This paper presents a method that combines visibility graph and isovist analyses to investigate the spatial and social properties of architectural plans for aged care facilities. The potential of the combined method is examined by measuring the properties of three sets of plans for residential aged care facilities. The first set is a pair of hypothetical, idealized plans, which allegedly reflect the “best practice” in the industry. The second set comprises a pair of plans for recent Australian designs, and the third set is a pair of plans for South Korean facilities. Results of the computational analysis of these six plans suggest that social and cultural factors may shape the design of aged care settings and partially explain their international differences. The application of this methodological approach contributes to the understanding of the relation-ship between spaces and their cultural and social properties in the design of aged care facilities.
Museums commonly adopt storytelling in their interpretive framework by use of audiovisual techniques to convey the meanings contained within artifacts. In addition to audiovisual mediation, this study demonstrates the idea that museum architecture itself can also be regarded as a medium of spatial storytelling, specifically of historical time, which is manifested spatially and cognitively for museum visitors.
The Yad Vashem Holocaust History Museum (YVHHM) in Jerusalem is considered a spatial storytelling tool that successfully establishes an architectural dimension and thus displays, reveals, and interprets historical time during the Holocaust. The research method of this study is drawn from a case study of YVHHM and consists of a literature review of scholarship in museum studies about artifacts and exhibition techniques of storytelling.
The study concludes that the architectural space and landscape of YVHHM create a primary example of Jewish space and its specific engagements with historical time by use of spatial layout and circulation, spatial form and symbolization, and spatial qualities of lightingand material. These components construct a tangible, sacred, and cultural artifact; such artifact inherits, preserves, and records Yad Vashem, Modern Jerusalem, and the Nation of Israel and is an ideal physical and spiritual “home” for Jewish people worldwide.
The lack of visibility and the difficulty in developing a cognitive map may be particularly important in wayfinding and in categories where the use of accessibility and sociability will provide a square suggestion in the Kuala Lumpur City Center Park (KLCC). This study attempted to examine the existing structure within the vicinity of KLCC and the transformations of its vicinity based on a square suggestion through morphological analysis using axial analysis and observa-tions. The axial analysis shows how the accessibility of the square has shifted within the city and compares it with an existing park. Moreover, a square suggestion can provide context for the Petronas Twin Towers as a landmark and symbolic building. A square, as a regular geometry, can aid in improving the configuration of the vicinity of KLCC. Consequently, this research is useful to architects, tourism managers, and urban designers because it demonstrates the importance of effective factors in sustaining accessible and sociable space, such as a square.
Streets determine the spatial characteristics of a city and are its most importantel ement. They retain their unique identity by depicting their own sense of place and provide psychological and functional meaning to people'slives. Traditional streets, located in the heart of a city and where religious buildings are situated, are visited by numerous pilgrims daily and should be assessed for their physical features and spatial qualities. This study aims to investigate the character of one of such streets, Vishram Bazaar Street, which is a commercial street where the famous Dwarkadhish temple of Mathura is located. This study, therefore, aspires to uncover the spatial qualities of the street in terms of its physical characteristics based on the tool given by Reid Ewing, Clemente, and Handy, which includes imageability, enclosure, humanscale, transparency, and complexity, and to establish the relevance of these qualities in Indian religious streets. The methods used for data collection are literature reviews, on-site documentation (field notes, photographs, and videos), visual assessment, and questionnaire surveys.
The period in Kosovo from the 1970s to the early 1980s is important yet insufficiently explored. The period is characterized by a liberal approach toward the development of theregion. Such development of Kosovo was evident in all spheres of life, including architecture, which functions as an integral part of a society and its progress. This progress was “supported” with an intention to overpower the existing architectural environment and the overall identity of the region in some way. However, when this progress was realized where innumerous buildings considered important were materialized, an intention to have the earlier and “original” spatial structures to be replaced became evident. In the case of Kosovo, the term “liberal” can be understood negatively and positively. From the architectural viewpoint, designs tend to follow technological advances and “trends” of the time. Consequently, the materialization of such buildings, which are surrounded by symbolisms related to different types of identity and leading toward regional modernism, is an important part to emphasize.
The current study aims to consider important thoughts about architectural identity and its categories in general but specific to the context of Kosovo. The history of the region has a critical story of influences toward its formation. Although several hilosophies were accepted by the mass, others produced the antidote of the actual input. This study considers the importance of finding the best possible interpretation of Kosovo's architectural identity, such that Kosovo can be well known in the future as it was in the past.
Muqarnas (stalactite vault) is a distinctive structural and configurational feature of Islamic architecture. It is used to provide a transition from a square plan to a circular perimeter, thus allowing a domical or semi-domical space to beerected above a square or rectangular layout. It is similar to the Roman pendentive in its structural logic but quite different in form and architectonic detail. The use of muqarnas has become ubiquitous in Islamic architecture and was applied structurally and decoratively above major spaces in mosques and mausoleums, wall niches, facades, arches, friezes, and entrance portals. This paper provides a historical, typological, and stylistic analysis of Bahri Mamluk muqarnas portals developed in Cairo, Egypt during the 13th and 14th centuries. Due to the complexity and breadth of this undertaking, the c urrent study focuses on the earliest 10 monuments that exemplify the type and examines the origin, meaning, and development of muqarnas portals in Egypt. Local and foreign influences are analyzed with an eye on identifying similarities and variations in terms of constructability, geometry, and complexity of muqarnas configurations. The paper concludes with a discussion of the primary innovative features of Bahri Mamluk Muqarnas and their effect on subsequent muqarnas development in Egypt.
This paper reports experiences from three workshops dealing with soundscape as anoise treatment approach in landscape architecture. The workshops were conducted between 2012 and 2016 in different contexts, for different purposes and with different participants. The paper describes the workshop approach employed and analyzes the proposals made by workshop participants to employ “soundscape action” as an operational tool in landscape architecture projects. Through a process of ‘keywording’ and clustering proposals from the workshops, 22 pragmatic soundscape actions emerged and are described on a general level. The paper then discusses the outcomes and experiences from the workshops and relates this to landscape architecture practice.
Solutions to housing problems must deal with the issue of building materials – especially advancing those which lower construction cost and costs to the environment. This paper aggregates and reviews empirical evidences to show the advantages and disadvantages of earthen construction materials in terms of cost, energy and thermal properties. We reviewed 136 academic outputs from 17 African countries. Apart from a few studies that differ, literature concurs that earthen construction materials are generally cheaper, cleaner and more thermally comfortable. Notwithstanding the advantages, the level of uptake is presently low. Earthen materials’ strength and durability are key limitations. We identify possible areas for future research and present specific recommendations that can promote the uptake of earthen materials for housing construction in African cities.
Urban structure and lands capecause an artificial temperature increase in cities, known as the urban heat island effect. The magnitude of such urban–rural temperature difference varies in daily and seasonal basis. Daily patterns of urban heat accumulation in Adelaide is under investigation. In this paper, East–West air temperature profile of Adelaide metropolitan area was mapped in 60 journeys alongside a straight cross route connecting Adelaide Hills to the West Beach under clear sky between 26 July and 15 August 2013. The most intense urban–rural temperature differences of 5.9 °C occurred during midnight in Adelaide. However, maximum urban heat variation occurred during the late afternoon when the near-surface urban heat fluctuates by 2 °C between the CBD East and Western Parklands. During summer heatwaves, the afternoon heat stress limits public life vibrancy in Adelaide. Increased urban greenery can facilitate resilience to heat by providing shadow and evaporative cooling. A better under-standing of daily urban heatvariations and the cooling effect of urban greenery assists urban policy making and public life management in the context of climate change.