Visibility and Permeability Complementary Syntactical Attributes of Wayfinding (original) (raw)
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Complementary Syntactical Attributes of Wayfinding
The paper investigated the process of spatial cognition through wayfinding taking into account the distinction between visibility and permeability relations. The study analyzed the Pinacoteca Art Museum in São Paulo by Paulo Mendes da Rocha, whose interior presents several visible but not permeable relations. Whereas permeability relations have been described using axial and convex maps, visual relations have been described using visibility graphs and overlapped isovists. Syntactical attributes of the spatial configuration have been measured, and a new correlation has been proposed. Different paths departing from the entrance have been and analyzed combining syntactical attributes and the visual information for the understanding of the configuration. The study has shown some evidence about the influence of visual information to the intelligibility of spatial configurations, suggesting the need for a methodological differentiation between visibility and permeability relations in wayf...
Museums, as substantial cultural environments, structure and affect human perception, navigation and movement depending on the spatial configuration of each setting. This paper focuses upon permeability and visibility measures used in space syntax analysis and the impact of the third dimension on visitors' performance. The research questions it explores are: a. is there a second system of spatial relations created by visibility other than one formed by permeability patterns? b. what role do the atria play in the ways in which visitors navigate and experience the museum; which is the role of the third dimension in these spaces?
2018
The field of research in which wayfinding is situated refers to the way people move in reaction to environmental stimulation. It therefore fully concerns not just signage but also space designing, its geometric configuration, technical solutions and their material characterization. The focus is consequently on environmental factors that facilitate wayfinding in a museum (accessibility, visibility, etc.) and on other elements such as spatial configuration, architectural features and functional aspects. These factors influence relational phenomena and therefore visitors’ satisfaction. Methods and tools for designing and managing spaces have been studied in the research. The configurational analysis method of space has been used to objectify syntactic features of space. In particular, the outcomes of an experimental project, which have been analyzed in a master’s thesis on the re-functionalization of the museum of Palazzo dei Diamanti in Ferrara, are presented. Permeability, proximity,...
Architecture can be understood as deliberate elaborations of physical forms and configurations into socially and culturally meaningful objects, enabling activities and programmes as well as communicating ideas and values. It can be argued that part of this elaboration is that of staging, and that of the treatment of differences of visibility and permeability, which carries strong cultural and social connotations. However, this is often discussed either as singular situations of exposure or accessibility, or as compensatory use of one over the other, where visibility serves to compensate for accessibility, or provide a certain form of transpatiality. Studying structures of relations between visibility and permeability, however, leading to an understanding of emergent degrees of exposure and availability, seems to say a lot about architectural character and identity. This paper argues that a more thorough study of this relation is central to developing architectural morphology, and proposes a model for ‘building profiling’ that sets up an analysis of how the interrelation between visibility and accessibility can be used to inform architectural analysis of the identity of architectural structures as well as the way that identity of the content is described. This is done on the one hand elaborating on basic architectural morphologies commonly used within space syntax, but also compares to experimental works such as Autant’s Théâtre de l’espace from 1937 and everyday urban and architectural situations. The main line of argument is the change from individual situations to a system of syntactic, configurative relations which, it is argued, requires a degree of secondary abstraction – an abstraction that provides thorough understanding of certain architectural effects of configuration that contributes to the character and identity of buildings or urban spaces.
Visibility analysis is one of the key methods in space syntax theory that discusses visual information conveyed to observers from any location in space that is potentially directly visible for the observer without any obstruction. Visibility – simply defined as what we can see – not only affects the spatial function of buildings, but also has visual relation to the perception of buildings by inhabitants and visitors. In this paper we intend to present the result of visibility analysis applied on a sample of building layouts of different sizes and functions from a variety of places of periods. The main aim of this paper is to statistically explore the general trends of building layouts and show if and how visibility properties such as connectivity, clustering coefficient, mean depth, entropy, and integration values can make distinctions among different functions of buildings. Our findings reveal that there are significant correlation coefficients among global properties of visibility in which we consider the mean value of properties, a similarity suggesting that they are not intensively manipulated by architecture. On the other hand, there are correlations although less so than the previous, still significant among local properties of visibility in which we consider the (max-min) value of properties, suggesting that social, cultural or other physical parameters distinguish buildings individually. We also show that functions such as ‘museum’ and ‘veterinary’ are relatively well-clustered, while functions such as ‘ancient’ and ‘shopping’ show high diversity. In addition, using a decision tree model we show that, in our sample, functions such as ‘museum’ and ‘library’ are more predictable rather than functions such as ‘hospital’ and ‘shopping.’ All of these mean that – at least in our sample – the usability and applicability of well-clustered and well-predicted functions have been predominant in shaping their interior spaces; vice versa, in well-diverse and unpredicted functions, the pragmatic solutions of people’s daily life developed in material culture affect the visual properties of their interior spaces.
The role of visual clues and pathway configuration in legibility of cities
To make a city more legible there should be continuity between salient elements of the city; between main integrators and visible fields of the landmarks, to form a coherent structure. Alternatively, these elements should overlap to emphasise each other to make the city more legible. The relationship of these two elements in the city structure depends on the degree of irregularity of the layout and the presence of the rules of Gestalt of "good configuration". Each urban morphology, according to its degree of irregularity and presence or absence of Gestalt rules can be categorised as organised, semi-organised and unorganised. The role of landmarks or visual clues according to the type of morphology differs from one type to another. To make a legible city, there should be a coincidence between the maps of main integrators to the landmark setting to emphasise the main structure of the city in regular settings (organised and semi-organised structures). In irregular layouts, there should be continuity between the pattern of visible fields of landmarks and the main integrators of the city to form a coherent whole. The hierarchy of the urban axes in global and local level-most integrated and least integrated axes-will be followed by the hierarchy of the visual clues in global and local levels, which defines the nature of systems of reference in the structure of the city. The aim of the study presented by this article is to show how the interaction of landmarks and pathway configuration influence the legibility of the city.
Ability and intelligibility: Wayfinding and environmental cognition in the designed
There seems to be a growing consensus in the literature that topological variables, both in the environment and in sketch maps, are reliable indicators of wayfinding performance. Additionally, there are other suggestions regarding the use of topological variables to characterize and measure overall environments. In this regard, it has been reported that topologically derived configurational measures may provide a better sense of the ease or difficulty that each environment may present to an immersed and moving subject within it. A clarification of such claims is an important focus of this paper. Regarding the externalization of cognitive understanding, the technique of sketch mapping has a long tradition. However, there are many ways by which these maps have been analysed. The inclusion of Space Syntax methods provides a new dimension. A comparison of Space Syntax with some other tools of sketch map analysis is a secondary focus here. These and other similar issues are explored thro...
The Influence of Building Structure on Human Perception in Interior Spaces
2021
Structures create interior spaces. However, the sense of every space depends on the type of structure used. This paper tries to evaluate structural systems apply in architecture and then analyse space identity given by different structures. The method of this study mainly depends on a survey in the current literature and case study which the colour building in the department of architecture in EMU-North Cyprus has taken as the case study. Frame concrete (column and beam) is used in the building, which has made the interiors compacted in the structure's boundary. At the same time, inside spaces have some freedom as partition walls separate them. In this case, the structure proliferates visual focal points, corners and angles, to the main space. These visual definitions lately make the spaces to be more defined.
2009
This paper is concerned with the role of topological configuration of building layouts in wayfinding and spatial cognition and with associated design strategies. Topological configuration is the structural hierarchy of individual spaces in a layout that arises due to the topological relationship of each space with all other spaces in the layout. This can be objectively measured by Space Syntax theories and methods. The paper discusses the beginnings of the concept and traces its development in cognition literature. It then describes a series of experiments done in three real hospital buildings and in a copy of one hospital that was produced in a virtual immersive reality (VIR). Those studies were reported individually in previous publications. In this paper a comparative analysis is presented which suggests that (1) wayfinding behavior is very similar in real and simple virtual settings, (2) topological properties of layouts as determined by Space Syntax analysis are important predi...
Wayfinding and environmental cognition in the designed environment
There seems to be a growing consensus in the literature that topological variables, both in the environment and in sketch maps, are reliable indicators of wayfinding performance. Additionally, there are other suggestions regarding the use of topological variables to characterize and measure overall environments. In this regard, it has been reported that topologically derived configurational measures may provide a better sense of the ease or difficulty that each environment may present to an immersed and moving subject within it. A clarification of such claims is an important focus of this paper.