I Can't Fit

Human scale is one of the primary considerations of the designer. Whether it is a bottle or a building, the resulting object or space often needs to have made some concession to the end user.  As we have seen and will most likely continue to see, designers have made concerted efforts to standardize human scale and proportions so that spaces or objects can be produced in accord to a predetermined set of measurements. Measurements that can be employed to create good and useful designs. 

A person can sense a good design solution. If you've ever been in a confined or grand space and wished: "...if only 'they' had put such-and-such here" then you understand what I am getting at.  These two confined bathroom spaces are clearly, poorly designed.  They are also a bit funny because looking at the end result, the problem is so very clear. These "designers" did not consider the end user. These of course are very simplified examples of how the body should influence the built environment.  People interact with their environments and therefore need to create environments that cater to their potential for use and movement.

How about the built environment's reciprocal relationship it has with its' occupants? This concept is something that is internalized I think from an early age when we begin to learn to navigate the world and various spaces.  There is a reason we don't try to walk through walls to enter a room, or why we walk around a piece of furniture instead of clambering over it. To that end, there is also a reason why many choose to take the elevator or escalator instead of the stairs. Path of least resistance. 

The built environment influences the way we interact with it in a number of ways. Not only the structural paths that were mentioned above but also the space as well. Try to consider the last time you looked up at an 8 foot ceiling and considered it's grandeur. Now increase that ceiling hight to 80 feet. A space can impact our sense of self and our sense of scale and therefore render an impact on our occupation within the space. 

As designers we can not only prescribe the intended paths of the occupants but we can also address the physical and potentially the physiological states of the occupants as well.