University of Quebec at Montreal
Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Time:
May 7 - 11
Main topics:
This year's theme shines the spotlight on the necessity to integrate,
conceptually and operationally, the management of physical space(s) over
time with their design and production. We welcome therefore submissions
addressing this theme.
For example, types of settings might be addressed: their embodiment of the
notion of place in terms of physical ambient qualities, such as scale,
security, "ambiance"...or in terms of socio-functional qualities, such as
effectiveness, privacy, comfort and productivity; the physical reality of
settings defined, then, at levels of scale where the meshing of design
standards and management principles may be brought about organically.
Norms and standards of human use as well as of physical design might also
be a suitable topic: performance criteria for the design and management of
places, sustaining performance standards over time, and the relationship
between environmental flexibility, criteria for maintenance and operation,
and systems of environmental enclosure.
Should environmental and behavioral norms be determined beforehand or
should they evolve as a result of interaction with and stimulation from the
physical environment, in real time or through simulation? In defining the
physical environment in these terms, we need to integrate notions of the
management of space as well as its design.
Programming, evaluation, participation in design processes, and managing
building users are topic areas for further inquiry and analysis: how are
building users affected over time by involvement in these and similar
activities? As the environmental awareness of occupants increases, so their
roles and responsibilities change: changes that encourage us to question
the political aspects of user involvement and to examine the impact of such
involvement on environmental situations outcomes.
To speak of an environmental situation is to take a global approach to the
environment-behavior relationship, to examine "situations" in which an
existential dimension exists, allowing researchers and practitioners to
study such phenomena as environmental adaptation and survival, at which
time we stop thinking of "environment-and-behavior" and start thinking
about "environment-including-behavior".
EDRA Business Office
PO Box 7146
Edmun, OK 73083-7146
USA
Phone: (405)271-5601
E-mail: amsedra@aol.com
edra@telepath.cim (Neil Hann)