A study of the influence of architectural atmosphere on behavioural culture

Atmosphere, the pervasive yet elusive soft space that resonates with our senses, is known to effect the way we feel about a space, the self and others. Winston Churchill famously observed ‘we shape our buildings, and afterwards, our buildings shape us’. Yet, despite a recognised influence on everyday lives, Boch (2014) reminds us that this phenomenon isn't always consciously recognised and we
may not be aware of the positive or negative impact the built environment has on us. So it becomes pertinent to investigate atmosphere in order to better understand the correspondence between spaces and people. The More London Estates in London, UK, is an example of uncompromising design where the spectacle of architecture and the culture of an ideology appear to shape human experiences. It offers a distinctive atmospheric encounter and this project puts forward a set of evaluative methods to investigate how design decisions within the site contribute to the formation of atmosphere and how atmosphere affects behaviour. The interest of the fieldwork, situated at the boundaries between spatial and ethnographic practices, lies in its ability to illustrate the elusive, to delineate atmospheric conditions and corresponding behavioural culture.