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Closing the Research-Design ImplicationsVOL. 05 ISSUE 10 www.informedesign.umn.edu A Newsletter by InformeDesign. A Web site for design and human behavior research. Closing the the Journal of Environmental Psychology, Research-Design Gap to name only a few. The Environmental Franklin Becker, Ph.D. Design Research Association (EDRA) was started in the 1960s to build and pro- Robert Sommer (1969) wrote Personal mote a multi-disciplinary community of cover image Space: The Behavioral Basis of Design academics and practitioners dedicated goes here - fit more than 35 years ago. That book fol- to helping create built environments that image to the lowed research he had done a decade reflect and support the people and activi- black box earlier than that, beginning with his work ties using them. It continues to grow and using the in Saskatchewan, Canada with Humphrey flourish to this day. All of this activity, guidelines Osmond and others in a psychiatric hospi- and almost a half century of scholarly tal. Humphrey was the hospital’s director. commitment around the world, has He noticed that although the hospital had accomplished much. Today we can bet- recently won a Canadian architectural ter understand through research how design award, nothing much had changed the planning, design, and management of as far as improving patients’ health and the built environment influence and help well-being, including their social behav- shape our behavior, attitudes, health, and IN THIS ISSUE ior. When Sommer, a social psychologist, well-being in settings that range in scale applied for a position and was hired, he from regions to rooms, and as diverse as Closing the was asked by Osmond to try to under- offices, schools, hospitals, museums, and Research-Design Gap stand why the new design didn’t seem to prisons. What it has not done, however, Related Research make much difference. That early focus is eliminate the “gap” between architects Summaries marks one of the beginning points of what and designers and social scientists; and became known as the study of “small in particular, the fear that “evidence” will group ecology,” and then more broadly limit design creativity (Hamilton, 2003). and variously as environmental psychol- ogy, environment-behavior studies, and The “Gap” human-environment relations. In the design community there is still widespread confusion, skepticism, and Over the past 40 years or so, thousands resistance to the value of what has become of studies have followed, as well as aca- known as “evidence-based design.” This demic journals dedicated to building the begins very early in an architect’s career. knowledge base in this field, including At Cornell University, where I have taught Environment and Behavior, the Journal of for 35 years, the Architecture Department Architectural and Planning Research, and is and has been ranked number one in the Implications www.informedesign.umn.edu country for many years. There is one social scientist and Indonesia who do it much more quickly and at a on Cornell’s architecture faculty. She is an anthro- fraction of the cost; or working as part of multi-disci- pologist who teaches about esoteric aspects of South plinary teams). These are changes in the profession East Asian cultures and has no studio responsibilities. led by economic realities. The choice is to participate No required courses focus on “environment-behavior” in the new world order or risk losing the client. That studies. The curriculum is so designed, in fact, that same dynamic may be at play in the healthcare sec- students are essentially unable to take such courses tor, to good effect, with architectural firms becoming elsewhere in other colleges at Cornell, such as my real players in an evidence-based design process from own, Design & Environmental Analysis, in the College necessity as much as choice. of Human Ecology. Why should we expect architects to be familiar with, let alone knowledgeable about Healthcare and Evidence-Based Design and an advocate of, the potential for evidence-based The potential for the design professions to embrace design to contribute to great buildings when their research as an ally in a quest for buildings that work on studio instructors and advisors are disinterested and many levels—economic, operational, sustainable, and often disdainful? Cornell is not the only architecture aesthetic—is aided, in the case of healthcare facilities, program in the country or world, of course. But it is by the culture of science that permeates the medical considered a leader, and it is by no means the odd field. Doctors don’t prescribe penicillin because they school out. love the color pink or because no one else is doing it and the results would be novel. Funds are tighter Interior design, as a profession, has been a much and much more stronger advocate of incorporating the social sciences internal and into the design curriculum. CIDA (Council for Interior external over- Design Accreditation), for example, mandates that sight exists in accredited programs include defined course work medicine than related to human-environment relations, including in the corpo- but going beyond human factors/ergonomics. But rate world. Of interior designers fight their own battles with the greatest impor- architecture profession to avoid marginalization and tance, mistakes to achieve recognition and acceptance. The gap con- in medicine tinues within the design community. are more than Testing an emergency room mock-up for annoying or There always have been, of course, exceptions to the Children’s Hospitals and Clinics of Minnesota mildly dysfunc- “gap” rule, both among individual practitioners and tional. Open plan offices, for example, whose lack of among firms and college and university programs. Of auditory privacy may bother staff, are not life threat- interest to me has been how one closes the “gap” more ening. In the hospital environment, both patients and broadly, rather than relying on a few enlightened staff can and do suffer great pain, and patients can practitioners or educators. Professional education lose their lives as a result of design decisions that programs are obviously important, but as the Cornell increase the likelihood of nosocomial infection, falls, example illustrates, academics are among the most medication errors, and poor communication and conservative of professionals when it comes to their interaction patterns. In this context, clients increas- own teaching and research profession. Often, it is ingly expect their buildings and the teams responsible firms working in the trenches of everyday professional for planning and designing them to draw on available practice faced with demanding clients who have been evidence to help them make more informed deci- forced to consider new ways of working (e.g., ship- sions. ping graphics work to offshore firms in India, China, Where Research Informs Design® Implications www.informedesign.umn.edu Evidence-Based Design: all the information available, including the need to Methodology not a Panacea make trade-offs (the vehicle that has the right safety What, exactly, is “evidence-based design?” Cama features and carrying capacity may have a fuel rating (2006) defines it as “a deliberate attempt to base design lower than we want). With this information in hand, decisions on quantitative and sometimes qualitative we choose from the range of available products those research” (p. 8). Hamilton (2003) writes “Exemplary which, overall, we prefer. This is a highly judgmental evidence-based architecture comfortably blends the process, but one grounded in “evidence.” The evidence architect’s rich experience and understanding of informs but does not dictate the decision about which classic design principles, and creative inspiration product to purchase. with design decisions based on insightful interpreta- tion of a broad range of research results” (p. 19). Like Research Producer research itself, these definitions raise more questions The role of research producer requires much more than they answer. Does “basing” design decisions specialized knowledge and education. Almost any- on research evidence mean that the research dic- one willing to invest significant time and energy into tates design solutions? “Deliberate attempt” is more understanding a product can become a knowledge- helpful. It implies that those planning and designing able consumer. It takes an engineer to design an facilities will expend time and energy to try to iden- engine, with the years of formal education and expe- tify relevant research and explore how it might help rience that implies. The same holds true for those shape thinking about relevant factors that need to be wanting to produce evidence-based design research. considered in generating design solutions. But who is Acquiring the skills needed to develop a research to engage in this exploration? What kind of expertise design that effectively tests what one hopes it will, is required? Who decides what is the “best available” design a quality questionnaire or observation proto- research evidence? What does one do when there is col, conduct a focused interview, analyze quantitative no or contradictory research evidence? Clearly, even and qualitative data, and a myriad of other research when evidence-based design is embraced as a concept, tasks, take years. When my students finish after two knowing how to implement it in practice is difficult. years of intensive study what I believe are very high quality research Master’s theses, they are now ready Rules of Thumb to begin the pursuit of a Ph.D. At the end of another One can think of “evidence-based design” as corre- three to four years of intensive study, they will become sponding with two roles: 1) consumer of research and proficient researchers. 2) producer of research. These facets are two sides of the same coin. While the same person or team may Implications for Practice be able to operate effectively in both roles, the educa- Just as there are different categories of vehicles (SUV, tion, skills, and expertise for each are different.
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