Architecture: Reality Vs Perception

In Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, where does architecture sit?

Abraham Maslow’s was an American psychologist who hypothesised that human needs follow a hierarchy from the most essential required for biological sustenance, to the more psychological that cater for happiness and fulfilment. Unless the most essential needs are met, psychological needs cannot be addressed.

Maslow’s hierarchy of needs are (in ascending order):

1️⃣ physiological needs: food, water, shelter
2️⃣ safety needs: physical and financial security
3️⃣ love and belonging: family, friends and loved ones
4️⃣ esteem: admiration, respect and status
5️⃣ self-actualisation: the ability to be one's true self by being in tune with one's higher values

Where architecture sits in this hierarchy differs between perception and reality: The perception, which is based on the discourse of most architects, is that architectural design caters to the most basic physiological and safety needs; however, the reality is somewhere else: Shelter and infrastructure can be delivered efficiently by builders and engineers without any architectural input; however, architectural design is intimately intertwined with love and belonging, esteem and self-actualisation.

It’s this disconnect between the perception and reality that has sent confused messaging about the role of architectural design in today’s society and today’s economy. Architectural design and architectural marketing lay heavy on utilitarian language to communicate with people:

When architects (and letting agents) talk about workplace, they talk about natural daylight and terraces. When architects discuss housing, they harp on playgrounds and balconies. It’s as if the people these spaces are intended for are animals in a zoo, not complex humans with nuances, complexities, needs and desires. This is akin to car brands describing their cars as vehicles that get you from point A to point B, or fashion brands describing their clothes as simple protection from the elements. But thankfully, other consumer brands are not as austere or as patronising or as joyless, because they reconcile their reality with their perception.

A consumer commodity with utilitarian signalling, architecturally-designed property risks failing to understand and to connect with its target consumer.

Unless the design and marketing model changes.