
Why Our Brains Love High Ceilings - prostoalex
http://fastcodesign.com/3043041/evidence/why-our-brains-love-high-ceilings
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MiguelVieira
This was covered in "A Pattern Language" decades ago, under Ceiling Height
Variety:

> the mere fact that the ceiling heights vary, allows people to move from high
> rooms to low rooms, and vice versa, according to the degree of intimacy they
> seek — because they know that everyone correlates intimacy with ceiling
> height.

> According to this theory, the effect of the ceiling height is not direct;
> there is instead a complex interaction between people and space, in which
> people read the different ceiling heights in a building as messages, and
> take up positions according to these messages. They are comfortable or
> uncomfortable according to whether they can take part in this process, and
> can then feel secure in the knowledge that they have chosen a place of
> appropriate intimacy.

~~~
mhomde
"A Pattern language" is such a great book, its' a shame its kinda forgotten by
many these days. Whenever I talk to an architect I ask them if they've read it
and I've yet to get a "yes".

Anyways, highly recommended, if nothing else to get insight in human patterns
regarding living spaces and communities

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cma
If low ceilings were more expensive than high ceilings, and photos/videos of
creative people in their high-end design studios working on marketing
campaigns, feature film, graphic design, and photography were always in low-
ceiling'ed spaces rather than wide open exposed beam converted warehouses,
etc. that we see today, the study might observe the opposite effect. And the
same article might be written saying low ceilings are better for creativity
because they are cozy and bring potent genetic memories of the kind of small
hand built shelters early humanity evolved with.

Probably not, but just a thought.

~~~
Cloudy
An architect once told me that low ceilings are desirable in certain parts of
homes because they give a very comforting, secure presence.

High ceilings do feel better for group and work spaces, room to breath.

[0] an actual anecdote that happened to me.

~~~
picks_at_nits
Frank Lloyd Wright used low ceilings in entranceways so that the house would
“open up” as you walked into it.

~~~
design-of-homes
_"...so that the house would “open up” as you walked into it."_

This is a well-known effect that architects have employed for centuries. In
fact, you probably encounter it in many places without even thinking about it:

\- when walking into a cinema auditorium, you walk through a low-ceiling
entrance or corridor and then the auditorium space opens up in front of you.
This effect is even more dramatic in some old theatres and opera houses

\- the historic concept of contrasting spaces has been used in many different
ways by changing the type of space or the size/scale of a space. For example,
the narrow streets of a medieval town that suddenly and dramatically open up
to a large market square.

The Swiss architect Le Corbusier designed a block of flats (apartments) called
the Unité d'habitation (housing unit) in Marseille in France. It was completed
in the 1950s and had a huge influence on the design of post-war housing across
Europe (it generated much controversy too).

The duplex flats have a narrow width of just 3.66 metres. As you enter the
flat, the first ceiling height is 2.26 metres (which Le Corbusier described as
"intimate"). This leads into the double-height space of the living room (i.e.
the second ceiling height). The windows in this double-height space are 15
square metres. Light floods in to the apartment in winter and summer and,
according to Le Corbusier, can penetrate to a depth of 20 metres. The flats
are fitted with stairs without risers to accentuate the sense of space.

Here are some pictures of an apartment:
[https://www.flickr.com/photos/88017382@N00/8562877755/](https://www.flickr.com/photos/88017382@N00/8562877755/)
[http://www.house42.com/2010/10/14/unite-dhabitation-
duplex-a...](http://www.house42.com/2010/10/14/unite-dhabitation-duplex-
apartment-firminy/)

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nullc
Oh it has FMRI results.

I wonder what dead salmon think of high ceilings? (
[http://prefrontal.org/files/posters/Bennett-
Salmon-2009.pdf](http://prefrontal.org/files/posters/Bennett-Salmon-2009.pdf)
)

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empressplay
One of the things I loved about moving to Australia was all of the houses with
10 or 12 foot ceilings. I live in a place with 12 foot ceilings now and I love
it. I definitely find I feel more calm and relaxed.

~~~
danieltillett
These are almost only ever found in old houses (pre 1970). The reason for high
ceilings is cooling - Australia in general is a pretty warm place and cooling
is ever a problem. I live in a property that was built in 1929 and it has 11
foot ceiling and is cool enough in summer that I don’t have air conditioning.

After 1970 the regulations were changed and all the houses were built with 8
foot ceilings to save money. I hate these low ceilings as they feel totally
oppressive.

~~~
ars
> 8 foot ceilings to save money.

Does that really save all that much money? Seems like it would be only a
percent or two extra.

~~~
prawn
When I built a new house with a plan builder (3BR + home office), the cost to
go from the default 2400mm (8') ceilings to 2700mm (9') was just under AU$10k.

~~~
ars
That seems extremely high.

Did he give you a breakdown of what cost more? Or was it just that it was
nonstandard?

Did you do it?

~~~
prawn
When you're building a new house and have largely progressed things with a
particular project builder, everything is extremely high. There are no
breakdowns. And it's not just non-standard, just an expected upgrade, of which
there were many no sane person would avoid - premium bench tops, better
windows, etc. This was $10k in the context of a $200-250k house build.

I grew up in a house with 10' ceilings (most heritage houses in Australia are
10'+).

Yes, there was no question at any point that we were going to do it. Lower
ceilings here make a house feel cheap and nasty, so I was thinking of resale
value as well as my sanity.

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agumonkey
Is it the ceiling or the closed environment ? As a kid I loved to be tucked in
the smallest space, it felt like a nest (some times, very weirdly, I even
fantasized about sleeping in a big drawer, inside a cupboard). All dimensions
mattered. Would people relax in a low ceiling with a very very long (or large
or both) room ?

Ceilings bring me to our relationship with verticality. We don't experience
large vertical dimensions the same way we do with horizontal ones. IIRC system
theorists argued we were wired differently to perceive dimensions because of
gravity.

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err4nt
My dad isnt a giant, but he's 6‘4“ and he sometimes feels the need to duck
when going through doorways. I'm not as tall as him, but watching him
reflexively stoop below obstacles hanging from the ceiling has made me think
around headroom a lot.

Headroom and legroom were also deciding factors in every single car purchase
we ever made. What good is a car you dont fit into?

~~~
xahrepap
I'm 6'7". I would say I like tall ceilings because I'm sick of hitting my head
on chandeliers and ceiling fans. :)

The funny thing is, I've noticed it doesn't matter how tall the ceilings are,
but they always screw up the stairways in homes. I always have to duck to go
down stairs. My house has 8 1/2 foot ceilings in the basement. I have to duck
just as much as I do in houses with shorter ceilings. Or so it seems.

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danieltillett
What I find more interesting given how much people love high ceilings why they
won’t pay the extra cost of having them? What is stopping the market supplying
what people want?

~~~
Spooky23
Low ceilings in nice houses started in the 70s when energy costs went up and
building styles changed to boxy, "sealed" environments. Low ceilings are more
efficient from an HVAC POV.

People like high ceilings, but it's a "nice to have" for most people. Also
that like changes from time to time -- in the 80s, old buildings with high
ceilings were looked down upon.

Also, new construction costs have escalated so much that new homes are
stripped to the bone in most cases. Your $500k house will have a $50 "builder
grade" faucet, for example.

~~~
danieltillett
In Australia it has created houses that did not need AC to houses that are
unliveable without AC.

I know in my area a property with high ceilings will sell for a premium over
one with low ceiling. It is really interesting to see this effect in
properties built around the change over time where the older property is 5%
more expensive than a similar property a few years younger but with low
ceilings.

~~~
Spooky23
The way we do certain things is pure madness.

Commercial buildings are the same way. I had the pleasure of working in a
refurbished school converted into offices... Being able to open a window in a
room with 15' ceilings was amazing.

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wrongc0ntinent
Always thought there might be an evolutionary link to preference for literal
headroom. Won't speculate which direction a study on this might go, but there
are plenty of reasons to suspect a link.

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ttty
Now relationate the ceiling height in countries with something like
creativity, open mind...

