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Some Place Like Home: Using Design Psychology to Create the Ideal Places
Both an accessible and fascinating title, this book reveals how our past experiences and psychological developments inform the choices we make today when selecting a place that we truly feel is our "home"
It considers our "environmental autobiographies" and our psychological development in respect to urban experiences, focusing on the personal stories of Charles Jencks, Michael Graves and Andres Duany, three of the most prominent figures of our time from the world of design
Both theoretical and practical exercises involve the reader in understanding and improving the quality of their own environment. An entirely new approach to architectural design which combines aesthetics and psychology
It considers our "environmental autobiographies" and our psychological development in respect to urban experiences, focusing on the personal stories of Charles Jencks, Michael Graves and Andres Duany, three of the most prominent figures of our time from the world of design
Both theoretical and practical exercises involve the reader in understanding and improving the quality of their own environment. An entirely new approach to architectural design which combines aesthetics and psychology
176 pages, Paperback
First published December 19, 2003
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January 24, 2013
Finished Some Place Like Home: Using Design Psychology to Create Ideal Places by Toby Israel. In this book Israel lays out the ideas behind what she calls Design Psychology. Design psychology investigates the connection between your past experiences of place and your present experiences of place (note that there are other uses and definitions of the phrase).
The book was divided into four parts: the past, the present, the future, and case studies. Each of the first three sections was divided into three parts: a general discussion of some aspect of design psychology, three interviews (the same three people interviewed for the theme of each chapter), and a list of design psychology exercises related to each section.
I personally found the interviews to be somewhat tedious. One of the interviewees was a post-modernist architect and architectural critic, and he was just as determined to conclude that his architecture had nothing to do with his past as the author was determined to conclude that there was a deep connection.
The exercises and their explanations were by far the most useful part of the book. The exercises helped clarify the different ways that people can come to their preferences for place. I think that these exercises are actually more valid for folks without architectural training than for the architects interviewed. Architects have formal training, so it makes sense that many factors, including the past, training, experience, art, influence their sense of place. For the rest of us, our sense of place builds mainly from the places we have experienced in the past and present.
A brief description of each exercise:
Past, Environmental Family Tree: List and reflect upon the type of places your extended family has lived in. E.g., urban, rural, suburban, poverty, riches, middle class, strong community, isolated, etc.
Past, Environmental Time Line: List and reflect upon the large scale places you have lived during your own life. Categorize them using your own sense of place as cities, towns, villages, suburbs, or countryside. Determine which type of setting you lived in the most as a child and as an adult.
Past, Mental Map: Draw a detailed map of one setting that was memorable for you before age 18. It need not be technically correct; it should reflect what you remember. Consider what made the setting distinctive and memorable.
Past, Favorite Childhood Place Visualization: Take a detailed mental tour of your favorite childhood place; try to engage all your senses. This place is likely to be at a smaller scale than the last exercise. E.g., if your mental map was of a town, this may be of a house or a playground. What made this place special? What qualities from this place do you or do you want to capture in your present?
Present, Personality and Place: Take some personality test of your choice. Reflect on how your personality reflects your sense of place. If you feel your current space does not align with your personality, how can you change it?
Present, Environmental Sociogram: If you live with others, do a rough sketch of your current home. Mark each space as individual space, shared space, or public space. Is there a good balance of each type of space? How could you change this to fit the balance you desire?
Future, Special Objects Inventory: List the objects that are most special in your life and what they mean to you. E.g., photographs might represent a love of family or a connection to tradition. Consider whether or not these objects actually reflect you. What values do you have that are not represented in your special objects?
Future, Homestyle: Analyze your past and present sense of home style according to the following categories: high culture, upper middle culture, lower middle culture, low culture, quasi-folk culture, fringe cultures. Consider the similarities and differences between the style categorization of your past and your present.
Future, Creating Some Place Like Home: Consider how well your home setting, home, and special objects satisfy the different levels in the following pyramid of needs (listed from base to top): home as shelter (safety, protection), home as place of psychological satisfaction (self-expression, love, and belonging), home as place of social satisfaction (privacy, community), home as place of aesthetic satisfaction (pleasure of beauty).
I found going through these exercises to be useful. They did not reveal any profound truths, but they did help me understand some aspects of my taste. For example, none of my childhood homes had attached garages; this may influence why I think attached garages are so ugly. Two of my childhood homes had attic spaces where I had a bed room; this may be part of the reason why I find attics to be such cozy, private spaces. Nothing earth shattering, but these are still useful things to understand.
Overall, I recommend the book.
The book was divided into four parts: the past, the present, the future, and case studies. Each of the first three sections was divided into three parts: a general discussion of some aspect of design psychology, three interviews (the same three people interviewed for the theme of each chapter), and a list of design psychology exercises related to each section.
I personally found the interviews to be somewhat tedious. One of the interviewees was a post-modernist architect and architectural critic, and he was just as determined to conclude that his architecture had nothing to do with his past as the author was determined to conclude that there was a deep connection.
The exercises and their explanations were by far the most useful part of the book. The exercises helped clarify the different ways that people can come to their preferences for place. I think that these exercises are actually more valid for folks without architectural training than for the architects interviewed. Architects have formal training, so it makes sense that many factors, including the past, training, experience, art, influence their sense of place. For the rest of us, our sense of place builds mainly from the places we have experienced in the past and present.
A brief description of each exercise:
Past, Environmental Family Tree: List and reflect upon the type of places your extended family has lived in. E.g., urban, rural, suburban, poverty, riches, middle class, strong community, isolated, etc.
Past, Environmental Time Line: List and reflect upon the large scale places you have lived during your own life. Categorize them using your own sense of place as cities, towns, villages, suburbs, or countryside. Determine which type of setting you lived in the most as a child and as an adult.
Past, Mental Map: Draw a detailed map of one setting that was memorable for you before age 18. It need not be technically correct; it should reflect what you remember. Consider what made the setting distinctive and memorable.
Past, Favorite Childhood Place Visualization: Take a detailed mental tour of your favorite childhood place; try to engage all your senses. This place is likely to be at a smaller scale than the last exercise. E.g., if your mental map was of a town, this may be of a house or a playground. What made this place special? What qualities from this place do you or do you want to capture in your present?
Present, Personality and Place: Take some personality test of your choice. Reflect on how your personality reflects your sense of place. If you feel your current space does not align with your personality, how can you change it?
Present, Environmental Sociogram: If you live with others, do a rough sketch of your current home. Mark each space as individual space, shared space, or public space. Is there a good balance of each type of space? How could you change this to fit the balance you desire?
Future, Special Objects Inventory: List the objects that are most special in your life and what they mean to you. E.g., photographs might represent a love of family or a connection to tradition. Consider whether or not these objects actually reflect you. What values do you have that are not represented in your special objects?
Future, Homestyle: Analyze your past and present sense of home style according to the following categories: high culture, upper middle culture, lower middle culture, low culture, quasi-folk culture, fringe cultures. Consider the similarities and differences between the style categorization of your past and your present.
Future, Creating Some Place Like Home: Consider how well your home setting, home, and special objects satisfy the different levels in the following pyramid of needs (listed from base to top): home as shelter (safety, protection), home as place of psychological satisfaction (self-expression, love, and belonging), home as place of social satisfaction (privacy, community), home as place of aesthetic satisfaction (pleasure of beauty).
I found going through these exercises to be useful. They did not reveal any profound truths, but they did help me understand some aspects of my taste. For example, none of my childhood homes had attached garages; this may influence why I think attached garages are so ugly. Two of my childhood homes had attic spaces where I had a bed room; this may be part of the reason why I find attics to be such cozy, private spaces. Nothing earth shattering, but these are still useful things to understand.
Overall, I recommend the book.
March 14, 2019
Buku referensi yang bagus bagi arsitek dan user sebuah bangunan/rumah. Untuk membuat sebuah bangunan/rumah yang "sempurna" , kita perlu bercermin ke dalam, yakni environmental autobiography penghuninya. Untuk itu, kita perlu menggunakan tool Design Psychology, yakni praktik arsitektur, perencanaan dan desain interior di mana psikologi sebagai alat desain utamanya.
July 22, 2009
Required reading for Environmental Psychology but I really enjoyed it, definitely won't be selling back. It's an interesting format of several phases of interviews with influential designers in which the author tries to uncover their environmental roots and shed some light on what they've created as a result. It incorporates little diy self-interviews which are kind of fun although considering the fact that I don't have a large body of work to trace back to my roots it was slightly irrelevant.
I love hearing stories about peoples' past and how they've gotten to be who they are in the present, so this was fun for me.
I love hearing stories about peoples' past and how they've gotten to be who they are in the present, so this was fun for me.
February 2, 2009
I really liked this book and it got me to think about design differently. I do agree that it is targeted to the Architecture and Design community and might not have a lot of relevance to a larger audience. It's interesting though if you like to analyze why you design the way you do...
January 4, 2008
interesting theory, but i didn't get a terrible lot of information out of the book and it doesn't really apply to larger populations of people.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews