SPATIAL LAYOUT & DISORIENTATION

‘The work of the architect is inescapable.’ (Raskin, 1974b, p. 03). Architecture overall expresses a story, whether it is about the time period it was built or what is to come. The journey the user takes within it is controlled and predetermined in some way by the designers spatial layout. Influence is everywhere and when it is something built around oneself it often goes unseen. The idea of a fixed journey can often be seen within art galleries or retail outlets such as IKEA which have a sole purpose of exposing the consumer to as much of the building and its contents as possible. Therefore, persuading the customer to follow a certain route in turn persuades them to view more product within the space, and increases the potential of more purchases. If this experience is coupled with a disoriented motion, it is thought that they are more likely to pick up items in case they cannot retrace their movements.

 

Multifunctional designs such as Las Vegas venues, which offer a combination of 'gambling, dining, banqueting rooms, nightclubs, auditorium, stores, parking and a hotel' (Venturi et al., 1977, p. 50), in themselves become a complicated structure. Psychologically, dense or intricate design can cause confusion and therefore disorientate the user. The labyrinth style design which is often adopted in casinos disorientates the user, usually causing them to delve deeper into the 'maze'. Spatial layout in turn amplifies this by situating amenities such as restrooms, lifts or bars in the centre or back of the space. This can be seen in New York New York Casino (Figure 3) and Miracle Mile Shopping Centre (Figure 4). The concept of a labyrinth resides in an ancient pattern intended to resemble an ‘archetype of the human mind’ (Binford, 2014), intending to instigate a kind of game with no real end point other than an aim to discover more or oneself.

 

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Alternatively, spatial layout can be used in terms of an ‘enhancement of their escape from reality’ (Raskin, 1974c, p. 61), making someone feel lost yet comfortable in an environment. As many public buildings become dehumanised blocks, the concept of mimicking environments through layout is becoming a popular ‘mix-matching theory’ (Raskin, 1974d, p. 72) approach by architects. This can be seen in Figure 5, Roxton Lower School, Beford implemented Green-Modular's classroom (Green Modular, 2015). Where by imitating a camp style environment, through separate blocks and visibility of outside space in school designs, the student experiences freedom and flexibility, rather than being trapped, encouraging time spent in school (Bennett, 1977c, p. 76).

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Spatial layout can enable the user to move throughout a space with an intended (yet unknowingly to them) direction. Coupled with an intricate design, a sense of disorientation can take this to a level of discomfort and erratic tendencies, causing the user to delve deeper into the layout design even if they did not plan on doing so.