Interior Design Psychology: Proxemics and Space
The Design of Interior Spaces: Psychology
Providing a home with the right environment, one that makes you feel like a person and part of the household, is a specific requirement of life today. It is one of the most deeply rooted ideas in sociologists and architects.
The Psychology of Lines
We know the meaning of the various types of lines: vertical, horizontal, diagonal, broken, circular, and spiral. Their presence within one another can help or hinder, creating stability or dynamism, drive, or confusion within an environment.
- The predominance of vertical lines in a room makes the roof look higher.
- Upholstered chairs with vertical stripes or horizontal lines also produce a sense of higher or lower height.
- Parallel lines are always smooth and are characterized by feelings of pleasure and communicate tranquility.
- Curved lines, sharply repeated, can be graceful or imposing, depending on the artificial character of the set.
- Vertical and horizontal lines, short and often repeated, also produce excessive dynamism and mobility.
Proxemics
Known as proxemics, this part of semiotics is dedicated to the study of relations of proximity, distance, etc., between people and objects during interaction, the positions taken, and the presence or absence of physical contact.
Distribution of Space
Any public or private space, green building by man, must take into account that it is directly related to human actions. People must move and inhabit these environments, having to use the equipment located in them. Therefore, it is necessary to know the average size of the human body, static, standing, sitting, or lying, but also the result of the movements made in the development of various activities.
The Approach Routes of Circulation
Visitor tours in exhibitions and museums were studied by the architects of the modern movement in the early and mid-century. They also provided flexibility to indoor spaces, modularity, and extensibility in architecture in general.
Basic Notions of Materials, Colors, Textures, Lighting, and Facilities
To put a decoration project in place, it is necessary to consider the following approaches:
- The color composition, essential in any decorative scheme, of the floors, walls, ceilings, furniture, curtains, and auxiliary elements.
- We study the necessary technical elements, starting with materials and ending with installations.
- Materials must be chosen carefully, both for color conforming to the envisaged texture or superficial appearance. A material may be blue, but also matte, glossy, rough, smooth, or relief.
- Facilities must be taken into account when planning the project and movable decorative elements.
- The decorative complements chosen must be in agreement with the general concept of decoration, although sometimes the placement of contrasting elements is allowed.
The Color
Given its unique expressive character, in addition to its decorative possibilities, color is considered a particularly important factor in creating harmony in environments. When the integration of colors, hues, and values produces a pleasant, balanced, and serene drive in the light, harmony exists. Contrast exists when the union of different colors produces a kind of shock, creating a more vital and dynamic color unit.
The Lighting
The lighting of the environment is the factor that intervenes decisively in the aesthetic ambience, along with the formal composition and stylistic ornamentation. Light has an artistic, decorative, and environmental value, regardless of its functional values.