Design Theory From An Environment and Behavior Perspective: Jon Lang

2
Design Theory from an

Environment and Behavior
Perspective
JON LANG
There has long been an interchange of ideas between the design fields
and the sciences. This is generally recognized, but much confusion still
exists about the interrelationship between the two. The confusion is
unnecessary. In this chapter, there are two interwoven purposes to the
review of design theory from an environment-behavior perspective.
The first is to clarify the relationship between the sciences and the de-
sign fields. The second is to consider the contribution to the design
fields that the behavioral sciences have made and can make. A number
of issues have to be considered in making this clarification.
Designers and environment-behavior researchers alike need to bet-
ter understand the design fields. The first issue of concern is the ambi-
guity of the role of the designer: Is the designer an artist or an environ-
mental designer? The second has to do with the dual consideration of
the design fields as disciplines and as professional fields. The third has
to do with the nature of the theoretical base for design-what it is, what
it can be, and what it should be. Addressing and clarifying the nature of
these issues will provide an understanding of the design fields that is
imperative for people in the behavioral sciences if they are to make an
Jon Lang· School of Architecture, University of New South Wales, Kensington, N.S.W.,
Australia.
53
E. H. Zube et al. (eds.), Advances in Environment, Behavior, and Design
© Plenum Press, New York 1991
54 Jon Lang
effective contribution to design and for designers if they are to make

effective the potential contribution of the behavioral sciences to their
own work.
A look at the history of the modern movements in architecture and
urban design and their descendents provides a framework for discuss-
ing the shifts in areas of concern and thus the self-image of the designer
and the relevancy of the behavioral sciences to design theory. The behav-
ioral sciences have, indeed, for better or worse, made major contribu-
tions to design thought. They continue to do so and will do so in the
future. The degree to which they do depends on both design ideology
and the clarity of the understanding that behavioral scientists have of
the design fields, what designers need to know, and how designers use
information/knowledge. This chapter thus concludes with a normative
statement of the potential contribution of environment-behavior re-
search to the design fields before asking the question: What are the
implications for future research and applications?
While this chapter draws on empirical studies, it is not based on
empirical research. It is based largely on my own experiences as an
educator and as a professional working at the intersect of the design
fields and environment-behavior research. I was socialized into the
culture of architectural design, so this chapter is really a look at design
theory from an environment-behavior perspective by somebody from
the design fields.
UNDERSTANDING THE DESIGN FIELDS:

THREE CLARIFICATIONS
There is a perception among many current environment-behavior

researchers that the design fields, because of their recalcitrance, are
unwilling to use the knowledge generated by research. There is a per-
ception by designers that much of current research is irrelevant because
it does not address the problems that designers confront in the perfor-
mance of their professional tasks. The research does not deal with the
design fields as professions. Yet, very often, environment-behavior re-
searchers tell designers that the design problems have been incorrectly
defined. Many designers, on the other hand, believe that they know
better, based on their experiences and common sense. While there is
some truth to both positions, many of the reasons for past, and certainly
future, opportunity costs associated with building, urban, and land-
scape designs occur because of incorrect predictions made before they
are built of how the designs will work. These predictions are based on
the designer's image of people and their natures. The images, in turn,

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Design Theory from an

effective contribution to design and for designers if they are to make

UNDERSTANDING THE DESIGN FIELDS:

There is a perception among many current environment-behavior

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