Yes, Your Surroundings Can Make You Smarter. (Or not.)
No Stupid Questions podcast drops some hefty research data about the link between architecture and education.
Among the bombshells:
Seven key design parameters correlate with a whopping 16% increase in academic achievement, according to a 2015 U.K. study of primary school classrooms. Those parameters were:
- Light
- Temperature
- Air quality
- Color
- Complexity (not too much, not too little)
- Individualization (the ability to personalize)
- Flexibility (the ability to make changes as needed)
No duh. We all feel better in congenial classrooms. But the kids weren’t just less cranky; they learned significantly more.
Tangentially related:
- The average number of software apps at work? 89.
- At large employers: 187.
Because there’s incentive to sell software to solve problems.
This proliferation of software causes ‘cognitive drift,’ or interruption of flow, making it more difficult to perform tasks, solve problems, and communicate in a focused, effective way.
Then they start talking about hospitals. And bathrooms. And hospital bathrooms. All of which could use some major redesign.
Conclusion: better design can substantially support healing, community, education, cognition, and quality of life.
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