CREATIVE PLACES:

1. CREATIVE PLACES: Articulating the Pleasure-Arousal Hypothesis Janetta Mitchell McCoy Debarati Majumdar Narayan Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona, USA IAPS 2004 Vienna, Austria

2. Creative Team Places Highly Creative Teams • Control = govern workspace with own rules • Meaning = display evidence of previous creativity • Opportunity = task support McCoy, 2000; 2004

3. Creative Learning Environments Question Is there a relationship between affective appraisal of a place and the extent to which that place supports or hinders creativity? Three phases • Unusual Uses of a Brick Test • Affective appraisal of places • Collage-making Majumdar Narayan, 2004

4. Creative Learning Environments Findings • Places rated pleasant – increase in creativity score • Places rated unpleasant – decrease in creativity score Majumdar Narayan, 2004

5. The Questions • Where do you PREFER to go to reach your highest level of creative thinking? • Where do you AVOID going if you need to reach your highest level of creative thinking?

6. The Sample - Support

7. The Sample - Barrier

8. Russell – Lanius Model

9. Three-dimensional Model High Dominance Not Arousing Pleasant Unpleasant Arousing Low Dominance

10. Analysis Arousing HD HD LD LD Unpleasant Pleasant HD HD LD LD Not Arousing

11. Statistical Findings Support Barrier

12. Place and Age Support Barrier

13. Place and Gender Support Barrier

14. Place and Major Support Barrier

15. Places Support Barrier High dominance, Not-arousing, Pleasant Low dominance, Arousing, Unpleasant “A semi-covered area looking over a garden or a water body with a chair and a table”. (M, 28, Building Design) “I’m least likely to be creative in a static environment, like a classroom that is always the same….” (F, 19, Interior Design)

16. Places Support Barrier High dominance, Arousing, Pleasant Low dominance, Not-arousing, Unpleasant “When my environment creates an emotion or feeling in me”. (M, 34, Interior Design) “I definitely cannot go to the mall or shopping centers if I need to be creative”. (F, 27, Design Practitioner)

17. Places Support Barrier High dominance, Arousing, Pleasant Low dominance, Not-arousing, Unpleasant “Usually in transition from one place to another where I can think both subconsciously and consciously – walking from place to place”. (F, 30, Researcher) “In my office….any time”. (M, 57, Design Practitioner)

18. Places Support Barrier High dominance, Not-arousing, Pleasant Low dominance, Arousing, Pleasant “In my car, parked at the beach with the windows down so I can hear the waves, feel the breeze and smell the ocean”. (F, 47, Non-Designer) “When I’m indulging myself with some good food”. (F, 21, Interior Design)

19. Places Support Barrier High dominance, Arousing, Pleasant Low dominance, Not-arousing, unpleasant “Sitting with one or a small group of people, somewhere comfortable, discussing the topic in question and bouncing ideas back and forth…”. (F, 20, Architecture) “At lunch with Mom”. (F, 40, Researcher)

20. Places Support Barrier High dominance, Arousing, Pleasant Low dominance, Arousing, Unpleasant “Coffee shop – lots of people; natural light; seats; large tables; plants; not alone; soft music; creative/ enthusiastic people...uncontrolled”. (M, 32, Design Practitioner) “Alone in a library with no ventilation under fluorescent lights and uncomfortable seating/table”. (M, 36, Design Practitioner)

21. Places Support Barrier High dominance, Not-arousing, Pleasant Low dominance, Not-arousing, unpleasant “On the ‘John’”. (M, 58, Researcher) “On the street; noisy; traffic jam…” (F, 25, Design Practitioner)

22. Places Support Barrier High dominance, Arousing, Pleasant Low dominance, Arousing, Unpleasant “Alone, usually riding my horse”. (F, 18, Non-designer) “On an escalator, going down” (F, 47, Design Practitioner)

23. Conclusions Creative places are: • Highly pleasant • Moderately arousing • Affords high dominance • Uncreative places are: • Unpleasant • Non-arousing or too arousing • Affords low dominance