4. concerns
Origins - Primal concerns 4 Knowing how the basic model of emotions works, described in chapter 3, the question arises: what are the primal concerns for humans concerning architecture? Primal concerns The basic concerns of humans is probably best described by ‘the hierarchy of needs’ of Maslow.1 This theory is often depicted as a pyramid consisting of five levels: the four lower levels are grouped together as deficiency needs associated with physiological needs, while the top level is termed growth needs associated with psychological needs.
4The base of the pyramid is formed by the
physiological needs, including the biological requirements for food, water, air, and sleep.
4The second level, the need for safety and Fig. 2 This diagram shows Maslow’s hierarchy of needs
security. Included here are the needs for structure, order, security, and predictability.
4The third level, the need for love and
belonging. Included here are the needs for friends and companions, a supportive family, identification with a group, and an intimate relationship.
4The fourth level, the esteem needs. This
group of needs requires both recognition from other people that results in feelings of prestige,
acceptance, and status, and self-esteem that results in feelings of adequacy, competence, and confidence. Lack of satisfaction of the esteem needs results in discouragement and feelings of inferiority.
4Finally, self-actualization sits at the apex of
the original pyramid. Self-actualization is the instinctual need of humans to make the most of their abilities and to strive to be the best they can. Although the pyramid maybe suggest that from level to level all the needs must be satisfied first to be able to concentrate on an other level, this however is not the case. For example, people who have to get by in life without enough food, water and safety can still be satisfied with needs from the higher levels, like family and morality. Some of the needs Maslow describes in his theory can be satisfied by architecture. But his theory describes the general basic needs of humans and does not describe the specific needs concerning architecture. The evolutionary perspective, as discussed in Chapter 3, decribes these basic architectural needs or concerns more profoundly.
1. MASLOW, A.H. (1970) Motivation and Personality. New York: Harper and Row.
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EXPLORELAB_4 Research Thesis - Emotion in Architecture
2009.02.02