A Social Science of Architecture:

As such, some systematic data collection could have a considerable impact on this field. Do corridors or suites make the faculty and students produce and learn more? Does vertical circulation work as well as horizontal? Should we put faculty in close proximity to others working on the same projects or should we maximize interdisciplinary adjacencies? Which types of floor plans increase interaction? Which types of interaction produce the most knowledge created, generated, and preserved? Do we want to build buildings that encourage doors to be kept open, so as to make the faculty seem approachable or should we try to keep doors closed so that they can get work done? In this field as in most others, a great deal can be learned by directly measuring the relevant outcome variable; in architecture, quite remarkably, this has only rarely been attempted.