The spatial vision of place identity elements along the highways: A procedural approach

Abstract

Placelessness and the loss of a place’s identity, along the travel corridors, can generate a few problems like fatigue in driving, difficulties in wayfinding and limit the people from exploring new places and architectural buildings. The sense of a place’s familiarity and the similarity of views along the roadways are often overlooked, which result in the development of monotonous mundane highways, leading to the loss of place identity. There is an imperative need to understand the place identity elements along the roads and enhance them so as to improve the activity encounters, comprehensive awareness, and orientation along the travel sequences. Spatial identity elements help the travellers to sit, look, relax or entertain themselves which enhances the identity of a place along with the travel experience. Spatial vision is vital to notice the places that pass by with elements along the travel. The logical positioning of locating the identities attracts a clear visibility. A comprehensive viewshed, with an appropriate angle of vision, adds to the sense of identity and creates the place memory. The current research paper provides a method to understand the importance of locating a building along a highway with proper orientation. The research focuses on checking the visibility of buildings and studying them for the right location so as to enhance the place-identity quality for a better perception and visibility of the travellers in their moving corridors. In this background, the ISOVIST measures are appropriate design and study tools to calculate the visibility viewsheds and angles of the place identity elements. The evaluation of the elements’ visibility is performed using Depthmap X 0.70 (designed by UCL), a simulation tool with nine options of designing a restaurant, as a place identity element along a highway, at the entrance of an educational institution. In this study, a total of 144 maps was generated with 16 maps for each option for nine options of location and orientation. The research concludes with methods and recommendations at an eye level of the traveller along the highway for an innovative and procedural approach to measure and assess the location and visibility of place identity elements along the highway.