The 3 Things Every Room You Live In Must Have to Be Okay | Leidy Klotz

Most of us think the biggest decision about a room is whether it's functional. Leidy Klotz thinks that's the wrong question, and the right one changes how a desk, a kitchen, or an entire return-to-office policy actually lands on the person living inside it.Leidy Klotz is a behavioral scientist and engineering professor at the University of Virginia who studies how and why humans design. His research has appeared in Nature and Science, and he's been interviewed everywhere from Hidden Brain to Freakonomics to The Atlantic. Before any of that, he spent 22 years as a professional soccer player and then built schools for a living, which is part of why his take on space is so physical and so lived-in.In this conversation, you'll explore:The three psychological needs that every space either feeds or starves, and why they trace straight back to hunter-gatherer survivalWhy Susan Cain's open-office backlash and today's return-to-office mandates are the same failure wearing different clothesThe strange, well-documented phenomenon of "habituation," including the story of an architecture student who walked past a six-story landmark building for years without ever seeing itA simple practice called "space before screen," and why the top of a parking garage might be the cheapest awe you'll ever findWhat it means to build a space that keeps someone's memory alive, drawn from one of the most personal stories Leidy has ever told on a podcastIf you've ever felt something shift the moment you walked into a certain room and couldn't say why, this conversation gives you the language for it.You can find Leidy at: Website | LinkedIn | Episode TranscriptNext week, we're sitting down with Chris Guillebeau to talk about why the anxious feeling that you're running out of time might be less about your calendar and more about a story you've never questioned. Be sure to follow Good Life Project wherever you get your podcasts so you don't miss any upcoming episodes!Check out our sponsors and resources: Visit Our Sponsor Page Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.