First published in 1979 in the United States and Canada by the Whitney Library of Design, an imprint of Watson-Guptill Publications. For that small group of anthropologists specializing in the field of engineering anthropometry, without whose expertise, vision and sensitivity to the importance of the human dimension and its relationship to the design process, this book certainly could not have been written.
AUDIOVISUAL SPACES
EPILOGUE E. APPENDIX
It is therefore very useful for the anthropologist to communicate effectively with each of the many experts within the specific framework of their particular planning problems. The real beneficiaries will end up being office workers, young children and the disabled, to name just a few of the many consumer groups with special needs.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
John Fruin, research engineer for the Port of New York and New Jersey Authority and author of Pedestrian Planning and Design;. Not only was her technical skill and ingenuity of the highest quality, but her undying devotion to the development of this project surpassed any human understanding of the term.
PREFACE
To provide the architect and interior designer with a basic understanding of anthropometry and the nature, origin, limitations and appropriate application of the data involved. To provide the architect and interior designer with a source of anthropometric data relevant to the nature of those designs.
INTRODUCTION
Leonardo da Vinci's famous drawing of the human figure, based on the Vitruvian Norm-Man. One represents stature, or the distance from the top of the head to the floor.
HUMAN A
DIMENSION/ANTHROPOMETRICS
1 ANTHROPOMETRIC THEORY
ANTHROPOMETRY
When it is taken into account that the anthropometrist must also be knowledgeable in the field of statistical methodology, the complexity and fatigue of the discipline is underlined even more. For the interior designer, architect and industrial designer, however, it should be clear that the same factors that contribute to the complexity and fatigue of the discipline of anthropometry also require a very careful approach to the application of the data generated.
SOURCES OF DATA
Ross McFarland formerly of the Harvard School of Public Health and Jean Roberts from the United States. All branches of the service have active programs and in many cases will share their data with private sector professionals.
TYPE OF DATA
Interior design students at the Fashion Institute of Technology demonstrate the use of an anthropometer. Similarly, "interpupillary diameter", the distance between the centers of the pupils, will be of much greater value to an optical equipment designer than to an architect.
PRESENTATION OF DATA
The column heights change to show the frequency or number of cases for each interval, while the column widths are the same. A small number of measurements appear at both ends of the scale, but most are clustered in the middle.
PERCENTILES
The graph in Figure 1-15, representing actual data for three individuals, reinforces the mythic aspect of percentile individuals with respect to all body dimensions. If all body dimensions were equivalent to the same percentile, this fact would be shown in a straight horizontal line across the graph.
VARIABILITY AND RELIABILITY
However, a National Center for Health Statistics publication (Hammill et al., 1976) concludes that the secular growth trend seems to have stopped in US children born after 1955-1956.
2 ANTHROPOMETRIC DATA/
APPLICATION
APPROPRIATENESS
It is essential, because of the many variables involved, that the data selected are suitable for the users of the space or furniture to be designed. Therefore, it becomes necessary to properly define the target user population in terms of factors such as age, gender, occupation and ethnicity.
2.2 “AVERAGE MAN” FALLACY
REACH, CLEARANCE, AND ADJUSTABILITY
The committee must allow the design to accommodate at least 90 percent of the user population involved or more. Where possible, however, it is obviously more desirable to accommodate the largest percentage of the user population.
THE HIDDEN DIMENSIONS
The zone selected for use at any given time is based on the nature of the. Under the pretense that their balance would be studied, subjects were instructed to either "walk over to Smith (or a hatrack that was deliberately located in the area) while we check your balance." In reality, however, measurements of the distance left between the subjects and the person or hatrack were taken after they had completed their approach across the room. One of the hypotheses that emerged from the finding was that "an area of personal space appears to surround each individual, which appears to be reproducible and can be considered an immediate 'body buffer zone'." Adapted from Archives of General Psychiatry.
PEOPLE IN MOTION
In applying hard anthropometric data, the designer must somehow reconcile the static nature of the data with the reality of the dynamic aspects of body movements. At the very least, he should be aware of the inherent limitations of the data. Anthropometric space requirements for walking distances are another excellent example of the importance of body movement and its implications in the design process.
RANGE OF JOINT MOTION
The angle formed by two body segments or by one such segment and a vertical or horizontal plane usually determines the joint's range of motion at any given time. The methodologies, devices and techniques required to accurately measure the range of motion of body joints are numerous and range in complexity from a. A study in this regard shows that women generally outperform men in range of joint motion in all joints except the knee.8 The greatest range of joint motion in both sexes is, as might be expected, found among the most slender, while the least range of motion is found among the thickest.
RESTRAINTS
3 ELDERLY AND PHYSICALLY DISABLED PEOPLE
- ELDERLY PEOPLE
- PHYSICALLY DISABLED PEOPLE
- CHAIRBOUND PEOPLE
- AMBULANT DISABLED PEOPLE
The source of the dimensions shown is the American National Standards Institute (ANSI Pub. A117–1961, revalidated 1971). The front view showing the user and the chair also shows some of the more critical anthropometric measurements. The manner, gait and speed of the user are significantly hampered by the use of crutches.
4 ANTHROPOMETRICS OF SEATING
THE DYNAMICS OF SITTING
It becomes clear that the design of seating must allow for the distribution of the body weight supported by the ischial tuberosities over a larger area. It is also clear that the design of the seat should also allow the sitter to change posture when necessary to alleviate discomfort. It has also been argued that the many postures assumed while sitting are attempts to use the body as a leverage system in an attempt to counterbalance the weights of the head and trunk.
ANTHROPOMETRIC CONSIDERATIONS
SEAT HEIGHT
In addition, the soles do not have proper contact with the ground surface, which weakens the stability of the body. In addition, the forward movement of the body will cause the back to slide away from the backrest, depriving the sitter of adequate lumbar support. Anthropometrically, popliteal height (the distance taken vertically from the floor to the underside of the thigh just behind the knee) should be the measurement in the charts used as a reference when determining the correct seat height.
SEAT DEPTH
Anthropometrically, the buttock-popliteal length (the horizontal distance from the posterior surface of the buttock to the back of the lower leg) is the measurement in the tables to be used to determine the correct seat depth. Accordingly, a seat depth of more than about 16 inches (40.6 cm) would simply not suit the very short user, while a seat depth of 17 inches (43.2 cm) for an easy chair would, however, make about 95 percent of chairs can accommodate. all users.
BACKREST
The primary function of the backrest is to provide support to the lumbar region or small portion of the back. There seems to be general agreement that the primary function of the backrest is to provide support for the lumbar region, or small portion of the back (Figure 4-9). Provision should also be made for the necessary clearance to allow room for the protrusion of the buttock area.
ARMRESTS
CUSHIONING
For comfort, Diffrient recommends that an average padded seat has about 1.5 inches or 3.8 cm of medium foam padding over 0.5 inches or 1.3 cm of firm closed-cell padding, or a total of about 2 inches, or 5 .1 cm, with a maximum allowable seat compression of about 1.5 inches.
HUMAN DIMENSION/ B
ANTHROPOMETRIC TABLES
Much of the available data was not originally collected with either the designer or the builder necessarily in mind. In some cases, it was necessary to change the original form of the data so that it could be used more effectively by designers. The following are adjustments suggested for some of the more standard garments and the more significant body dimensions affected.
1 METROLOGICAL ANALYSIS
DESCRIPTION
SOURCE
DEFINITION
APPLICABILITY
CONSIDERATIONS
PERCENTILE SELECTION
The height of the screen should relate to the eye level of the smaller person (5th percentile or less). Sitting height upright is the vertical distance from the seating surface to the top of the head while the person is sitting upright. Eye level is the vertical distance from the inner corner of the eye to the buttocks.
PERCENTILE
Knee height is the vertical distance from the floor to the center of the knee cap. Buttock-knee length is the horizontal distance from the back surface of the buttocks to the front of the kneecaps. Buttock-toe length is the horizontal distance from the back surface of the buttock to the tip of the toe.
2 ADULT MALE AND FEMALE
WEIGHT AND STRUCTURAL BODY DIMENSIONS
3 ADULT MALE AND FEMALE
MISCELLANEOUS STRUCTURAL BODY DIMENSIONS
This table presents some selected structural measurements of men and women not previously included in the scope of Table 2. Airmen, 1950; Hertzberg, Daniels and Churchill, Anthropometry of Air Personnel, 1950, Technical Report No. C Female data: VonCott and Kinkade, Human Engineering Guide to Equipment Design (Washington, D.C.: American Institutes for Research), p. F Data on men and women: Woodson and Conover, Human Engineering Guide for Equipment Designers, 2d ed.
4 ADULT MALE AND FEMALE
FUNCTIONAL BODY DIMENSIONS
Air Force flying personnel, 1967; Churchill, Kikta and Churchill, Aerospace Medical Research Laboratories, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, 1967. C Data Women: Airline Stewardesses, 1971; Snow, Reynolds and Allgood, Anthropometry of Airline Flight Attendants, Department of Transportation, Report No.
5 ADULT MALE AND FEMALE
PROJECTED 1985 BODY DIMENSIONS
