Off hand I cannot quote where I found it, but I remember seeing a post where it was stated that having artwork of certain variety would help "inspire" you when crafting or researching.

I imagine its easier to blow glass in a room full of examples of glass bottles for example, although that parts partial conjecture. Would make the same sense that if you work with wood in a forest versus say a noblemans study you gain an equivalent boost.

To add some examples that occurred to me

Would being in an a hot environment. Say an arid desert or near an active volcano. Would that ambiant temperature increase make it easier to smelt ore and\or to heat up the ingots for making components.

Would being in a cold environment such as the tundra or deep in a cave system have the opposite effect? making it harder to heat up the metal and\or it cool off faster while you are pounding it on the anvil.