Architectural Space Research Articles

Fugitive Archives: Architecture, Police Photography, and Decolonial Futures

ABSTRACT This paper examines underexplored police photographs of Chinese migrants in Korea under Japanese colonial rule, with a focus on architectural spaces. In 1940, a secret anti-Japanese association known as Ildonghoe was established by a group of Chinese migrants in the Korean city of Incheon. Following the arrest of its members in 1943, Japanese colonial authorities documented with photographs locations and objects related to the organization’s activities. This investigation serendipitously created a photographic archive of architectural spaces in and around Incheon’s Chinatown, many of which have since disappeared. The paper sheds light upon these police photographs as an “accidental archive,” a repository of historical materials that gives rise to unintended outcomes with critical information about certain events, places, and moments. The paper pays particular attention to the peculiarity of police photographs as a form of happenstance yet significant documentation capturing historical moments that might otherwise remain elusive. Reading against the grain of colonial archives, this paper shows how the Ildonghoe photographs invite viewers to envision a different narrative of the racial relations forged under colonial rule and imagine decolonial futures that have yet to come.

Designing movement space for elderly and disabled people in the construction law in selected countries.

Building law regulations determine designing the built environment recognising the needs of users of different ages and psychophysical abilities. Seniors and their spatial needs are covered there to a limited extent. The benchmark for design are wheelchair users. Their spatial requirements are greater in relation to independent walkers, including most older people. This makes it difficult to adapt the whole built environment to the needs of people with less mobility dysfunction. This can be considered in terms of spatial design and investment costs. The paper analyses the building regulations of 3 countries in terms of legal conditions to shape the architectural movement space of older people and disabled people. Analytical and comparative methods are used. Such research is becoming relevant and necessary. The analyses are conducted in the context of ageing populations. They are justified by statistical data on the age groups of Polish society. This is followed by design analyses of the legal requirements in the wheelchair movement space and proposals for alternatives, e.g., people walking with canes (case study). Their aim is to indicate methods to limit excessive communication spaces in buildings while maintaining functional values for all users. Research may show the possibility of greater diversification of regulations and alternatives to current laws. They are dedicated to participants in investment processes to shape accessible buildings. They can also be used in legislative work on amendments to the construction law. Changes in building regulations and a detailed approach to the mobility needs of older and disabled people (walking independently) are proposed. These decisions can provide benefits (spatial and economic savings). They fall into the "design for all" trend and sustainability of the built environment. These demands are based on no longer valid normative regulations. Med Pr Work Health Saf. 2024;75(3):189-197.

Spatial syntax analysis on the renewal of the external space of mining heritage buildings —— A case study of Zollverein Coal Mine Industrial Complex

ABSTRACT The renovation of external spaces of mining heritage buildings should respect their historical and cultural value and be adapted to the specific characteristics of the mining area for spatial restructuring and functional replacement. Current research often relies on subjective experience and focuses on qualitative analysis, lacking in-depth quantitative analysis. Building upon the summary of research on mining heritage exterior spaces and spatial syntax studies, this paper proposes a research methodology that quantitatively analyzes the accessibility and integration of mining heritage exterior spaces using spatial syntax convex space and axis map models. Taking the exterior connecting spaces and characteristic spaces before and after the renovation of the German Zollverein Coal Mine Industrial Complex as the research objects, the impact of spatial location on different circulation organizations and functions of spatial places is visually expressed, providing a more intuitive explanation of the complex relationships in mining heritage exterior spaces. The research findings reveal that the spatial syntax model is adaptable in evaluating the renovation of mining heritage exterior spaces, with spaces exhibiting high integration being essentially consistent with key and highly utilized exterior spaces within the renovated mining area. In summary, it can be concluded that the integration of mining heritage exterior spaces and consequently the utilization rate and value can be improved through spatial “Connection”, “Growth”, and “Darning”, thereby offering direct reference for subsequent research and practical organization of mining heritage architectural exterior space renewal.

Adding Green to Architectures: Empirical Research Based on Indoor Vertical Greening of the Emotional Promotion on Adolescents

Good architectural space design can bring positive emotional stimulation and relaxation to users, but few studies have investigated the quantitative indicators in architectural space design and their impact on user emotions. This study takes the right-angle sandwich interface system in architecture as an example to guide the next vertical greening simulation experiment by comparing the spatial quantitative differences in connection value, integration degree, and population agglomeration. Eighty adolescent volunteers were recruited into a control (artificial decorative wall) and experimental (green wall) group based on wall type. We compared their physiological and psychological indicators, including blood pressure and blood oxygen, and psychological indicators, including POMS and SIAI-S scales. Then, we made predictive factor judgements on vertical green elements. The quantification of the interior space of the building showed consistency in parameter changes, with the central area being the area of connectivity, integration, and crowd aggregation values. After the experiment, the experimental group showed a significant decrease in diastolic blood pressure, systolic blood pressure, and heart rate (p = 0.00) and a significant decrease in tension, anger, fatigue, depression, and panic (p = 0.00). The quantitative relationship between vertical greening elements and emotional promotion using stepwise linear exploration shows that the “vine” element is a significant predictive factor for diastolic blood pressure, T-A emotion, and SIAI-S values. The results enrich the indoor optimization and creation expansion paths of interface systems for various spatial experiences and further provide guidance for urban indoor green construction plans and green landscape facility planning via the emotional influence of indoor vertical space greening on young people.

Algorithm optimization of architectural form through sequential landscape evaluation

Designing architectural and urban spaces based on continuous human spatial experience throughout a sequence may lead to architectural and urban forms not bound to conventional concepts. These forms would be made possible through the combination of a quantitative sequential landscape evaluation and morphological optimization utilizing algorithmic processes. In this study, we introduce a method for evaluating sequential landscapes, in which the configuration of buildings, trees, etc., in view changes as pedestrians move along a particular path, using a genetic algorithm optimization of architectural forms to bring them closer to the designer’s ideals. The method’s validity was tested using two case studies, assuming the design of a sequential landscape in an actual city and park. The results present a more efficient, objective, and reproducible method for designing sequences in buildings, cities, and landscapes, compared to traditional methods.

Exploration of green index system from the perspective of urban renewal

In the context of China's urban sustainable development, the green index system can be used to assess and monitor the environmental impact and sustainability of urban renewal projects, provide scientific basis for decision makers, and guide urban renewal to develop in a green, low-carbon and sustainable direction. China has incorporated green development and ecological civilization construction into the "13th Five-Year Plan" outline, and clearly put forward the major task of "comprehensively improving the quality of cities" in the "14th Five-Year Plan" outline, in order to accelerate the transformation of urban development mode and carry out urban renewal action. From a macro point of view, in the process of urban renewal, how to use a better evaluation system to plan the future development of urban green space and combine it with design practice is becoming more and more important. From the micro point of view, how the public environment and architectural space in different cities react, reflect, and even promote the process of urban renewal. In many parts of China, urban renewal based on the small block model is encouraged to be widely adopted, and local environmental improvements promote public health and support the transformation of cities to sustainable models based on theoretical, practical and political dimensions. This paper analyzes the urban renewal measures under different scales of landscape, architecture and community, and illustrates their responses to the green index system in urban renewal through cases. From the perspective of urban renewal, the paper combines macro-planning transformation and micro-renewal to analyze the green ecological goals achieved in the process of urban low-carbon development and ecological restoration.

A reference architecture for personal health data spaces using decentralized content-addressable storage networks.

This paper addresses the dilemmas of accessibility, comprehensiveness, and ownership related to health data. To resolve these dilemmas, we propose and justify a novel, globally scalable reference architecture for a Personal Health Data Space (PHDS). This architecture leverages decentralized content-addressable storage (DCAS) networks, ensuring that the data subject retains complete control and ownership of their personal health data. In today's globalized world, where people are increasingly mobile for work and leisure, healthcare is transitioning from episodic symptom-based treatment toward continuity of care. The main aims of this are patient engagement, illness prevention, and active and healthy longevity. This shift, along with the secondary use of health data for societal benefit, has intensified the challenges associated with health data accessibility, comprehensiveness, and ownership. The study is structured around four health data use case scenarios from the Estonian National Health Information System (EHIS): primary medical use, medical emergency use, secondary use, and personal use. We analyze these use cases from the perspectives of accessibility, comprehensiveness, and ownership. Additionally, we examine the security, privacy, and interoperability aspects of health data. The proposed architectural solution allows individuals to consolidate all their health data into a unified Personal Health Record (PHR). This data can come from various healthcare institutions, mobile applications, medical devices for home use, and personal health notes. The comprehensive PHR can then be shared with healthcare providers in a semantically interoperable manner, regardless of their location or the information systems they use. Furthermore, individuals maintain the autonomy to share, sell, or donate their anonymous or pseudonymous health data for secondary use with different systems worldwide. The proposed reference architecture aligns with the principles of the European Health Data Space (EHDS) initiative, enhancing health data management by providing a secure, cost-effective, and sustainable solution.

Advanced Integration of Urban Street Greenery and Pedestrian Flow: A Multidimensional Analysis in Chengdu’s Central Urban District

As urbanization accelerates, urban greenery, particularly street greenery, emerges as a vital strategy for enhancing residents’ quality of life, demanding attention for its alignment with pedestrian flows to foster sustainable urban development and ensure urban dwellers’ wellbeing. The advent of diverse urban data has significantly advanced this area of study. Focusing on Chengdu’s central urban district, this research assesses street greening metrics against pedestrian flow indicators, employing spatial autocorrelation techniques to investigate the interplay between street greenery and pedestrian flow over time and space. Our findings reveal a prevalent negative spatial autocorrelation between street greenery and pedestrian flow within the area, underscored by temporal disparities in greenery demands across various urban functions during weekdays versus weekends. This study innovatively incorporates mobile phone signal-based population heat maps into the mismatch analysis of street greenery for the first time, moving beyond the conventional static approach of space syntax topology in assessing pedestrian flow. By leveraging dynamic pedestrian flow data, it enriches our understanding of the disconnect between street greening plans and pedestrian circulation, highlighting the concept of urban flow and delving into the intricate nexus among time, space, and human activity. Moreover, this study meticulously examines multiple street usage scenarios, reflecting diverse behavior patterns, with the objective of providing nuanced and actionable strategies for urban renewal initiatives aimed at creating more inviting and sustainable urban habitats.

Commercial marketing principals' impact on the design of architectural spaces The Case Study of The New Administrative Capital-Egypt

Commercial marketing principals' impact on the design of architectural spaces The Case Study of The New Administrative Capital-Egypt

Study on the spatial relationship between road network and the diversity of urban public facilities: the case of the central area of Changsha City

In the context of contemporary urbanization, the significance of diversifying urban public facilities has attracted significant attention. This study examines the relationship between road network and the diversity of urban public facilities in Changsha City. These factors are measured through the Shannon-Weiner Index and Space Syntax method. To provide greater specificity, the study employs Random Forest and Geographically Weighted Regression models to analyze the relationship between road networks and the diversity of urban public facilities. The results identify a nonlinear relationship between these variables. In addition, high accessibility exhibits a stronger association with diversity than accessibility alone, and this correlation is reflected in varying degrees of inconsistency across different study areas. Finally, the cartographic depiction of diversity clusters is overlaid on the road network, demonstrating a significant relationship between the configuration of the road network and diversity patterns. In conclusion, this research emphasizes the robust correlation between the roadway network and the diversity of urban public facilities. It prompts local governments to focus beyond mere equality, with a greater commitment to enhancing the quality of life for residents through diversity.

Assessing experiential performance in basketball halls: a comparative measure through post-occupancy evaluation

ABSTRACT Designing architectural spaces that effectively cater to the dynamic and evolving needs of diverse user groups is a complex and challenging task. This complexity is especially pronounced in public spaces like basketball halls, which must accommodate a wide range of user needs and have specific spatial requirements to ensure optimal functionality and user satisfaction. This study introduces a novel measure for comparing qualitative data obtained from Post-Occupancy Evaluation (POE) studies in basketball halls. POE is a powerful tool for assessing how well a building meets its intended purpose and user needs after a period of occupancy. However, comparing the success of different buildings can be challenging when evaluations are based on qualitative data. To address this issue, our measure incorporates the perspectives of key decision-makers involved in different stages of the building's lifecycle: the designer, facility manager, and sports manager. These perspectives are integrated using the Multi-Criteria Decision Making (MCDM) method SWARA. The validity of the proposed measure was tested through a field study. Results demonstrate its effectiveness in enabling the comparison of user-based qualitative data, offering a valuable tool for evaluating the experiential performance of basketball halls, a building type underrepresented in POE studies to date.

Analysis of the Urban Form of Bechar through the Attributes of Space Syntax “for a More Sustainable City”

Located in the vast Algerian Sahara, Bechar has experienced over the years uncontrolled urban growth. It has evolved from a simple oasis and ksar (traditional settlement) to a city with a contrasting center and segregated outskirts. This growth has led to significant urban fragmentation that affected residents’ quality of life. This research uses space syntax theory to analyze Bechar’s urban configurations and their impact on functionality and sustainability. The study examines integration, connectivity, control, and intelligibility through axial maps and syntactic measures. Findings reveal that areas with high integration show better accessibility and reduced vehicle reliance, while segregated areas face accessibility challenges and limited services. Global integration values range from −1 to 1.192, averaging at 0.767, which indicates different accessibility among neighborhoods. These insights are crucial to identify areas where sustainable urban planning can mitigate adverse effects and enhance city efficiency. We created an axial map using DepthmapX v0.8.0 software and a modified digital QGIS map to collect data and measure Bechar’s urban properties. The methodology we used translates social behaviors into spatial representations, generating interpretative models for social and spatial phenomena. This article provides valuable information on the infrastructure and service needs, guiding strategic resource allocation. The proposed urban design strategies include urban canopies and optimized building ratios to reduce energy consumption and promote sustainability. To conclude, we recommend practical solutions to enhance the sustainability and functioning of urban areas similar to Bechar.

Architecture as cause: Outlines for a psychoanalytic approach to atmosphere via film noir

AbstractThis paper offers a series of propositions concerning how our affective sensibilities are shaped and unshaped by architectural space. We will examine the connections between our pre‐reflective sense of atmospheres and other kinds of apprehension, including the psychoanalytic. The potentiality of spaces to influence feelings is what is meant by atmosphere. Our conceptual framework, then, will center on the question of how felt space can give rise to affectivity, thought and, more controversially, action. References to film noir (especially Fritz Lang's psychoanalytic thriller Secret beyond the Door [1948]), the paradigmatic genre of atmosphere, will frame the contention that our disposition to the world comes first, before any cognitive assessment, and, as such, possesses the force to inspire affective states. It will be suggested that the ways we test and evaluate atmospheres through the imagination are potentially the inspiration for violence, an idea echoed by architects such Bernard Tschumi and psychoanalytic thinkers such as Marcuse. The goal here is to present multiple entry points for a rich discussion concerning if, or the extent to which, notions of atmosphere admit psychoanalytic interrogation, and how or whether analytic assumptions shift as a result of such an investigation.

Applying TOPSIS and AHP Intrinsic Properties to Explore Consumers’ Preferences for Public Ceramic Relief Murals in Taiwan Region

Ceramic mural art is a contemporary landscape art, carefully designed based on human nature, culture, and architectural wall space; combined with social customs, visual sensibility, and art. It may also become the main axis of ceramic art in the future. The most distinctive feature of Taiwan region’s public ceramic relief mural (PCRM) was pioneered by Pan-Hsiung Chu in 1987. In addition to breaking through the limitations of traditional PCRM, Chu uses local culture and perceptual art as themes, giving Taiwan region’s ceramic wall art a unique style and innovative value. This study uses in-depth interviews with experts to analyze the intrinsic properties of AHP. At the same time, IPA is used as the public’s preference evaluation, and TOPSIS analysis is applied to understand consumers’ preferences for PCRM design imagery. It is hoped that this will sort out the key preferences of consumers and provide a reference basis and research methods for promoting PCRM in the Taiwan region.

Students’ behaviour analysis based on correlating thermal comfort and spatial simulations; case study of a schoolyard in Shiraz City

The significant impact of outdoor school environments on student behaviour highlights the need to study how students interact with their surroundings. This has become a central focus in recent educational research, leading scholars to use various methods to gain insight into student movement behaviour. This research introduces a novel data-driven spatial gridding technique, employing thermal comfort and space syntax evaluation through ENVI-met and depthMapX software. It validates the extracted climatic and spatial heatmaps using real-time drone footage and Python programming to map and visualize student movement patterns. The findings from the Pearson correlation analysis in the Orange Software suggest that the correlated spatial-thermal heatmap better represents students’ actual behaviour with a high correlation coefficient of 0.84 (p = 0.84). Furthermore, this study sheds light on how students’ dynamic and static behaviours are linked to the schoolyard’s thermal and spatial characteristics. In conclusion, this research innovatively combines real-time monitoring with dual-simulations to analyze student movement behaviour, providing valuable insights into specific schoolyard dynamics.

Global Container Urbanism and Sustainable Urban Development

The crisis of urbanization, marked by rising property values, a lack of affordable housing, and chronic homelessness in cities, has fueled experiments with sustainable alternatives such as shipping container architecture. Shipping container homes are more cost-effective, energy-efficient, ecologically sustainable, versatile, have a lower carbon footprint, and are more durable than conventional construction methods. This study uses semi-structured interviews with container modular firms in selected cities to demonstrate the potential and challenges of construction innovation and the diffusion of container architecture in urban space. The findings call into question the fetishization of environmental friendliness and the allure of rational, mass-produced container homes as a solution to the urban housing crisis. Instead, the study draws attention to the paradox of sustainability, competition, and opposition from the traditional real estate market, regulations, and planning permitting systems, and the standardization-customization divergence of container urbanism.

Constitutive behavior of asymmetric multi-material honeycombs with bi-level variably-thickened composite architecture

Bi-level tailoring of cellular metamaterials involving a dual design space of unit cell and elementary beam level architectures has recently gained traction for the ability to achieve extreme elastic constitutive properties along with modulating multi-functional mechanical behavior in an unprecedented way. This article proposes an efficient analytical approach for the accurate evaluation of all constitutive elastic constants of asymmetric multi-material variably-thickened hexagonal lattices by considering the combined effect of bending, stretching, and shearing deformations of cell walls along with their rigid rotation. A tri-member unit cell is conceptualized, wherein all nine constitutive constants are obtained through the mechanics under one cell wall direction and subsequent repetitive coordinate transformations. We enhance the design space of lattice metamaterials substantially here by introducing multiple exploitable dimensions such as asymmetric geometry, multi-material unit cells and variably-thickened cell walls, wherein the conventional monomaterial auxetic and non-auxetic hexagonal configurations can be analyzed as special cases along with other symmetric and asymmetric lattices such as a range of rectangular and rhombic geometries. The generic analytical approach along with extensive numerical results presented in this paper opens up new avenues for efficient optimized design of the next-generation multi-functional lattices and cellular metamaterials with highly tailored effective elastic properties.

Text-to-building: experiments with AI-generated 3D geometry for building design and structure generation

The paper seeks to investigate novel potentials for building design and structure generation that arise at the intersection of computational design and AI-generated 3D geometries. Although the use of AI technologies is exponentially increasing inside the architectural discipline, the design of spatial building configurations using AI-generated 3D geometries is still limited in its applications and represents an ongoing field of investigation in advanced architectural research. In this regard, several questions still need to be answered: how can we design new building typologies from AI-generated 3D geometries? And how can we use these typologies to shape both the real and the virtual world?The paper proposes a new approach to architectural design where artificial intelligence is used as the starting point for design exploration, while computational design procedures are employed to convert AI-generated 3D geometries into building elements – such as columns, beams, horizontal and vertical surfaces. The paper starts with a general overview of the current use of artificial intelligence inside the architectural discipline, and then it moves towards the explanation of specific AI generative models for 3D geometry reconstruction and representation. Subsequently, the proposed working pipeline is analysed in more detail – from the creation of 3D geometries using generative AI models to the conversion of such geometries into building elements that can be further designed and optimised using computational design tools and methods. The results shown in the paper are achieved using Shap-E as the main AI model, though the proposed pipeline can be implemented with multiple AI models. The paper ends by showing some of the generated results, finally adding some considerations to the relationship between human and artificial creativity inside the architectural discipline.The work presented in the paper suggests that the use of computational design tools and methods combined with the tectonics of the latent space opens new opportunities for topological and typological explorations. In a time where traditional architectural typologies are moving towards stagnation due to their inability to satisfy new human needs and ways of living, exploring AI-based working pipelines related to architectural design allows the definition of new design solutions for the generation of new architectural spaces. In doing so, the serendipitous aspect of AI biases is used as an auxiliary force to inform design decisions, promoting the discovery of a new inbuilt dynamism between human and artificial creativity. In a time where AI is everywhere, understanding the measure of such dynamism represents a key aspect for the future of the architectural discipline.

Integrating space syntax and system dynamics for understanding and managing change in rural housing morphology: a case study of traditional village houses in Düzce, Türkiye

Integrating space syntax and system dynamics for understanding and managing change in rural housing morphology: a case study of traditional village houses in Düzce, Türkiye

Connectedness and Integration Analysis in Kampung Settlement: Using Space Syntax as Spatial Reconfiguration Model

Connectedness and Integration Analysis in Kampung Settlement: Using Space Syntax as Spatial Reconfiguration Model