Campus Analysis

1. I observed Hoben lounge area in Hoben hall at Kalamazoo College. The purpose is to have a place to sit and do homework as well as a hangout spot to meet with friends. I made my observation on Sunday at 930.

2a. The area looked as if it was unorganized but it works for the style of the room. There are two fire places on either side of the hall and two entrances. There is a doorway that leads to the kitchen and that is the only way to get to the kitchen. The room is well lit so everyone can see what they are working on or who they are talking to.

b. There is a lot of seating and different types of seating. There are many couches and chairs in the lounge. The good thing about all of the seating is that it is movable so it is ideal. You do not have to worry about if you are having a group conversation and someone else wants to join in, they can just pull up a chair. There are some tables to do homework on. There are two types of chairs, one type goes with the tables to do you homework on and the other type is a relaxing chair.

c. There were a lot of people in there around the time I was in there doing all sorts of things. There were a group of people talking and eating pizza on the couches near the kitchen. On the other side of the room there were three or four people reading and doing other kinds of homework.

d. The floors are mostly carpeted and nice to look at and walk on.

e. The sound level was kind of at two extremes. When I was by the kids with the pizza it was loud and they were all talking. As I moved to the other side of the of the room the noise level dropped and it was easier to read and do homework.

f. The materials used to build this place is brick, carpet, wall paper.

3. This area projects a relaxing feel. The area displays this by having the two fire places. There are big comfortable couches in there that can be moved to where you want them. It is nice that the room does not have to be perfectly organized because it is not that type of room. I am almost positive that this is the image that the school wanted to project to the students but at the same time the room has a sort of fancy feel so when it is cleaned up and organized it looks great.

4. People interact with each other and their surroundings well. Everyone talks to everyone and it is a great place to meet new people because if you sit in there you almost have to meet new people. I think that is a good thing for a lounge to do because it is a great place to meet people.

5. I find the design of this place interesting because during the day and in the afternoon when people other than students are around this place can look so elegant and nice. If you look at this place at night it is a whole different place. I think it is a very important to have a room that is both elegant and relaxed.