The special issue of the journal, Children in Contemporary Society, contains 17 brief articles on environmental design for young handicapped and normal children. Articles have the following titles: "Introduction", "Environmental Design and Architecture", "Why Is Environmental Design Important to Young Children", "Children's Hospital National…

The physical environment can measurably affect behavior and psychological well-being. This is critical in the case of older persons who are more environmentally vulnerable than the young due to limited financial resources and decreased mobility. A group of 91 olderly residents in multi-story private and public housing participated in this study.…

THIS DISCUSSION OF THE BASIC FUNCTION OF ACOUSTICAL MATERIALS--THE CONTROL OF SOUND BY SOUND ABSORPTION--IS BASED ON THE WAVE AND ENERGY PROPERTIES OF SOUND. IT IS STATED THAT, IN GENERAL, A MUCH LARGER VOLUME OF ACOUSTICAL MATERIALS IS NEEDED TO REMOVE DISTRACTING NOISE FROM CLASSROOMS AND OFFICES, FOR EXAMPLE, THAN FROM AUDITORIUMS, WHERE A…

The relationship of architecture to society and the quality of life is explored in these areas: context, routes, environment, groupings, and interface. Architecture that grows out of interrelationships imposes order on a confused world and makes possible effective problem solving. (LBH)

Reported are results of a project carried out at the Swedish Institute for the Handicapped to determine needs of the visually impaired in the planning and adaptation of buildings and other forms of physical environment. Chapter 1 considers implications of impaired vision and includes definitions, statistics, and problems of the visually impaired…

Discusses successes and failures of subsidized housing in urban areas and the relationship between architectural environment and quality of life, particularly as regards high-rise buildings. Given that some high-rise projects are successful, most should be maintained because of the scarcity of low-income housing. (DM)

This study compared the effectiveness of three design strategies using nine architecture graduate students to solve three typical room design problems. Open-ended (5 step), traditional (10 step), and systematic (15 step) strategies were developed based on a national survey of design methodologists. Each strategy was applied by three subjects…

Presents two contemporary definitions of urban design which incorporate spatial and time scales, man-environment relations, and multi-professional associations. (MA)

Architects, group home administrators, people with mental retardation, family members of people with mental retardation, and college undergraduates substantially agreed in rating the homelikeness of 20 community residences for people with mental retardation. Clusters of physical features identified using an architectural inventory were found to be…

This study was commissioned by the American Institute of Architects because of a widespread feeling that education for environmental design must change. The purpose of this study is to focus and give direction to the many changes that are taking place in environmental design education today. Emerging from the study was a process for planning and…

Intrinsically safe design is presented as a logical extension of the principles of barrier free design, and as a higher level design strategy for effecting widespread implementation of the basic accessibility requirements for people with disabilities. Two fundamental planning procedures are proposed: including principles of safe and accessible…

This is the third of three works that lay the basis for a new approach to architecture, building, and planning. At the core of these books is the idea that people should design for themselves their own houses, streets, and communities. Although the idea implies a radical transformation of the architectural profession, it comes from the observation…

Describes a project that is a part of an "Architects in Schools" program in England in which students were challenged to redesign a small structure on the school grounds. Discusses the student tasks involved, including the development of scale models, and the evaluation of the design. (TW)

The behavior of 80 individuals with mental retardation living in community residences was assessed to investigate the influence of architectural features identified with homelikeness. Results found that adaptive and maladaptive behavior covaried with homelikeness ratings. Associations between specific architectural features and the behavior of…

During the 2.5 years the project was in operation, the International Center for Culture and Environment (Santa Fe, New Mexico) provided courses concerned with aspects of intercultural communication related to environmental design and planning to students and practitioners from 15 U.S. states and 15 foreign countries. Courses were provided in three…