Challenging behaviour, such as aggression towards oneself, others, or objects, arises in interaction with the environment and may prevent individuals from participating in society and compromise their quality of life (QoL). Literature suggests that architects can contribute to prevention, by influencing challenging behaviour before rather than after its occurrence. By conducting a case study at a very-intensive-care facility, we explore how architecture can contribute to the QoL of intellectually impaired (and autistic) individuals showing challenging behaviour. The case study is based on interviews with residents and care providers, and direct observations of their daily life. Preliminary findings confirm the relevance of architecture in influencing challenging behaviour. They suggest that the residents are dependent on the (visual and auditory) connection with the care provider. Also, care providers confirm the importance of this connection for the quality of the care they provide. At the same time, residents may experience anxiety triggered by fellow residents and their challenging behaviour. Residents may also feel stress when faced with unexpected situations and this may lead to an onset of challenging behaviour. Sensory sensitivity, specifically to noise and heat is also relevant for their QoL.The findings will be further substantiated through multiple triangulation with available data (personal files, incident reports, photographs). Future research, specifically focused on intellectually impaired individuals showing challenging behaviour, is needed to better understand the similarities and differences between their needs and the needs of autistic people.
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Challenging behaviour, such as aggression towards oneself, others, or objects, arises in interaction with the environment and may prevent individuals from participating in society and compromise their quality of life (QoL). Literature suggests that architects can contribute to prevention, by influencing challenging behaviour before rather than after its occurrence. By conducting a case study at a very-intensive-care facility, we explore how architecture can contribute to the QoL of intellectually impaired (and autistic) individuals showing challenging behaviour. The case study is based on interviews with residents and care providers, and direct observations of their daily life. Preliminary findings confirm the relevance of architecture in influencing challenging behaviour. They suggest that the residents are dependent on the (visual and auditory) connection with the care provider. Also, care providers confirm the importance of this connection for the quality of the care they provide. At the same time, residents may experience anxiety triggered by fellow residents and their challenging behaviour. Residents may also feel stress when faced with unexpected situations and this may lead to an onset of challenging behaviour. Sensory sensitivity, specifically to noise and heat is also relevant for their QoL.The findings will be further substantiated through multiple triangulation with available data (personal files, incident reports, photographs). Future research, specifically focused on intellectually impaired individuals showing challenging behaviour, is needed to better understand the similarities and differences between their needs and the needs of autistic people.
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Introduction:A space’s atmosphere is an important factor in how that space is experienced. In fact, festival visitors consider the atmosphere as the most important factor in how they experience a festival (Van Vliet 2012). Atmosphere is also what distinguishes physical shops from online web shops (Van Vliet, Moes & Schrandt 2015). Much research underlines the influence of atmosphere on cognitive and emotional processes. As early as 1956, research showed that an assessment of facial expressions in photographs depended on the atmosphere of the space in which the photos were viewed (Maslow & Mintz 1956). The importance of atmosphere inspired the search for ways to influence visitors and allowing them to react to, and even (co-)design, a space’s atmosphere – from museum spaces (Noordegraaf 2012) to urban spaces, from consciously-manipulated spaces to the now inevitable layer of digital information that has entered the public sphere (Mitchell 2005). Researchers have been studying the influence of atmosphere for decades, particularly through the lens of environmental psychology, which focuses on the interplay between humans and their environment (Mehrabian & Russell 1974; Steg, Van den Berg & De Groot 2012). A milestone in atmosphere research was the introduction of the concept of ‘atmospherics’ by Kotler (1973). From here, research into atmosphere mainly took place in the context of marketing research into consumer behaviour in shops and service environments such as restaurants, hotels, museums and festivals (Van Vliet 2014). The question here is whether these gathered insights contribute to understanding how atmosphere works in open public spaces.
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