- Title
- Examining prospect-refuge theory in architecture: the impact of spatial dimensions on preference ratings for interiors
- Creator
- Dosen, Annemarie S.
- Relation
- University of Newcastle Research Higher Degree Thesis
- Resource Type
- thesis
- Date
- 2017
- Description
- Research Doctorate - Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
- Description
- Prospect-refuge theory was initially proposed in the 1970s to explain human emotional responses to particular natural environments and conditions. Over the following decades, environmental psychologists repeatedly tested various assumptions implicit in the theory, including the central argument that particular combinations of outlook and enclosure educe feelings of pleasure while being experienced. In the 1990s architectural scholars and critics adopted prospect-refuge theory and then adapted its central premise to suggest that the combination of particular spatial characteristics, including enclosure, exposure and complexity, can generate a positive emotional response to a space and shape perceptions of comfort. However, despite this theory being repeatedly cited by design scholars and linked to works of highly awarded architects, the empirical evidence for it is inconsistent and there are few methods available to translate human perceptions into specific design responses. This dissertation has three, interconnected aims. The first is to critically reassess past research into prospect-refuge theory to identify which results hare valid or useful for architecture, and which need further development and refinement. This first aim is fulfilled through a two-part literature review, including a quantitative meta-analysis of both results and methods. The second aim is to compare human perceptions of simple room configurations with the actual or measured spatio-visual properties of these same rooms and the third aim is to reassess human preferences for particular combinations of outlook, enclosure, complexity and comfort. The methods used to fulfil the second and third aims combine an empirical survey of perceptions of space with a computational analysis of the same spaces. For the survey component, 159 participants assessed 24 images of virtual rooms, which vary in fenestration size and ceiling dimensions for their feelings of enclosure, exposure, comfort and visual complexity. The mathematical-computational methods applied to the same virtual rooms include metric measures and ratios, isovist analysis and fractal dimension analysis. By statistically comparing the empirical and the computational data, the research is able to develop a detailed understanding of which components of a simple space have the greatest influence on preferences and perceptions, and which measures most closely approximate them. Some of the results include higher perceptions of comfort in rooms with larger and wider openings, and that age, culture and local background do seem to have a small impact on our preferences.
- Subject
- design assessment; environmental preference; interiors; prospect-refuge theory
- Identifier
- http://hdl.handle.net/1959.13/1335458
- Identifier
- uon:27439
- Rights
- Copyright 2017 Annemarie S. Dosen
- Language
- eng
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| Thumbnail | File | Description | Size | Format | |||
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| View Details Download | ATTACHMENT01 | Thesis | 8 MB | Adobe Acrobat PDF | View Details Download | ||
| View Details Download | ATTACHMENT02 | Abstract | 595 KB | Adobe Acrobat PDF | View Details Download |