SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE AND DESIGN

U.E.T. LAHORE
(Department of Architecture)
Course: Arch: 304 - Architectural Psychology
Level: Graduation
Credit Hours: Theory 2+ Practical 1

Course Outline
Environment Behaviour Relationship. Introduction to
environmental psychology. what is environmental psychology? why do
architects need to study Psychology? Its roots and background
studies. Environmental perception and cognition. Theories and
methods in architectural psychology.
Environmental needs The idea of environment supplying basic
psychological needs as well as physical cover. Different climatic
factors that effect human behaviour e.g. Noise, Disasters, Toxic
Hazards and Pollution.
Personal Space and Territoriality This unit examines the territory
functions of personal space and its impact on human behaviour.
Students should be advised to relate this to their personal experiences
and to evolve strategies to design better spaces to minimize problems
due to inadequate spaces. Look at identity by exploring how ordinary
people express their identity e.g. in housing. An introduction to the
work of Robert Sommer and Edward Hall for study of personal space.
i.e. Proxemics. Robert Sommers work on spatial organization as a
determinant of social interaction, Table shapes, socio-petal and sociofugal space, Conversing competing, co-acting, cooperating Social and
public space and how we use them, Cultural variations. The work of
Robert Ardery, Types of territorial behavior in the animal kingdom and
its possible parallels in the human urban environment, the behavioral
sink.
High Density, Crowding Urban Life and Behaviour This relates to
issues related to population and its impact on people behaviour. This
is to study the effects of city life examining the concepts of overload,
environmental stress, behaviour constraint, and over staffing.

Research based urban versus rural comparisons are also made to fully
understand the related concepts.
Architectural determinism A corrective view to restore the balance,
Warnings and illustrations about seeing architecture as social
engineering, the work of Jane Jacobs, Measuring and observing
human response to architecture, some techniques psychologists and
sociologists use for empirical studies
Architecture, Design and Engineering for Human Behaviour
and Changing Behaviour to Save Environment This highlights the
design process and emphasize on how to accommodate human
behaviour in design decisions. Environmentally destructive human
behaviour is assessed to raise awareness in environmentally
responsible behaviour. Students may be advised to make a list of
destructive behaviour practiced generally and specifically with
reference to professional practice in building industry and discuss
ideas to modify these practices.

Reference Books
Environmental Psychology. ed: Paul A. Bell, Thoms C. Greene, Jeffery
D. Fisher, Andrew Baum. 1978-2001. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates,
Publishers, Mahwah New Jersey, London.
Environmental Psychology: Behaviour and experience in context. Tony
Cassidy. 1997. Psychology Press Publishers, 27 Church Road Hove
east sussex BN3 2FA, UK.
Handbook of Environmental Psychology. Robert b. Bechtel and Arza
churchman. 2002. John Wiley & Sons, Inc., New York.
Creating Defensible Space. Oscar Newman Institute for Community
Design Analysis. U.S. 1996. Department of Housing and Urban
Development Office of Policy Development and Research.