2005 - Issue 2

In a field study, researchers found that 99% of office workers questioned indicated that office noises interrupted their concentration.

Preiser and Vischer have compiled an extremely useful tool for people determining the influence of a built structure on human experience.

Some traffic warning signs are not effective. Two recent journal articles profile signage that does not produce the desired behaviors by drivers. 

As always, we bring you what’s new in environmental design, wherever we find it.

Researchers asked people to identify what settings they favored for restoration, the preferred social context, and how a limited time budget affected restoration experiences. Another study investigated how being with others affected restorative experiences.

The physical environment can be a source of engagement and learning for young children or it can inhibit learning opportunities. In out of home child care, both center and family-based, the physical environment should support learning as much as possible. How does learning and the physical environment intersect?

Alzheimer’s patients seem sensitive to the sun’s waning, as the sun’s setting can trigger or increase disruptive behaviors.

For most children, directed learning occurs in a specific place they inhabit every school day—their school building. Two research studies add to our understanding of how these physical places can affect children’s learning-related behaviors and performance

Researchers have linked lower mental health care costs and lower residential instability for individuals with chronic mental illness to homes in newer and properly maintained buildings.

After reviewing a series of published studies relating housing characteristics and manifestations of poor mental health (such as childhood behavioral problems and depression in adults), researchers were able to draw several conclusions about the relationship between housing characteristics and mental health.