Chapter 1: Developing Design Concepts Flashcards
What is design theory?
It’s a way to direct design based on a system of beliefs or philosophy.
Design theory is not style.
Describe the historic precedent design theory.
History can suggest how past designs solved certain problems or represented particular ideals. These solutions or representations can then be applied to current design problems.
Or more commonly it’s basing current design on ideas and styles of the past.
What is environmental design research?
It focuses on the theories of the interaction between humans and their environment. It attempts to develop an approach to rational design based on scientific research rather than just anecdotal evidence or personal philosophies.
What is the problem with environmental design research?
The issue is the complexity and high number of variables in the interaction between humans and buildings. To be scientifically valid, most research only studies one variable at a time, so the effect of changing that variable can be measured without influence from other variables.
What is is evidence-based design?
Basing design decisions on credible research that links one or more environmental elements with a desired outcome. Research may take the form of literature searches, observations of existing facilities, interviews and questionnaires with users and facility managers, and post-occupancy evaluations.
What is functionalism?
It places emphasis on providing simple, rational solutions to design problems without extraneous decoration.
Like historic precedent, functionalism should only be one aspect of a larger theory of design because humans require more than just functional space.
What is the Gestalt theory of perception?
Gestalt psychology holds that humans innately perceive things as whole so that what is perceived is complete and comprehensible.
- Perception is not a response to individual bits of stimulus but to the whole.
- People add structure to what they see rather than just reacting to it.
- In the context of interior design, individual elements cannot be placed or designed as single entities, but must be seen as part of a larger environment.
What is the concept of grouping (Gestalt)?
Humans perceive separate units in the visual field as a group - by either proximity, similarity, direction, and context.
What is the concept of closure (Gestalt)?
The tendency to perceive incomplete forms as complete.
What is the concept of continuity (Gestalt)?
The tendency to see a line or shape as continuing in a particular direction rather than making a sharp turn.
What is the concept of simplicity (Gestalt)?
People prefer the simplest, most stable organization of forms or the overall structure of elements in the visual field rather than complex individual parts.
What is the concept of figure-ground (Gestalt)?
Refers to the way people distinguish a form (the figure) from its surroundings (the ground). The ground around an object is called negative space. Interior design uses the concept of figure-ground as a conceptual way to create space.
What is the perceptual constancy theory of perception?
A person perceives an object or a space as essentially the same regardless of the exact image on the retina of the eye.
What is shape constancy?
People perceive objects as having their original shape regardless of a change in the orientation of the object or the point of view of the observer.
What is size constancy?
People tend to perceive an object as having the same size regardless of the changes in viewing distance to the object.
