I had two unusual experiences yesterday which got me thinking about space. Not space as in up above, but the space around us. Those invisible boundaries we have designed around ourselves to create a sense of privacy, of protection and of, well, a sense of self.
Unusual Experience Number One
I was riding the elevator up to the seventeenth floor of my office, which is in the Empire State Building. It is a bustling monolith, with people dashing about, and hoards of people taking pictures. I was happily able to snag an elevator by myself and was occupying my time avidly observing the groovy little video displays that had just been installed in our recently redesigned elevators.
The elevator stopped at the seventh floor and a man got in. Usually, when getting on an elevator, a very silent but pervasive series of behaviors set forth. People tend to retreat to a corner of their own and will actually move several feet from where they are to allow for a comfortable spatial distance to form around themselves. This seems to be done without even thinking about it. Well this particular gentleman did not retreat to a corner. He stood directly behind me, as if it were a crowded elevator. He wasn’t close enough to actually touch me—he wasn’t being offensive in any way—he was just spatially too close to me, given how much room was in the rest of the elevator. I got off on the seventeenth floor confused.
Unusual Experience Number Two
I was walking home from work and, as always, the streets were animated. Lots of people coming and going, racing home for dinner, the Olympics and that wonderful first glass of wine. Then, out of nowhere, a woman caught up with my pace, and started walking parallel to me. Not ahead of me by a few steps, not behind me by a foot or two, but right next to me, as if we were companions, walking together. She didn’t seem to be trying to pass me by, as is often the case when I am walking wearing heels. She just matched my step. I felt odd. And then relieved when I turned the corner and she didn’t.
According to a paper written by psychologists Allyn & Bacon in 2003, environmental psychology is the study of how physical settings affect human behavior. It also studies how people govern their environment. Environmental psychologists often act as consultants to governments, schools, hospitals, churches, and museums. They might improve museum layouts to create more dynamic displays. In many cases, these psychologists study environmental variables, like crowding and spatial density (the amount of space allocated to a fixed number of people), and how people can become apathetic or even hostile when they feel uncomfortable or encroached. Another noted psychologist, G. Stanley Hall, suggested that personal space is a mechanism by which people communicate with others, similar to verbal communication, body language and written or designed communication. He proposed that people adhere to norms of personal space in childhood—like language, etc. This is a very Western concept, that large personal space is insisted on, with proximity reserved for close friends. In some Arab and Eastern cultures, for example, there is a much smaller distance between strangers that is acceptable.
To explain personal space in the U.S., Hall classified four spatial zones:
—An intimate distance of zero to 18 inches is maintained between people who are highly familiar with one another
—A personal distance of 1.5 to 4 feet is acceptable between friends and acquaintances
—Social distance (4 to 12 feet) is used for business and interaction with strangers
—Public distance of 12 to 25 feet or more minimizes personal contact
So here we are on Speak Up, talking about the space between the K and the Mart and the letters U,P and S. What about the space between us, each other and the world? How do you design your space? Who do you let close? Who defines…and designs your boundaries? And who do you trust enough to get closer?
If this fascinates you as much as it does me, some books you might like:
Psychology and Life: Adjustment in the New Millennium by Spencer A. Rathus
In Search of Ancient North America: An Archaeological Journey to Forgotten Cultures
by Heather Pringle
The Design of Everyday Things by Donald A. Norman
Culture in Mind: Cognition, Culture, and the Problem of Meaning
by Bradd Shore
(Not so) Unusual, but still Uncomfortable Experience for me,
re: personal space.
I am walking a reasonable distance behind someone (let's say the public 12ft). If it is later at night -- especially if the person in front of me is a female -- I feel obliged to switch places with the person ahead of me. Showing that I mean them no harm and am not following them.
The confounding part comes when they are moving at the same pace as I and I physically have to exert more speed to make my passing maneuver. The increased speed behind the person in front causes them to wonder if they are about to be charged, further discomforting the situation.
On Aug.18.2004 at 11:31 AM