Freewrite #2 – Research Proposal

For my sustained research project I want to investigate how certain structures, buildings, and public places shape public behavior. Architects build buildings in certain ways for a reason. They want something to happen. Streets have lights and crosswalks at certain points for a reason. Things in our world are no longer arbitrary but rather thought out thoroughly.

Many people tend not to notice the small details around them but someone else obviously did. When they designed public park benches in a certain way they thought about why it should be like that. Should the seat be made of wood or plastic? How about the seat be cushioned? There are hundreds of reasons for why they choose a certain design. When McDonald’s designs a restaurant they think about certain things. One example is the traffic pattern of patrons coming in and out. They want to make sure that the front counter is easily accessible for any one to get to once they walk in. The chairs that you sit on and the location of tables have been thought threw. There’s a reason that the chairs are plastic and not made of plush leather. They are shaping the behavior of their patrons. They want people to come in, eat, and leave. They don’t need people to sit there for hours because then people might think this McDonald’s is to crowded. They want everyone to have a seat and then move on with their life.

Amusement parks are a great place to notice how architecture shapes behavior. There’s a reason that an entrance to a ride is easy to get to but once you turn the corner you realized there is a gigantic line that you couldn’t see until you were already in line. They want to get you in and keep you there. Museums also shape behavior. Whenever you walk around you can notice that there is a sense of a ‘flow’ that is created. This is not accidental but more thought threw than some people might realize. In Mitchell’s “The End of Public Space,” they look at how public space is shaped and evaluated. I want to investigate this and dig deeper into why certain government properties are as they are. They deem certain things ‘Public Property’ but still they tend to shape public behavior and mood.

To me this a very interesting topic because ever since I started to take classing at school in design it has changed the way that I start to look at certain things. Things are never just arbitrary. There are hours of thought and research that goes into why something is the way it is. Sometimes the answer simply just comes down to this is cheaper than the other option, but still someone had to sit there and determine that that option was out of reach. This is fascinating to me and I feel I can learn a lot from researching this. I plan to pull research from online and books to help further my discussion on this topic. Using Flusty’s essay “Building Paranoia,” will also help to give me terminology and a basis for discussing why something is shaped and designed in the way that it is.

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