the built environment that has a positive affect on your mental well-being?

“Man does not live in an objective world of material and fact. We live in a world of the mind in which the experienced, remembered, and imagined are intertwined”
(Day 1990, p.215)

“To be nourishing architecture must match what we need” (Day 1990, p.35) And who better to tell us what we need than the people that are suffering from stress dwelling in our architecture? The people research that was obtained for the purposes of this study involved ten participants, mixed gender, from six different nationalities and aged between 19 to 33 years. The research method that was utilised was conversational, where an outline of my thesis topic (How can design speak to our mental well-being?) was explained in detail followed by a question; Could you please tell me about the spatial qualities of the space that you go to when you are felling stressed or sad?. The participants were probed on their responses using specific questions regarding experiential, atmospheric, sensorial and emotional qualities of their specific spaces. There were some interesting and influential findings that were either reoccurring from the findings above or fresh observations that could feed the design process. The findings are outlined below utilising key words as subheadings to reinforce the key inspirations.

Physical Separation/Relaxation/Natural Materials
For one participant the shower was a symbol of physical separation from the workings of a shared house. The running water was a security alarm, warning others not to enter as well as ensuring the participant that they were alone. The water also acted like a warm blanket comforting the body and omitting a steam mist that diffused the light. The shower was a place for physical and sensorial dislocation where relaxation was a desired outcome and where” you and your thoughts could be alone”. For this participant when asked what they would do if they could make their bathroom more nurturing, the response was to add more natural light and natural materials like stone and wood (these were common qualities noted by many participants on their nurturing spaces). The sound and smell of the water were also key qualities, imperative to the relaxation process.

Trauma Free Spaces/ Physical Separation
Similar to the escapism qualities of the shower, for another participant, the bath was also described as a space that “takes you away from stress”. Through self-isolation, turning off all lights and emerging yourself in water to a world of different acoustic sounds was this person’s way of “changing scenery from daily stresses”.

Safe/Secure/Non-judgmental Environment/Belonging
Four participants specifically referenced the nurturing qualities of the bed. One participant reminisced about hiding under the bed covers when they were a child and feeling that “nothing can touch you”, furthermore they described the reassuring feeling of being warm under the covers and listening to the rain beating against the window. Another participant spoke of their favourite place to be when stressed as their bed, where the warmth under the covers dislocated them from the sound outside their bedroom. The cocoon qualities of a sofa were explained by one participant, as being somewhat similar to the qualities of the bed. The sofa to them “reassures you and surrounds you” it was a place to “escape into” the soft fabrics enveloped your body and comfortably cradled you.

Trauma Free Spaces/ Multi-Sensorial Spaces
The qualities of a fireplace were very interesting, especially in the similarities that were observed from many participants as the qualities of watching television for relaxation. These qualities included: “helping you focus on something else” and “turning off”. But where the television lacks total sensorial dislocation, the fireplace supersedes. The smell, sound, warmth and pleasantly hypnotic qualities of the fireplace seem to offer a more fulfilling means of relaxation to the explanation of this participant.

Connection to Nature/Physical and Sensorial Separation from the Stress Triggers/Homeliness
The attic room was another interesting nurturing space express by one participant. The vertical dislocation from the rest of the house, pitched ceiling which accentuated the heightened location and especially visual connection to the sky through a skylight were key characteristics of this nurturing space. The smell of wood joinery, which made the participant feel like he “was at home” and the natural light filled quality of the space was also a noted characteristic contributing to the nurturing atmospheric quality of the space.

Escapism from the Stress Triggers into Nature
The qualities seen in escaping into nature were consistent among all participants. The qualities of nature seemed to address all three separation characteristics defining of escapism. Parks, forests, beaches and riversides were the main natural preferred environments. The sounds of branches in the wind, birds singing, water running and separation from daily noise were consistent qualities observed in the findings. Contact with fresh cold air and trees, isolation from society and the vantage points of being able to climb into trees and “see everything passing by but you are not apart of it” are some of the responses that were attributed to being able to “clear your mind”.
The personal findings of the people research are similar to the varying findings throughout this paper. The reiteration of the desire for belonging within a space, physical and sometimes sensorial separation from the stress, safety, security, multi-sensorial stimulation and non-judgemental spaces were commonly references between participants. Addition desires from the participants that can be inspirational in the design process include the concept of homeliness, inclusion of natural materials and a connection to nature.

Chapter Nine. What can we learn from the qualities of existing architecture that can assist in stress alleviation?

“Architecture is a gesture. Not every purposive movement of the human body is a gesture. And not every functioning building is architecture”
Bart Verschaffel
“Good architecture has ‘life piety’, like the servant, not the slave of exchange, money or success”
Bart Verschaffel

Although post industrialisation architecture has received much criticism regarding its depriortisation of human centeredness, there are examples of architecture in today’s western society, which do address positive aspects of human consideration, and therefore can be potentially inspirational to the task of designing spaces that can alleviate stress through the built environment. Examples of such architecture include The Brion Vega Cemetery and Castelvecchio Museum by Carlo Scarpa, Kolomba Museum and Vals Thermal Baths by Peter Zumthor, Paimio Sanatorium and Villa Maeria by Alvar Aalto and The Church of Light and Church on the Water by Tadao Ando. Diligent attention to human gestures was observed to be the main correlating factor between these different types of architectural buildings and the human experiences of these spaces. The human gestures in these spaces respond to how the design has taken into consideration either how one enters into the space, how one journeys through the space, how the space responds to human scale; human experience and also the site, how materials speak to the human experience and how the spaces responds to size, nature, light (both natural and artificial) and shadow. Examples of how these architectural studies address these various characteristics of gesture can be seen below.
(Insert photos and captions)

These human gestural characteristics can inspire the design process for looking at how an architectural space can positively affect ones mental well-being by enabling a person to feel more considered in the design of the space, more stimulated on a multi sensorial basis and ultimately more significant and belonged as a human being within the space.

Conclusion
Depression is not discriminatory, but it can be treated in better ways than what is the current protocol. The mental process that is commonly affiliated with the depressive cycle can be broken, if desired by the individual. Human centred spatial design can assist this process, although we need to start to readdress the contemporary rationalistic non-human centred approach in which design is permeating our built landscapes. Prevalent influential concepts that arose through the gestation of the design research include the physiological idea of self reflection through slower rhythmic spaces, the psychological concept of belonging to a space, gaining self value and acceptance through the meanings in the space, in addition to the understanding of a multi-sensorial consideration of how we perceive the conscious and subconscious values in the space. Other prevalent ideas that surfaced during the design research process involved principles inherent in effective means of depression treatment where spaces that are safe, non-judgemental, connected to nature, calm, trauma free, support social gathering were of primary significance. Environmental psychology offered us the knowledge of behavioural affects related to specific colour and light. Additional inspirations from people research included the concept of homeliness and escapism and finally the inspiration from architectural observations revealed the notion of humble human gestures in the space such as welcoming, journey, and how the space responds to human scale and experience in a nurturing way. Understanding and implementing these elements in the spatial design context are significant advancements in what could be a worthwhile design opportunity for supporting the alleviation of mental instability among our western population today, and also for the possibilities of opening new treatment pathways to other mental illnesses for tomorrow.


List of references
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