An application of proxemics to restaurant interiors: tabletop cooking and its implications for the millennial user
Joshua Edward Kassing · 2016
This study is an investigation into the relationship between tabletop cooking and designed restaurant interiors, attempting to better understand how Edward T. Hall's notion of proxemic theory might involve itself as a significant proponent in the recent growth of this restaurant typology, specifically for millennial users. In order to investigate this concept, a multi-method research approach has been implemented that attempts to examine current restaurant preferences of millennial users, current tabletop cooking culture, and its current relationship to proxemics; ultimately identifying the commonalities that might explain a significant correlation between these entities. The purpose in conducting this study is essentially two fold. First, analyzing the current context in which tabletop restaurants exist. This means understanding the existing conditions that define tabletop cooking facilities as a typology and place, in addition to investigating what they might look like in the future. Second, introducing proxemic theory as a framework for analyzing millennial user behavior and preferences within this context. As a continuation and expansion of both the analyses, interior design implications will be discussed as a means of indicating how this data might impact the future of restaurant design. This study employs mainly qualitative research methods to determine the relationship between the analyzed topics, gathered in a rather heuristic manner.