designed perception - oliver gd cannon

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Designed Perception

Experience, Influence, Control

Printed by Darwin Press Student ID 000660884-1

DECLARATION BY CANDIDATE

I hereby declare that this thesis is my own work and effort and that it has not been submitted anywhere for any award. Where other sources of information have been used, they have been acknowledged.

Signature: Date: 14.1.14

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Acknowledgements

Thankyou to Dr. Shaun Murray for continual encouragement and ideas along with Unit D2

Thanks to USP Interstore Ltd for allowing me to interview them providing me with an invaluable insight into the construction of IKEA roomsets

Lastly, and most importantly, I would like to thank my parents and brother Mark, Lesley and Matthew Cannon for their support, particularly in the last 3 years.

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Oliver CannonDesigned Perception

Printed by Darwin Press Student ID 000660884-1

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This dissertation suggests that an ‘ecological’ approach to architectural design could be through the experience, influence and control - a kind of architectural perception. I would like to offer in my dissertation that architecture through these explicit methodologies of experience; influence and control could reappraise the discipline we are embarking on – to take a very different route.

How do the various approaches to architecture, when considering the tactility of the design, affect the way it is perceived by humans and ultimately affect the way they experience a design?

‘Designers often aspire to do more than simply create buildings that are new, functional and attractive – they promise that a new environment will change behaviours and attitudes’ (Marmot, 2002, p. 252).

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Abstract

This dissertation investigates the implications design currently has on human perception, the ecologies that are formed surrounding architecture and the architectural environment; this includes all the forms of human interaction and reaction.

Interaction and reaction within architecture is considered to include anything physical and abstract that can be perceived by the human. The size, shape, location and feel of an object or surface have the potential to be experienced. Likewise, it is considered light levels, colours and smells can invoke a visceral degree of experience.

How can a framework of design incorporating an approach that takes into consideration human reaction, interaction be used to affect the behaviours of the population? Is this in a positive or a negative way? Should those with the responsibility of design take advantage of the environmental bionomics for reasons of commercial efficiency or should architecture be designed for the people who will inhabit it? It is thought that the architect designs a building and those who inhabit it design the architecture (Anthes, 2009).

Three critical case studies have been chosen to address the issues raised, case studies which approach the design of an architecture in a way that will be conducive to a particular perception.

Firstly, Alsop’s ‘Street Creature’ - the Cardiff Bay Visitors Centre project, considered as the building that ‘single-handedly put Cardiff on the architectural map’ (Sturges, 1998). A visitors centre with exhibition space which takes into consideration the functional requirement from the brief and the responsibility of becoming a landmark and a symbol to urban regeneration. In this case it is not the project as a finished architecture that is the key relation to perception, experience and control but the process of design, which leads to the finished article that is the focus of this dissertation. The Cardiff Bay Visitors Centre is more of a representation, a realisation, of the fore-mentioned design process that is relevant to the subject being discussed.

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Secondly, Steven Holl, an active and self confessed practitioner of ‘phenomenological’ design is an example of an architect who believes that the perceived experience a person has with architecture should be a visceral moment with the building variables appealing to human senses in a positive way.The ‘Stretto House’ in the United States will be the primary example of Holl’s work when examining his design process. This house has been subject to Holl’s design process and is a clear representation of the work that Holl carries out when a building is commissioned.

Finally, IKEAs Tottenham store in London will be used as an example of designing and building floor layouts with the main intention of commercial success, employing various strategies and tactics of behavioural influence in their design, which is also reflected in the products they design and sell. This element of control in their design is what will be discussed in this dissertation and what makes the IKEA buildings key to the discussion when considering design of perception.

The approach of designing to affect behaviour which is relevant to all three case studies, to varying degrees, has been a subject of debate for many years, on one hand; designers create products, services, systems and whole environments, which will undoubtedly influence peoples behaviour, but how can design be used intentionally to affect behavioural patterns, in what ways can behaviour be controlled or guided in order to gain a benefit – are there any environmental or social implications of such designed systems?

The concept of designing to influence behaviour means there must be an understanding of the techniques used and the change on human behaviour these techniques will have.

This dissertation begins by determining the requirement for designers to acknowledge that in the process of design and the construction of environments where people live and work there is an unavoidable involvement in an element of human behavioural influence.

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Oliver CannonDesigned Perception

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Secondly, Steven Holl, an active and self confessed practitioner of ‘phenomenological’ design is an example of an architect who believes that the perceived experience a person has with architecture should be a visceral moment with the building variables appealing to human senses in a positive way.The ‘Stretto House’ in the United States will be the primary example of Holl’s work when examining his design process. This house has been subject to Holl’s design process and is a clear representation of the work that Holl carries out when a building is commissioned.

Finally, IKEAs Tottenham store in London will be used as an example of designing and building floor layouts with the main intention of commercial success, employing various strategies and tactics of behavioural influence in their design, which is also reflected in the products they design and sell. This element of control in their design is what will be discussed in this dissertation and what makes the IKEA buildings key to the discussion when considering design of perception.

The approach of designing to affect behaviour which is relevant to all three case studies, to varying degrees, has been a subject of debate for many years, on one hand; designers create products, services, systems and whole environments, which will undoubtedly influence peoples behaviour, but how can design be used intentionally to affect behavioural patterns, in what ways can behaviour be controlled or guided in order to gain a benefit – are there any environmental or social implications of such designed systems?

The concept of designing to influence behaviour means there must be an understanding of the techniques used and the change on human behaviour these techniques will have.

This dissertation begins by determining the requirement for designers to acknowledge that in the process of design and the construction of environments where people live and work there is an unavoidable involvement in an element of human behavioural influence.

Contents

13 Acknowledgements16 Abstract19 Contents20 Introduction26 Ecological30 Notational Fight Club Review40 Instructional Photo Diary46 Aesthetical52 Synthesis56 Conclusion61 References Images67 Appendices & Interview Interview73 Visual Index Photo Diary Index

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Human Behaviour and the Levels of Design

Behavioural and Visceral

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Behaviourism

Behaviourism is a psychological approach to the human and animal perception and response to the environment – in this case consider the environment to be both designed or naturally formed. Despite behaviourism being no longer considered an important part of current psychology many of the principles still have the potential to be applied in design.

Behaviourism is successful in understand and explaining what is considered as the subconscious relationship a being can have with an environment. It explains that the environment shapes and influences our behaviour before, during and after we take actions (Skinner, 1971). This can be used in design as a useful insight for designing interventions. It is also considered that long-term behaviour will not happen instantaneously but is a time-based process with a gradual behavioural change. Lastly, and most significantly, it accepts that it is possible to design for behavioural change, however, it contrarily introduces the concept that the users perceived perspective becomes the means by which the designers themselves may be influenced (Studer, 1970).

Visceral

A visceral approach would be to consider the human senses and their emotional response to an input. This response is determined by the way an individual will perceive something, the way an individual perceives something is relative to the way his brain is ‘programmed’. Responses will vary in individuals due to an endless list of variables including things such as their culture – it is considered that with some ‘training’ a bias towards a particular variable can be overcome and a new one learned. For example, humans are initially programmed to enjoy brighter colours and sweeter foods; however, a more bitter taste can become the preference due to it literally being an acquired taste. As a result of this brain ‘programming’ humans are essentially tuned to receive signals as we move around, signals that will be perceived by the brain and senses and interpreted automatically on a visceral level. In the simplest of terms, when a person perceives something as ‘beautiful’ it would be considered a judgment based on the visceral experience.

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When considering a visceral design there are numerous variables or inputs that should be taken into consideration, shape and form, light levels and colours, physical feel and texture, materials and their qualities all matter. These are the perceivable values of a design, the presence of these qualities will quickly be interpreted and a judgment is formed.

Alsop relies on intuitive design, the submission of precision and embracing the lack of control when he is painting new architectures. Although he is critical of preconceptions, structured theories and philosophies, this way of designing, when it inevitably progresses through to the buildings completion surely leads to a result that both receives reactions from humans but also a level higher, within a community. Reactions from the community because, reflected in his existing work, especially his social projects, Alsop believes that architecture can act as a symbol for change, progression and regeneration.

Visceral approach to design can be linked to phenomenology, a philosophical view that has been shaped by Maurice Merleau-Ponty, a French philosopher.

Merleau-Ponty’s book, ‘Phenomenology of Perception’ introduces the concept of the human existence and its relationship with the environment. From his perspective, the experience a being has with its environment is entirely dependent on the ability it has to perceive that which is around it (Merleau-Ponty, 1962).

Phenomenology is defined by Edmund Husserl as ‘a systematic investigation of consciousness and its objects’ (Nesbitt, 1996).

Jorge Otero-Pailos believes that phenomenology in architecture was a large factor in the development of the early stages of post-modern architecture, however it has become a redundant approach to design due to the specificity of the situation whereby it was implemented into architectural thought in the beginning of the 1970’s (Otero-Pailos, 2010). However, Bryan E. Norwood argues that architectural phenomenology ‘can still have a productive future’ (Norwood 2011).

Whether the influence of behavior is what specifically motivates the design process or is a post process consequence there are solid links between the individual human behavior and social interaction with the built environment. Where there has been a determined effort to ‘design’ a behavioral pattern this is likely to be related to the strategic movement of people through spaces or to provide a pre¬conceptualised experience. Confirming this, Hillier et al (1987, p233) believes that, ‘spatial lay out in itself generates a field of probabilistic encounter, with structural properties of the layout.’ In addition, it is implied that the design of an environment suggests some form of social activity including both the intended interaction and also the random that the layout generates accidentally. The arrangement of the environment which includes everything from the doors, room shapes and sizes, hallways to ceiling heights and the position of access all serve to program the social interaction (Ittelson, 1974).

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Architectural Design and Behaviour

To evaluate the potential capabilities of design means to examine existing research and therefore evidence about what design has already succeeded in historically. The concept of design in architecture is persistently advertised as having the prospective to improve behaviour (Marmot, 2002). Architects and designers now have the responsibility to create new offices that will improve company productivity (Hameed, Amina and Amjab, 2009, p. 10).

The layout and arrangement of variables have individual purposes within the strategies used. Putting certain elements in specific places will have certain effects on the behavioural patterns. For example, staggered pedestrian crossings are preferred to ones in a horizontal to the road position because it forces the pedestrians to face the oncoming traffic – sub-consciously they are able to become more aware of the dangers and reduce the risk of an accident (Department of Transport, 1995, p. 12).

When taking into consideration Ebenezer Howards ‘To-Morrow: A Peaceful Path To Real Reform’ (1898), Alison and Peter Smithson’s vision of modern housing as ‘streets in the sky’ it is apparent that there has been an enduring attitude that the way people live their lives and function in society is clearly linked to the designed environments or architectures in which they inhabit. (A, P Smithson, 1972)

A significant amount of variables are used in an attempt to draw the attention of the viewer in some way, sometimes appealing to various and different human senses, whether it be for the sake of health and safety or for commercial reasons. Others offer a service that seems inviting but is designed to make people less comfortable than they would like. Rumble strips are used on the road to remind road users that they need to slow their speed (Harvey, 1992) whilst fast-food restaurants such as McDonalds or Burger King use poor seating, ‘fast food restaurants use hard chairs that quickly grow uncomfortable to do an activity so that customers rapidly turn over’ (Katyal, 2002, p.1043). Both these rely on the human sense of touch making the person uncomfortable for a result of attention or a desire to move on. The medical industry has been at the forefront of encouraging and employing this form of design in an attempt to

impact patients in positive ways, particular design techniques have been found to have varying effects on the behavioural patterns of visitors and patients alike.

Sommers ‘Study of Personal Space’ led to the design of a waiting room in a Saskatchewan hospital, by simply moving the tables and chairs to the centre of the room and covering them with flowers and magazines there was seen to be an increase in the amount of conversation between the residents compared to the previous layout of sofas around the perimeter of the room.

Correspondingly, research was carried out comparing the experience of orthopedic and psychiatric patients in an older and newer ward. It was found that those in the newer gave complimentary reviews stating that the newly designed ward aided their recovery and consequently had shorter recorded stays (Regnier, 1994).

Husserl goes on to explain that phenomenology can be used to deconstruct or deformalise basic architectural language and the way in which it is used. For example, the word ‘place’ has a basic definition but it could be used out of its usual parameters, ‘a place is therefore a qualitative ‘total’ phenomenon, which cannot reduce to any of its properties, such as spatial relationships, without losing its concrete nature out of ‘sight’ (Nesbitt, 1996).Merleau-Ponty’s phenomenology is considered the main influencing factor on Holl’s design process. Holl actively engages with phenomenology explaining in his words that he translates the philosophical concepts into architecture (Holl, 2000)

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Holl is responsible for following a phenomenological framework in his design that incorporates an understanding of the necessity for an experiential quality of space, form and detail in his architecture. When considering his design approach it is clear that any potential experiential factor will play important roles in shaping the design and carries through to the final realisation of the architecture. Although there are many architects who have similar approaches to design, it is Holl’s site research and analysis that is the most personalised and engaging process.

Although IKEA is not seen to be actively engaging with Merleau-Ponty’s philosophy it can be argued that it is inadvertently following a cognitive framework similar to that of Holl’s. IKEA is a large-scale example of behavioural designing for influence – ultimately designing for commercial success. Although all IKEA stores are essentially warehouses, the design begins once you enter the doors. Master plans are constructed channeling shoppers around in a particular way, for a particular reason. Although it could be argued that IKEA heavily rely on a visceral reaction – the desire for the product before asking the cost – the functional quality of their design, which is reflected in their products, with the intention of behaviour modification.

I will be arguing that influencing behaviour and emotions is, majoritivley, a beneficial part of design work within architecture. However, as there are both positive and negative ways of behavioural influence I will be comparing and contrasting the critical case studies and investigating them individually, arguing that there are forms of this design ‘method’ that are not necessarily positive and/or beneficial to the individual experiencing the architecture.

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In some aspects of design there are more significant similarities between two of the case studies than all three. For example, the relationship between Steven Holl and Will Alsop’s design process is clear at the very beginning, the interpretation of the site in a visceral manner, before any design has even begun.

In an ‘ArchNewsNow’ Interview Alsop explains that he doesn’t like having a process, “I try to be as neutral as possible in the beginning of every project to start, with no specific idea. And sometimes, I finish with no idea,” (Alsop, 2010) He approaches design with no preconceptions or pre determined decisions - everything must be intuitive. Although differing from Holl in the sense that Alsop refuses the idea of a process or basing work on a theory or philosophy, Holl’s approach to architectural design is to interpret and let the site and surroundings inspire him and help inform his design.

‘For me the excitement in architecture revolves around the idea and the phenomenon of the experience of that idea’ (Holl, 2010).An example of Holl’s approach to design is the Stretto House in the U.S. it was described that when Holl visited the site, he found himself in a landscape which was characterised by a river which fed three ponds, each contained within small concrete walls, over which the water flowed, making a constant murmuring sound. “Holl asked if he knew any musical composition that was structured in parallel to the water that flowed on the site. A student told him about the “Stretto” form where one musical phrase overlapped another” (Husanna, 2006). Holl then took six months to come up with an adequate sketch for his visualisation of the house, which was structured on the four-part musical composition. “The challenge came in maintaining and materialising in the construction of the house as an idea of an aqueous space” (Husanna, 2006).Holl allows himself to learn from the site, to discovering the defining factors of the site, in this case the murmuring streams. Holl wanted the house to reflect the environment it situates - the site informs the design. It took six months to finish a sketch of the house, clearly he was not willing to compromise on the design as the information provided to him by the site was clear and the process requires him to work with it, not against it.

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Similarly, whilst Holl works with the context acting as the primary informant for his work Alsop explains that, “in architecture, the context is very important. A field of poppies or the beautiful colors of tree leaves in the fall. These colors are spectacular! You almost need sunglasses” (Alsop, 2010).

Alsop incorporates colour heavily in his design although he explains that the colours are not to signify anything, the purpose of the colours is to make people feel a certain way. “Every time I make a new proposal, I have to defend my use of them. But look at nature. God gave us so many colors!” (Alsop 2010). In addition, to the visceral importance of colour, Alsop believes that you cannot know how or why to design a building unless you know who it is going to inhabit, what they will be doing and why they are doing that. The brief for the Ontario College of Art and Design in Toronto was very specific clearly outlining the schedule of accommodation for the whole building. Alsop explained that he found it boring and when he asked the 17 people he was being interviewed by if they really felt that the brief was exactly what they wanted, the only person to retort was the man who wrote it. Alsop went on to explain, “I want to work with the students, the neighborhood, and the staff, and we’ll figure out what you want” (Belogolovsky, 2010).

Alsop finds it necessary to not only consider the context of the site in design but also the context of people that are going to be using the building.

He explains that discovery is more important, to him, than design and the idea of incorporating theviews of people in his design came from Holland, everyone has an opinion and voices it and it is then up to the architect to make the final decision.

Behavioural Designers

IKEA shares similarities with Alsop and Holl in that the experience the consumer walking around their stores has is important when considering their design. However, the differences begin to show when considering that Holl and Alsop are designing for the positive and pleasurable experience of their architecture, contrastingly IKEA are using the design to their advantage commercially and are designing to influence and control the shoppers in an attempt to maximise turnover. In the same way that Alsop incorporates colour into his architecture, so does IKEA, however, not in an attempt to lighten the mood or to brighten up a space, more in an attempt to draw the consumers eye to a product or to the next room set where their ideal lifestyle will be advertise to them in a clean, professional and most importantly real setup before, having to descend into a dark, bleak warehouse to collect their purchases.

Ultimately the end goal for IKEA rather than Holl and Alsop is very different – although they start with, what seems a similar approach to the design of an environment, the result of the design is for a very different purpose.

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Fig. 18

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Trapped in a Maze

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There are certainly similarities to draw between the concepts of designing for pleasure and designing for purpose. It is apparent from Holl and Alsop’s explanations of their design processes that it is very much a case of interpreting and evaluating the existing characteristics of the site – then reinterpreting it into a design which will have the qualities they believe are required for a specific environment. In comparison, the layout strategies and tactics of commercial retailers like IKEA are not so much interpreting the environment where they are located geographically but are much more focused on the interpretation of the human behavioural system.Stewart Brand would argue, “All buildings are predictions. All predictions are wrong” (Brand, 1994). Brand compares ‘low road’ architecture, which is designed to permit adaptation by the user with ‘high road’ architecture, like IKEAs, which plans to define the purpose and the experience during the design process with the occupant’s lifestyles in mind.The design process of an IKEA store shares similarities with both Holl and Alsop’s work. For example, in its floor plan and product designs, initially it seems that IKEA is trying to design whilst taking into consideration the experiential qualities of their shops. However, when examining the results that IKEA are hoping to get from their designs it becomes more clear that the IKEA shop floor layout is designed to promote spontaneous purchases and increase the profitability of the store; they take advantage of the shopper’s sub-conscious and essentially influence the decision-making of the people walking through the store.

There are a variety of ways in which designers can influence behaviour; strategies and tactics can openly, or consciously, be used in an attempt to increase productivity from workers – an example would be the communal recreational areas in IKEA which try to achieve an increase in co-worker involvement, interaction and knowledge sharing (3XN, 2010).

Alternatively, on the other end of the scale are sub-conscious techniques; these are likely to be commercially driven.

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Shearing and Stenning (1984) describe how Disney World uses ‘control strategies in both environmental features and structural relations’. Whilst Poundstone (2010) explains that a study carried out by Sorensen Associates use tracking tags on trolleys to determine that an anti-clockwise route through a shopping center is more profitable by $2.00 on average – conclusively they position their entrances on the right hand side of the store in an effort to encourage the anticlockwise movement.

Alan Penn, a professor at UCL, believes that the reason 60% of the products passing through the till are impulse buys is down to the layout of shop floor. Penn explains in an article for The Guardian that walking through an IKEA is comparatively the same as walking the length and breadth of the store before starting your shopping, he continues saying that the confusing layout of the shop floor is designed to disorientate and distract the shopper – forcing them to submit to the pre-planned path ‘full of subliminal messages and well placed, unfeasibly cheap products’.“I only went in for some bedding… I came out with two dozen tea lights, six wine glasses and three piece suite” (Hill, 2011)Penn goes on to explain that he has little doubt that the floor plan design which takes shoppers past ever room setting in the showroom, before then being taken downstairs and led past every product in the ‘marketplace’ is intentional. “The sinuous route that results in a disorientation and confusion, leads shoppers to put items in their trolleys when they first see them because they cannot be certain that they would find them again” (Penn, 2011).When considering the helpful arrows and signs guiding shoppers around the store he explains that IKEA have created a confusing environment which is very hard to navigate - the only way to make your way around the store successfully is to concede and follow the set route, being forced to look at yet more products, because it is too difficult to make your own route, let alone a faster one. (Penn, 2011)

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The design and purpose of IKEAs floor plans is reflected in their product design. IKEA cunningly market their flat packs as a way to help prevent environmental damage (despite being the third largest consumer of wood in the world (Grad, 2011) and save the consumer costs as less packaging is used. It would seem IKEA are trying to make functional and affordable furniture and products for the masses at affordable prices. However, in reality it takes IKEA half a decade to design a kitchen, not to meet strict quality control but because a product has to be continually refined until the production cost is low enough that it is considered acceptable, they find it acceptable to reduce the quality of the product to maximise profit (Tozer, 2011 and Hansegard, 2013).

It can be argued that as well as controlling or designing the behaviour of the shoppers in their stores; design is such a powerful tool that IKEA can design the activities of consumers after they have bought a product.

Stanton and Baber (1998, p. 1-3) explain that in a design of a product is the design of the activity involving that product – the behaviour of the consumer is a result of the initial product design. This suggests that the concept of influencing behaviour can have consequences within a wider environment whether it is a large-scale shop or a sports centre.

Marketing is an important factor of IKEAs commercial success, adverts are shown to depict happy families enjoying their idealistic lives surrounded by IKEA products. The marketing within the company is very strong also, promoting a ‘family’ ethos within the store promoting ‘togetherness, cost-consciousness, respect and simplicity’ on their website. Despite admitting they sold furniture manufactured at forced labour camps (The New York Times, 2012) their website is also seen to show funds for long term commitments in Pakistan and India whilst there is a dedicated section for ‘help in emergencies’ explaining that IKEA want to support humanitarian relief efforts.

For such a large business such as IKEA marketing is essential in keeping the public on their side and to distract them away from the more deceitful side of such a large company. Although more relevant to the business morals and ethics these sort of factors play an important role in human behavioural influence, after all, a bad reputation means less customers which means less turnover.

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Fight Club

The film ‘Fight Club’ incorporates an IKEA catalogue and products to assist in establishing the films cynical take on consumer culture and the apathetic life that it seems to construct. For the narrator of the film, having no family or friends, IKEA furniture seems to take the place of these things. At the end of a scene showing his apartment filling with IKEA products he explains, ‘I’d flip through catalogues and wonder, ‘what kind of dining set defines me as a person?”. Through the course of the film the narrators loyalty and identification with the corporate brands in his life are replaced with his loyalty to Fight Club. The deus ex machina of the film reveals that the second character in the film ‘Tyler Durden’ is in fact an alter ego of the narrator. The film explains that Tyler is everything the narrator wants to be stating, ‘you are not your latte. You are not the car you drive’. Although, like IKEA, Durden is the biggest hypocrite of all as a personification of a brand identity with Fight Clubs goal of terrorism which requires a following of loyal members and the elimination of every trait that would be considered individual. The narrator realises this and explains that he thinks Durden is just ‘setting up franchises’ which are not built to sustain or fulfill anything in the narrators life. Fight Club is just another brand, similar to IKEA, which is contributing to the narrator’s false sense of completeness.

The film is commenting on the way society is driven to buy aesthetically pleasing products that they have convinced themselves they don’t just want but need. Depicting a hollow man that defines himself by the IKEA furniture that he buys because he has nothing else in his life and he must fill that void with something. Although this is focusing more on the behaviour of society as a whole it still relates to the fact that IKEA only need to set traps of suggestion and guide the consumer to their products. By entering the store the consumer is already half way there. The consumer enters the store with the expectation that he is going to buy something but finds himself surprised that there are so many useful things that he didn’t realise he needed.

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Phenomenology in Design

It is clear that Steven Holl’s architecture is influenced significantly by the philosophical principles of phenomenology. The state of mind in which Holl designs, whilst considering the concepts of phenomenology, reveals a process of design with a theoretically based argument which leads to the realisation of an architecture that combines the dimensions of experiential (experience of phenomena), essentially the intellectual properties of feelings in relation to the human state of existence, with conventional architectural properties. Holl searches for the experience of architecture, the philosophical, emotive and even poetic aspects, he is attempting to synthesize the conscious intellect with the subconscious emotion.

‘For me the excitement in architecture revolves around the idea and the phenomenon of the experience of that idea’ (Holl, 2010).

The Stretto House in Texas is a perfect example of Holl’s approach to design within a phenomenological framework. By definition this approach is sure to focus on the potential experiential qualities of the architecture, foremost, in this case, light and space. Julie Iovine wrote an article for New York Times Magazine in 1994 that described the Stretto House as embracing minimalism that is open to the imagination.

Holl’s inspiration was not that of historical models or practical demands but the score ‘Music for Strings, Percussion and Celeste’ by Hungarian composer Béla Bartók. ‘The result is a symphony of interconnected masonry and limestone pavilions whose arched roofs rise like musical crescendos, then dip with the undulating landscape’ (Iovine, 2994).

A composition, such as Bartóks generally follows existing guidelines as a structural framework to ensure a systematic layout. Bartóks score is arranged form four movements, so, in response, Holl arranged his sketches into four sections. Then, as with musical arrangements, the design begins to take form in the shape of a primary system, before the hierarchical layering of secondary, and tertiary systems are decided.

As well as sketches, Holl uses watercolours to capture the experiences he felt or imagined when visiting the site before teasing out the idea for an architecture.

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The materials Holl uses are traditional reflecting the original melodies present in Bartóks score (Merina, 2006). Each of the four sections are split into two units, the first is constructed of heavy masonry, a reference towards the concrete dams on the site, whilst the second is made up of curved, lightweight metal, a reference towards the flowing water of the rivers.

The form of the Stretto score enables Holl to arrange the spaces so that each part is integral to the functionality of the house, without one, the next or previous is compromised. The overlapping spaces make reference to the overlapping Stretto form.

Holl’s approach is completely selfish to his own discovery of the site and his own experiences, the results are an architecture that has clearly been formed through a cognitive framework of thought and ideas which integrate with the site and become part of the landscape. Holl designs as though he wants a visitor to the house to follow his thought path and to experience what he has, he wants the occupant to feel as though the architecture reflects the landscape so it can be experienced and enjoyed. This is a highly visceral level of design, functionality in terms of archetypal living is not considered a primary issue when compared to the functionality of the architecture as a sculpture, a piece of art that is a building and can be lived in. The experiential qualities are at the forefront of the design and will be considered the most important part of the design and that which the level of ‘success’ can be measured upon.

Uncontrollable Discovery

Similarly to Holl, painting is an integral part of the design for Alsop. He explains that the use of paint and canvas as opposed to pencil or computer help him to discover ideas and shapes that can become forms. Although it would seem that function and construction are not the primary concern of this designer due to modern technology this is less of an issue as the capability of construction decreases the traditional relationship between design and the concern of constructural possibilities.

Although his approach to design might be seen as more suited to an artist than an architect he explains that ‘The process of painting takes me away from myself. There are different ways for achieving that. Some people fiddle with pieces of paper; others play with small study models. In my case, it happens to be painting’ (Alsop, 2010). Alsop believes that the majority of buildings perfectly embody the boredom from which society needs to be liberated. Going on to describe the way he doesn’t like to think his way out of a solution and that the idea of waiting for inspiration is a futile practice for him. He doesn’t know what he wants until he finds it.

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Models of Design Hierarchy

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IKEA, as a large company, has a hierarchy considerably larger than Alsop and Holl’s practices as well as a significantly different structure. As IKEA is not solely focused on the design on their stores that small section of the company only makes up a small part of the hierarchical structure. The diagram on the right page considers that the consumer, the product and the store are the three major factors so shows the inter-departments that are necessary for these to exist and function. The most comparable part in the IKEA structure is the ‘interior design and communication’ which is responsible for the design of each individual ‘room set’ within the store including the walkway layout and specific design characteristics such as colour and materials as well as the IKEA products included. The IKEA structure is a large-scale operation and is identical in each IKEA store, with its own of each department – producing similar work and results. IKEA stores are run as large machines that have a very clear goal, which, with the promotion of some idealistic company values, they achieve in this efficient and proven hierarchy.

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As Steven Holl’s practice does not have a hierarchy significant to the discussion the diagram instead shows the design process and hierarchy of events. The information included in the diagram is particularly relevant to the Stretto House whose design process is clearly described. The diagram to the right illustrates the process explained in the Ecological and Notational parts of this dissertation. The process from interpretation of the site to the design informed by this site information and so on. This process is what makes Holl and Alsop, for he has a similar process, so individual and significant to the discussion at hand. The most important part of this process is the site investigation and interpretation because, in Holl’s world, this is where he receives his design information. The client’s brief at the start of the process is, of course, important but this is taken into consideration with the aforementioned site investigation. The overall purpose of the design is to reflect the site it is situated in and to meet the client’s requirements.

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Similarly to Holl, Alsop’s practice does not have a significantly unique business structure but does have a notable design hierarchy. In the same way in which the site informs Holl, the consumer is an important part of Alsop’s design, the client may have decided what they want within their building, but does this really meet the needs of the consumer, who the building is being built for in the first place. The key parts of the design hierarchy for Alsop are included in the diagram to right which shows the stage in which Alsop discovers, as well as the client brief and site information, the consumer opinion that is invaluable when designing for a specific audience. In addition, the painting stage where, as explained previously, Alsop lets a creative process take over, forming shapes and spaces which he then uses to put together a building. Again, the client’s brief is considered, then further information found that Alsop considers vital to the process of design, the opinion of the real consumer and the real purpose.

* In the case of Cardiff Bay Visitors Centre

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Fig. 25

45

Photograph Diary

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Fig.1a

IKEA entrancewith clear navigationinformation

Fig. 2a

Promotionalposters andinformationshowing offers

Fig.3a

Sale productsand eye-catchingsigns beforeentering the store

Fig.4a

Sale signs andnavigationinformationabove roomsetsand productstands

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Fig.5a An instore map of the shop floor showing the designed route for shoppers

Fig.6a Arrows on the floor mark the direction IKEA wants shoppers to walk, guiding them.

Fig.7a A shelving area that explains the way customers can customise their own furniture by following the stages set out by the IKEA product design team.

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Fig.8a IKEA are always updating their shop floor with new roomsets displaying the latest products

Fig.9a Every product in the IKEA roomsets is for sale and shows a label with a price and info

Fig.10a An image showing and IKEA promotional wall explaining how their extensive range of products andtheir delivery service is perfect for any business. Targeting as many different markets as they can.

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Fig.11a An image showing the IKEA creche where shoppers can leave their children supervised, located at the entrance to the store. A sign to the right promotes IKEA values.

Fig.12a An image showing the picking and delivery service IKEA provides, making it easier for the customer to find and buy they products.

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Fig.13a An image showing the vast IKEA warehouse which houses all the products for shoppers to collect before heading towards the till.

Fig.14a

Arrows andpromotionalsigns drawthe customerseye and guide them to either buy more products or pay for the ones they have already chosen.

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From researching and exploring the ways Alsop, Holl and IKEA design – their processes, their reasons and their outcomes and how the results all vary is the key point of discussion in this dissertation. The way three different approaches that do share similarities lead to different outcomes.

Holl and Alsop are designing for experience, arguable that means they are also designing for influence as they are attempting to design something that affects the human senses when witnessed, however, the word experience is better used to describe what Alsop and Holl are trying to achieve with their architecture. In this argument they can be sided together opposing IKEA.

Holl’s interpretation and discovery when he explores a site, pre-design, is what makes the architecture and the design of it such an involved process. Holl is trying to create architecture, in this case the Stretto House, which the client can live in and feel included in the landscape the house sits on. The designing goes beyond building a large, comfortable house to building something with character, with a narrative, in this case the site has become the archetypal factor of the building.

Similarly, Alsop designs in such a way that he covers what he sees as the important aspects, which will affect his attitude when approaching a project. He is not afraid to betray the clients brief and find out what the people he is designing the building for really want, what they need in this building, not what they are told they need. When Alsop begins to paint he is letting design take over from him, the painting happens almost by accident which then leads on to inform his design.

There are so many positive and exiting processes at work when examining Holl and Alsop, things are happening that are interesting and creatively stimulating for the architect even in the preliminary design stage, the design reflects this when completed and the visitors or the client are, without choice, able to perceive the architecture and react to it, understand it and enjoy it as more than a building with a standard purpose.

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It is clear, and is the crux of this argument, that IKEA has a very different outcome in mind. IKEA is designing for control, their ideal situation is to move customers around the store as they please making sure they pass through every section of products before making several impulse purchases and retiring to the restaurant post-shop, tired from all the walking. Although, as discussed previously, IKEA does have an approach to design that is concerned with the way it affects the customer in the store. However, they are using this as a mechanism to control the consumer, to influence their mind negatively and put them into situations where they are mindlessly following the cleverly implemented walkways and reading the interesting signs and product descriptions. IKEA are designing to make money, they are a large organisation whose primary goal is to increase profit. The consumers are the sheep, which only have to be guided past the products before they begin to buy them. As with the photo diary in the instructional part of the dissertation, the IKEA influence begins when a catalogue is delivered through your door, these show lifestyle images and give you something to aspire to, before you have even entered the store. In addition, IKEA marketing promotes useful products you didn’t know you needed, explaining the reasons why you need them whilst continually promoting the stores, ‘values’ which after research previously mentioned primarily exists to veil the reality of such a large companies impact on the world.

It is clear that the work, the approach, that Alsop and Holl have individually are positive on the architectural and design community, they promote good design values and are designing architecture for the correct reasons – so they fulfill their purpose as a building but also go a step further, breaching the borders of art and sculpture, by becoming things that are experienced and are designing in an informed way to be understood as something that has a narrative and has influential factors in the design that are not there to cunningly guide you in a certain way or to fulfill an ulterior-motive.

On the other hand, IKEA are undertaking the type of design that represents IKEA as what it is not, creating a brand that is not accurate to the truth, whilst creating products that consumers do not need but are persuaded they do. Selling lifestyles and solutions to problems that do not exist. IKEA has a place as a furniture store but the efforts they go to, to control their consumers is morally questionable.

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Fig. 26

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The discussion raised in the abstract and introduction of this dissertation was can and how do various approaches to design influence, control or create an experience. Furthermore, how this affects architectural practice as it exists today and whether this is the route architectural designers should be taking.

Throughout the sections the dissertations has sought to investigate the varying approaches to design, the philosophical theories that influence particular architects views, how this affects their work and their motives for designing is such a way.

It is important to consider how different approaches to design can impact on the future design and construction of architecture. How a designers attitude and interpretation of a project can help shape a movement of architecture that is focused on provoking a more emotive response. It is important to remember that although some attitudes or ‘guidelines’ of design are provided by interpretations philosophical theories or influenced by terms used to describe ways of designing, this is not necessarily what is going to be a driving force for young architects. The existing prominent architects today, that are following their own shaped beliefs of design, are designing and building the architectures potential architects and designers are able to experience, to understand the thought process and to make an informed decision on whether that is process they are interested in learning more about, perhaps it will influence their design.

One side of the argument is architects like Holl and Alsop whose design processes are well documented and they, themselves, are often seen to be talking about these things quite openly and honestly. However, the other side is the design that is not spoken about so clearly, the other side to the control, influence and experience discussion. IKEAs designs, more focused on the control aspect should exist and needs to exist in order to be researched and understood so that designers can base their personal design decisions on something that is two sided, with arguably a positive and a negative, experience vs. control.

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Fig. 27

Arguably, within a practice there is a need for some sort of informed design methodology, in a Building Futures article ‘The Future for Architects’ an interviewed director explains that a practice could be considered a brand, ‘dictating an assumption of what you will do, how you will do it and your behaviour’ (Jamieson, Building Futures, p. 12). IKEA clearly have a method to their design with clear commercial intent, but they are in a different market to architects. Perhaps, the methodology of Alsop and Holl is merely a requirement to gain some sort of individuality within a saturated discipline. Possible, but in my opinion Holl and Alsop have not approached design with an attitude of creating a false brand with idealistic values to draw in interest and work. It would be foolish to consider that Holl and Alsop have not considered that for their practices to be successful they need to have qualities that are interesting and more significantly ‘needed’ or ‘wanted’ by a client. However, their level of success is not linked directly to their level of quirky, interesting and individual design approaches but more so to their ability to use these chosen methodologies and techniques to design buildings that are received with great popularity and show levels of design that only they could fulfill by design as they believe and staying loyal to their true values as a designer.

IKEA are an example of company that, due to its significant size, is burdened by the responsibility of a large organisation that has the ability to make internal decisions that affect the lives of many people, whether it is the staff within stores or the people working in the locations they source their wood from. Because of this IKEA, very enthusiastically, promotes, what it calls, its values. IKEAs marketing department has had to create a brand centered on improving peoples lives,

fulfilling their ambitions and providing products that enhance the lives of millions (IKEA, 1999 - 2010). The design of their floor plan in stores promotes these values with signs and posters throughout the store whilst their real design motive is controlling and influencing shoppers. In contrast to the methodologies, or what could be considered ‘brand’, of Holl and Alsop, IKEA has had to create a falsified brand which hides the true nature of running a huge organisation which inevitably uses extreme amounts of resources and due to the need to chase profit does undervalue members of or around the company (Harness, 2011).

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Conclusively, after exploring the methodologies of Alsop Holl and IKEA and considering how examining their work can influence or impact on future architectural practices, the notable and individual approaches of Holl and Alsop are something which design, not just architectural, should be aware of and should take into consideration the effect that these design approaches have on the design and the ‘consumers’ perception of the creation. The two specific approaches should not necessarily be followed but should be understood so as to encourage other designers to discover the way they believe design should be undertaken.

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Fig. 28

Fig. 29

REFERENCE LIST

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Hameed, Amina, and Shehla Amjad. “ Impact of Office Design on Employees’ Productivity: A Case study of Banking Organizations of Abbottabad, Pakistan.” Journal of Public Affairs, Administration and Management. 3.1 (2009): 1‐13. Web. 12 Nov. 2011. <http://www.scientificjournals.org/journals2009/articles/1460.pdf>.

Regnier, V. “Assisted living housing for the elderly.” New York. Van Nostrand Reinhold, 1994.

Anthes, E. 2009, How Room Designs Affect Your Work and Mood. Avaliable at: http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=building-around-the-mind

Edelstein L, Florence Y, 1989. Pataphysics Magazine Interview with Neil Denari.Available at: http://www.yanniflorence.net/pataphysicsmagazine/denari_inter

Balters, S. AD Classics: Robin Hood Gardens / Alison and Peter Smithson Avaliable at http://www.archdaily.com/150629/

Brand, S. (1994) How Buildings Learn. Viking.

Department for Transport (1995) The Design of Pedestrian Crossings. Local Transport Note 2/95. Available at: http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/+/http://www.dft.gov.uk/pgr/roads/tpm/ltnotes/th

3XN (2010) Mind Your Behaviour: How Architecture Shapes Behaviour. 3XN.

Marmot, A. 2002. P.252. Architectural Determinism – Does design change behaviour?

Donald A. Schon. 1983. P.77. The Reflective Practitioner

Danto, Arthur C., 2008, ‘House in Use’, ‘ArtForum’, April 2008

Frampton, Kenneth., 1989, “On the Architecture of Steven Holl,” introduction in Anchoring, New York: Princeton Architectural Press, p.6.

Frampton, Kenneth., 2002, Steven Holl Architect, Milano: Electa Architecture, p.11.

Hansegard, J. 2013, The Long, Slow Process of IKEA Design. Available at http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702303376904579134743769761378

Harvey, T. (1992) A Review of Current Traffic Calming Techniques. PRIMAVERA Project. Available at http://www.its.leeds.ac.uk/projects/primavera/p_calming.html

Hill, R. 2011, ‘I only went in for some bedding... Available at ‘http://www.theguardian.com/science/blog/2011/jan/31/shop-design-layout-impulse¬purchasing

Hillier, W.R.G., Hanson, J. and Peponis, J. (1987) ‘Syntactic Analysis of Settlements’. Architecture et Comportement / Architecture and Behaviour, 3 (3), p. 217-231.

Holl, S., 2003, Idea and Phenomena: The Summary of Steven Holl’s Architecture, vol.17,p.44.

Holl, S., 2000, Parallax, New York: Princeton Architectural Press, p. 302.

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Holl, S., 1998, Intertwining, New York: Princeton Architectural Press, p.15.

Holl, S., 1993, “Pre-theoretical Ground” in The Steven Holl Catalogue, Zurich: Artemis and Arcen Reve Centre d’Architecture, p.21.

Holl, S., 1993, “Dwellings,” The Steven Holl Catalogue, Zurich: Artemis and arc en reve centre d’architecture, p.43.

Holl, S., 1989, Anchoring: Selected Projects-1975-1988, New York: Princeton Architectural Press, p. 10

Husanna, S., 2006, Stories of Houses. Avaliable at: http://storiesofhouses.blogspot.co.uk/2006/04/stretto-house-in-dallas-by-steven-holl.html

Katyal, N.K. (2002) ‘Architecture As Crime Control’. Yale Law Journal 111, p. 1039

Kimmelman, M. (2013) ‘A Sports Complex Shows Its Brains and Brawn’ Available at http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/06/arts/design/columbia-universitys-new-campbell-sports-complex-in-inwood.html?adxnnl=1&adxnnlx=1382006456-2vARZyA7+mP95NQHzsDJHg

Marmot, A. (2002) ‘Architectural determinism. Does design change behaviour?’ British Journal of General Practice, 52 (476), p. 252–253

Mares, Edwin., 2011, “Propositional Functions”, The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, accessed on 5-4-2013

Merleau-Ponty, Maurice., 1968, “The Intertwining-the Chiasm” in The Visible and the Invisible, Claude Lefort and Alphonso Lingis, translated by Hazel E. Barnes (eds.), USA: Northwestern University Press, p. 139.

Merleau-Ponty, Maurice., 1962, Phenomenology of Perception, London: Routledge and Kegan, p.60, p.229.

Nesbitt, Kate., 1996, Theorizing a New Agenda for Architecture an Anthology of Architectural Theory 1965 – 1995, New York: Princeton Architectural Press, p. 412.

Poundstone, W. (2010) Priceless: The Myth of Fair Value (and How to Take Advantage of It). Hill & Wang.

Stanton, N. A., & Baber, C. (1998). `Designing for consumers: editorial.’ Applied Ergonomics, 29(1), 1,3.

Sommer, R. (1969) Personal Space: The Behavioral Basis of Design. Prentice-Hall.

Sommer, R. (1974) Tight Spaces: Hard Architecture and How to Humanize it. Prentice-Hall.

Sözlüğü, Felsefe., 2002, ‘The Dictionary of Philosophy’, Cevizci A, 2002, p.598.

Tozer, J. 2011, Why shoppers find it so hard to escape from Ikea: Flatpack furniture stores are ‘designed just like a maze’ Available at http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article¬1349831/Ikea-design-stores-mazes-stop-shoppers-leaving-end-buying-more.html

Zaera Polo, Alejandro., 2003, “A Conversation with Steven Holl,” in El croquis, revised and extended edition (first published in El croquis issue 78 January/February 1996), Mexico: Arquitectos Publishing, pp. 16.

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Figures and Images

Fig 1 Stories of Houses, one part in an image series of the Stretto House development, Available at http://photos1.blogger.com/hello/133/6247/1024/1.2.jpg




Fig 5 Stories of Houses, one part in an image series of the Stretto House development, Available at http://photos1.blogger.com/img/133/6247/1024/e.jpg


Fig 7 Martinrp Flickr, Image of Cardiff Visitors Centre, Available at http://www.flickr.com/photos/martinrp/2050215487/

Fig 8 Martinrp Flickr, Image of Cardiff Visitors Centre, Available at http://www.flickr.com/photos/martinrp/2051005148/

Fig 9 AllWorldWide, Image of Cardiff Visitors Centre, Available at http://www.all-worldwide.com/media/21960/0241-002-l.jpg

Fig 10 AllWorldWide, Image of Cardiff Visitors Centre, Available at http://api.ning.com/files/KRtc*-yXVnE1LVy1cuf1SletziWPZyZ0UrX78mE3MbMwoH9gdvEJl1HZQCu96sK8tKXwjmL970YbdntC75jqUz-hPPlGiGE/Alsop1.jpg?width=721

Fig 11 Home Designing, An IKEA Catalogue Page, Available at http://homedesigning.zippykid.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/2014-ikea-small-space-living.jpg

Fig 12 Living Small Tasmania, Merleau-Pontys book ‘Phenomenology of Perception’, Available at http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_AakjGT-n_oY/S0NJyY9Y2kI/AAAAAAAAAAs/w9jT2C7F-P4/s1600-h/6a00c2251ded1f8e1d00c22520b6f1549d-500pi.jpg

Fig 13 The Lincolnite, McDonalds Seating, Available at http://www.thelincolnite.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/mcdonalds_newlook.jpg

Fig 14 Qurixa, A model of the Stretto House, Available at http://qurixa.files.wordpress.com/2011/01/stretto-house-model-scaled1000.png

Fig 15 Critic Under the Influence, Alison and Peter Smithson, Hunstanton Secondary School, 1949 – ‘53, Available at http://criticundertheinfluence.files.wordpress.com/2011/11/06_abrahamson.jpg

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Fig 16 Tomfreudenthaldesign, an east elevation of the Stretto House, Available at http://www.tomfreudenthaldesign.com/images/East_Elevation.jpg

Fig 17 TrulyDeeply, an image from an IKEA promotional video, Available at http://www.trulydeeply.com.au/madly/files/2011/04/IkeaHeader.jpg

Fig 18 The SchoolofLife, an image of a Will Alsop Painting, Available at, http://www.trulydeeply.com.au/madly/files/2011/04/IkeaHeader.jpg

Fig 19 SkyScraperCity, an image of the Ontario School of Art and Design, Available at http://static.flickr.com/24/63978800_50c25098c0_o.jpg

Fig 20 Dantegodinho blog, an image of an IKEA floor map, Available at http://blogs.ubc.ca/dantegodinho/files/2012/10/ikea-maze1.jpg

Fig 21 PinkTentacle, an image of an IKEA marketing project, Avilable at http://www.pinktentacle.com/images/ikea_2.jpg

Fig 22 Edwardlorn, a ‘Fight Club’ poster, Available at http://edwardlorn.files.wordpress.com/2013/11/fight-club-poster.jpg

Fig 23 Design Boom, Steven Holl watercolour, Available at http://www.designboom.com/cms/images/erica/---dundee-holl/holl09.jpg

Fig 24 OxfordWesternMusic, an extract from Bartoks Musics for Strings, Available at http://www.oxfordwesternmusic.com/doc/Volume4/figures/inline-graphic007035.gif

Fig 25 e-architect, an image of Will Alsop with one of his wall paintings, Available at http://www.e-architect.co.uk/images/jpgs/exhibitions/will_alsop_painting_m110111.jpg

Fig 26 TravelLadywithaBaby, an interior image of an IKEA store, Available at http://www.travelladywithbaby.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/ikea10.jpg

Fig 27 VTourist, an image from the interior of the Cardiff Visitors Centre, Available at http://cdn3.vtourist.com/4/4644353-The_Tube_Cardiff.jpg

Fig 28 IKEA, an image of IKEA value badges, Available at http://www.ikea.com/ms/en_CA/img/the_ikea_story/working_at_ikea_buttons_v3.jpg

Fig 29 IKEA, an image of an IKEA values lifestyle, Available at http://supplierportal.ikea.com/doingbusinesswithIKEA/growing%20with%20IKEA/values/PublishingImages/values.jpg

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APPENDICES& INTERVIEW

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Email correspondence between author and USP Interstore Ltd - Shopfitters for IKEA Tottenham

From: Oliver Cannon [[email protected]] Sent: 04 August 2013 09:24

To: USP Interstore LtdSubject: IKEA Tottenham - Construction of Roomsets.

Dear Sir/Madam,

I am currently working on my dissertation at University of Greenwich. I am researching into how the varying methods of design can result in a different understanding of a design from the consumer or the person percieving the design.

I am aware that you are part of the process of constructing and designing IKEA store roomsets, would it be possible for me to ask you some questions about this process relating to my subject?

Yours Sincerely,

Oliver Cannon

From: “USP”To: Oliver Cannon [[email protected]]

Sent: Friday, 05 August 2013, 08:43Subject: IKEA Tottenham - Construction of Roomsets.

Hi Oliver,

Thankyou for your email. Although we ‘adjust’ roomset designs provided by IKEA we do not design them ourselves.

Any questions would be welcome.

Best,

Lesley



Lesley,

Thanks for responding to my email.

I have come up with a few questions that shouldn’t take too much time to answer but would really help with my work.

I should explain more about my subject first. My dissertation is a discussion about different methods of design. I am using IKEA as a case study because there are arguements that suggest they design their stores in an attempt to maximise profit by ways of channeling customers around the store in a particular fashion or using certain colours or signs to attract attention.

I am really trying to find out whether USP, as a contractor in IKEA, is aware of any of this and maybe you have an insight into the methods and tactics that are used?

Thanks in advance,

Oliver 68

Email correspondence between author and USP Interstore Ltd - Shopfitters for IKEA Tottenham



Oliver,

We are provided with roomset designs and the pathways customers follow. Generally, the process start with the ripping out of the existing roomsets and pathway before laying the flooring and putting up the new walls. Obviously we are following the plans that the IKEA Commin have provided us, however occasionally we modify the plans for ease of construction or because of other minor complications. The design as far as we are aware is to showcase as many IKEA products as possible in ‘real world’ situations such as bedrooms, bathrooms e.t.c.

In additon to this, the plans generally allow for efficient customer flow through the roomsets, presumably for when the store is busy.

To answer your question more specifically, the plans we are provided with seem to want to maximise customer movement through the areas of the store, past as many products as possible.

There are plenty of signs and arrows in the store which make it easy to navigate from one section to another and to follow the path around the shop floor.

I hope this helps with your work, if you have any more questions, do not hesitate to ask.

Best,

Lesley

From: Oliver Cannon [[email protected]] Sent: 06 August 2013 15:22To: USP Interstore Ltd

Subject: IKEA Tottenham - Construction of Roomsets.

Lesley,

Thankyou for taking the time to answer my question.

This have provided me with a good insight into IKEA.

Thanks again,

Oliver

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VISUALINDEX

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Figure 3 One in a series of development for the Stratto House - Steven Holl - P. 02



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75

Figure 7 Cardiff Bay Visitors Centre - Will Alsop - P. 04

Figure 8 Cardiff Bay Visitors Centre - Will Alsop - P. 05

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Figure 10 Cardiff Bay Visitors Centre - Will Alsop - P. 08 - 09

Figure 9 Cardiff Bay Visitors Centre - Will Alsop - P. 06 - 07

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Figure 11 Example of Catalogue Page - IKEA - P. 10

Figure 12 The Book Cover of Phenomenolgy of Perception - Merleau-Ponty - P. 22

Figure 13 Interior Seating - McDonalds - P. 23

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Figure 15 Hunstanton Secondary School, 1949 – ‘53 - Alison and Peter Smithson - P. 25

Figure 16 East Side Elevation of The Stretto House - Steven Holl - P. 25

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Figure 14 A Model of The Stretto House - Steven Holl - P. 24

Figure 17 A still from a promotional video - IKEA - P. 25

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Figure 19 An image of the Ontario School of Art and Design - Will Alsop - P. 29

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Figure 18 An image of a Painting - Will Alsop - P. 28

Figure 19 Market Place and Show Room - IKEA - P. 32

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Figure 22 An image from a marketing project - IKEA - P. 34 - 35

Figure 24 Two watercolours - Steven Holl - P. 38

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Figure 23 A poster ‘Fight Club’ - P. 36

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Figure 25 An extract from Musics for Strings - Bartok - P. 39

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Figure 26 An image of Will Alsop with a wall painting - Will Alsop - P. 45

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Figure 27 An image of a restaurant interior - IKEA - 52 - 53

Figure 28 An interior image of the Cardiff Bay Visitors Centre - Will Alsop - P. 56

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Figure 29 An image of value badges - IKEA - P. 57

Figure 30 A lifestyle image - IKEA - P. 57

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VISUALINDEX

PHOTO DIARYPhotos by Oliver G Cannon

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Fig.1a

An image ofan IKEA store entrance

Fig. 2a

An image showing a promotionalposter for IKEA roomset products

Fig.3a

An image showing saleitems in IKEA

Fig.4a

An image showing theIKEA shop floor

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Fig.5a An instore map of the IKEA shop floor. Fig.6a An image showing the arrows on an IKEA store pathway.

Fig.7a An image showing the IKEA shelving area in a store.

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Fig.8a An image showing work in progress in an IKEA store

Fig.9a An image showing IKEA products

Fig.10a An image showing and IKEA promotional wall.

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Fig.11a An image showing the IKEA creche where shoppers can leave their children supervised, located at the entrance to the store. A sign to the right promotes IKEA values.

Fig.12a An image showing the picking and delivery service IKEA provides, making it easier for the customer to find and buy they products.

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Fig.13a An image showing the vast IKEA warehouse which houses all the products for shoppers to collect before heading towards the till.

Fig.14a

An image showing the till area in an IKEA store.

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designed perception - oliver gd cannon

Documents

architectural design

implications design

framework of design

responsibility of design

surrounding architecture

architecture anthes

human perception

architectural environment