understanding complex buildings

Understanding Complex Buildings Sailer, February 2016@kerstinsailer

Understanding Complex BuildingsSpace Syntax as a theory and method to unpack

spatial networks and social processes

Dr Kerstin Sailer

Lecturer in Complex Buildings

Bartlett School of Architecture, UCL

CASA Research Seminar, 3 February 2016

Understanding Complex Buildings Sailer, February 2016@kerstinsailer

Understanding Complex BuildingsSpace Syntax as a theory and method to unpack

spatial networks and social processes

What is a complex building?

On the social nature of architecture

A brief introduction to Space Syntax

Overview of Space Syntax research

Libraries, Offices, Hospitals & Schools

Outlook

CASA Research Seminar, 3 February 2016

Understanding Complex Buildings Sailer, February 2016

What is a Complex Building?

“Complex systems are systems that comprise

many interacting parts with the

ability to generate a new quality of

collective behavior through self-

organization, e.g. the spontaneous formation

of temporal, spatial or functional structures.

They are therefore adaptive as they evolve

and may contain self-driving feedback loops.

Thus, complex systems are much more than

a sum of their parts. Complex systems are

often characterized as having extreme

sensitivity to initial conditions as well as

emergent behavior that are not readily

predictable or even completely deterministic.”

(Meyers 2009)


What is a Complex Building?

“Complex systems are systems that comprise

many interacting parts with the

ability to generate a new quality of

collective behavior through self-

organization, e.g. the spontaneous formation

of temporal, spatial or functional structures.

They are therefore adaptive as they evolve

and may contain self-driving feedback loops.

Thus, complex systems are much more than

a sum of their parts. Complex systems are

often characterized as having extreme

sensitivity to initial conditions as well as

emergent behavior that are not readily

predictable or even completely deterministic.”

(Meyers 2009)

Spatial

Organisational

Social


?

On the Social Nature of Architecture


Robin Evans: “If anything is described by an architectural

plan, it is the nature of human relationships.”

Evans (1997): Figures, Doors and Passages

On the Social Nature of ArchitectureOn the Social Nature of Architecture


Family Prayers by Samuel Butler (1864)

Coleshill House by Sir Roger Pratt (1650-1667)Villa Capra ‘La Rotunda’ by Andrea Palladio (1567-1592)

Madonna dell’Impannata by Raphael (1513-1514)

RE

NA

ISS

AN

CE

19T

HC

EN

TU

RY

Inter-

connected

rooms

The birth

of the

corridor

‘habitual

gregariousness,

passion, carnality

and sociality’

‘society aimed at

avoiding human

contact’

On the Social Nature of Architecture Evans (1997): Figures, Doors and Passages


On the Social Nature of Architecture

Two main characteristics of a building (socially):

• Distinguish the inside from the outside and thus drawing boundaries and controlling

access

• Mechanism of generating and constraining patterns of encounter and avoidance, i.e.

bringing together or separating certain groups of people

Patterns of Usage at the British Library


Background: A Brief Introduction to Space Syntax

Conceived in 1970’s at UCL by Bill Hiller, Julienne Hanson and colleagues as theory to think

about relationship between spatial structure and social life

Is there any relationship between the spatial design of cities or buildings, and the way they

work socially?



Understanding basic functions of space: access and control

(Hill

ier

1996

)



Spatial configuration:

The way in which spatial elements are

put together to form an interconnected

system of spaces

(Hill

ier

1996

)



Analysis of the relative location of single spaces within the wider system of connections

10

01

1

1

1

22

233

100

1

2

2

3

3

4

4

5

6

Total depth: 16

Integrated Segregated

Total depth: 30



Regular grid to create isovists

Floor plan Syntax model:

Strategic visibility

IntegratedS

egregated

Constructing a

visibility graph

(VGA)


Why does it matter?

Main proposition of Space

Syntax research: character of

social life within a space

depends on its position within

the fabric of a city or a building

Integrated spaces: livelier and

frequented by more people

Segregated spaces: lesser

frequentation

Affects the patterns of co-

presence and encounter in

space and thus the patterns of

interaction between people



Using Space Syntax to Analyse Buildings and Cities

Spatial layout can create and distribute patterns of collective movement of visitors

Movement traces of visitors in first 10 minutes of

their visit at Tate Britain (Hillier et al 1996)

Visibility analysis of Tate Britain (Source: Space

Syntax Ltd)


Using Space Syntax to Evaluate Design Choices


Seg

rega

ted

Inte

grat

ed

Using Space Syntax to Evaluate Design Choices



Ava Fatah

Sam Griffiths

Ashley Dhanani

Sean Hanna

Laura Vaughan

Kayvan Karimi

Sophia Psarra

Tasos Varoudis


Understanding Complex Buildings

Libraries

Hospitals Offices

Schools


Libraries

Diversity and temporal dynamics of usage of the

British Library, ‘multiplicities of occupation’ (Groak

1992)

Sailer, Kerstin (2015): The dynamics and diversity of space

use in the British Library; A|Z Journal of the Faculty of

Architecture, ITU, Vol 12, No 3, 23-39


Libraries: Diversity and Dynamics in the British Library

Spatial analysis of the British Library

Connectivity Integration


Libraries: Diversity and Dynamics in the BL

Collective movement flow: distinct behaviours of readers and

non-readers

Configuration of building plays

only minor part (overall

correlation with movement

flow: R2=0.03 for axial choice;

for non-readers only on each of

3 upper floors: R2=0.20-0.29)


Libraries: Diversity and Dynamics in the BL

Behavioural differences by spatial quality and between weekday & weekend usage patterns

Weekends:

People working on laptops /

laptops & reading / reading /

sitting: smaller and more

integrated spaces;

Talking in much more integrated

spaces

→ Seeking socialisation

opportunities and more relaxed,

buzzy atmosphere on weekends


Offices

Comparative analysis of interaction patterns

across different knowledge-intensive

industries

Sailer, Kerstin; Koutsolampros, Petros; Zaltz Austwick,

Martin; Varoudis, Tasos; Hudson-Smith, Andy (2016):

Measuring Interaction in Workplaces, In: Dalton N,

Varoudis T, Schnadelbach H and Wiberg M (eds):

Architecture and Interaction, Springer series Human-

Computer Interaction


Offices

Distribution of interactions – the myth of ‘bumping into people in the corridor’


Offices

Analysing interaction density and visual mean depth in a single representation


Hospitals

Comparison of out-patient clinics in a

hospital in the Netherlands and Canada

Pachilova, Rosica and Kerstin Sailer (2014): Evidence-

Based Design: The Effect of Hospital Layouts on the

Caregiver-Patient Interfaces, Proceedings of the

Design4Health Conference, Sheffield, 174-184


Hospitals

5 out-patient clinics investigated in each case; example: Cardiology

HO

SP

ITA

L A

[C

A]

HO

SP

ITA

L B

[N

L]

5 10

5 10

MEAN DEPTH min mean max

Hospital A [CA] 2.99 6.04 1.97

Hospital B [NL] 1.63 2.19 4.74

CONNECTIVITY min mean max

Hospital A [CA] 2 140.1 467

Hospital B [NL] 2 491.4 996

Visual Mean Depth


Hospitals

Shadowing caregivers and observing communication behaviours

HO

SP

ITA

L B

[N

L]

64%

31%

26%

36%

69%

74%

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

Charting Galley

Corridor

Exam

unintentional intentional

Location of communication

Unintentional= 44%

Intentional= 56%

Intentional

Unintentional

Physicians

Nurses

Clerks


Hospitals

Time spent in care processes by different professions (data from shadowing)

HO

SP

ITA

L A

[C

A]

Nurses Clerks

HO

SP

ITA

L B

[N

L]

Physicians


Schools

Development of a theoretical framework to

analyse school building in relation to

pedagogy and processes of teaching and

learning

Sailer, Kerstin (2015): The Spatial and Social Organisation

of Teaching and Learning: The case of Hogwarts School of

Witchcraft and Wizardry; In: Karimi, Kayvan et al (eds):

Proceedings of the 10th International Space Syntax

Symposium, 34:1-34:17


Schools: A wonderful example of a school building...

…and how it shapes human relationships, learning, teaching and sociability.

8 movies

20 hours of watching

Observed and categorised 418 episodes of learning

Learning: an activity or process of

gaining knowledge or skill by studying,

practicing, being taught or

experiencing something.


Schools: Analysing the spatial structure and logic of Hogwarts

Hand-drawn map by Joanne K Rowling Plan constructed by fan community


Schools: Analysing the spatial structure and logic of Hogwarts

Full Space Syntax model

Visibility Graph (average Mean Depth = 11.4)Integrated Segregated


Schools: Pedagogy at Hogwarts

Relationship between teacher

and taught / among teachers:

‘Strong Framing’ (Bernstein 1973)


Schools: Learning at Hogwarts

48% of learning: Public spaces (corridors, the

Great Hall, courtyards, Quidditch pitch, grounds).

Only 10% of learning takes place in

classrooms.


Schools: Sociability at Hogwarts

Any building orders people into categories (visitors, inhabitants) and adds

system of controls: ‘Interface’ (Hillier and Hanson 1984)

“Your house will be

like your family”

(Prof McGonagoll)


Outlook

“Culturally and socially, space is never simply the inert background of our material existence. It

is a key aspect of how societies and cultures are constituted in the real world, and, through this

constitution, structured for us as ‘objective’ realities. Space is more than a neutral framework for social and cultural forms. It is built into those very forms. Human behaviour does not

simply happen in space. It has its own spatial forms. Encountering, congregating,

avoiding, interacting, dwelling, teaching, eating, conferring are not just activities that happen in

space. In themselves they constitute spatial patterns.” (Hillier 1996, p.29)


Dr Kerstin Sailer

Lecturer in Complex Buildings

Space Syntax Laboratory

Bartlett School of Architecture, UCL

140 Hampstead Road

London NW1 2BX

United Kingdom

Thank you!

[email protected]

@kerstinsailer

http://spaceandorganisation.org/

http://tinyurl.com/kerstinsailer

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