The form, space and ambience of an architectural work reflect functional, technical, environmental and aesthetic considerations; but how much of an impact does it have on the psychological well-being of its inhabitants?
Arathy Gopal, architect and planner of Aspire says that from a personal experience point of view, we might identify certain spaces as our comfort zones; where we feel stress-free, relaxed and we are happy.
The relationship between environment and behaviour, between architecture and the mental state of users, is widely accepted in research and beyond question, she says.
As part of the research funded by the Academy of Neuroscience for Architecture, San Diego, California, her team of two architects and two doctors have been involved in reviewing the vast literature in support of the design of spaces for the mental well being of users, particularly autistic children.
The Vaasthu conundrumThe resurgence of Vaasthu Shastra in the recent years has significantly influenced the design of residential spaces, at least in the region, on the grounds of a set of contextual guidelines. To call the widely popular Vaasthu as the one-stop solution to all problems pertaining to psychological well-being in residential buildings is hardly an exaggeration.
A word of cautionAccording to ace architect Niranjan Das Sharma, it is a fact that many practitioners and advocates of Vaasthu intimidate clients with problems beyond reason to earn a living for themselves.
Vaasthu is a traditionally evolved practice and is intertwined with local, social, cultural and religious practices. It’s also integrated with the construction technology of a particular period of the past. The science behind the practice is yet to be researched to prove its relevance, he says.
There are a few underlying principles such as cross ventilation, which have some degree of sanity but most of the other recommendations are imposed without any scientific base, says Aarathy.
“There is no rationale for most of the guidelines like regulating the number of doors and windows, the staircase turning, the location of bathrooms and kitchen, this makes me wonder whether Vaasthu has deteriorated to a popular means of exploitation,” she adds.
Need for researchResearch-based architecture recognises the intimate relationship between research and design innovation. Architects, more than any other profession, appear to accept the primacy of ‘knowing-in practice’: while they create an ‘immense’ body of knowledge, it is largely shared informally, and rarely codified into organisational or industry memory.
The research in architecture broadly focuses on the use of computational design and parametric design in architecture as well a whole host of factors such as sustainability, design-to-fabrication workflow, geometry optimisation, material intelligence, cost optimisation and enhancing the overall design experience and liveability standards.
Architects who evaluate their work can use the information and insights gained to improve their business processes and designs in the future. Post-Occupancy Evaluation is one such key method to improve design quality and reduce the ‘performance gap’
According to Aarathy, rather than prototyping and adjusting to the monotony it offers, we can adapt and use fractal dimensions in our residential architecture and interior design.
The diversity of design of spaces will not be compromised in such a scenario, she says.
Identifying the dearthMany complications that architects face in accessing and using research appear to arise from a variety of cultural norms, practices and knowledge bases within the profession and academia.
Other built environment professions and the construction industry more widely also have differing knowledge cultures. Lack of effective systems to support knowledge gathering and exchange in practice means that many practices – particularly small ones – are failing to learn not only from peers and colleagues, but are also not benefitting from knowledge created in their own projects.
Aarathy says that most of the architecture academia is focussed on moulding the students to become either practising architects or academicians. Very rarely, the student is exposed to a career as a researcher. The information conveyed to the student is restricted to just one course on research methodology in the fourth year. This leaves the vast prospects of architectural research unexplored.
The national and international architectural research funding opportunities and the relevance of research as an aid to good design should additionally be made known to the students, she says.
However Niranjan believes that most of the architectural institutions encourage more research in academics.
The lack of initiatives required to integrate research-based knowledge into industry is the missing link, he says.
