At Place Psychology RCG, we are passionate about space.  Living and working space.  And how humans respond to these spaces.  We are passionately interested in understanding the micro-factors in these spaces that determine whether people feel great in them or not, so that we can consciously and confidently recreate them at will, rather than haphazardly.

It seems that very, very few people understand how to put together design and decorating components that create truly nourishing places that people come home to, or spend their working hours in.  Including architects and interior designers.  Many of the buildings in our suburbs are simply a function of economics and market place forces.  Soul-less is an apt description for the vast majority of these constructions.

We recognise there are many facets of our home and work environments that influence us, including many modern features, such as electricity and synthetic products.  Yes, we are passionate about this too, as we are about environmental issues facing the planet.  Earth, after all, is the context in which our personal homes reside.  An impoverished and barren planet will most definitely affect each and every household, no matter where it is sited, whether auspiciously or not.

We appreciate the uplifting influence of good interior design and decorating.  As a rule, people may not notice good interior design, but they certainly recognise when there is bad interior design.

What we aim to achieve with Place Psychology RCG

The goal of Place Psychology RCG is to encourage the public to be more aware of design features that enhance their quality of life, and to be more demanding when dealing with design professionals when creating such places.

We aim to work in partnership with property owners, building developers, planning councils and design professionals to support them in creating nourishing home and work environments, where the impact of their construction on the building’s occupants is actually taken into major consideration, and to minimise compromises that impact negatively on the occupants.

We also aim to bring this somewhat elitist knowledge into the public realm, with our manuals and other publications and through courses and seminars.

Research and Publications

To strengthen our knowledge and understanding of how building design and interiors affect people, we have read assiduously, and researched tirelessly.  We have pestered many experts, some of whom were willing to share their knowledge.

To find the answers we were after, we have explored the fields of Environmental Psychology, Proxemics, Haptics, Atmospherics, and even Feng Shui.  We have read the debate on architectural determinism, and the evolution of architectural style.  We have studied the sustainability issues, and what Baubiologie teaches about non-toxic home design.  Of course, we became fans of the Christopher Alexander classic “A Pattern Language.”  We were - and still are - insatiably curious about what it is that makes places feel terrific.

We would eagerly have done a course to teach us what we wanted to know, but as many like-minded people informed us, there was nothing that was person-focused, and dealt with the specific microenvironment of “home”.  So we designed our own curriculum that pulled together work from various fields.  But as we’ve already discovered, the more we know, the more there is to know.  We expect we will be busy collating information for many years.

There is a wealth of good research out there, however, it is scattered through a broad range of disciplines, and difficult to access.  Much of the best work was done in the 1960’s and 1970’s, but has failed to gain widespread support.  Our goal with Place Psychology RCG is to bring this knowledge within public reach, in an organised and easy to follow format.  We have a number of manuscripts currently in development.

Feng Shui

Feng shui was the first "sensitive" framework that we came across that really looked and appreciated the relationship of how people are affected by their home and work space, and reciprocally, how people project themselves into their personal spaces.  The current popularity of Feng Shui is evidence that many people detect this poverty of spirit of place, and are grasping at what they can, in an attempt to remedy this.  Feng Shui promises to restore harmony between people and place, as well as enhancing place to provide a supportive backdrop in restoring harmony between individuals, and tranquillity within individuals.  It’s a mixed blessing that Feng Shui has become so rapidly popular.  On one hand, it has made people aware that they can control their surroundings to enhance their wellbeing, but on the other hand, it has become vulnerable to commercialism and exploitation.

We are quite comfortable with the ideals and principles of Feng Shui.  However, we tend to take a common sense approach to it, and like to support our recommendations with empirical research.

Click here to find out more about Feng Shui and how it can assist you.

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Copyright disclaimer

We encourage dissemination of the contents of these pages, and waive our copyright on the information contained on the Place Psychology site.  As a courtesy to us, however, we would appreciate acknowledgment, and a link to our site.  Articles from this site may be reproduced on the proviso that the author and source are acknowledged.  Note that this disclaimer does not cover links to other sites – please be aware of copyright arrangements as required by the sites’ owners.  We strongly believe in the laws of Karma, so why do the wrong thing?

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