Home Cooking

For decades, designers have quizzed clients about their lifestyles, their needs and wants, and their wish lists. But, now, that may not be enough. Designers may need to be delving even deeper, tapping into their clients' psyches to decipher the emotions behind their clients' behaviors and choices.

Presenters at the NKBA's Masterclass Conference, held in San Francisco in June, offered advice on how to do just that.

"Design is the power to alter," noted Johnny Grey, principal of Johnny Grey Studios in London and San Francisco, CA. "As designers, we need to give pleasure to function."

To that end, designers need to go beyond the basics of feelings. Emotionally intelligent designers understand the reasons why certain things give pleasure. Hard-wired responses, cultural influences and the desire for a personal experience are a few of the reasons, and all will impact kitchen design.

Brain Power

The science of emotions – and the impact the environment has on those emotions – was the topic addressed by John Zeisel, Ph.D., president, Hearthstone Alzheimer Care in Woburn, MA. According to Zeisel, the brain controls a person's behavior, which feeds back to the brain, modifying who that person is. The environment in which that person lives dictates that behavior.

Studies note that architectural design changes our brain and our behavior, reported Zeisel. "That's the power that you have in your hands when you're working with clients," he observed.

"As a designer, you can either meet perceived user needs, or you can understand the user's brain and how the environment affects it, and design for that," said Zeisel.

Neuroscience shows that a positive physical environment has the ability to release endorphins in the brain, he remarked.

According to Zeisel, there are eight characteristics of place that touch the brain. They are where:

• You feel safe, secure and free.
• You understand what is expected of you socially.
• You are able to withdraw on occasion and unwind.
• You have a destination and enjoy getting there.
• You have contact with nature.
• You're supported and comfortable in everything you do.
• You can celebrate your achievements.
• You don't have to struggle to understand your surroundings.

Zeisel noted that Hearthstone incorporates these characteristics when designing for people with Alzheimer's disease because, while it's easy to help people stay healthy and functional, it's hard to give them a sense of self. "Good design that's done through their brains and [gets] into their behaviors is a way to give people their selves back, and they'll have a much deeper sense of comfort in the environment."

Zeisel also noted the importance of the hearth, which can be used in the kitchen environment.

"Our designed environment, which is used as a major treatment to reduce the symptoms of Alzheimer's, is based on the concept that the hearth (kitchen) is a hard-wired memory," explained Zeisel. "We use this to calm people. When patients are in the kitchen, they know how to behave – they ask for a cup of coffee. They know where they are when they're there."

He believes this instinctive reaction to the hearth is a hard-wired response in the brain, much like the hard-wired response in birds that fly south for the winter.

Among other hard-wired brain responses Zeisel cited are smiles and frowns; feelings about greenery and trees; response to a mother's touch; music; and hugs. "It's not by chance that when we give each other hugs; those endorphins are working. It's a hard-wired connection," Zeisel emphasized.

By understanding neuroscience and its connection to the environment, Zeisel concluded that designers can reduce stress and many other things that make people sick by the way they design kitchens.

A Room with No Name

Many architects and designers are still designing houses based on a 300- to 400-year-old model, according to Johnny Grey. The concept is based on an old idea, "where women had a series of small rooms to carry out activities," Grey noted. In addition, smaller rooms provided easier heating from fireplaces, a concept that all but vanished with the advent of central heating.