One way to analyse the environment in terms of fostering

Categories: Environment Nervous System Perception Philosophy Psychology

Essay, Pages 4 (993 words)

Views

One way to analyse the environment in terms of fostering play, therefore, is to seek out elements that will offer play as well as satisfying their primary or functional purpose, creating a multifaceted experience. A delivery chute not only affords easy transfer of packages, but may provide a child with an entryway or new form of access. Similarly, a window with a deep sill affords light, view, and a place to store or rest inanimate objects. Yet, it could also afford associations with a person's youth, provide a playful cubby or contemplative seat for a person.

Don't use plagiarized sources. Get your custom essay on

“ One way to analyse the environment in terms of fostering ”

Get custom paper

NEW! smart matching with writer

Such associations could evoke any number of responses, but a designer might seek out which physical elements or spatial configurations have pleasant or playful associations for the users of a particular place. The functional purpose of both the delivery chute and the deep window are available to all, but special affordances are available to people of different sizes or who attach different meanings to the elements.

The theory of optimal arousal adds additional insight to play by formulating the premise that man's responses to his environment are not always rooted in some biological need; he seeks stimulation for the sake of stimulation. According to M. R. Leary and his co-authors, boredom "occurs only as a result of attending to stimuli that are not intrinsically captivating, and the level of boredom experienced should be a direct function of the cognitive effort required to sustain focused attention on the stimulus." The optimal arousal theory postulates that each individual functions most satisfactorily with a given amount of stimulus.

According to research into the causes and effects of boredom in humans, if a person is in a state of relatively low arousal and environmental dissatisfaction or discomfort and attributes it to something other than an inadequately stimulating situation, we would say it is not boredom. For example, a given person suffering from a bout of depression might be in a state of relatively low arousal and environmental dissatisfaction, which is attributed to aversive events that have happened to him or to negative opinions of himself and his abilities and low self-esteem. When we talk about a "situation" we mean both the external and internal perceived worlds. As such, how stimulating a situation is depends only partly on external complexity and becomes an almost completely subjective thing once you consider a person's internal perception of it. By thinking and fantasizing, a person can alter the complexity of a situation. It becomes very possible to convert an experience of boredom into an interesting set of mental dynamics by taking an active interest in your experience and your internal processes without too much external stimulation from the local environment.

In the consideration of the optimal arousal theory the amount of stimulus varies for each individual, but there are different norms for various cultures and physical settings. People gravitate towards their optimal level of stimulus by editing stimuli in over-stimulated environments or magnifying it in under-stimulated ones. The subway commuter blocks out tremendous noise, smell, visual, and tactile stimuli through daydreaming, gazing fixedly at his mobile phone or tablet, listening to music on a handheld device or reading. In general, urban environments produce increasing amounts of stimulus, in particular visual and auditory ones. The sounds of nature provide meaningful stimulus to forest animals but have far less instinctive impact on people who are accustomed to the constant hum of traffic.

As mentioned in the introduction to this thesis, the contemporary city is hyper-connected, hyper-stimulating, over populated, divided, polluted and socially active. Although the long-term consequences of persistent exposure to a high-stimulus environment are hitherto unknown, there are indications that when people have the opportunity to select their surroundings, they generally seek out higher stimulus environments as opposed to silence. Many people flock to shopping centres, bars, nightclubs, theme parks, and concerts as opposed to pursuing more sedate activities such as reading or strolling in their free time. In modern society there is even a tendency to remain stimulated in bed or during relaxation periods by screens and monitors. The genesis of social media, the YouTube and "Nextflix 'n' Chill" cultures has meant that people rarely disconnect from external stimuli at all!

The implications of this for architecture are clear. A look at LeCorbusier's houses at Pessac before and after the modifications by inhabitants indicates that people sought a higher level of stimulation than the International Style provided. Although ecological psychologists believe that play behaviour is motivated by the need to elevate stimulus in under-stimulated environments, this should not be construed as a call for banality in order to advance play. While some people may respond to low-stimulus by playing, boredom, dissatisfaction or violence are other potential responses. For instance, most prisons are places where the physical environment offers very little stimulus to its inhabitants, yet these places would hardly be considered playful.

What then are the types of stimulation that can move man to play? Psychologists most frequently include simple intensity, meaningfulness, variation, novelty, complexity, surprise, and strangeness. These also happen to be most of the same qualities that elevate architecture to an art.

Each of the theories of play discussed present relevant and worthwhile points of departure for exploring how an architect or urban designer can approach the subject. The multifaceted properties of play are not possible to quantify in empirical data collection. This is because measuring the subjective and intangible perceptions of it is not possible. The fact that play is free yet controlled, clowning yet contemplative, gregarious and yet solitary isn't revealed by such analyses. The essence of play is that no matter how serious or intense it may be, it has a joyful mood and a consciousness of fantasy. Defining the behaviour should not lose the essence of this. Some of these theories, especially those of ecological psychology, provide insights as to how play might be defined from the viewpoint of a designer interested in fostering it in the built environment.