Environmental Psychology ARC 359 WORK & LEISURE ENVIRONMENTS Why do we make a distinction between work and leisure? What is the distinction between work

Environmental Psychology ARC 359WORK & LEISURE ENVIRONMENTS

Why do we make a distinction between work and leisure?

What is the distinction between work and leisure?

Does work create happiness or is it something we simply must do to survive?

The answers to these question will affect the way we work and the environment in which we work.

“In order that people may be happy in their work, these three things are needed:

•The must be fit for it

•They must not do too much of it

•And they must have a sense of success in it.”

John Ruskin (1819-1900)


WORK AS PUNISHMENT – (the wages of sin)

The Fall of Adam and the Expulsion from the Garden of Eden

Michelangelo

1508 – 12 Sistine Chapel


The Industrial Revolution

- the rural – urban shift

- deterioration of conditions of the workplace as people moved from the farms to the factories.

- little thought was given to the relationship between conditions and worker health and productivity.

- new forms of building meeting the requirements of technology (machines)


Power loom weaving, 1833

The ‘dark Satanic mills’ in Blake’s Jerusalem?

Night Refuge for children after a 16 hour day


New Century, New Methods

The call for reform – health issues and production efficiency

The assembly line - Ford Motors October 1913.

“Some of Ford's greatest innovations came not in the cars themselves but in the processes for creating them, like his 1914 introduction of a moving conveyor belt at the Highland Park plant, which dramatically increased production. Starting construction on the Rouge plant in 1917 was the first step toward Ford's dream of an all-in-one manufacturing complex, where the processing of raw materials, parts, and final automobiles could happen efficiently in a single place.”

(http://www.ford.com/en/ourCompany/centennial/people/henryFord/

businessMan/fordVision/default.htm)

But what did this do to the relationship between humans and work?


Scientific Management

Frederick Taylor- the relationship of performance and tools

- the development of ‘human factors’ psychology as a subdiscipline of industrial/organizational psychology

The interaction between humans and machines

- computers, aircraft, etc.


The design relates to ‘mapping’ - the relationship between the actions of an operator and those of the machine. A water tap? Your stereo volume?


The workplace of the future

William McDonough and the Environmental Defense Fund Offices (1985)

This was the first of the “green office” projects and initiated significant national research into indoor air quality and the issue of material toxicity. This twenty thousand square foot interior for a nonprofit advocacy group in New York City is envisioned as a miniature city, an Athens with Spartan means.

The central “agora” of black granite is inlaid with a brilliantly lit image of the earth, providing a common meeting space as well as an entrance to tree lined “boulevards” off of which each workspace is conceived as an individual building.

High ceilings and glass walls on the exterior office “facades” bring daylight deep into the space, magnifying natural light. It was one of the first uses of triphosphor lamps in the United States, providing glare-free brightness with a high color rendition index. Maximum ventilation is provided, with 30 cubic feet of fresh air per minute per person, compared to a national standard at the time of construction of five.

Research and meticulous avoidance of toxic building materials also contribute to indoor air quality. Natural finishes are used wherever possible, and carpets are tacked down to avoid toxic glues.


IssuesThe EDF Office is simply an example to raise some basic issues about the work environment:

ZoningNoiseMusicLightingWindowsfurniture and layoutefficiencyequipmentsafety


ZONING

“The bourgeois city separates these facets of life and delivers them, one by one, to institutions, denuding the ego of the rich content of life. Work is removed from the home and assimilated by giant organizations in offices and industrial factories. It loses it comprehensibility to the individual not only as a result of the minute division of labor, but owing also to the scale of commercial and industrial operations. Play becomes organized and the imaginative faculties of the individual are pre-empted by mass media that define the very daydreams of the ego.”

-Murray Bookchin, The Limits of the City (p77-8)


NOISE

Unwanted sound

- it may act as a dissatisfier; that is, job satisfaction goes down in noisy conditions, but a corresponding increase in job satisfaction does not necessarily follow noise reduction efforts.

Music can be an unwanted sound or wanted. It may well depend on the type of music.- elevator music?

A recent study by the American Society of Interior Designers (ASID) found that 70% of office employees felt their productivity was reduced due to noise. Unfortunately, the same study found that 81% of executives were unaware that a noise problem existed.


LIGHTING

Along with McDonough, other architects and psychologists have talked about light, and particularly natural light, in the workplace.

It affects performance.

Consider:amountcolourlocationreflectance from walls and ceilingcontrastglare (particularly with VDTs)


WINDOWS

Natural light

-without windows there is evidence of fatigue, somatic distress (headaches) and negative feelings about the setting.

- an important source of information about the weather and time

- visual contact with the natural environment.



LAYOUT

Do you place desk between yourself and the door?

Is your workspace messy?

Open plan vs closed?Open - more efficient flow of information, costs less (lighting, ventilation, maintenance), more flexible, easier supervision.BUTincreased noise, lack of privacy, more distraction



EQUIPMENTComputers and the internet can reduce the need for the office.

Health problems associated with computer terminals - eye strain, headaches, back pain, fatigue, carpal tunnel syndrome.


Beyond the planet

How do we deal with issues of light, ventilation and so on in the hostile environment of space?


LEISURE

How is it different from work?

Intrinsic motivation - the degree to which a behaviour leads to personal satisfaction and enjoyment

Extrinsic motivation - external forces, such as money, salary, gifts or praise motivate action.

We perceive an activity more as leisure if we have freedom of choice. The activity is voluntary and rewards intrinsic


How do we enjoy ourselves then?

What activities are leisure activities?

We can bring nature into the city.

We can leave the city for nature.

But is nature the common factor?


Children in the city

recalling Jane Jacobs

the unspecialized play offered by sidewalks.

Chris Alexander talks about a similar idea in his book A Pattern Language


The adult in the city



The Natural Environment

protecting ‘unspoiled nature’

For whom?

Future generations?Other species?

This leisure is an experience rather than an activity, and often that experience acknowledges a spiritual need.

We make demands on the environment and must be concerned about carrying capacity.


Meeting Needs

The benefits of leisure:

Intellectual stimulation (crossword puzzles)Catharsis (sports)Expressive compensation (camping, hiking)Hedonistic companionship (drinking)Supportive companionship (visiting friends)Secure solitude (collecting something)Routine indulgence (playing cards)Moderate Security (playing guitar, bowling)Expressive aestheticism (painting)

The concerns over our management of the environment will expand in the next lecture.

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Environmental Psychology ARC 359 WORK & LEISURE ENVIRONMENTS Why do we make a distinction between work and leisure? What is the distinction between work