Environment

The environment is important in regards of promoting social interaction.  The environment has to be able to provide a form of comfort to those that enjoy it and meet the needs for which a person may use it.  People are drawn to an environment by the way it looks, the seating area, its connection to nature and the level of comfort it can provide.  In the following posts, there are examples of sociopetal environments, that promote social interaction as well as sociofugal environments, that inhibit social interaction to occur.

Sociopetal Environment

Sociopetal environment is an environment that promotes social interaction among people because the environment is suitable to do so.   In this type of environment, there are tables and chairs, available room for large amount of people to hang out and a comfortable atmosphere meaning there are wildlife and shade.  In the pictures shown below it is apparent that these environments around UCI are sociopetal environments because there is plenty of room for people to hang out at and there is a lot of room for large groups to meet as well as plants, a park and shade to make it comfortable to be outside.  This makes it a good waiting area for those that are waiting for class to start or those who wish to study in the outdoors.

In the first picture, it can be seen that there is a lot of shade protecting people from the heat and make it a nice place to just talk or wait for class to start.  Also in this picture it can be seen that there is a canopy with tables and benches under it and as you can see the shaded area is crowded with people and the benches that are in the sun are hardly being occupied.  

In the second picture, it is only a hallway but it is a pace where people stop to chat because it enables some form of privacy from passerby because of the walls confining the area and since there is a lot of trees make it a nice shady are to talk under .

In the last picture, there are concrete benches right next to the trees which makes this area a comfortable place to sit for at least a short amount of time because the trees provide some connection to nature and can provide a least a limited amount of shade.  The area also is wide open giving access to the park or to other people that are passing by.

Sociofugal Environment

Sociofugal spaces are spaces that don't promote social interaction, meaning that the environment is not suitable for people to interact or simply doesn't draw people to it.  In the example below, there are pictures of the Informatics and Computer Science Plaza at UCI.  I chose this place to represent a sociofugal space because as seen in the pictures it has a concrete jungle feel to it.  The benches are concrete and don't look all that comfortable to sit at and where they are placed gives off the illusion that you are in a cage since you can't look out to the park or even see people passing by.  This environment keeps social interaction at a minimum because anyone who sits there may only sit momentarily not allowing it to be a good hangout spot.  Also, there is no shade in the area meaning that the seats can and most likely will be hot and those that try to enjoy the space will feel the sun beaming on them and not have protection from umbrellas or shady trees.  Although this is a sociofugal space, the fact that there are plants and wildlife around shows that there is an attempt being made to make the environment more enjoyable or at least more appealing to the observer.