CHROMATIC PERCEPTION AND EVALUATION OF OFFICE WORKSPACES

Abstract

Seeking to relate knowledge from Environmental Aesthetics to the Ergonomics of the Built Environment, and being in favor of project guidelines that consider color in office environments, this article presents a research which aimed at evaluating the perceived chromatic quality in office work environments. To this end, it took into account the characteristics of coherence (achieved through reductions in contrast) and complexity. The empirical investigation, designed using Facet Theory, employed the Multiple Sorting Procedure to collect data from 49 specialists and 49 non-specialists in environmental design, which was then analyzed using the multidimensional Similarity Structure Analysis (SSA), with the aid of the computer program HUDAP (Hebrew University Data Analysis Package). The empirical results showed that an office workspace with medium contrast (medium coherence) and moderate complexity is related to perceived chromatic quality. In addition, the results revealed a partial consensus among the social groups addressed.