Spaces That Make People Lower Their Voices Without Realizing Why

Some spaces ask for quiet without ever requesting it. No signs are posted. No instructions are given. Yet voices drop almost immediately. Laughter shortens. Words arrive more carefully, as if volume itself might violate something unseen. The adjustment happens faster than thought. A sentence begins at one level and finishes at another. People often do …

Movement and Pause at Architectural Corners

Some corners slow people down without asking permission. Others feel like narrow passages, even when they are physically wide. The difference is rarely noticed consciously, yet behavior adjusts almost immediately. A step shortens. A pause appears. Or it doesn’t. Movement continues, uninterrupted, as if stopping there would be inappropriate. Corners are not just intersections of …