In my last blog post, I talked about the directional concept of “Top and Bottom,” which does not apply if there is no gravity. Link: https://archinect.com/JLBlog/new-perspective-in-architecture-design. In other words, gravitational force gives the ability to sense or feel the direction to the people; for example, people can say which direction is up and down while closing their eyes. Without this sense of direction, the human brain does not function well. However, in the international space station, all the crew members live under micro-gravity, so they actually do not get any directional sense. This lack of directional sensecauses the reorientation illusion, which gives disorientation, confusion, and nausea to crew members.

The one architectural solution to help ISS crew members to get a directional sense is the layout of the interior lights. On Earth, natural light always comes down from the sky, and the human brain recognizes the light source, which is Sun in this case, as the top. Interior lights in ISS are installed on the same plane of the wall, and this plane refers to a ceiling or top direction for crew members. All the equipment is placed with this artificial directional sense, which helps astronauts have visual directional sense. This solution does not give any actual directional sense that people can feel with their sensory cells, but it provides psychological effects to the people living in it.

The field of science that explores how does surrounding environment impact human mental health, behavior, effectiveness, and attitude is known as environmental psychology. For example, research has proven that installing a sink within the visible stretch of a hospital corridor can encourage people to wash their hands. Environmental psychology will be the most important feature during the space exploration age. Astronauts have to stay in the most isolated place for a long time, and the resident of the future Mars colony will mostly stay indoor space. Without understanding the architectural effects on human psychology, it would be merely impossible to build a habitable place in the near future.