WORK & LEISURE ENVIRONMENTS
Why do we make a distinction
between work and leisure?
What is the distinction between
work and leisure?
Does work create happiness or is
it something we simply must do
to survive?
The answers to these question
will affect the way we work and
the environment in which we
work.
Environmental Psychology ARC 359
“In order that people may
be happy in their work,
these three things are
needed:
•The must be fit for it
•They must not do too
much of it
•And they must have a
sense of success in it.”
John Ruskin (1819-1900)
WORK & LEISURE ENVIRONMENTS
Environmental Psychology ARC 359
WORK AS PUNISHMENT – (the wages of sin)
The Fall of
Adam and the
Expulsion from
the Garden of
Eden
Michelangelo
1508 – 12
Sistine Chapel
WORK & LEISURE ENVIRONMENTS
The Industrial Revolution
- the rural – urban shift
- deterioration of conditions of the
workplace as people moved from
the farms to the factories.
- little thought was given to the
relationship between conditions
and worker health and
productivity.
- new forms of building meeting
the requirements of technology
(machines)
Environmental Psychology ARC 359
WORK & LEISURE ENVIRONMENTS
Environmental Psychology ARC 359
Power loom weaving, 1833
The ‘dark Satanic mills’ in Blake’s
Jerusalem?
Night Refuge for children after
a 16 hour day
WORK & LEISURE ENVIRONMENTS
Environmental Psychology ARC 359
New Century, New Methods
The call for reform – health issues
and production efficiency
The assembly line - Ford Motors
October 1913.
“Some of Ford's greatest innovations came not in the cars
themselves but in the processes for creating them, like his
1914 introduction of a moving conveyor belt at the
Highland Park plant, which dramatically increased
production. Starting construction on the Rouge plant in
1917 was the first step toward Ford's dream of an all-in-one
manufacturing complex, where the processing of raw
materials, parts, and final automobiles could happen
efficiently in a single place.”
(http://www.ford.com/en/ourCompany/centennial/people/henryFord/bus
inessMan/fordVision/default.htm)
But what did this do to the
relationship between humans and
work?
WORK & LEISURE ENVIRONMENTS
Scientific Management
Frederick Taylor
- the relationship of performance
and tools
- the development of ‘human
factors’ psychology as a
subdiscipline of
industrial/organizational
psychology
The interaction between humans
and machines
- computers, aircraft, etc.
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The design relates to ‘mapping’ - the relationship between the actions of an
operator and those of the machine. A water tap? Your stereo volume?
WORK & LEISURE ENVIRONMENTS
The workplace of the future
William McDonough and the
Environmental Defense Fund
Offices (1985)
This was the first of the “green office” projects and initiated
significant national research into indoor air quality and the issue of
material toxicity. This twenty thousand square foot interior for a
nonprofit advocacy group in New York City is envisioned as a
miniature city, an Athens with Spartan means.
The central “agora” of black granite is inlaid with a brilliantly lit
image of the earth, providing a common meeting space as well as an
entrance to tree lined “boulevards” off of which each workspace is
conceived as an individual building.
High ceilings and glass walls on the exterior office “facades” bring
daylight deep into the space, magnifying natural light. It was one of
the first uses of triphosphor lamps in the United States, providing
glare-free brightness with a high color rendition index.
Maximum ventilation is provided, with 30 cubic feet of fresh air per
minute per person, compared to a national standard at the time of
construction of five.
Research and meticulous avoidance of toxic building materials also
contribute to indoor air quality. Natural finishes are used wherever
possible, and carpets are tacked down to avoid toxic glues.
Environmental Psychology ARC 359
WORK & LEISURE ENVIRONMENTS
Issues
The EDF Office is simply an
example to raise some basic issues
about the work environment:
Zoning
Noise
Music
Lighting
Windows
furniture and layout
efficiency
equipment
safety
Environmental Psychology ARC 359
WORK & LEISURE ENVIRONMENTS
ZONING
“The bourgeois city separates these facets of
life and delivers them, one by one, to
institutions, denuding the ego of the rich
content of life. Work is removed from the
home and assimilated by giant organizations
in offices and industrial factories. It loses it
comprehensibility to the individual not only
as a result of the minute division of labor, but
owing also to the scale of commercial and
industrial operations. Play becomes
organized and the imaginative faculties of the
individual are pre-empted by mass media
that define the very daydreams of the ego.”
-Murray Bookchin, The Limits of
the City (p77-8)
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WORK & LEISURE ENVIRONMENTS
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NOISE
Unwanted sound
- it may act as a dissatisfier; that is,
job satisfaction goes down in noisy
conditions, but a corresponding
increase in job satisfaction does not
necessarily follow noise reduction
efforts.
Music can be an unwanted sound or
wanted. It may well depend on the
type of music.
- elevator music?
A recent study by the
American Society of
Interior Designers (ASID)
found that 70% of office
employees felt their
productivity was reduced
due to noise.
Unfortunately, the same
study found that 81% of
executives were unaware
that a noise problem
existed.
WORK & LEISURE ENVIRONMENTS
LIGHTING
Along with McDonough, other
architects and psychologists have
talked about light, and particularly
natural light, in the workplace.
It affects performance.
Consider:
amount
colour
location
reflectance from walls and ceiling
contrast
glare (particularly with VDTs)
Environmental Psychology ARC 359
WORK & LEISURE ENVIRONMENTS
WINDOWS
Natural light
-without windows there is evidence
of fatigue, somatic distress
(headaches) and negative feelings
about the setting.
- an important source of information
about the weather and time
- visual contact with the natural
environment.
Environmental Psychology ARC 359
WORK & LEISURE ENVIRONMENTS
Environmental Psychology ARC 359
WORK & LEISURE ENVIRONMENTS
LAYOUT
Do you place desk between
yourself and the door?
Is your workspace messy?
Open plan vs closed?
Open - more efficient flow of
information, costs less (lighting,
ventilation, maintenance), more
flexible, easier supervision.
BUT
increased noise, lack of privacy,
more distraction
Environmental Psychology ARC 359
WORK & LEISURE ENVIRONMENTS
Environmental Psychology ARC 359
WORK & LEISURE ENVIRONMENTS
Environmental Psychology ARC 359
EQUIPMENT
Computers and the internet can reduce the need for the office.
Health problems associated with computer terminals - eye strain, headaches, back
pain, fatigue, carpal tunnel syndrome.
WORK & LEISURE ENVIRONMENTS
Environmental Psychology ARC 359
Beyond the planet
How do we deal with issues of light, ventilation and so on in the hostile
environment of space?
WORK & LEISURE ENVIRONMENTS
LEISURE
How is it different from work?
Intrinsic motivation - the degree to
which a behaviour leads to personal
satisfaction and enjoyment
Extrinsic motivation - external
forces, such as money, salary, gifts
or praise motivate action.
We perceive an activity more as
leisure if we have freedom of choice.
The activity is voluntary and
rewards intrinsic
Environmental Psychology ARC 359
WORK & LEISURE ENVIRONMENTS
How do we
enjoy ourselves
then?
What activities
are leisure
activities?
We can bring
nature into the
city.
We can leave the
city for nature.
But is nature the
common factor?
Environmental Psychology ARC 359
WORK & LEISURE ENVIRONMENTS
Children in the
city
recalling Jane Jacobs
the unspecialized play
offered by sidewalks.
Chris Alexander talks
about a similar idea in his
book A Pattern Language
Environmental Psychology ARC 359
WORK & LEISURE ENVIRONMENTS
The adult in the city
Environmental Psychology ARC 359
WORK & LEISURE ENVIRONMENTS
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The Natural
Environment
protecting ‘unspoiled nature’
For whom?
Future generations?
Other species?
This leisure is an experience rather than an
activity, and often that experience
acknowledges a spiritual need.
We make demands on the environment and
must be concerned about carrying capacity.
Environmental Psychology ARC 359
WORK & LEISURE ENVIRONMENTS
Meeting Needs
The benefits of leisure:
Intellectual stimulation (crossword puzzles)
Catharsis (sports)
Expressive compensation (camping, hiking)
Hedonistic companionship (drinking)
Supportive companionship (visiting friends)
Secure solitude (collecting something)
Routine indulgence (playing cards)
Moderate Security (playing guitar, bowling)
Expressive aestheticism (painting)
The concerns over our management of the
environment will expand in the next lecture.
Environmental Psychology ARC 359