Throughout this quarter I have constantly been thinking about how our interior environments effects us on a daily basis. In fact, they effect us constantly. We spend the majority of our lives in interior environments, so it only makes sense that we are greatly affected by these. I have been fascinated with how our environments can aid in our overall well-being for quite some time now. However, even though I have been aware of this it was not until this quarter that I realized just how much effects our response to our built environment.
We respond to the environment through all of our senses. Our senses are stimulated differently based on the elements of the particular environment we happen to be in at the time. Depending on what sense is stimulated can greatly impact our response to that environment. It is easy to only think that we are effected by the visual appearance of a space, but it is truly all of our sense that define our experience. Furthermore, if any one of those senses are hindered due to a disability, we adapt to the space through the enhancement of our other senses.
Also, we are not just effected by the environment itself, but also countless outside influences. Before this quarter, I knew that nature was very personally calming to me. However, I did not realize the immense impact it can have on all areas of design. It has been scientifically proven time and time again that the addition of it in our built environments have an immense impact on our overall well-being. Now this makes complete sense to me. Of course we feel connected to and restored by natural elements because we are genetically more connected to natural environments than our built ones. We have only lived in the type of unconnected built environments of today for a number of centuries. Historically, we have lived in more natural structures for a much greater percentage of our genetic history. This realization had a particularly influential impact on me this quarter. I want to focus my work on the attempt of reconnecting people to the natural environment. I feel that focusing the connection between the built environment and our natural one will help to balance and restore our connection to the greater ecological system.
Above all, I have acquired a heightened awareness to human’s response to the built environment. I find myself watching people in public spaces and mentally noting how they are responding to the environments. I find myself constantly thinking about people’s response to the environment and it’s connection to their overall happiness and well-being. I am inspired at the vast body of research going into the study of how we respond to our environments, and am looking forward to helping advance that information. We spend such a large portion of time indoors, and I feel with the continued study of this topic we can help improve the lives of countless people. At the very least, this quarter has made me extremely aware of our built environment, and furthered my passion to continue to investigate the numerous ways in which our environments impact all of us every day.