BEHAVIORIAL: 4/6

When visiting New York City, you can find almost any type of restaurant imaginable. However, depending on what type of restaurant it is and where it is located, the behavior expected can change drastically. In Manhattan’s Midtown West neighborhood, “Masa” is a restaurant serving Japanese cuisine. The 26-seat restaurant has no menu, has dinners ranging in price from $400-600 dollars, and all diners spend about three hours having an “unparalleled omakase experience.” At Masa Restaurant, what you see, hear, touch, smell, and taste all come from the same complex process: the ideas of “shibui and umami”. The simplicity of Masa is considered “shibui”, or simplicity without unnecessary elements, and the honest arrangement of materials. The Masa Restaurant is also seen as “umami”, or the basic essence or flavor inherent in each ingredient.

The experience begins at the arrival where diners are transported from the bustling mall into a 26-seat zen-like sushi temple. The choice of materials used to construct the dining room reflects the original beauty of nature. Calming colors of tans, yellows, browns and greens help to set a serene mood. The bamboo used brings in a natural element, but one that is refined, sleek and contemporary. The lighting in the space suggests that this restaurant is not a place for loud conversation. Rather, intimate gatherings are expected in the small space because of the arrangement of tables set for two or four people. The backdrop behind the counter is a pond with a bamboo garden and a floral arrangement by Masa according to the season. The authentic Japanese design of the interior gives the space a relaxed and calming feeling.

How would the feeling of the space change if the lighting levels were different? How would this affect the type of behavior visitors show when dining in the restaurant? Do you think the small scale of the restaurant achieves the feeling of a serene dining experience? What would happen if the size of the space were to get bigger?

Behavioral (Wild Card) 4/6

When thinking about behavioral and the way people interact with space, I resorted back to what I have been seeing a lot of lately, banquet halls.  I found this image and it reminds me of the ballroom at the Opryland Hotel in Nashville.  These spaces give off a sense of sophistication and a classy feel.  In an area like this, a person knows how to act.  This is one of those spaces where your mom would kick you under the table if you were misbehaving.  The main action in the space is eating, so if people are not up walking for table to table, they are sitting.  Therefore circulation is centered around the tables.  In this example, and in most banquet halls the tables are evenly spaced throughout the room, so there is not really a clear traffic pattern.  People just tend to go where they want.  Although the space itself is going to be loud because of the number of people, individuals are encouraged to speak at normal tones because the lighting in the space is warm and incandescent, but not very low.  The elegant chandeliers and gold detailing brings the ceiling closer, to scale down the expanse of the space. The main focus in the space is for people to stop and lounge.  It is definitely a space that encourages social interaction because the chairs are all located so close to one another.  The designer created this space to make the user feel immersed in the reason they are there; to celebrate and visit with others.  How do you feel when you enter a space like this?  Do you find it overwhelming or comforting?  Do you think it is the nature of the design that dictates how a person acts or the event taking place?

3/30- Preferential

“Experience Design” has had a great impact on the development of interiors and seeks to create a total experience for the user. This design process involves intense programming so as to create a design that reads as a seamlessly connected whole. In truth, the designer is aiming to create a brand for the entire environment so that all who live, work, and visit there will be able to understand the motives of the family, organization, or company by simply interpreting the interior space. Within the environment, the designer has chosen to use a brand to develop the design and thus, has chosen a preference. A chosen preference in design development can affect numerous facets of the actual design itself. The Google Office in Zurich used experience design to create an office environment that speaks the same language as the company’s mission speaks. The Google Company has become known for their technological innovation as a search engine and much more. This desire for innovation is combined with lightning-fast service and excellent products. Thus, innovative, speedy exploration in an endless variety subjects has become the mission of the Google Company. Thus, the design created for their office headquarters is based these preferences.
The Google office was designed to be an innovative encouragement to the employees working there on a daily basis. The designer wanted to create a space that would spark the imagination of worker at any point of the day or in any point of the design. By combining modern furniture and fixture pieces with novelty items and a fun, warm color scheme, the designer has successfully used preference of materials, color, and fixtures to create a space that welcomes creativity.
The Google lobby uses streamlined, modern components to create a sense of innovation while keeping the atmosphere fun, instead of stark, with colorful accents. The sharp edges of the wooden reception desk contrast with the soft plushness of the colorful seating arrangements, further demonstrating a sense of exploration of all things within the space and again, reflecting a core corporate value.
Various spaces within the Google headquarters have varying arrangements including small pod-like offices, which were originally research huts in Antarctica; egg-shaped meeting areas; a water room for relaxation of the mind and body in order to trigger an imaginative spark; and a sliver slide running from floor to floor to take employees downstairs in a type of creative transportation. Everything in the Google office is meant to spark creativity and innovative thinking. Consider the hierarchy usually associated with an office. How has Google avoided the typical office plan, but still provided enough clarity of status and territory for its employees? Does the truly branded atmosphere replace the need for status definition, or will there still be office power squabbles? How did designer deal with this important issue while still using a preferential concept?

3/30 Behavioral (Wild Card)

When thinking of locations that truly demonstrate behavioral design I immediately thought of a spa. When stepping into that sort of atmosphere, one immediately reacts in a certain way due to the specific design elements surrounding them.

Above is a great example of behavioral elements found within many spas. One of these elements includes the soft task lighting within the space. The darker, more intimate lighting allows for less distraction, and lets visitors know that they must remain quiet when in the room. Also, with this particular lighting located on side tables, each area seems to recreate the feeling of a bedroom, one of the most intimate and comfortable areas in one’s home. Furthermore, harsh overhead lighting would decrease the feeling of relaxation.

Many of the design elements within this particular space invoke the theme of privacy. Some of these elements include the dividing curtains that separate each bed. Also, instead of overhead lighting throughout the area, each space gets its own lamp. These elements show visitors that each small area is there own space at that time. Therefore, they know not to disturb others in the surrounding beds.

Finally, the following spa location creates a calming feeling. When one visits the site they are immediately relaxed and comforted. This reaction is created by the use of natural materials throughout the space, such as the tree motifs on the curtains, as well as the use of natural woods. Furthermore, the space consists of a neutral color scheme. Due to this color scheme visitors can focus on their treatments and are not distracted by their surrounding environment.

Overall, a spa atmosphere, including the example above, is clear with its intentions towards its visitors, who immediately know how to act within the space.

Do you think this space is successful in creating a relaxing atmosphere?
Does this space meet your expectations when it comes to typical spa designs?
What reactions would you have when entering this space?

03/30 SYMBOLIC

Designers often utilize a symbolic aspect of design in order to convey a story and relate that story through visualization as well as acoustics in space. Frank Gehry not only designed the architecture of the Walt Disney Concert Hall above, he was also responsible for designing the interior of the facility. This large-scale assembly has the capacity to sit thousands of audience during musical concerts and performances. Hence, tall ceiling enhances acoustical element in the space. However, audience can perhaps gain the musical experience and relate to the story by simply looking at the architectural features of the space itself. Dropped element on the ceiling is bulging down in curvilinear forms, which creates a sense of fluidity in the space suggesting the movement and melody of music. In addition, series of lines running across this ceiling with circular recessed fixtures lined up and attached to them create movement and almost portray musical notes and guitar strings. However, the deconstructed wooden pipe organ standing above the audience seating is probably the most dramatic built-in feature in the space that symbolizes the black piano organ placed at the center stage and brings dynamism in the space, which maintains enthusiasm in the audience. In order to emphasize this center stage even further, the color-scheme in the space is kept neutral and monotone throughout; therefore, when the lights are dimmed during the musical concerts, the dramatic interior blends in with the atmosphere and let the center stage becomes the emphasis. The white flooring of this center stage also reflects lights coming from the recessed spotlights on the ceiling, which enhances the audience's visualization of the music performances taken place at the center stage.

How would you feel being in the space? Do you think the elaboration of the interior features would relate you with and symbolize that musical experience? Why do you think Gehry decided to deconstruct the piano organ in contrast to the graceful forms of the rest of the features in the space?

Image Source:
Jodidio, Philip. Architecture Now! 3. "Frank O. Gehry: Walt Disney Concert Hall." Cologne, Germany: Taschen, 2008.

3/30 BEHAVIORAL

Growing up, we have all been conditioned on how to behave in a library. For example, we know it is most appropriate to use soft or “inside” voices in a library to be respectful to other visitors. However, as libraries are beginning to change, in order to reflect the current needs of its users, does the design of these spaces provide adequate cues as to how we are expected to behave?

The image to the right is a good example of how designers use lighting levels and furniture arrangements to indicate how people should behave within a space. The lighting levels help to divide this library space into two separate areas - an area for socializing, or perhaps group meetings, and an area for research that is more for individuals than groups. The overhead lighting above the sofas and tables provides a constant and sufficient amount of light throughout the area for students to study, read, etc. The intensity, or brightness, of the lighting also encourages communication. As I mentioned before, we have been taught that yelling is not an appropriate behavior in a library. So the lighting does not encourage loud communication, but instead, indicates to people that it is okay to talk, with our “inside" voices and carry out conversations within a group. The recessed lighting above the computers, on the other hand, provides a brighter, more focused amount of light to the area, which encourages individuals to work on their own.

The furniture arrangement reinforces the cues that the lighting levels provide. The open arrangement of the sofas and coffee tables create a comfortable and informal space for students to interact and communicate. The tables and chairs, at the back of the room, also create a space appropriate for group meetings and interaction amongst students, but is more formal because the arrangement is more structured. The computers, on the other hand, were arranged in a single, straight line. This arrangement does not encourage group interaction because a line makes it difficult for people to look or communicate with other members within a group.

Do you feel there are other cues, such as furniture materials, within this space that tell people how they are to behave? What are they?