floor plan movement Archives

Whilst watching a game of Olympics table tennis – a thought hit me sideways. If you strip away all the medallions, crowds, marketing surrounding at a fundamental level the Olympics is really about…human movement. Athletes moving in a certain way – jumping, swimming, throwing, spinning…

We are constantly moving. Everyday we move around various spaces. Interiors and exteriors. We sit. We stand. We dance. I believe we take our movement around spaces sometime for granted. Sometimes our surroundings are only consciously processed when something is out of place, when something looks extraordinary or when it inflicts pain (stubbing your toe against a skirting board = the worst pain EVER!)

Human movement is important for us to understand because it can be used to improve design.

Once a building is built we are forced to move around it in a certain way. The walls are fixed, so we change our behaviour. It is therefore important for architects, interior designs etc. to carefully study human movement and behaviour in order to create efficient designs!

Even the height and position of an persons head, eyes and ears impact how they perceive your building — influencing not only how they interact within it, but also, how they will remember it and explain it to others.

As part of my recent assessment, I had to draw a floor plan and note the ways people can interact and walk around the space (see below)

Check out these inspirational photographs of buildings and people moving about them….