Robert J Morton
Robert J Morton |
The purpose of shelter is to provide protected environments suitably conditioned to accommodate between them each human activity which must take place in the home and workplace.
To design these environments, we first need to classify all activities according to the conditions and facilities they require. For this purpose we classify each activity according to the following criteria.
1) whether it is solo (normally done by one person alone), group (done by many people together), or one for which either can apply.
2) whether it is specific to a single environment like sleeping, or whether it is common to many environments like cleaning.
3) whether it is mostly mental, mostly physical, or a bit of both.
4) whether it can tolerate noise (it may itself generate the noise), can tolerate a normal noise ambience or needs quietness.
5) whether it needs daylight. Some activities require only the daylight from a wall window. Others, such as needlework and circuit board work, require - or at least benefit from - the better quality of skylight. Creative mental activities like writing and design are enhanced by an inspiring view of landscape or the ocean.
It is now necessary to design some environments to accommodate these activities and provide the facilities they need. Activities which take place at different times may share a single environment which happens to provide the necessary facilities for both.