1,720,970 research outputs found
Interaction and architectural space
Full text linkFor many in the field of HCI, location and space are synonymous; yet, as we move from the mobile era to the ubiquitous era, computing becomes entangled with notions of space. This workshop critically examines the role of space in human-computer interfaces. The objective is to bring together diverse perspectives of space, drawing from architecture, philosophy, art, geography, design, dance, spatial-cognition, mathematics, computing, and still other domains, towards foregrounding space in theoretical discussions and explorations within the CHI community. Expected outcomes are the reporting of fresh insights into the impact and role of space in the interaction process
Non-linear Urban Growth Dynamics: An analytical, spatial network-based assessment of the Metropolitan area of Tehran and its relationship with underlying social, economic and political processes
No full textThis research investigates urban growth dynamics using a spatial network model to explore how interactions between bottom-up growth and top-down planning shape spatial patterns and types. It begins by referring to the paradox of intensified informal growth as an unintended consequence of development planning, thereby situating a critical discussion on how the interaction between these drivers shapes trajectories of urban transformation and emerging spatial typologies. The research is grounded in space syntax theory, which posits a reciprocal relationship between spatial configuration and social structure, suggesting that insights into one can illuminate the other. Accordingly, the study investigates spatial typologies as the outcome of dynamic interactions between population growth and regulatory frameworks. While central planning establishes a structural basis for urban development, the findings underscore its limitations, revealing heterogeneous growth patterns and varied spatial arrangements that emerge even under ostensibly uniform planning regimes. This variability highlights the inherent complexities of urbanization and the constraints of centralized approaches in addressing its multifaceted nature.
Using a mixed-methods approach, the study combines quantitative modelling with qualitative reasoning to model the city as a spatial network, analysing the interplay between spatial organization, spatial morphology, planning policies, and socio-political factors. This approach highlights the complex interdependencies between spatial organization and socio-political dynamics shaped by numerous, non-linear parameters. By examining these dynamics, the study bridges a gap in conventional urban planning discourse, with a tendency of direct classification and explanations for urban conditions and instead suggests that the emergent types shape a spectrum of conditions that accommodate the diverse social groups.
A key contribution of this research is the development of a lightweight analytical predictive tool generating a disparity index with a certain precision and minimal reliance on formal datasets. By anchoring its findings in empirical analysis of material urban spaces, the study advances an evidence-based understanding of urban complexity. It concludes that while planning provides a critical starting point for urban transformation, its outcomes are ultimately contingent upon the interplay between formal strategies and emergent, often unpredictable dynamics. This work makes a significant contribution to urban development discourse, highlighting some limitations of conventional planning frameworks and offering ways in which the complex process of growth and development can be better understood and maintained
Ar-CHI-tecture: Architecture and Interaction
No full textThe rise of ubiquitous computing leads to a natural convergence between the areas of architectural design (the design of buildings, spaces and experience of being in and moving through them) and HCI. We suggest that Architecture and CHI have much to learn from each other in terms of research and practice. This workshop will bring together these communities to explore the benefits of architecture envisioned as integral to an expanded CHI community. The workshop organizers aim to create a framework for future collaboration and identify new directions for research in this multidisciplinary field. This promises significant impacts on both interaction research and its real-world applications
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Augmented Visibility in Architectural Space: Influencing Movement Patterns
Full text linkThe rapid development of computing associated with our modern era has resulted in exciting and innovative incorporation of digital technology in architectural design. However, this presents challenges for established theories of spatial analysis, such as space syntax, developed by Hillier and Hanson.
The research presented in this thesis identifies and addresses a lack of knowledge concerning the impact of digitally manipulating physical architectural environments by introducing perceived visual depth into them. The research contributes to the development of space syntax theory by showing that the introduction of perceived visual depth in architectural space impacts on people’s behaviour, and that space syntax theory needs to be adjusted to account for this phenomenon.
The overarching hypothesis of the experiments detailed by the thesis was that ambient displays can be introduced into physical architectural settings to augment the perceived visual depth of a space by virtually linking and extending physical space towards another real or virtual space. This augments the topological and visual relations of a space which influences how people use and move within such settings.
To investigate the hypothesis a series of experiments was designed and conducted. A pilot study showed that manipulating the perceived depth of a wall through digital projection had a significant effect on people’s use of the space.
The first of the main experiments showed that the position of an ambient display, acting as a virtual window through the wall upon which it was placed, had the capacity to influence people’s behaviour in space. This was established by designing a T-shaped corridor which participants entered from the bottom and were therefore required to make a left or right-hand turn decision to access a target area beyond the corridor. Whilst the environment was held constant the display was placed in one of three conditions, central, left, or right. The analysis showed that people’s turn-based decisions were affected by the position of the display.
The second experiment used the same architectural setting but held the position of the ambient display constant in the central position whilst altering what it displayed in three conditions. The display either acted as a realistic virtual window, showing what would be seen if the display was a real window or it skewed the perspective of the image by manipulating the vanishing point towards the left or right. The turn-based decisions of participants entering the corridor were recorded and the results showed that they were significantly influenced by the manipulation.
The experimental data showed that digital displays can act as virtual windows which alter spatial relations in a simple architectural space. This knowledge, combined with an awareness that current methods of spatial analysis cannot account for the impact of introducing digital depth into architectural space, show that theories must be adapted to ensure their ability to model behaviour in hybrid architectural environments which incorporate digital technology
Ambient Displays: Influencing Movement Patterns
Full text linkPart 1: Long and Short PapersInternational audienceAmbient displays are gradually augmenting the principal static elements of architecture, such as walls, transforming space into a dynamic and ever-changing environment. Does the addition of such digital elements influence people’s perception and understanding of space around them? If so, do ambient displays lead to behavioral changes like people’s movement in such environments? In this particular study, a series of experiments were conducted to investigate public interior spaces with embedded ambient displays. The findings are then presented showing how the presence of an ambient display through its visual depth affects and changes movement patterns. This study discusses the ability of an ambient display to refine navigation paths and suggests that its visual depth can enhance its effectiveness
Spatial Optimisations: Merging depthmapX, spatial graph networks and evolutionary design in Grasshopper: Merging depthmapX, spatial graph networks and evolutionary design in Grasshopper
No full textBeyond Axial Lines: High-Resolution Geometric Analysis of London's Urban Fabric Using LIDAR Scans
Full text linkSpace Syntax urban analyses have typically been performed on high-level approximations of
the spatial network, in the form of axial lines (Penn et al. 1998), street segments (Hillier & Iida
2005), or similar, which necessarily lack some information at the smallest scales. Yet some key
theoretical principles rely explicitly on locally observable features: intelligibility (Hillier et al.
1987), for example, is the correlation between long-range structure and that of the local. This
paper investigates the highest resolution model of London’s geometry yet available to determine
the degree to which local surface geometries correlate with long-range structural features of the
urban network, particularly global measures of network centrality: integration and choice.
By employing a LIDAR scan of ground and building surface geometry encompassing 2800 km^2
around London, captured as a dense cloud of points and transformed into 200-meter squares of
200 pixels, the research first queried the degree to which long-range structural features of the
network are immediately evident in the local surface geometry data through clustering and
unsupervised learning methods and trace its relationship to longer-scale centrality measures.
We conclude that traditional measures of network centrality can be learned to be predicted from
local features, suggesting an alternative to traditional syntactical intelligibility. Finally, we
determine the scale at which the differentiation between foreground and background networks
is most clearly discernible through local features is approximately 4 km, which coincides with
that seen to best predict movement and is within the range of a typical journey length
A systemic approach grounded on spatial analysis
No full textTese de Doutoramento em Arquitetura com a especialização em Desenho e Computação, Doutor, Arquitetura - Desenho e Computação, apresentada na Faculdade de Arquitetura da Universidade de Lisboa para obtenção do grau de Doutor.Com o processo de industrialização do país e subsequente concentração populacional nos grandes centros urbanos, emergem, desde o início do século XX, programas públicos de habitação. As primeiras tipologias adotadas durante o Estado Novo para as populações oriundas de zonas rurais pobres, adaptam-se à perceção tradicionalista do regime de um modo de vida português. Os conjuntos habitacionais de grande escala que lhes sucederam visavam responder ao modelo de urbanização que se afirmava com a intensificação da industrialização do país.
Nos finais dos anos 1960, o investimento público em habitação permitiu um forte desenvolvimento da investigação teórica e empírica marcada por preocupações sociais e previsões sobre o futuro. Concebida como um mecanismo espacial com consequências sociais, a habitação era pensada como um instrumento de progresso. Em documentos e relatórios de investigação científica deste período, encontram-se repetidas referências à emancipação da mulher, ao desenvolvimento de laços e sentimentos de comunidade e à resposta às necessidades do momento e às aspirações futuras.
Este pensamento progressista emergiu nalgumas instituições estatais permitindo algumas transformações institucionais no último período do Estado Novo, ao longo dos anos 1960 e início dos anos 1970. Todavia, os programas de habitação então desenvolvidos foram limitados, tanto na sua escala como no leque de populações a que se dirigiam, e os conjuntos habitacionais públicos implementados eram entendidos pelo poder político dominante como instrumento de controlo social.
Com o golpe militar do 25 de Abril de 1974, operou-se uma maior transformação do aparelho de estado associada ao fim da guerra colonial e à transformação do modelo económico do país, gerando alterações profundas no balanço de forças e permitindo a organização de movimentos populares fortes, alguns dos quais centrados no direito à habitação. Neste contexto, a promoção habitacional ganhou novos contornos ao nível quantitativo e qualitativo.
Esta dissertação foca a sua atenção neste período, estudando um conjunto de empreendimentos habitacionais de promoção pública e cooperativa construídos na cidade do Porto nos anos que antecedem e sucedem ao 25 de Abril de 1974. Incluem-se nesta leitura quatro grupos de empreendimentos: (i) os que integram a segunda fase do Plano de Melhoramentos da Cidade do Porto, construídos maioritariamente entre 1969 e 1974; (ii) os que são desenvolvidos no âmbito do Serviço de Apoio Ambulatório Local (SAAL) durante o período revolucionário de 1974-1976; (iii) e aqueles que foram construídos para associações de moradores, no mesmo período mas dentro de outros enquadramentos legais; (iv) os conjuntos promovidos pela Câmara Municipal do Porto, pelo Fundo Fomento da Habitação e os que resultam da articulação entre estas duas entidades, desenvolvidos desde antes do 25 de Abril de 1974 até 1982; (v) e, por último, as cooperativas de habitação económica construídas ao longo deste período. Ao fazê-lo, pretende-se trazer para o campo da investigação em arquitetura casos de estudo que têm sido descurados pela disciplina. Simultaneamente, pretende-se proporcionar uma visão global deste período que possa representar um contraponto à crítica de que a promoção pública de habitação de grande escala tem frequentemente sido alvo. Uma crítica que se tem tendencialmente focado nas suas características urbanas e arquitetónicas, apresentando-as como causa da segregação social dos seus residentes.
A dissertação começa por explorar reflexões de autores que se referem à relação recursiva entre a habitação e a sociedade que a produz. A habitação é entendida como um produto social, o qual tem a capacidade de agir sobre as relações sociais. Isto ocorre de duas formas: o mercado imobiliário atua na diferenciação de classe, determinando quem tem acesso às infraestruturas e equipamentos urbanos e em que condições; a habitação organiza espacialmente a atividade humana - socialmente determinada e atribuída a diferentes indivíduos e grupos - no sistema de sistemas que compõem o conjunto “casa-assentamento”, como definido por Rapoport. Com base na leitura de diversos autores (Harvey, Bourdieu, Lefebvre), considera-se que esta interação assume formas coerentes com a reprodução das relações de produção. Embebida no aparelho ideológico, esta interação materializa-se na educação, gosto e prática arquitetónica.
Esta ideia de recursividade na relação entre o espaço e a sociedade é explorada aproveitando a dualidade interna da metodologia da “sintaxe espacial”, desenvolvida inicialmente por autores como Hillier e Hanson.
Em primeiro lugar, procura demonstrar-se que as características espaciais dos espaços domésticos influenciam, até certo ponto, a forma como as pessoas vivem. Para o efeito, sistematiza-se a informação produzida por inquéritos sobre dinâmicas familiares realizados durante o período estudado, ao longo dos anos 1970 e 1980. Estes dados são explorados preliminarmente no sentido de perceber de que forma diferentes organizações das atividades domésticas nos fogos se podem refletir em variações nas suas formas de uso pela família. Demonstra-se que é possível detetar características mais ou menos potencializadoras de uso coletivo ou individual dos diferentes espaços da casa, e com maior ou menor potencial para contrariar tendências de segregação e diferenciação de uso por género verificadas dentro das famílias estudadas. Explora-se também a capacidade da investigação em “sintaxe espacial” realizada nas últimas décadas de relacionar atributos espaciais com padrões de uso do espaço. Tendo em conta essas relações, articulam-se conceitos espaciais da “sintaxe espacial” com as hipóteses de diferenciação residencial desenvolvidas por Harvey. Através de uma leitura de outros autores (Bourdieu, Marcuse, Gros), constroem-se e analisam-se nos casos estudados os conceitos sócio-espaciais de segregação, “outro” (othering), hierarquização, domesticação e adaptabilidade. Argumenta-se que é através destes conceitos que a habitação funciona como regulador dos padrões de interação entre indivíduos, grupos e classes sociais na cidade, e dessa forma também de conformação de diferentes vivências.
Em segundo lugar, a análise sintática é utilizada para encontrar padrões espaciais no conjunto dos empreendimentos habitacionais estudados, que são posteriormente descritos de acordo com os conceitos sócio-espaciais definidos. Estes padrões são comparados entre os diferentes programas habitacionais estudados - programas dirigidos a problemas específicos de diferentes populações, com preocupações e propósitos diferentes entre eles - com o objetivo de identificar paradigmas de projeto diferentes ou contrastantes que, através da sua contextualização histórica, possam ser relacionados com transformações sociais. Desta forma, procura-se compreender o papel desses conjuntos e programas habitacionais como parte de um processo de transformação social e urbana.
Embora os grandes conjuntos habitacionais dos anos 1960 tenham sido construídos fora do centro, sendo intencionalmente segregados, a investigação mostra que eles se encontram em zonas da cidade que hoje estão bem integradas no tecido urbano. Com a transformação do contexto social, o regulamento moral e político, que no Estado Novo acentuava o papel da casa como mecanismo de controlo, foi extinto, alterando-se o significado social da localização dos edifícios na malha urbana, organizados no período anterior de forma a facilitar a vigilância dos seus moradores. Na promoção pública de habitação após o 25 de Abril são também identificados constrangimentos e contradições. Por um lado, a promoção habitacional continuou, em grande parte, a expressar uma estratégia de expansão urbana necessária ao crescimento da cidade capitalista, criando conjuntos residenciais muitas vezes ligados a áreas industriais, mas, por outro lado, a habitação produzida nos primeiros anos de democracia tornou-se mais acessível e de forma geral mais articulada com o tecido urbano existente. Os fogos tornaram-se maiores, embora descurando relações espaciais anteriormente consideradas importantes. A habitação pública nos empreendimentos produzidos nesses primeiros anos de democracia afastou-se do paradigma de isolamento e clara marcação do “outro”, embora mantendo uma ideia espacial de comunidade local.
Demonstra-se que o crescimento da cidade do Porto no período estudado esteve, em grande medida, articulado com o desenvolvimento público de habitação, e que isto só pode ser percebido a uma escala global. A habitação - como todo o espaço socialmente produzido - é simultaneamente um produto do seu tempo com consequências sociais imediatas e um conjunto de artefactos cujo significado social é transformado por mudanças que lhe são externas.ABSTRCT: This dissertation studies a set of public housing estates in Porto developed in the period surrounding the Portuguese revolution, part of which have rarely been examined in architectural research. In doing so, it seeks to provide a global reading of this period that may represent a counterpoint to the criticism large-scale public housing development has been the target for decades, which often points out its urban and architectural characteristics as the root cause of continued patterns of social segregation in their residents.
In this sense, the dissertation first explores the question of how housing is both shaped by society and has the capacity to act back on social relations. It argues that the process through which this happens is twofold: the real estate market acts in class-differentiation, which determines who has access to the city and in which conditions; housing spatially organises socially defined human activity in the system of systems which comprise the house-settlement, as defined by Rapoport.
Through a reading of different authors (Harvey, Bourdieu, Lefebvre), it is considered that this interaction most often takes a form favourable for or at least coherent with the reproduction of the relations of production, which have an impact on the ideological apparatus, which will, in turn, be materialised in architectural education, taste and action.
The dissertation relies on the internal duality of space syntax’ methods to explore this idea of recursivity in the relationship between built space and society.
Firstly, it seeks to demonstrate that the spatial characteristics of domestic environments do have some impact on how people live. It does so through the systematisation of data available on family dynamics during the studied period and the preliminary exploration of how different patterns of organisation of domestic activities in apartment plans may be reflected in variances in the way people use the space of the house. It further explores how space syntax research has consistently been able to relate spatial attributes with patterns of space-use and articulates these attributes with the hypotheses of residential differentiation developed by Harvey. Through the examination of other authors (Marcuse, Bourdieu, Gros) the socio-spatial concepts of segregation, othering, hierarchisation, domestication and adaptability are developed and analysed in the studied cases. It is argued that it is through these concepts that housing acts as a regulator of patterns of interaction between individuals, groups and social classes in the city, and as such also has an impact on the conformation of different living experiences.
Secondly, syntactic analysis is used to retrieve design patterns from the set of built housing estates, which are then described according to the defined socio-spatial concepts. These are compared across housing programmes to identify shifting or contrasting design paradigms, and informed by historical knowledge to link them to social and ideological transformations, as well as to understand the role of these housing estates as part of a process of social and urban change. It is shown that while these estates were initially built outside the centre and even purposely segregated, they are often located in what are today well-integrated areas of the city. A paradigm shift is identified as taking place during this period, as a trend can be detected in later housing developments of articulating the estate with its surroundings while maintaining a local community. It is demonstrated that Porto’s growth was, to a great extent, articulated with the development of public housing and that this can only be understood globally: Housing - like all human-produced space - it is simultaneously a product of its time that has immediate social consequences; and also a set artefactual elements whose social meaning is transformed by changes that take place around themN/
Visibility, accessibility and beyond: Next generation Visibility Graph Analysis
Full text linkVisibility graph analysis (Turner et al., 2001) is widely used for the analysis of architectural space and is linked to pedestrian movement distribution or agent based modeling through a number of studies. However, until now spatial relations associated with a visibility graph were simple, very limited and in most cases sub-sampling the affordances of spatial models in question. In this study we use a newly developed analysis methodology, which we call Augmented Visibility Graph Analysis or AVGA, and is based on mixed-directionality graph structures, in order to study a number of hypothetical architectural designs where visibility, accessibility and permeability challenge the existing tools and methodologies. The paper presents the computational problem of analysing spaces that include 'augmented visibilities', areas with 'inaccessible but visible' locations, and through the case studies it demonstrates how the exclusion of some affordances, of the architectural morphology, from the graph representation can dramatically affect the analysis results. AVGA overcomes the limitations of current visibility graph analysis methodologies and allows the analysis of architectural and urban space that includes visuo-spatial and hybrid configurations past the simple 'wall or opening' restriction. The results show how visuo-morphological relations beyond accessibility can be encoded programmatically and how they can shape our understanding of space through computational models
Mapping the Intangible: On Adaptivity and Relational Prototyping in Architectural Design
No full textIn recent years, new computing technologies in architecture have led to the possibility of designing architecture with non-static qualities, which affords the architectural designer with a whole new opportunity space to explore. At the same time, this opportunity space challenges both the principles governing the design of architecture as well as the agency of and the methods at hand for architectural professionals since architecture is traditionally contained in a paradigm of permanence. This essay focuses on a sub-domain of non-static architecture, namely adaptive architecture. Through an investigation into contemporary architectural discourse supported by examples from practice, I frame a shift in attention from the architectural object alone to the act of inhabitation. Further, I argue that the act of inhabitation is a process of negotiation and exchange between the architectural object, the inhabitant and the environment. Consequently, I discuss four aspects of adaptivity in architecture, namely temporality, memory, learning and emergence as an organizing hierarchy, which form the basis for further unpacking adaptivity. Finally, in order to facilitate this further unpacking, and as a response to meet the challenges of designing with adaptivity in architecture, I propose a particular method specifically tailored for adaptive architectural design. The method, relational prototyping, is founded on the idea of inhabitation as an act. Relational prototyping adapts techniques from performance to construct a full-scale prototyping genre, which equips and capacitates the architectural professional with a means to explore and operationalize adaptive qualities of architecture such as temporality, memory, learning and emergence
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