Architectural Sociology
Discuss the intertwined relationship between Sociology and Architecture.
How can Architectural Sociologists use social knowledge to improve building designs?
THE INTERTWINED RELATIONSHIP BETWEEM SOCIOLOGY AND ARCHITECTURE:
Sociology is the scientific study of human behavior while architecture is defined as the planning, designing and oversight of the construction of buildings.
Sociologists study human society and social behavior through the prism of group formations and social, political, religious, and economic institutions. How individuals interact with each other within given contexts, the origin and development of social groups are important indices by which the sociologist conducts his research and draws conclusions.
A large proportion of our human experience and social interaction occurs in the buildings in which we live and work.
Sociologists need not necessarily be architects, but architects have to necessarily be sociologists. This is because architecture and sociology are meant to work in collaboration with each other.
Architects are problem solvers and so are sociologists. The world today has faced rougher times in the past and the sociologists and architects, and/or architectural sociologists have stood up to the challenges and given solutions to the problems.
In the wake of changes that are occurring in the world today, which I would describe as awesome and frightening, they’ve posed challenges for creative solutions. I refer to problems such as the dramatic increase in homelessness in the world countries, worsening conditions of inner cities; the complex environmental problems like global warming, growing numbers of elderly-many of whom are poor, the rapid decentralization of economic activities; deterioration of infrastructure especially in older towns, the high cost of living in majorly developing countries of the world and high cost of living all over the world.
Each of these problems requires the savvy and expertise of people working in
How can Architectural Sociologists use social knowledge to improve building designs?
THE INTERTWINED RELATIONSHIP BETWEEM SOCIOLOGY AND ARCHITECTURE:
Sociology is the scientific study of human behavior while architecture is defined as the planning, designing and oversight of the construction of buildings.
Sociologists study human society and social behavior through the prism of group formations and social, political, religious, and economic institutions. How individuals interact with each other within given contexts, the origin and development of social groups are important indices by which the sociologist conducts his research and draws conclusions.
A large proportion of our human experience and social interaction occurs in the buildings in which we live and work.
Sociologists need not necessarily be architects, but architects have to necessarily be sociologists. This is because architecture and sociology are meant to work in collaboration with each other.
Architects are problem solvers and so are sociologists. The world today has faced rougher times in the past and the sociologists and architects, and/or architectural sociologists have stood up to the challenges and given solutions to the problems.
In the wake of changes that are occurring in the world today, which I would describe as awesome and frightening, they’ve posed challenges for creative solutions. I refer to problems such as the dramatic increase in homelessness in the world countries, worsening conditions of inner cities; the complex environmental problems like global warming, growing numbers of elderly-many of whom are poor, the rapid decentralization of economic activities; deterioration of infrastructure especially in older towns, the high cost of living in majorly developing countries of the world and high cost of living all over the world.
Each of these problems requires the savvy and expertise of people working in
References: 1. http://bjsw.oxfordjournals.org/content/17/2/169.abstract 2. http://www.asanet.org/footnotes/dec02/fn17.html