What shape and colour apartment?

Kleeman and Foster’s study of the implications of spending extended periods of time in home apartments during the COVID-19 lockdowns are fairly predictable:  “Compared to the pre-pandemic period, after the lockdown residents reported less satisfaction with the amount/layout of their apartment space and private open space (e.g., balconies or courtyards). Increased noise annoyance from indoor and outdoor noise sources was also reported, however disputes with neighbours decreased. . . . Findings suggest an increased ‘dose’ of the apartment facilitated by stay-at-home orders negatively influenced residents’ apartment perceptions. Design strategies that maximise spacious, flexible dwelling layouts with health-promoting elements (e.g., enhanced natural light/ventilation and private open space) are recommended to promote healthy and restorative living environments for apartment residents.”

Alexandra Kleeman and Sarah Foster. 2023. “’It Feels Smaller Now’: The Impact of the COVID-19 Lockdown on Apartment Residents and Their Living Environment – A Longitudinal Study.”  Journal of Environmental Psychology, vol. 89, 102056, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvp.2023.102056

Space-Shape Links

Zelazny, Liu, and Sorensen “report data from 7,517 Danish individuals, using a free choice full color wheel for five different geometrical shapes. We find significant shape–hue associations for circle-red/yellow, triangle-green/yellow, square-blue, and pentagon/hexagon-magenta. The significant shape–hue associations are also more saturated than non-significant ones for the circle, triangle, and square. At the conceptual level, basic shapes, which show stronger associations, are linked to primary colors, and non-basic shapes to secondary colors.”

Aurore Zelazny, Xun Liu, and Thomas Sorensen. 2023. “Shape-Color Associations in an Unrestricted Color Choice Paradigm.”  Frontiers in Psychology, vol. 14, https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1129903