3/21/2019 Empathetic Design - Google Docs
Empathetic Design
Stefan Langebeeke
Abstract:
Many different attributes and tools can make a design a “good” one. Questions about
site and how the construction sits within a landscape or the inspiration of the project taking form
into the design are a couple of the consistent attributes that make a project successful, but as
designers of the built environment, the ones responsible for shaping the spaces that we as
humans inhabit, the most important tool in our arsenal is empathy. In this thesis, I will be using
my D7 block project design, that was done in collaboration with Christina Magrini, to show why
empathy holds so much power in the design world and why it can turn our designs from “good”
designs to designs that impact the world and the experiences we have within it positively. I will
discuss how the introduction of an International Market in the Upper East Side of New York City
will promote ideas of inclusion and mental health through design, concept, and the addition of
natural elements. These elements are discussed to bring light to how empathetic design can
impact the body and mind of the occupant and allow our designs to heal a world overwhelmed
in the built environment.
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Empathy is defined by Merriam-Webster as “t he action of understanding, being aware of,
being sensitive to, and vicariously experiencing the feelings, thoughts, and experience of
another of either the past or present without having the feelings, thoughts, and experience fully
communicated in an objectively explicit manner.”1 This paper seeks to shed light on the notion
that empathy is a design tool, and a powerful one at that. Using empathy as the basis of design
pushes the construction beyond just an inhabitable space and towards something that connects
with the inhabitants emotions, making the overall experience of the space so much greater than
just creating an interesting, maybe even thought-provoking construction. Although empathy is a
trait that is universally known, sometimes experiencing it and using it as a means of
understanding people can be a challenge. I believe that emotional connection and
understanding is exactly what the next generation of designers will need to change the built
environment into something that will unite people of all genders, cultures, and orientations
through the simple interaction with and within a space.
In order to use empathy as a design tool, one must first build an understanding of people
in general. I believe the best way to learn about this Earth and the people in it, one must travel
and immerse themselves in the endless cultures that inhabit it; open the mind and allow those
cultures to inform and strengthen one's own thoughts and values. From personal experience, I
have been to 25 different countries in my 23 years of life; i have experienced first-hand what it is
like to dine in Australia, to see how the Mexican people interact with other people, and what the
Italian people value in their everyday lives. Learning how other people live, what their daily lives
are like, how they communicate, how that recluse themselves; these are all questions that
directly relate to the way people use spaces in different ways and should inform the design
process of those spaces.
1 " Empathy." Merriam-Webster. Accessed March 19, 2019. https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/empathy.
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These were questions that I personally investigated while working, in collaboration with
Christina Magrini, on our D7 block project in New York City. The prompt for this project was to
design an extension to the existing Frick Collection in the Upper East Side of the city, while also
introducing a new construction or set of constructions to the rest of the block. While analyzing
the surrounding area, we noticed that within a quarter mile radius of the Frick Collection, there
were a total of 7 Consulates and even more a couple blocks further in every direction.
On top of that, according to the Statistical Atlas2, the percentage of people who were actually
born in the United States is less than 23.2%, meaning that most of the population of the Upper
East Side were born abroad. Now deducing that those statistics make the Upper East Side very
cultural charged, as well as the Frick Collection also having an international quality to it with its
taste in international art along with our desire to activate the museum and draw in a wider
2 " National Origin in Upper East Side, New York, New York (Neighborhood)." The Demographic Statistical Atlas of the United States - Statistical Atlas. Accessed March 19, 2019. https://statisticalatlas.com/neighborhood/New-York/New-York/Upper-East-Side/National-Origin.
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demographic, we saw it fit to introduce an international market to the remainder of the block.
To fully design something that, in theory, is about the celebration of all cultures, an
analysis of the surrounding Consulates and how their countries practice etiquette as well as
their social interactions was done to fully understand what brings comfort to them; this analysis
helped us determine that the spaces within had to be designed in a way that offers a variety of
ways one could experience the same activity. We took the information we gathered and found
consistencies between various countries and their respective cultural lifestyles and simplified it
to a broad study of public and private spaces with both having a variation of interactive and
non-interactive spaces as well as formal and informal spaces. An example of this would be,
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within the Austrian culture, family plays a huge role and so eating together at the table is
something that is very important to their culture. The Austrians are also a very formal people,
meaning that they require a private space for themselves, where they can express themselves
in a much more informal way. In contrast, the Australians are also very close to their families,
however, they approach their interactions in a much more informal and public manner, meaning
they feel comfortable in a much more public dining experience. Two different cultures, similar
values in how they perceive family and the way they like to dine together, but two completely
different approaches to how they wish to dine spatially. The value in understanding this
information programatically is now we can start defining spaces that allow these various cultures
to participate together in the celebration of the world, whether it’s through food, textiles, or art,
while still feeling that they themselves are welcome to be who they are and practice life the way
they see fit. Another important element that is now brought to the table is the dialogue that these
different cultures have between these different spaces. Knowing there is a place for them within
the construction, those who are more drawn to the private/informal spaces may be more willing
to step out of their comfort zones and experience the more public/informal spaces. When this
happens, the pathos of the construction truly shines through. The experience of the place
becomes more than just the one person or the one culture; the walls are broken down so to
speak and the occupant becomes a citizen of the world rather than just a citizen of their
respective culture. That is where the empathy in the design process becomes a charged
empathetic experience; a suggestive experience that does not need to be “fully communicated”
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but is rather understood at a subconscious level and ultimately seeks to bring people together.
While designing with an understanding of people through their respective cultures is an
important basis for the design process, it is not the only way to connect a space emotionally to
people in general. We as humans are fortunate to say that not one of us are the same; we each
are uniquely designed ourselves and therefore we each have personalities, preferences, and
other qualities that are specific to us. With that said, the human brain reacts similarly and
consistently to certain situations and settings. According to David G. Pearson and Tony Craig in
their article “The great outdoors? Exploring the mental health benefits of natural environments”,
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the effect of green space on the human brain results in lower stress levels. They go on to
introduce the Attentional Restoration Theory which basically informs us that urban settings
require our brains to constantly be reacting and therefore cause a constant overstimulation
within our brains; this causes the fatigue that we have all experienced all too often. In contrast,
natural environments or settings demand a “bigger picture” type of attention, meaning the
events placed before an individual are experienced in totality while simultaneously causing the
brain to release a sense of pleasure due to the more restorative type of attention required.3 With
that said, there are many natural attributes that can be brought into the design process that will
draw positive cognitive attention and have a sense of healing for all involved; the presence of
green space allowing for a sense of mental healing, the sound of water eliciting feelings of
relaxation, and the effect sunlight has on our body and mind to name a few. When this concept
is added to the program of a design, there is undoubtedly an underlying understanding by the
designer that stress does happen, but there is a sense of healing in good design; this becomes
another form of empathetic design.
With the understanding of the effects of nature on the body and spirit, we can now
understand the importance of restorative spaces in the urban fabric of New York City. Within the
proposed block, this same concept of introducing green space and water allowed us to take a
3 P earson, David G., and Tony Craig. "The Great Outdoors? Exploring the Mental Health Benefits of Natural Environments." F rontiers in Psychology 5 (2014). doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2014.01178.
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program that was ABOUT people and also turn it into a space that is now FOR people.
The difference between those two programs is simply: one deals with the celebration of the
world and the different cultures that represent it, while the other deals with the notion that as
humans, no matter where we are from, require exposure to certain situations in order to heal,
destress, and restore our mental health. The combination of these two programs, in my opinion,
creates the ultimate celebration of life and depicts what the effects of empathetic design can
have when finding the balance of what people need to what people want.
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In closing, the power that empathetic design has on people can range from a
subconscious level to a very powerful and overwhelming sense of emotion. There is a sense of
beauty in the emotional connection of a person to place and how that emotional connection is
completely unique to that individual, yet it can be a connection that is immediately shared
among a group of people. Ultimately, our role as designers is to revolutionize the built
environment and find ways to design in a sustainable fashion so that our constructions can last
for generations and impact those generations in a positive way. There is no better way to do so
than to draw on the emotion of people and design with honesty and passion. There are
sustainable qualities in empathy, both in life and in the built environment. People in general take
care of the things they care about and so we as designers need to care about the people we
design for and the places we design in.
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