theory reading: personal space: the behavioral basis of design

The reading this week, Personal Space: The Behavioral Basis of Design by Robert Sommer, really helped in figuring out what things are important to having a comfortable and intimate dining experience.  At first, it defines a group a group as “a face-to-face aggregation of individuals who have some shared purpose for being together.”  In my dining situation, there will be a group of eight people gathered for a very intimate dining experience.  Sommer also mentioned social increment and social decrement.  Social increment is when people perform better when someone else is present, and social decrement is when they perform worse.  This could be relevant in a dining situation if there are customs that people are not used to or familiar with and they try to impress the people around them.

Sommer had a couple of very useful diagrams that deal with seating arrangements. 

The studies show that people are more comfortable being diagonally across from a person they are engaging conversation with rather than directly across from them.  I think this level of comfort will be achieved in my dining space because the table will be large enough so you won’t be close to the person directly across from you.  Also, the circle table will make it so there is a good distance from everyone else at the table.  It won’t be so tight that people feel claustrophobic, but not so far that people feel disconnected. “…ratings of less acquaintance, less friendliness, and lower talkativeness, except where increased eye contact counteracted the effects of increased distance.”

What I hope to achieve in my dining area is a setting where people feel closely connected to one another.  I want there to be a sense of unity and intimacy by using a circle table, circular seating, and a circular room.  Also, I want to use nearly all natural lighting by the use of a circular skylight that mimics the table size and by using candles on and around the table.