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An Approach to Measure the Quality of Architectural Space

Conference Paper · April 2012

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 Predicting Perceptions: Proceedings of the 3rd International Conference on Appearance, pp. 84-86, Edinburgh, UK, ISBN 978-1-4716-6869-2, April 2012.

An Approach to Measure the Quality of Architectural

Space
Banu Manav, Handan Duyar
TC Istanbul Kultur University - Department of Interior Architecture and Environmental Design
Atakoy Campus E5 Freeway, Bakırkoy/34156
+90 (212) 498 43 94, +90 (535) 233 88 08
[email protected] , [email protected]

ABSTRACT Environmental psychology studies people’s motivations

The main concern in this paper is to measure the design quality of illustrating that people naturally seek out places where they feel
ten different coffee shop windows on a historical avenue in competent, confident, comfortable or enjoyment. Further,
İstanbul, Turkey which serves human functions of habitation, research demonstrates that people have preference for coherence
circulation and many related functions. This is a pilot study which and legibility Therefore, the creation and preservation of a
evaluates and analyzes quantitative and qualitative factors in preferred environment is believed to increase the sense of well-
regard to the design quality by semantic differential scale. being and behavioural effectiveness in people [3].

1. INTRODUCTION
An important aspect of “architectural space” is the involvement
of man in its generation and his partaking in it [1]. “Architectural
space” has also a historical aspect which is indicated by the term
life cycle of it. A number of different methods have been
introduced to understand “architectural space”, “design quality”
and “its life cycle”. These methods aim to develop post
occupancy evaluation (POE) tools and visual quality indicators.
Although it is difficult to quantify the “quality” of architectural
space, visual evaluation of architectural space (indoors and
outdoors) has proven useful in various domains. These visual
evaluation methods aim to provide a toolkit for improving the
design of buildings as well. It seeks to complement methods for
measuring performance in construction and during the life cycle.
Figure 1. Conceptual Framework of the Study
It also unifies issues related to perception of design quality
embodied in architectural space [2]. The main concern in this
paper is to measure the design quality of a historical avenue in 2.METHOD OF THE STUDY
Istanbul, Turkey which serves human functions of habitation, The study is a field study where photographic images are
circulation and many related functions. analyzed, categorized and investigated through a questionnaire.
The study aims to analyze the shop window design on Istiklal
İstiklal Avenue is one of the most famous and elegant ones in Avenue with a special emphasis on cafes’ design (Figure 1
Istanbul. Nearly being three kilometers in length, the avenue illustrates the breakdown of the conceptual framework).
houses many activities, it is surrounded by late Ottoman Buildings Therefore, the research is designed in the following steps; firstly
which carry reflections from Neo-Classical, Neo-Gothic, Art the photographic panorama of the walkway on the avenue is
Nouveau facades, and First Turkish National Architecture style. completed and a map is developed as seen in Figure 2.
Shop windows on the avenue act as the new image of the old
district. For this reason, shop window design is important as they
shall catch the attention of the passerby. Shop window design
shall be analyzed considering quantitative and qualitative factors
which are related to the design quality. Quantitative factors are
related to the elements of the physical environment such as
lighting design, material property (texture, colour, durability et
cetera), window type and orientation, facade style, size and shape.
Qualitative factors on the other hand, refer to interaction of the
physical environment on user psychology. For instance, when a
person is exposed to the colour red, dramatic physiologic effect’s
may be observed including the release of adrenalin, an increase in
heart rate, and an increase in gastric activity, which leads us to Figure 2. Mapping of the activity zones on the Istiklal
offer red in dining facilities. Avenue
Facilities on the avenue are clustered and it was decided to It is paid attention to take photographs of each shop window and
investigate shop window design of cafes. A matrix is developed to cluster shopping activity zones on the map. The research
according to the purpose of the study; which covers quantitative problem is focused on the cafes, therefore only cafes are
and qualitative design parameters. emphasized on another map in order to see their dispersion on
Environmental psychology is broken into several elements, some the avenue (Figure 3).
of which are perception and cognitive mapping. Perception is A list of bipolar adjectives are selected in regard to the related
the instant response to the immediate environment, whereas reference [4-5]. This adjective covers frequently used quantitative
cognition refers to process of semantic and verbal classification of and qualitative design parameters in regard to the shop window
perception [3]. design of cafes. Quantitative parameters are related to the form,
Predicting Perceptions: The 3rd International Conference on Appearance, 17-19
size, shape, material property, whereas qualitative parameters are
April, 2012, Edinburgh, UK. Conference Proceedings Publication ISBN: 978-1-4716- related to the aesthetical properties.
6869-2, Pages: 84-86 @2012 Authors & Predicting Perceptions. All Rights Reserved.
 Predicting Perceptions: Proceedings of the 3rd International Conference on Appearance, pp. 84-86, Edinburgh, UK, ISBN 978-1-4716-6869-2, April 2012.

The attributes of the most preferred environment, that

is Starbucks, appeared to be an open display space, being orderly,
spacious, its historical view (compatible with the historical
Avenue), lighting scheme and design concept (defined by the
participant group). Secondly is the Istanbul Café with vivid color
scheme, spacious view and window detail. Finally, the descriptive
pattern for Saray Café is associated with words such as material
property; timber use, its color, display units, spacious view and
simplicity (defined by the participant group).
The less preferred environments are described by the attributes
of darkness, material property, simplicity for Simit Sarayı (defined
by the participant group). The responses for İnci Profiterole
Figure 3. Cafes on the Istiklal Avenue appeared to be common, being old and unairy with its dark color
scheme (defined by the participant group). Finally for the Porta
3. DATA ANALYSIS Café, the attributes are being ordinary, old and common, pale and
Data is collected by questionnaire and analyzed by semantic having multi separators that destroy visual order and unity.
differential scale.
3.1 The participant group 5. CONCLUSION
20 undergraduate students (10 male, 10 female), who has never Design quality is difficult to quantify as it consists both objective
attended design courses, participated in the study. They are all and subjective components.Whilst some indicators of design can
Turkish people who have visited İstiklal Avenue many times. be measured objectively, depending in part on the subjective
They are asked to fill in a questionnaire without visiting the views, experiences and preferences of the people asked. In
Avenue. Each participant evaluated the questionnaire on their approaching issues of design quality, a number of research
own under the observation of the pollster. methods are applied, one of which is semantic differential scale.
In the present study, user preferences on shop window design are
3.2 Semantic differential scale analyzed and evaluated by semantic differential scale.
In the study, Osgood's semantic differential was designed
An analysis on the adjective pairs that described differences
to measure the connotative meaning of concepts[4]. The
between photographs revealed cluster patterns associated with
respondent is asked to choose where his or her position lies, on a
settings that are liked and disliked. Results cleary indicate that
rating scale between two bipolar adjectives. The bipolar
Starbucks Coffee Shop is the most preferred one, followed by
adjectives are selected in regard to the qualitative and quantitative
İstanbul Cafe and Saray Dairy Lunch/Cafe. On the other hand,
design parameters; they are as follows;
Remarkable – ordinary the least preferred ones are Simit Sarayı, İnci Profiterole and Porta
Vivid color- pale color Café. The study is conducted with a small group which makes it a
Restful- restless case study. Depending on the findings, the research is intended to
Unclutter-clutter be enlarged with professionals (designers) as well.
Luxuriant-simple
Old (historical) – new (modern) Table 1. Mean of the responses for shop window design
Spacious – unspacious
Orderly- chaotic
Open display-closed display
Pleasant-Unpleasant
Subjects evaluated façade pictures of ten cafes on the Avenue
according to the given adjective list. Logos are closed in order to
prevent bias.

4. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

In the study, average rating of the participant group is reported.
Table 1 gives mean of the responses for the given adjective list in
regard to the shop window design of ten cafes (represented by
capital letters).
Figure 4 remarks this point graphically and illustrates how much
the standard deviation from the medium is. 0 is the average value,
the greater the deviation, the greater the significance for a
particular adjective. Regarding this evaluation, the most positive
impressions are stated for Starbucks Coffee, (indicated by letter
H), followed by İstanbul Cafe (indicated by letter I) and Saray 6. REFERENCES
Dairy Lunch/Cafe (indicated by letter J). On the contrary, Porta [1] Pultar, M. 2000. A Structured Approach to Cultural Studies
Cafe (indicated by letter G) is the least preferred one. of Architectural Space. Ethics and the Built Environment. Ed.
Warwick Fox. London: Routledge, 2000, 155-169.
http://www.bilkent.edu.tr/~pultar/Papers/Spacult/Spacult.html
[2] Gann et al. 2003. Design Quality Indicator As A Tool for
Thinking, Building Research and Information. 31,5 (September-
October),318-333.
[3] Bro, Popow. 2000 Report on Psychology and Architecture (Dec
2000).V.1
[4] Sanoff, H 1991. Visual Research Methods in Design, New
York:Van Nostrand Reinhold.
[5] Küller, R. 1970 Perception of An Interior As A Function of
Its Interior, Proceedings of the Architectural Psychology Conference.
Figure 4. Semantic differential chart Ed.Honikman, B.

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