Curvilinearity in architecture: emotional effect of curvilinear forms in interior design

摘要

People are becoming more aware of the relationships between the builtenvironment and their physical and psychological well-being. This has encouragednumerous studies in the field of environment and behavior, and effects of architecture,urban design and architectural form on human response. In the realm of architecturalform, some professionals, from "signature" architects to environmental and organicdesigners, are strong advocates of free-flowing curvilinear forms. They assume that theuse of curvilinear forms is sympathetic to the body, mind and spirit, although there islittle empirical research to confirm this claim. There is also little research on the topic ofsignature / star architects and their design methods.The purpose of this multi-method study was to investigate the emotional effectsof curvilinear forms in interior architectural settings. The research involved qualitativeand quantitative methodologies. In the qualitative phase, twelve signature architects,known for their use of curvilinear forms, were interviewed to examine the reasons andprocesses by which they applied curvature in their work. They were also asked to talkabout their design process. In the quantitative phase, two modified interior residentialviews were ranked on their emotional load by 230 non-architect and 75 architect students in card-sorting tasks. In each view, architectural forms gradually changed fromfully rectilinear to fully curvilinear.The data from both phases of the research was analyzed. The dissertationconcludes by discussing (a) factors that separate signature architects from others (b) howsignature architects design (c) how and why designers utilize curvature in the builtenvironment, and (d) different emotional responses of designers and non-designers inresponse to curvature in architectural settings. In general, quantitative data indicates thatnon-architects show significant positive response to curvilinear architectural forms. Nonarchitectsfound curvilinear forms to be pleasant, elevating and reducing stress. Thestrongest relationship was recorded between curvature and feminine qualities ofarchitectural space, which was shared by both architects and non-architects.