Environmental Design

LIGHT/COLOUR/SOUND/IMAGERY: SENSORY MANIPULATION

- If designers, like the medical profession, begin to incorporate the multidimensional systems of life - molecular biology, biochemistry, quantum physics, as well as ancient modes of healing - into design strategies, the potential exists for extending the framework of communications into a vast system of creativity, learning and healing.

- There are observable, definitive connections between emotions, sensations, nerve impulses, chemical reactions, images, sound and light. The human body is composed of dynamic chemical, electrical, light-based, biomagnetic, spiritual, subtle, and magnetic energy systems that work together to create harmony in our bodies in relation to our environments. Therefore, energy is the common link between mind, body and soul.

- The mental body, where and how the mind receives, processes and distributes information, has a correlating effect on the physical body.

- Every identifiable system in the body must be kept in relative balance, internally and externally, in order to promote proper health and functionality. The use of vibration - light, colour, sound and biofeedback - on the body revels the importance of restoring normal vibratory frequencies to help achieve that balance.

- Entertainment music has the potential to (1) resonate with the listener's feelings energetically, (2) transform negative into a positive, and (3) promote states of liveliness or serenity. Therefore, designers, as sound coordinators, can match appropriate brain wave frequencies to transform the moods of individuals or large groups of people.

- Sunlight, containing all wavelengths of light, consists of the entire electromagnetic spectrum on which we depend to exist. Numerous studies have shown that only natural light and full-spectrum artificial light have an altering effect on the body. As light changes in the natural environment, so do the body's daily rhythmic pattern involving mood, fertility, and enzymatic and hormonal stems.

- Artificial lighting that does not utilise full-spectrum patterns can cause malillumination, thereby depriving the body of the most basic nutrient essential for continued growth and development. Studies show that when fluorescent lights are replaced with full-spectrum lights in classrooms, ADD and hyperactivity decrease while learning, memory retention, and optimism increase. Such studies demonstrate how a tiny adjustment of environmental design such as lighting, could incur profound changes in both attitude and health.

- The body absorbs colour through the vibration it emits. Through colour, we receive most of the energies we need to maintain the health of mind, body and soul. The National Institute of Mental Health has done studies sowing that our mental health, behaviour, and general efficiency depend largely on colour balance.

- By learning how each colour influences the mind and body, designers can effectively use colour to alter energetic and physical states...for instance, the colour red is often used in fast-food restaurants because it stimulates the nervous system, and increases appetite.

Citizen Designer: Perspectives on Design Responsibility - Heller & Vienne