Psychogeography is, in Ellard’s opinion, how our
surroundings affect our moods and behavior. How plants make any place seem
better- and make people less apt to destroy things. How featureless concrete
expanses make a person nervous and unwilling to linger. How surroundings can
awe, suffocate, sooth, or tempt a person (think the insides of shopping malls).
He explains how and why people have these reactions, and how they can be used
to manipulate people. He also goes into how digital technology is changing
things, and how it could be used to alienate or integrate.
This is important stuff for any architect, designer, or city
planner. It’s also helpful for just about anyone who wants to understand why
the feel the way they do in certain environments. One part I especially liked
was when he wrote about Temple Grandin’s slaughter house designs that keep
cattle calm instead of panicked as they go to their deaths- this is
manipulation at its most obvious. How many places do we frequent that affect us
in a similar way without our ever being aware of it? The book is technical but
easily readable. Recommended.
The above is an affiliate link. If you click through and buy something- not just this book but anything- Amazon will give me a few cents.
I received this book free from the Early Reviewers program.
Neither of these things influenced my opinion.
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