Julius Panero - Human Dimension and Interior Space: A Source Book of Design Reference Standards

BY JULIUS PANERO , AIA, ASID
AND MARTIN ZELNIK , AIA, ASID

WHITNEY LIBRARY OF DESIGN
an imprint of Watson-Guptill Publications/New York

Copyright 1979 by Julius Panero and Martin Zelnik

First published in 1979 in the United States and Canada by Whitney Library of Design, an imprint of Watson-Guptill Publications ,
a Crown Publishing Group ,
a division of Random House Inc., New York
www.crownpublishing.com
www.watsonguptill.com
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Panero, Julius.
Human dimension & Interior space.
Bibliography: p.
Includes Index.
1. ArchitectureHuman factors. 2. Interior decorationHuman factors. 3. AnthropometryTables, etc. I. Zelnik, Martin, 1939
joint author. II. Title.
NA2542.4.P356 1979 729 79-20874
ISBN 0-8230-7271-1

eBook ISBN: 978-0-7704-3460-1
Hardcover ISBN: 978-0-8230-7271-2

Cover design by Roxanne Panero
Edited by Sarah Bodine and Susan Davis
Graphic design by Panero Zelnik Associates: Pamela Kingsbury/Design Director; Susan Chan, Maryellen DiFalco, Elizabeth Petty, Mimi Malamud, Renee Rotolo/Design Staff

All rights reserved.

v3.1

DEDICATION

To that small group of anthropologists specializing in the field of engineering anthropometry, without whose expertise, vision, and sensitivity to the importance of human dimension and its relationship to the design process this book certainly could not have been written.

Over the past 30 years, physical anthropologists have been concerned with the documentation and description of human body size variability and its application to design. A significant problem continues to exist, however, in the communication of such knowledge to the wide variety of potential users, the design community.

The diversity of this group of users is broad, ranging from designers of workspaces such as aircraft cockpits or offices, through pattern makers and clothiers, to designers of respirators and other personal protective equipment. Equally as diverse are the needs of the users. For example, a designer of an office has little use for a dimension such as neck circumference, while a clothier or pattern maker may consider it vital. Furthermore, users often need information about different segments of the population, perhaps about children, coal miners, college students, office workers, factory workers, etc., and each user may require a different type of analysis or data presentation. It is, therefore, extremely helpful for the anthropologist to communicate effectively with each of the many specialists within the specific framework of their particular design problems.

It is thus very gratifying to find that the authors of this book, both experienced professionals in their field, have taken on the complex task of bridging the gap not only by bringing to architects and interior designers much valuable anthropometric information in usable form but, more importantly, by conveying so persuasively the concept that untapped resources of relevant body size information exist and that its use has much potential impact on the improvement of workspace and residential design. In their presentation, the authors strike an excellent balance, avoiding the pitfalls of overwhelming the reader with needless technical complexities and resisting the simple-minded approach which has so often in the past conveyed the mistaken impression that a few tables of summary values will provide the answers to specific design problems.

I have long been an advocate of relating the basic anthropometric data to a specific designers needs, and the authors clear treatment for a special audience is particularly gratifying. The real beneficiaries, ultimately, will be office workers, small children, and handicapped persons, to name but a few of the many consumer groups with specialized needs.

John T. McConville, Ph.D.
Anthropology Research Project, Inc.

Without certain published anthropometric information, this book could not have been written. For this, we would like to express our appreciation to Dr. Howard Stoudt, formerly of the Harvard School of Public Health, and his colleagues, who in conjunction with Jean Roberts of the U.S. Public Health Service prepared a study of the weight, height, and selected body dimensions of adults. This study now constitutes one of the most current and comprehensive sources of published anthropometric data on the civilian population. Our adaptation and metrication of this survey serves as the basis for many of the design reference standards developed in of the book. We would also like to thank Dr. Stoudt, presently a member of the faculty of the department of community health science at Michigan State University, for the additional data he shared with us and for the encouragement he provided during the early stages of the preparation of this book.

With respect to published anthropometric information, we would be remiss in our acknowledgment if we did not mention the three-volume Anthropometric Source Book , brilliantly compiled and edited for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration by Dr. John McConville and his colleagues at the Anthropology Research Project, Inc., Yellow Springs, Ohio.

The Aerospace Medical Research Laboratory, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, has also served as a fountainhead of information. We are indebted to Charles E. Clauser, who is presently responsible for the U.S. Air Forces Anthropometry Program, and his colleagues, Dr. Kenneth Kennedy and Milton Alexander, for their comments and encouragement and for making some of their data available to us.

We would also like to express our appreciation to three distinguished human factors engineers whose stimulating articles and books relating to anthropometry and human factors roused our interest and curiosity in investigating the architectural and interior design applications of anthropometric data: Archie Kaplan, Charles Mauro, and Wesley Woodson.

Finally, we would like to thank Carl P. Mason of the Bio-Engineering Research Laboratory of the Veterans Administration Prosthetics Center; Dr. John Fruin, Research Engineer of The Port of New York and New Jersey Authority and author of Pedestrian Planning and Design ; and Professor Michael Trencher of the School of Architecture, Pratt Institute, for sharing their technical knowledge with us in connection with certain aspects of our research.

On a more personal note, our amazement and gratitude must be expressed to Jamie Panero, the young son of one of the authors, who with the tenacity of purpose of a graduate research assistant helped in gathering data and was responsible for the metrication of much of the data. A special tribute must also be made to a former student of interior design of both authors, Pamela Kingsbury, who has shouldered the major responsibility for the illustrations, graphics, charts, and layouts. Not only has her technical skill and resourcefulness been of the highest quality, but her unending allegiance to the development of this project has transcended any human understanding of the term dedication.