As I’ve pointed out about a hundred times already, InformeDesign is an excellent resource for designers, researchers, and journalists, and it’s searchable, and it’s FREE. Amazing. Research Design Connections is also fantastic, but you have to pay for a subscription and so it’s harder for me to cite articles from them because I like to be able to post things that people can get to easily.
As I mentioned in the I Love Lucy posting, I’ve been having trouble keeping up with the news lately – there’s so much of it, and I want to put it all on the blog but there are only so many hours in a day. So here’s another short posting, this time with recent InformeDesign summaries, in no particular order. If you see one that interests you, just click on the title of the summary and you can learn more about it. I’ve also included the full citations here, in case you want to head straight for the originating journal. And thanks, Guy, for the photo!
(Though this paper focuses on preferences for art, much of the findings could be carried over to general aesthetics, including design of outdoor spaces).
Full citations
Blizard, Clifford R. and Rudy M. Schuster (2007). “Fostering Children’s Connections to Natural Places Through Cultural and Natural History Storytelling.” Children, Youth, and Environments, Vol. 17, No. 4, pp. 171-206.
Doyle, Scott, Alexia Kelly-Schwartz, Marc Schlossber, and Jean Stockard (2006). “Active Community Environments and Health: The Relationship of Walkable and Safe Communities to Individual Health.” Journal of the American Planning Association, Vol. 72, No. 1, pp. 19-31.
Haikkola, Lotta, Maria Giuseppina Pacilli, Liisa Horelli, and Miretta Prezza (2007). “Interpretations of Urban Child-Friendliness: A Comparative Study of Two Neighborhoods in Helsinki and Rome.” Children, Youth, and Environments, Vol. 17, No. 4, pp. 319-351.
Nanda, Upali, Sarajane L. Eisen, and Veerabhadran Baladandayuthapani (2008). “Undertaking an Art Survey to Compare Patient Versus Student Art Preferences.” Environment and Behavior, Vol. 40, No. 2, pp. 269-301.
Song, K.D. (2007). “Evaluating Daylighting and Heating Designs of a Top-Glazed Atrium Space through Physical Scale Model Measurements and CFD Analyses.” Indoor and Built Environment, Vol. 16, No. 2, pp. 121-129.
Thorson, Sofia, Tsuyoshi Honjo, Fredrik Lindberg, Ingegard Eliasson, and En-Mi Lim (2007). “Thermal Comfort and Outdoor Activity in Japanese Urban Public Spaces.” Environment and Behavior, Vol. 39, No. 5, pp. 660-684.