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This article discusses the sociological aspects of modern English architecture as of 1930. The 19th century industrialism was expressed in Great Britain by the cheapest and most unpleasant form of urbanism--developed in centers remote from the normal English traditions of culture, for example, the peasant culture represented on the social side by the Country Family, and on the intellectual, by the University of Oxford. This industrial urbanism had no tradition of city life to guide it, like the city life of the continent, and 19th century towns were, for the most part, nothing but crude miners' camps. It is interesting to note how the various political parties have contributed to the architectural problems of the day as particularly exemplified in post-war housing. After the War, when Lloyd George was in power, the Liberals attempted to solve the problem by the employment of architects, and were successful to the extent that they produced a series of model settlements, which will be a starting point for similar schemes of building for a very great while to come. These little architectural communities stand out as oases in the desert of speculative building--but, as they were provided ostensibly for the Working Classes, they have had this curious effect on the Class immediately above them, which is, that what is called a Council house, however, beautifully designed, has a distinctly detrimental effect on a Middle-Class neighborhood, so that this Class differentiation operates to the disadvantage of good architecture.

Three groups of freshman architecture and design students were assigned different design approaches before producing a handcarving from a six-inch wood cube. The problem is the first three-dimensional one in the design curriculum. One approach was to work directly in the wood; the second was to draw a transparent grain structure diagram of the intact cube before carving; the third was to make a series of charcoal sketches of a possible design before carving. Contrary to prediction, the three approaches did not affect direct measures of the handcarving. However, as anticipated, the measures on the handcarvings had different correlational patterns with previous design work: Scores on handcarvings of the charcoal sketches group were significantly correlated with previous design grades whereas scores for the other groups were not. These and other results raise questions about strategies for helping students to develop critical judgment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a study conducted to understand the role played by ecological factors in the study of social behavior. Several studies have emphasized the importance of the environment in determining the nature of the interaction that takes place. So, in this study the relationship between ecological factors and the behavior observed is examined in order to try to assess their relative importance. Observations were made in two children's wards and these observations form the basis of the analysis. This particular environment was chosen to establish that architectural design has a determinate effect on interaction. The final outcome of the study suggests that the importance of the ecology of the two wards lies in the way they are used by the staff acting their roles rather than in any direct influence that the arrangement of doors and windows has on behavior. It is not necessary that the back stage region needed by the actors should be physically separate from the front stage area. It's most important characteristic should be that it should be out of bounds for the audience. It also suggests that once a change is introduced that affects role playing either by altering the circumstances under which an audience is present or by denying the actors the right to control those circumstances, one particular physical lay-out may have advantages over another and thus possibly influence the implementation of change.

This article discusses the sociology of form in modern English architecture. From the 18th century to the 20th century, architecture, like society, has been in a state of transition. The field has swarmed with new ideas, and each fresh effort, so far from providing a departure for future building, has rather increased the chaos and dissonance and the lack of a common understanding. Such order as architecture has achieved has been temporary and local: for a moment in the eighteenth century, for example, the aristocracy learns the secret of building great squares of unified design, grouped about a park, as in Edinburgh or London. But these patches of coherent architecture were temporary and local, triumphs that were swiftly swallowed up by a quite different order of building in other parts of the same society. Looking at one building at a time, one may discover competent design and even a certain logic in its development; but when one considers all the buildings of the transition together, the Palladian country houses, the Greek savings banks, the Romanesque court houses, the Gothic churches, and the suburban villas that are so many souvenirs of foreign travel, so many commentaries on history, or so many symptoms of repressed desires--when one considers architecture as a whole, one is conscious of a general dissolution. A divided society, a divided mind--and in consequence a disrupted sense of form.

This article presents studies on school illumination. Researchers show an outline of physical, pathological and physiological effects of light or visible radiation upon the eye. Illumination, vision, and ocular fatigue are important factors in the health of the child and likewise in his school progress. The American Recommended Practice of School Lighting called for a substantial increase in lighting standards. The amount of natural light available in the classroom may depend on weather conditions, architectural design, orientation, fenestration, or by the window blinds used. A majority of the classrooms receive its natural light through windows. The type of glass used and the location and design of the windows are therefore important in illumination.

The article examines the physical environment and special education project of the Council for Exceptional Children in the U.S. The program will attempt to determine the most effective environment for the education and training of exceptional children. The initial activity of the project will be a national survey to identify situations in which design planning and construction are occurring. Furthermore, the survey will also collect information regarding the achievement of educational needs as being potentially facilitated through the use of thoughtfully designed environments. The specific goals of the project includes: (1) the establishment of an effective dialogue between the special educator and architect; (2) the engagement in a delineation of the uses of space in terms of its educational function; (3) the establishment of parameters of flexibility that will permit teachers or children to define their needed educational space; and (4) the development of prototypic educational facilities.