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

Leidy Klotz, behavioral scientist and engineering professor at the University of Virginia, explains the three psychological needs that every space must satisfy, rooted in hunter-gatherer survival. He argues that open-office backlash and return-to-office mandates both fail the same test, ignoring how people actually experience rooms. Klotz shares the phenomenon of habituation—how we stop seeing our surroundings, illustrated by an architecture student who walked past a landmark daily without noticing. He offers simple practices like 'space before screen' to reawaken our perception of physical space. The conversation also touches on designing spaces that honor and keep alive the memory of a loved one.