Social ecology and environmental psychology as applied to the design and renovation of American university campuses

After years of budget cuts and deferred maintenance, many American colleges and universities are making significant capital investments in their physical infrastructure. These investments have taken the form of renovation and remodeling of existing facilities as well as construction of new campus facilities. Because of their size and scope, there is a need to maximize the effects of these investments in terms of the resulting social and intellectual development of students and maximization of research productivity on the part of faculty.; For many years it has been known that the design of hospital and health care facilities can have a significant effect on the behavior and well-being of residents and staff. Significant research in social ecology and environmental psychology began in the late 1960's and reached a peak in the late 1970's and early 1980's; This research project focuses on making specific connections between basic social and psychological needs of campus residents and principles of architectural design that can be applied to the design and renovation of campus facilities. Christopher Alexander's A Pattern Language (1977) provided the taxonomy of a village which was used as a basis for principles of campus design. Research by Rudolf Moos, Robert Sommer, and other researchers in sociology, psychology, anthropology, geography, etc. was used to select six "principles of social ecology" that were cross-referenced with five design elements from Alexander's village taxonomy. The social ecology principles and the architectural design elements formed the two axes of a matrix. Analysis of research data produced design criteria for each cell in this matrix. The results were then posted on the internet for review and application.; It was found that the matrix was very useful in defining why some features are important in campus design and how these features can best be applied. The matrix, and subsequent web presentation, also provided a very concise method of presenting information that can be used by facility planners and architects.