Overview

Architecture can be considered in many ways, as art or aesthetic stimuli, as an expression of societal pride or aspiration, and as a way of structuring interior and exterior spaces to facilitate their use by human occupants. This latter function of architectural design has strong but modifiable effects on social behaviour and users' mood and productivity and, to some extent, design features also affect health and wellbeing. Too often, however, these important sources of influence are ignored or not recognized, despite repeated demonstrations of these effects. While much remains to be done, research has identified several architectural features that appear to be associated with mood and health. Design characteristics or the way space is structured, presence or absence of windows and illumination all appear to affect people. For some features, the relationship to health is indirect (e.g. small, crowded work spaces may result in stress that may in turn affect health) while for other features the relationship to health is more direct (e.g. eye strain from poor lighting, illness from exposure to fumes).

The structural design or arrangement of space imposes restrictions on behaviour. Doorways determine our access to a room and room dimensions restrict the kinds of behaviours that can take place inside a room. As a result, one of the most important goals when designing a building is to match the built environment with the needs of the individuals for whom the environment is designed.