Reading interior space: examining the relationship between actual enclosure and perceived enclosure

Past research in spatial psychology has demonstrated that some spatial and environmental properties can positively influence human emotions and senses. For example, spaces with access to day-light and those with views of nature have been traced to enhanced psychological wellbeing. While architectural designers have used such results to argue for the positive psychological impact of specific interior spatial and formal configurations, there is limited evidence that people can correctly assess the most basic properties of an interior space. This paper presents the results of an empirical study that investigates correlations between geometric spatial properties and perceptual responses to interiors. For this study, 159 participants rated 24 virtual interiors on a 7-point-Likert scale in terms of various proper-ties of these interiors. In this paper the survey results for perceived en-closure, are compared with the actual physical properties of the space that are associated with enclosure. Then, the impacts of demographic features on these results are considered.