Institute of Architects Pakistan Rawalpindi-Islamabad Chapter
Audience: Architects, Planner, Master and Ph.D. Students of Architecture and Planning
Duration: One Day
Mode of Workshop: Theory and Practical
Resource Person: Ar. Dr. Ubaid Ullah
Introduction:
Space Syntax is a theory and research method that was developed by a team led by Professor Bill Hillier in the unit of Architectural Studies in University College London (1976-84). Based on quantitative analysis and geospatial computer technology, it provides a set of theories for spatial configurations at architectural and urban level.
Since then, it has grown into an independent research area with an increasingly international community with over 200 universities worldwide using it as a research and analysis tool.
Architects/Urban Designers are interested in the functional efficiency and aesthetic quality of building. Besides its pure research applications, Space Syntax’s capability of providing reliable forecasts of the functional outcomes of architectural and urban projects has also made it an obviously useful practical tool, used worldwide by a growing number of consultancy and professional practices.
Space syntax is one of the spatial configuration theories that can be applied starting from the micro level (inside buildings) to the macro levels (the city level). The space syntax theory attempts to understand why, from a spatial point of view, the built environment morph into distinct form in relation to corresponding socio-cultural activities. There is a fundamental link between the structures and functions of cities, as the configuration of the network is the primary shaper of the pattern of movement. As a quantitative method, space syntax describes patterns of spatial layouts showing the effect of urban grid configuration on existing movements. It describes numerically and graphically the average depth of a space to all other spaces in the systems, which indicates the preferable potential places to move to as a movement destination.
Rigour and objectivity:
* Conforms to accepted definitions of scientific objectivity, in that different people doing the same analysis should come up with the same results.
* Possible to work across the range of spatial scales from the individual dwelling to the city, bringing a unified approach to the subject.
* Wide range of representations of space, measures, and modelling / simulation techniques.
Research Scope and Ambition:
* Allows researchers to engage in ‘problem-solving’ and ‘exploratory’ research as well as ‘testing-out’ of existing ideas, methods and hypotheses (normal science);
* Provides a firm foundation for ‘explanatory’ research about the relation between space and human behaviour or society and culture, areas where it is often difficult to make inferences, find interpretations or show relationships.
Applications of Space Syntax
* Space Syntax is commonly seen as a set of methods to analyze urban and architectural spaces of all kinds and sizes, and to foresee their functional outcomes.
* It is an overarching theory and research framework, based on rigorous geometrical and mathematical descriptions and quantifications of human spatial systems and on insightful inferences about their social meaning and impact, which provide a coherent and robust form-function model of the human built environment.
* This embracing, but also always precise, character of Space Syntax, has made it a field of research that has become relevant to disciplines other than architecture or urban planning and design.
* Indeed, Space Syntax has found application in fields as diverse as sociology, psychology, archaeology, criminology, urban geography, transport planning, economics, risk management, information technology and computer science.
Objectives of the Workshop:
* To develop the basic skill and technique of spatial analysis.
* Will equip the participants with tools of spatial analysis to base their planning decisions on.
* Complement research design and presentation by equipping the participants with knowledge of quantitative and graphical spatial analysis.
Learning Outcomes:
By the end of this workshop, the participants would learn the following tools and methods:
* Understand the spatial configuration of selected action area using Space Syntax;
* Choose the appropriate methods of spatial analysis;
* Analysis of the current situation of selected case study (macro scale analysis), comparison between different cases, and forecast any future spatial interventions;
* Comparison and analysis of micro scale analysis of buildings’ syntax.
