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?
Although the lighting levels are the dominant design element used for indicating desired user behavior whithin the space, there are other cues that also communicate expected behavior to visitors. In the foreground of the picture, the chairs and sofas are made of comfortable red material and black leather. These two materials indicate to the user that this is a space for relaxing and socializing. The furniture is lower to the ground and encourages people to sit back and relax with a book. On the other hand, the stools along the wall used for the computers do not seem comfortable at all. The only back to the chair is an extremely small vertical piece. The chairs also look as if they are made of some kind of wood or plastic. Neither one of these materials encourages someone to relax and have a conversation. This space is meant for solitary work. The materials chosen for the seats seem as if the designer didnt want users of this space to stay here very long.
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