Presenter Information

Alexis CushshonFollow

Student Major/Year in School

Architectural Engineering, third year

Faculty Mentor Information

Dr. April Petillo, American Ethnics Studies, College of Arts and Science

Abstract

Space: the distance from other people or things that a person needs in order to remain comfortable (Merriam-Webster "Space" 2018). When looking at space, especially in a neighborhood; it is important to have safe and habitable spaces to create positive social interaction and dialogue. “Our moods and emotions color the lenses—including “moral lenses”—through which we see the world … and by extension also architecture, can have a non-negligible influence on mood and emotion and…this is true not only with individual structures but with, for instance, entire layouts of a community or with landscapes” (Haji, Cuypers, & Joye 2013). In a study done by Coley, R. L. Kuo and William C. Sullivan, it was proven that the residents living in a space surrounded by more greenery are less aggressive and violent than those who live in spaces that has less greenery (Kuo & Sullivan 2001). In another study, it was showed that men who had positive perceptions of neighborhood infrastructure were almost five times less likely to smoke. Saint Louis, Missouri was established as a city in 1764 yet in 1916, St. Louis passed a residential segregation ordinance and private restrictive contracts in St. Louis. Real estate trades limited the ability of white owners to sell to blacks. In the start of 1980, gentrification increased in some areas of St. Louis, mainly downtown. The long-term goal of the research is to develop an understanding of how space effects how someone perceives themselves, the people around them, their space and the people/space that they don’t reside in, specifically in St. Louis, Missouri.

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 4.0 License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 4.0 License

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How Space Affects Perception in St. Louis

Space: the distance from other people or things that a person needs in order to remain comfortable (Merriam-Webster "Space" 2018). When looking at space, especially in a neighborhood; it is important to have safe and habitable spaces to create positive social interaction and dialogue. “Our moods and emotions color the lenses—including “moral lenses”—through which we see the world … and by extension also architecture, can have a non-negligible influence on mood and emotion and…this is true not only with individual structures but with, for instance, entire layouts of a community or with landscapes” (Haji, Cuypers, & Joye 2013). In a study done by Coley, R. L. Kuo and William C. Sullivan, it was proven that the residents living in a space surrounded by more greenery are less aggressive and violent than those who live in spaces that has less greenery (Kuo & Sullivan 2001). In another study, it was showed that men who had positive perceptions of neighborhood infrastructure were almost five times less likely to smoke. Saint Louis, Missouri was established as a city in 1764 yet in 1916, St. Louis passed a residential segregation ordinance and private restrictive contracts in St. Louis. Real estate trades limited the ability of white owners to sell to blacks. In the start of 1980, gentrification increased in some areas of St. Louis, mainly downtown. The long-term goal of the research is to develop an understanding of how space effects how someone perceives themselves, the people around them, their space and the people/space that they don’t reside in, specifically in St. Louis, Missouri.