Environment Behaviour Studies

Designing for people is based upon an understanding of the relationship between a person and his, or her, environment; the ambient, the built, the natural and the social environment that surrounds a person. The aim of this course is to introduce to the students the nature of this interaction, the theories that explain it, and its relevance to the design of the built environment, with application in architectural and urban design. The course draws upon social psychology, anthropology and environmental psychology to provide students with the major theoretical concepts and models that mediate the relationship between a person and the physical environment that surrounds him or her. The course introduces innovative concepts to describe the built environment such as Activity Settings and Potential Functional Opportunities. It sets the framework for students to conceptualize the built form in all design studios; it is the lens through which the student will see the relation between designed space and what it may become as a ‘place’ when it is used. Students would apply these theories later in other courses to a variety of functional settings at architectural and urban scales.