Interdisciplinary Approaches For Uncovering The Impacts Of Architecture On Collective Behaviour

Keywords

Architecture; Collective behaviour; Nest; Network science; Space syntax; Team cognition

Abstract

Built structures, such as animal nests or buildings that humans occupy, serve two overarching purposes: shelter and a space where individuals interact. The former has dominated much of the discussion in the literature. But, as the study of collective behaviour expands, it is time to elucidate the role of the built environment in shaping collective outcomes. Collective behaviour in social animals emerges from interactions, and collective cognition in humans emerges from communication and coordination. These collective actions have vast economic implications in human societies and critical fitness consequences in animal systems. Despite the obvious influence of space on interactions, because spatial proximity is necessary for an interaction to occur, spatial constraints are rarely considered in studies of collective behaviour or collective cognition. An interdisciplinary exchange between behavioural ecologists, evolutionary biologists, cognitive scientists, social scientists, architects and engineers can facilitate a productive exchange of ideas, methods and theory that could lead us to uncover unifying principles and novel research approaches and questions in studies of animal and human collective behaviour. This article, along with those in this theme issue aims to formalize and catalyse this interdisciplinary exchange. This article is part of the theme issue ‘Interdisciplinary approaches for uncovering the impacts of architecture on collective behaviour’.

Publication Date

8-19-2018

Publication Title

Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences

Volume

373

Issue

1753

Document Type

Article

Personal Identifier

scopus

DOI Link

https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2017.0232

Socpus ID

85049364990 (Scopus)

Source API URL

https://api.elsevier.com/content/abstract/scopus_id/85049364990

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