Can physical space increase creativity? The answer is an ambiguous yes and no. There are many examples of physical environments completely lacking inspiration yet the organisational culture allows creative action to take place. The ‘skunkworks’ concept in which a team of brilliant engineers and scientists create revolutionary aircraft in a dingy back room. In these instances the right balance of motivation, ability and domain knowledge drive creativity. Equally environments are designed with all the right elements of light, colour and stimulating visual objects and images yet as creative as a straight jacket.
Some of histories great thinkers have created environments and conditions to stimulate their thinking. Proust worked in a cork-lined room. Mahler wrote his music in a tiny cottage in the middle of a meadow. During the Roaring twenties many noted writers and artists believed that Paris to be the only city worth living in. Dickens turned his bed and writing desk to face north, believing himself to be enabled by the magnetic forces. Schiller favoured the scent of fermenting apples.
Stanford University professor Robert McKim built the ‘Imaginarium’, a geodesic dome where design students lie about on floor cushions. They are treated to a controlled sensory experience that consists of pictures and colours, which flash on the wall, sound effects, frequencies and music. Vibrations and rhythm are felt through the floor, and odours are piped in through the ventilation system. This stimulates mental imagery, freeing the imagination to let it roam and experience what it may. A multi-sensory environment, using natural or full spectrum light, colour, smell, sound, visually stimulating images, objects and associations will stimulate creative thinking.
The cultural space
A creative space will not solve the problem of uncreative thinking but it will help to focus attention and stimulate the mind. In order to really stimulate creativity the most important factor is that the organisation must value creativity. Once the value of creativity is acknowledged by the leaders and passed throughout the organisation then a creative culture will be established. The ideal culture will stimulate to both intrinsic motivation, from inside the person and extrinsic motivation, derived from the external environment. These types of motivation are achieved through a flexible culture that is seen as belonging to and supports the needs of users. This is combined with an attractive and stimulating space, rewards and recognition.
Adams 1987 identifies a number of environmental blocks to organisational creativity. The majority require management strategies to implement. An autocratic leader, who only values their ideas or does not support initiatives to bring ideas into action then fails to or uses inappropriate rewards and is overly bureaucratic. A focus on building an appropriate organisational culture encourages creativity. Responsibility for creating a positive culture lies throughout an organisation through actions like overcoming a lack of trust, respect and co-operation between colleges, avoiding distractions, critical evaluation of others. The final element creating a stimulating physical space should be easy for all designers apart from minimalist style fascists responsible for the mind-numbing monotony in many “clean and simple” white box interiors currently fashionable, such spaces are the death knell for stimulating creativity.
Creating a positive creative environment requires thought being given to simple management strategies like; Choosing stimulating people who want to share ideas, the freedom to take the initiative, providing the challenge and motivation to achieve personal growth, good project management and inclusive communication using a range of methods, sufficient resources, encouragement and recognition from colleagues and bosses, a collaborative atmosphere where egomaniacs are locked in sealed rooms and individual strengths and weaknesses are recognised. A creative culture will tolerate mistakes and use them as a means of reflection and learning.
This is not to say that we should accept the laws of the politically correct thought police as conflict and healthy debates backed up by the willingness to take risks will tease a truly creative solution into reality. This process requires trust and openness so you feel safe in sharing your ideas. An organisation that enjoys playfulness and a sense of humour will create a relaxed atmosphere in which ideas are much more likely to flow. Alternatively the installation of a games room containing a diversity of activities for mental and physical stimulation will be a safe environment to look for and chase ideas. Recognition that idea time which may involve activities that on the surface appear to be unproductive like staring into space or going for a walk must become necessary. Creativity takes time and needs to be regarded as a long term journey and investment in yourself and your organisation.. Once ideas are being discussed idea support needs to be provided. Ideas should not be dictated by research because great ideas usually come from inspiration. Even the best ideas are doomed if time and money are not available for effective development”
The physical space
Once organisational culture has been established the elements of a creative space can be implemented. The primary consideration for the designer is to appeal to all the senses and provide an environment that appeals both directly and also subconsciously. Allow flexibility so individuals each with different learning and personality styles can adapt the space to suit individual idiosyncrasies.
A creative space will support creative collaboration to the degree that it attracts teamwork. Open spatial layouts facilitate open communication and integrate disciplines which make collaboration and cross pollination much easier. Spaces should be inclusive and non hierarchical. Areas that enable group social interaction to take place and have a variety of colour, atmospheres and sense of fun. Research by Steelcase found that 80% of creative ideas happened in informal areas and assign 70% of their corporate headquarters to informal space. Promoting creativity in the workplace usually involves tearing down walls be they mental, physical, operational or political.
Furnishings need to be flexible with the possibility for reconfiguration to change with projects and staff. Provide lots of work surfaces and seating that encourages postural variation like reclining, lying, squatting and sprawling. Get out and about, sitting behind a desk behind a pile of paper and computer screen is possibly the worst place for creativity the size of their ideas being directly in proportion to their cubicle. Furnishings can be used to create a feeling of being comfortably disoriented by challenging expectations, they need to wake up the brain not send it to sleep and shout out collaboration.
Lighting, should be plentiful and preferably natural or at least full spectrum. Full spectrum lighting has been shown in studies to help calm the brain, and nervous system, reduce fatigue and eyestrain.
Temperature should be set at between 18 and 21 degrees C preferably slightly on the cool side with lots of fresh air, this will help retain mental and physical alertness during the day. The addition of an Ioniser will eliminate positive ions which are attributed to many airbourne diseases and poor performance.
Colour choice needs to be undertaken with care as the effects upon the human psyche can be powerful, generally, warm colours will excite and cool colours will relax and calm. Colour therapy claims colours affect the mind and body in different ways.
| Red | Symbol of life, strength and vitality, powerful, energising and stimulating. |
| Orange | Symbol of feminine energy, joy and happiness. |
| Yellow | Symbol of the mind and intellect, inspiring and stimulating. |
| Green | Colour of balance, harmony and sympathy. |
| Blue | Symbolises inspiration, peace and tranquillity, creates space and expansion. |
| Indigo | Helps broaden the mind, free of fears and inhibitions. |
| Violet | Relates to spirituality, self respect, insight and inspiration. Many great musicians, poets and painters write that their greatest inspiration comes from predominantly violet environments. |
| Magenta | Enables us to let go of ideas and thought patterns |
In terms of stimulating the brain both alert and relaxed states are necessary for different parts of the creative process therefore some colour variation is necessary. Walls should contain stimulation ideally a constantly changing range of images, pictures and quotations.
The effects of music have recently been shown to have a significant effect upon the brain. The so called Mozart effect (Cambel (1997) finds music containing a specific beat and frequency increases performance in visual and spatial tests. We all know that different music will excite us make is romantic, sad or sleepy. With this awareness different types of music can effectively accompany different parts of the creative process. Use lively, fun music to energise during the initial warm up and slow high frequency music like Mozart violin concertos during idea generating and thinking sessions. The book “tune your brain by Elizabeth Miles provides extensive discographies for selecting music appropriate to mood and task.
Providing a space for employees with lots of puzzles especially of the three dimensional kind like Rubik’s cube and their many variation, games and fun objects creates an environment where fun and humour is encouraged as well as much needed visual stimulation. When puzzles and games are interspaced with creative thinking they provide the opportunity to turn off the mind and allow the subconscious to take over the problem solving process, make work seem much more fun and utilise the kinaesthetic senses.