Color, Environment, & Human Response
Written by Frank H. Mahnke
It is an interdisciplinary understanding of color and its use as a beneficial element in the design of the architectural environment.
The author has dedicated his life to the study of color and how it can be used to create beneficial and healthy surroundings for human beings as they work, play, and heal. Until now, the only way to learn what Frank Mahnke discovered in his quest for hard scientific evidence was to participate in his popular seminars. Now, at the urging of hundreds of established design and architectural professionals who have earned the IACC Color Consultant Diploma, Mr. Mahnke brings audiences his unique interdisciplinary approach to the beneficial use of color in built environments.
Written primarily for professionals involved in the planning and design of public facilities, Color, Environment, & Human Response examines the properties and effects of color, and makes specific recommendations for the use of color in environments ranging from school gymnasiums to hospital EKG rooms to industrial foundries.
The first part of this practical and useful guide discusses the psychological and physiological effects of color, light, and environmental conditions on the human organism. This information is based on the most up-to-date international man/ environment research available. Drawing from studies in fields that seem unrelated to architecture – fields such as natural science, color theory, technology, biology, medicine, and psychology - Mr. Mahnke combines hard scientific evidence with empirical studies and his own professional experience as a color consultant to create a fascinating guide to the purposeful use of color. Here he examines:
·The psychological effects of color
·Color fundamentals
·Biological effects of light
·Analysis of design goals
In the second part of Color, Environment, & Human Response, Mr. Mahnke gives practical advice on the use of color and light for specific purposes in a broad scope of environments. From hospitals to industrial workplaces, each environment is thoroughly covered function-by-function. The chapter on healthcare facilities, for example, includes advice for every area from the entrance lobby, to intensive care. Just a few of the many built environments covered in illuminating detail include:
·Offices and computer workstations
·Schools
·Healthcare facilities
·Restaurants and food display
·Industrial work environments
·Color for exteriors
From this book, whether the reader is an architect, designer, city planner, lighting engineer, or color consultant, he/ she will learn how to create healthy and productive environments with Color, Environment, & Human Response
2008年2月25日星期一
Healthy living strategy launched
From one piece of the BBC news-Healthy living strategy launched, it broadcasts that a £372m strategy aimed at cutting levels of obesity in England has been launched by the government. It is a long-term project and several "healthy towns" will be created in order to reduce or at least stop massive increasing.
Nowadays, obesity becomes the biggest problem not only in adults and children but also in western and eastern, and it is linked to an increased risk of cancer, heart and liver disease and diabetes. The two most important reasons leading to obesity are: unbalanced diet and lack of exercise opportunities.
In order to tackling obesity, we must increase the opportunities we all have to make healthy choices around the exercise we take and the food we eat.
Useful guide:
·Try to eat five portions of fruit and vegetable every day.
·Try to eat two portions of fish each week, one of which should be oily.
·Try to exercise for half an hour five times a week.
·Try to drink six to eight glasses of water a day.
-- From tips for a healthier 2008
In response to this strategy, TESCO produces a healthier 2008 activity. There is a leaflet I took from TESCO called “How to eat a balanced diet”. On this leaflet, it gives tips for a healthier life, balanced diet, healthy recipes, a guide to read Guideline Daily Amounts (GDAs) and further information about what they are doing to help clients be healthier. It is a good Phenomenon and Marketing tools of taking into account with customer at the same time to promote their products.
In my opinion, a strategy alone doesn't miraculously help people live healthier lives. It has got to be transformed into concrete action. But few are better than none.
Nowadays, obesity becomes the biggest problem not only in adults and children but also in western and eastern, and it is linked to an increased risk of cancer, heart and liver disease and diabetes. The two most important reasons leading to obesity are: unbalanced diet and lack of exercise opportunities.
In order to tackling obesity, we must increase the opportunities we all have to make healthy choices around the exercise we take and the food we eat.
Useful guide:
·Try to eat five portions of fruit and vegetable every day.
·Try to eat two portions of fish each week, one of which should be oily.
·Try to exercise for half an hour five times a week.
·Try to drink six to eight glasses of water a day.
-- From tips for a healthier 2008
In response to this strategy, TESCO produces a healthier 2008 activity. There is a leaflet I took from TESCO called “How to eat a balanced diet”. On this leaflet, it gives tips for a healthier life, balanced diet, healthy recipes, a guide to read Guideline Daily Amounts (GDAs) and further information about what they are doing to help clients be healthier. It is a good Phenomenon and Marketing tools of taking into account with customer at the same time to promote their products.
In my opinion, a strategy alone doesn't miraculously help people live healthier lives. It has got to be transformed into concrete action. But few are better than none.
2008年2月24日星期日
The Art Exhibition in WASP Studios
There is an art exhibition in WASP Studios on Friday to Monday. It holds by 5 people including my two classmates - Jen & Nevada.
The exhibition is very strange for me because in my opinion an art exhibition should be more formal (a pure Chinese thought~~). Actually it is very nice and more interesting than formal ones. The 5 artists show their works in their studio and welcome everyone to talk with them. How comfortable the atmosphere is!
I like this exhibition and enjoy it very well. The exhibition is hold in a strange building, looks likes a semifinished building. But I assume it is a gathering of art studios. The interior environment is very simple even poor, I can not image this kind of building can be exist in my city. But good luck, here is Dundee, another culture of world, filled with new thoughts for me.
Moreover, Jen's majoy is fashion design and Nevada is an graphic designer. They are good designer expecially Nevada. Some of her works are filled with innocent and pure, and some are fashionable and thoughtful. I even found she can use different materials to express her works, like using fimo's polymer clay to create several dolls to expound her "story telling". It is amazing for me! Because it was the first time I saw these kind of materials and this form of expressions. I should say it is a difference between us.
Every thing is new and give me an opportunity to try each of them. This is an important reason for me to study abroad. And I remember my father's words: this is the reason why I send you to go abroad. It is a big world and we are small. In my generation, I don not have the chance to have a view of outside world, but I wish my child should have.
The exhibition is very strange for me because in my opinion an art exhibition should be more formal (a pure Chinese thought~~). Actually it is very nice and more interesting than formal ones. The 5 artists show their works in their studio and welcome everyone to talk with them. How comfortable the atmosphere is!
I like this exhibition and enjoy it very well. The exhibition is hold in a strange building, looks likes a semifinished building. But I assume it is a gathering of art studios. The interior environment is very simple even poor, I can not image this kind of building can be exist in my city. But good luck, here is Dundee, another culture of world, filled with new thoughts for me.
Moreover, Jen's majoy is fashion design and Nevada is an graphic designer. They are good designer expecially Nevada. Some of her works are filled with innocent and pure, and some are fashionable and thoughtful. I even found she can use different materials to express her works, like using fimo's polymer clay to create several dolls to expound her "story telling". It is amazing for me! Because it was the first time I saw these kind of materials and this form of expressions. I should say it is a difference between us.
Every thing is new and give me an opportunity to try each of them. This is an important reason for me to study abroad. And I remember my father's words: this is the reason why I send you to go abroad. It is a big world and we are small. In my generation, I don not have the chance to have a view of outside world, but I wish my child should have.
2008年2月19日星期二
A critical review: the complete illustrated guide to Feng Shui
The complete illustrated guide to Feng Shui – how to apply the secrets of Chines Wisdom for health, wealth and happiness is a comprehensive and practical guide to display the principles of Feng Shui. The author is Lillian Too, who is a best-selling author, television personality and Feng Shui practitioner from Malaysia. She graduated as an MBA from the Harvard Business School in 1976. In the early 1970s Lillian Too became her preoccupation with Feng Shui when she began to learn kung fu with Master Yap Cheng Hai who told her many stories about Feng Shui and its potent effect on families and households. She began to research into this subject through studying of the whole spectrum of Chinese cultural practice. In order to improve and enhance her career and family life, she has actively utilized Feng Shui, and she has always been her practice based on the real world.
Obviously, this book is in the field of Feng Shui, which is an ancient Chinese practice believed to utilize the Laws of both Heaven (astronomy)and Earth(geography), and to help one improve life by receiving positive Qi. The words 'Feng Shui' literally translates as "wind and water" in English, and in literal sense, "wind and water" refer to the topography of the earth, including its mountains, valleys, and waterways. And it is cultural shorthand taken from the following passage of the Zhangshu (Book of Burial) by Guo Pu of the Jin Dynasty: Qi rides the wind and scatters, but is retained when encountering water [1]. To be frank, Qi is a difficult word to translate and is usually left untranslated. Literally the word means "air". And in Feng Shui, "Qi" means "flow of energy". Feng Shui adopts a sensible approach toward human’s relationship with the environment and personal living space. The most important spirit of Feng Shui’s core philosophy is that humankind must live in harmony with the environment. This idea conforms to our promotion about protecting the natural environment.
This book aims to provide the secret elements of Chinese wisdom into technological and scientific advance applicable to interior and environment design. It reveals that the philosophy of Feng Shui is not just focuses on the contours of physical landscapes – mountains and rivers, and their shapes, sizes, and courses but can be applied to modern interior and environment design as a part of fusion of different cultures.
The author chooses this topic as she wants to introduce Feng Shui to be a world-wide knowledge and method of living in a harmonious relationship with the earth’s environment. Moreover, she uses Feng Shui as a bridge to situate the human builting’s environment on good and right spots. As a traditional and mysterious culture, Feng Shui is not as familiar as other Chinese conventional ones; actually, it is an unfamiliar thing even to Chinese. But this book gives audiences a distinct and clear layout of Feng Shui’s principles, and it also introduce some practices how to use these principles in landscape, homes, decorations business places and so on. This text addresses the principles of Feng Shui which can be used in a wide variety of scope. For example, how to find or advance a harmonious landscape, and planning to maximize Feng Shui for interior design and decorating in the physics space, furthermore, it can be used as a tool to enhance business and career success, even for health, romance, and marriage. As a good result, people read this book and then will find that they could use the practical application of Feng Shui to regulate the location of their home and its interior and decoration, moreover, to enhance their personal relationships.
The book is narrative and well structured. Each chapter begins with an introduction to summaries the main idea or a significant question. And then it is followed with an explanation that can be divided into several parts about analysis different elements of Feng Shui with their uses and functions. It try to clearly explaining many Chinese traditional, past comprehension, professional names of Feng Shui and its principles in a simple and easy way to read and understand to audience who may not be familiar with Feng Shui or even has touched with this aspect in the first time. Furthermore, it describes the practical applications and advice about how to apply them in a clear, straightforward text with examples which all based on experience. It is illustrated and explained with many unique images which could give an exactly right guide to beginner. From this book, it can be found that the author uses a large number of helpful features to audience to understand. For example, a clear index as a guide, novel self-made models illustrate the practice of Feng Shui, representative and beautiful illustrations in nearly every page in order to show different styles of objects can be auspicious or inauspicious, several interesting personal cases, boxed features introduce detailed advice, further reading and useful addresses of Feng Shui Institutes at end word. Moreover, this guide book is not only give good advice to enhance benefits in human’s life but also list bad advice and locations in order to guide the audience to avoid or resolve them.
In my point of view, this is a good book as a spreader of Feng Shui. The author makes a central thesis to arrange each subject rigorously. The author’s thesis and purpose of this work is to excite audience’s thought and mobilize them to live in harmony with the natural. It gives a clear definition and practices a distinct practice of Feng Shui and also has lucidity of thought. If it is a Chinese book, I should say it does very well. However, as an English publication, facing with people who speak and think in English, it does not achieve the author’s aim.
Firstly, Feng Shui as a subject, it is considerably in dispute. Some people argue that Feng Shui is not a science; it is an integrated science with a holistic observation of the environment, geography, health and so on. Some people suggest that Feng Shui is the old world of superstition, and obstructs the Chinese people’s creativity in the architectural design, interior design and other forms. And others claim that feng shui is just a belief about environmental will influence the fate; this is a superstition, and the justifications is incompatible with modern science. In my opinion, Feng Shui is a part of Chinese culture, a reflection and the embodiment of Chinese philosophy in the environment; it is also the environment concept of Chinese people. But it still exits feudalistic and superstitious ideas, as well as many rules which are unable to explain by science. So I do not agree with the author argues that Feng Shui is neither difficult to understand nor hard to practice.
Secondly, this book is written in English, but it still could be discovered that it is written in Chin-glish, not pure English obviously. As a result, it is easy for me to understand the author’s meanings and even implications because we both have Chinese background. But it is very difficult for a people know English but do not understand Chinese culture to find out what is the implied meanings of this book. It can be proved by a British teacher who give me the advice of writing, he said he understand the words but do not understand what the meaning of these words.
Finally, it has too many information about Chinese traditional culture for a general reader in Britan and it can be proved in the lending number of this book, only 9 times from August 1999 to February 2008 including my time. Compared with another Feng Shui book – The Feng Shui handbook, how to creat a healthier living and working environment, which is much more popular because the latter one shows much more general language to explain. And this book is too complex to comprehend. For example, about using compass and the Pa Kua to activate good luck. In my mind, compass and the Pa Kua are filled with Chinese characteristics obviously, and the principles of using are too specialization to beginner. They are very difficult to be controlled by a layman and they will become not measurement tools but special furnishings.
In summary, as a complete illustrated guide book to Feng Shui, it makes a significant contribution within its field and is appreciated as a Feng Shui classic in Feng Shui for Modern Living. But in my point of view, it is neither fish nor fowl. It involves most principles, but it does not show the origin of Feng Shui, the process of historical evolution and even some recommendations could be said to be no scientific basis. So, some parts of this book are recommended to read, such as how to allocate rooms, corridors, furniture. But some parts is rubbish, such as positioning a mirror to reflect the cash register will increase business turnover.
Obviously, this book is in the field of Feng Shui, which is an ancient Chinese practice believed to utilize the Laws of both Heaven (astronomy)and Earth(geography), and to help one improve life by receiving positive Qi. The words 'Feng Shui' literally translates as "wind and water" in English, and in literal sense, "wind and water" refer to the topography of the earth, including its mountains, valleys, and waterways. And it is cultural shorthand taken from the following passage of the Zhangshu (Book of Burial) by Guo Pu of the Jin Dynasty: Qi rides the wind and scatters, but is retained when encountering water [1]. To be frank, Qi is a difficult word to translate and is usually left untranslated. Literally the word means "air". And in Feng Shui, "Qi" means "flow of energy". Feng Shui adopts a sensible approach toward human’s relationship with the environment and personal living space. The most important spirit of Feng Shui’s core philosophy is that humankind must live in harmony with the environment. This idea conforms to our promotion about protecting the natural environment.
This book aims to provide the secret elements of Chinese wisdom into technological and scientific advance applicable to interior and environment design. It reveals that the philosophy of Feng Shui is not just focuses on the contours of physical landscapes – mountains and rivers, and their shapes, sizes, and courses but can be applied to modern interior and environment design as a part of fusion of different cultures.
The author chooses this topic as she wants to introduce Feng Shui to be a world-wide knowledge and method of living in a harmonious relationship with the earth’s environment. Moreover, she uses Feng Shui as a bridge to situate the human builting’s environment on good and right spots. As a traditional and mysterious culture, Feng Shui is not as familiar as other Chinese conventional ones; actually, it is an unfamiliar thing even to Chinese. But this book gives audiences a distinct and clear layout of Feng Shui’s principles, and it also introduce some practices how to use these principles in landscape, homes, decorations business places and so on. This text addresses the principles of Feng Shui which can be used in a wide variety of scope. For example, how to find or advance a harmonious landscape, and planning to maximize Feng Shui for interior design and decorating in the physics space, furthermore, it can be used as a tool to enhance business and career success, even for health, romance, and marriage. As a good result, people read this book and then will find that they could use the practical application of Feng Shui to regulate the location of their home and its interior and decoration, moreover, to enhance their personal relationships.
The book is narrative and well structured. Each chapter begins with an introduction to summaries the main idea or a significant question. And then it is followed with an explanation that can be divided into several parts about analysis different elements of Feng Shui with their uses and functions. It try to clearly explaining many Chinese traditional, past comprehension, professional names of Feng Shui and its principles in a simple and easy way to read and understand to audience who may not be familiar with Feng Shui or even has touched with this aspect in the first time. Furthermore, it describes the practical applications and advice about how to apply them in a clear, straightforward text with examples which all based on experience. It is illustrated and explained with many unique images which could give an exactly right guide to beginner. From this book, it can be found that the author uses a large number of helpful features to audience to understand. For example, a clear index as a guide, novel self-made models illustrate the practice of Feng Shui, representative and beautiful illustrations in nearly every page in order to show different styles of objects can be auspicious or inauspicious, several interesting personal cases, boxed features introduce detailed advice, further reading and useful addresses of Feng Shui Institutes at end word. Moreover, this guide book is not only give good advice to enhance benefits in human’s life but also list bad advice and locations in order to guide the audience to avoid or resolve them.
In my point of view, this is a good book as a spreader of Feng Shui. The author makes a central thesis to arrange each subject rigorously. The author’s thesis and purpose of this work is to excite audience’s thought and mobilize them to live in harmony with the natural. It gives a clear definition and practices a distinct practice of Feng Shui and also has lucidity of thought. If it is a Chinese book, I should say it does very well. However, as an English publication, facing with people who speak and think in English, it does not achieve the author’s aim.
Firstly, Feng Shui as a subject, it is considerably in dispute. Some people argue that Feng Shui is not a science; it is an integrated science with a holistic observation of the environment, geography, health and so on. Some people suggest that Feng Shui is the old world of superstition, and obstructs the Chinese people’s creativity in the architectural design, interior design and other forms. And others claim that feng shui is just a belief about environmental will influence the fate; this is a superstition, and the justifications is incompatible with modern science. In my opinion, Feng Shui is a part of Chinese culture, a reflection and the embodiment of Chinese philosophy in the environment; it is also the environment concept of Chinese people. But it still exits feudalistic and superstitious ideas, as well as many rules which are unable to explain by science. So I do not agree with the author argues that Feng Shui is neither difficult to understand nor hard to practice.
Secondly, this book is written in English, but it still could be discovered that it is written in Chin-glish, not pure English obviously. As a result, it is easy for me to understand the author’s meanings and even implications because we both have Chinese background. But it is very difficult for a people know English but do not understand Chinese culture to find out what is the implied meanings of this book. It can be proved by a British teacher who give me the advice of writing, he said he understand the words but do not understand what the meaning of these words.
Finally, it has too many information about Chinese traditional culture for a general reader in Britan and it can be proved in the lending number of this book, only 9 times from August 1999 to February 2008 including my time. Compared with another Feng Shui book – The Feng Shui handbook, how to creat a healthier living and working environment, which is much more popular because the latter one shows much more general language to explain. And this book is too complex to comprehend. For example, about using compass and the Pa Kua to activate good luck. In my mind, compass and the Pa Kua are filled with Chinese characteristics obviously, and the principles of using are too specialization to beginner. They are very difficult to be controlled by a layman and they will become not measurement tools but special furnishings.
In summary, as a complete illustrated guide book to Feng Shui, it makes a significant contribution within its field and is appreciated as a Feng Shui classic in Feng Shui for Modern Living. But in my point of view, it is neither fish nor fowl. It involves most principles, but it does not show the origin of Feng Shui, the process of historical evolution and even some recommendations could be said to be no scientific basis. So, some parts of this book are recommended to read, such as how to allocate rooms, corridors, furniture. But some parts is rubbish, such as positioning a mirror to reflect the cash register will increase business turnover.
2008年2月13日星期三
The latest observation
As a part of our university, Dundee Dental Hospital was opened in February 1914 in Park Place, Dundee. Senior students in School of Dentistry will complete their filed works in this hospital to cure patients of their tooth problems.
In my first glance, the entrance of this hospital is not inviting as the dark color of automatic door and the useless and narrow wheelchair ramp. With the guide of Janet Cassidy, the site coordinator, I have a good observation in this building.
The top floor is Orthodontics & Children's Dentistry.
Except warm, bright and a little old-fashion waiting room, the treatment space could be divided into two parts, open area and separated rooms. In the open area, the color of environment is light cream and some low broad is stuck full of small cartoon stickers, but they are too small and do not work to attract children's attention away from painful treatment. Comparing with the separated one, the interior designing is much better; at least it has a cartoon tropical animals’ image on the ceiling to do work on children's attraction.
The forth floor is Dental Prosthetics. It has a good reception in natural materials but waiting space looks like a restaurant.
The third floor is Periodontics & Oral Health Sciences. The waiting area is natural design and has many real plants. It is a suitable waiting space for patients to relax.
The second floor is Operative Dentistry and Endodontics & Fixed Prosthodontics. The waiting area and reception are designed clean, warm, soft color and light and welcoming. In the prosthesis workshop, I have a broader view of how to make artificial teeth.
The first floor is Dental A&E, Radiology, Oral Surgery & Medicine and Patient Reception. The space looks very dark and dim. From the information wall, it is difficult to find the correct place if the patient just needs a normal check-up.
To summary, the interior environment of Dundee Dental Hospital is common. Some parts are designed for harmonious and healing.
In my first glance, the entrance of this hospital is not inviting as the dark color of automatic door and the useless and narrow wheelchair ramp. With the guide of Janet Cassidy, the site coordinator, I have a good observation in this building.The top floor is Orthodontics & Children's Dentistry.
Except warm, bright and a little old-fashion waiting room, the treatment space could be divided into two parts, open area and separated rooms. In the open area, the color of environment is light cream and some low broad is stuck full of small cartoon stickers, but they are too small and do not work to attract children's attention away from painful treatment. Comparing with the separated one, the interior designing is much better; at least it has a cartoon tropical animals’ image on the ceiling to do work on children's attraction.The forth floor is Dental Prosthetics. It has a good reception in natural materials but waiting space looks like a restaurant.
The third floor is Periodontics & Oral Health Sciences. The waiting area is natural design and has many real plants. It is a suitable waiting space for patients to relax.
The second floor is Operative Dentistry and Endodontics & Fixed Prosthodontics. The waiting area and reception are designed clean, warm, soft color and light and welcoming. In the prosthesis workshop, I have a broader view of how to make artificial teeth.The first floor is Dental A&E, Radiology, Oral Surgery & Medicine and Patient Reception. The space looks very dark and dim. From the information wall, it is difficult to find the correct place if the patient just needs a normal check-up.
To summary, the interior environment of Dundee Dental Hospital is common. Some parts are designed for harmonious and healing.
2008年2月5日星期二
Warm observation in Hunter & Wight Dental Practice
After requesting the second time and submitting a formal letter from my college, I have this valuable opportunity to do the most important observation in Hunter & Wight Dental Practice.
It is an individual practice redesigned from a home as a result the interior space looks like a normal family absolutely.
The entrance faces Perth Road, the color of decoration is grey-blue, a relaxed hue. The practice is accessible via a helical staircase from the ground floor; the area is dark especially in rainy day.
Through the blue door and dark brown door, there is the corridor painted in pink, strange but warm color. On the right-hand side is the reception and on the left-hand side is the waiting room.
The waiting room is painted in red, also strange but makes the atmosphere close to a home and lead patients to feel comfortable and relaxation. But the style is too old fashion.
In the rest distance to toilet, there are four treatment rooms and I do my observation at the end one because this one is free at that day’s afternoon. So after taking photographers, I draw several sketches. This space is felt cooler than waiting room as it is painted in light blue and the furniture are also in different degree of blue. The attractive poster is putting on the mantelshelf. It is very expressive, especially in a vivid cartoon image.
The big contract of waiting room and treatment room puts patients and visitors in a strange interior environment and in my opinion, it is not suitable for patients' feelings.
It is an individual practice redesigned from a home as a result the interior space looks like a normal family absolutely.
The entrance faces Perth Road, the color of decoration is grey-blue, a relaxed hue. The practice is accessible via a helical staircase from the ground floor; the area is dark especially in rainy day.Through the blue door and dark brown door, there is the corridor painted in pink, strange but warm color. On the right-hand side is the reception and on the left-hand side is the waiting room.
The waiting room is painted in red, also strange but makes the atmosphere close to a home and lead patients to feel comfortable and relaxation. But the style is too old fashion.
In the rest distance to toilet, there are four treatment rooms and I do my observation at the end one because this one is free at that day’s afternoon. So after taking photographers, I draw several sketches. This space is felt cooler than waiting room as it is painted in light blue and the furniture are also in different degree of blue. The attractive poster is putting on the mantelshelf. It is very expressive, especially in a vivid cartoon image.The big contract of waiting room and treatment room puts patients and visitors in a strange interior environment and in my opinion, it is not suitable for patients' feelings.
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