Biophilic design of building façades from an Evolutionary Psychology framework

Built environments that integrate representations of the natural world into façades and interiors benefit occupant psycho-physiological well-being and behavior. However, the biophilic quality of buildings does not de-pend exclusively on “green”, but also upon “organized complexity” in their structure. In this exploratory study we compare quantitative (Visual Atten-tion Software) and qualitative approaches (self-rating scales) in the perception of biophilic design of building façades. Eight façades varying in their degree of biophilic design (High, Medium, Low, No biophilic qualities) were assessed on the Perceived Restorativeness Scale-11, on preference, and on a series of physical aesthetic attributes. The eight façades were scanned with Visual At-tention Software (VAS). These measures show many overlapping points. VAS can be considered a way to operationalize the engagement of attention in the first 3-5 seconds of gaze in exploring building design, and self-ratings assess-ments a measure of to what extent the building is perceived as restorative. Higher perceived restorativeness and preference match a higher degree of bi-ophilic design, which corresponds to a building where vegetation is integrated in an organic structure. Vegetation is not the only biophilic characteristic to be considered in biophilic design and this emerges clearly from self-ratings and VAS. Exploring organized complexity is fundamental for understanding human responses to architecture

Urban Spine: A Pedestrian-oriented Multi-modal Transportation Infrastructure for Improving Health and Well-being in the Urban Environment

With finite land resources and ever increasing population, urbanization continues to edge natural environments off our maps. The quality of life and well-being is deteriorated with continuous exposure to the urban environment due to the heavy saturation of stress and anxiety that comes with urban living. Stress is associated with the inherent flight-or-fight reaction that humans have developed through evolution in the natural environment. The contamination of stress inducing stimuli in the urban environment has driving people into sedentary lifestyles, remain indoors within the safe confines of building. Mitigating the magnitude of stressful interactions in the urban landscape, many which are caused by automobiles, will encourage a return to the outdoor environment. The re-integration of naturalistic experiences into the environment will improve the quality of urban life. A shift of the urban landscape toward a pedestrian-orientation, through the promotion of walkability, can ameliorate the adverse impacts caused by automobile centric behavior and cultivate the streetscape as a canvas for experiencing naturalistic features and characteristics that support the health and well-being of the urban dweller – not only ensuring survival but granting the opportunity to flourish

Buildings, beauty, and the brain: psychological responses to architectural design

People today spend most of their lives in buildings. The design of the built environment can impact mood, behavior, and wellbeing. The evidence discussed in Chapter 1 suggests that the perceived beauty of an environment may influence wellbeing more than any single design variable considered in isolation. Some researchers have leveraged empirical methods of neuroscience and psychology to identify aesthetic features of architecture that support healthy psychological experiences. However, this line of inquiry faces persistent challenges in terms of a) measuring the environment itself and b) evaluating acute psychological responses relevant to design. This dissertation addresses both of these gaps in the literature by using pattern theory and image statistics to quantify aesthetic properties of architectural scenes (Chapters 4-5), and by advancing our understanding of how specific neural networks and psychological processes contribute to architectural experience (Chapters 2-3). Chapter 2 outlines the first neuroscientific model of architectural encounters. According to this aesthetic triad framework, three large-scale neural systems generate aesthetic experiences in the built environment: sensorimotor, emotion-valuation, and knowledge-meaning systems. The chapter explores how design features interact with each of these neural systems to influence mental states and behaviors and investigates how emerging technologies like virtual reality and brain imaging could be leveraged in future research on the neuroscience of architecture. Building from this neural model, Chapter 3 investigates the core psychological dimensions of architectural experience within the context of the aesthetic triad framework. In a pair of experiments, participants rated architectural images on a series of diverse psychological measures. A Principal Components Analysis yielded three components that explained most of the variance in ratings: fluency (ease with which one organizes and comprehends a scene), fascination (a scene’s informational richness and generated interest), and hygge (extent to which the scene reflects a warm, personal environment). Whereas fluency and fascination are well-established dimensions in assessing natural scenes and visual art, hygge emerged as a new dimension in relation to architectural scenes. In Chapters 4 and 5, the focus shifts from measuring the brain to measuring the environment. Specifically, these chapters investigate whether people are innately attuned to nature-like visual patterns in architecture. Chapter 4 introduces Christopher Alexander’s theory of natural structure and reviews past literature linking biophilic design and wellbeing. In Chapter 5, a series of experiments are presented suggesting that subjective perceptions of naturalness are strongly predicted by low-level visual features of architectural scenes. Furthermore, naturalistic scaling and contrast features – two of Alexander’s proposed patterns of natural structure – are found to reliably predict similarity evaluations (derived from an image arrangement task) and aesthetic preference ratings of architectural scenes. The results of a final experiment suggest that preferences for nature-like architectural patterns may be associated with feelings of comfort and excitement that such patterns generate. This research adds to a growing body of literature showing how aesthetic qualities of architecture impact human experiences. Novel theoretical frameworks are proposed for researchers to contextualize empirical studies on the psychology and neuroscience of architecture. New methods of image analysis are also used to quantify aesthetic properties of the built environment and to investigate how nature-like patterns in architecture influence psychological experiences. Together, these chapters provide new insight into the psychological influence of our physical surroundings, and they offer new research tools to inform the design of beautiful and brain-friendly buildings.Cambridge International Scholarship (Cambridge Trusts

3D City Models and urban information: Current issues and perspectives

Considering sustainable development of cities implies investigating cities in a holistic way taking into account many interrelations between various urban or environmental issues. 3D city models are increasingly used in different cities and countries for an intended wide range of applications beyond mere visualization. Could these 3D City models be used to integrate urban and environmental knowledge? How could they be improved to fulfill such role? We believe that enriching the semantics of current 3D city models, would extend their functionality and usability; therefore, they could serve as integration platforms of the knowledge related to urban and environmental issues allowing a huge and significant improvement of city sustainable management and development. But which elements need to be added to 3D city models? What are the most efficient ways to realize such improvement / enrichment? How to evaluate the usability of these improved 3D city models? These were the questions tackled by the COST Action TU0801 “Semantic enrichment of 3D city models for sustainable urban development”. This book gathers various materials developed all along the four year of the Action and the significant breakthroughs

Turkish informal housing settlements as a typology for modern generative processes in urban design: a case study of Karanfilkoy and Fatih Sultan Mehmet neighborhoods in Istanbul, Turkey

Generative development processes adapt to existing conditions and unfold over time. Generative urban design theory proposes that successful communities must be planned and built incrementally, with current and future users participating throughout the process. The theory critiques the modern development processes of master planning and design that disregard adaptations through the building process. Successful examples of generatively built structures and neighborhoods are often cited from pre-20th century traditional societies and vernacular architecture. Generative approaches to urban design and planning need more modern 20th century examples and case studies of successful generatively built structures and communities. Informal settlements are often cited as places with innovative and adaptive development processes largely determined by the residents. This dissertation contributes to generative urban design theory by analyzing the Istanbul informal housing settlements of Karanfilköy and Fatih Sultan Mehmet. These two settlements evolved in the late 20th and early 21st centuries in a largely owner built, incremental process. The resulting structures and patterns have many qualities that make these two squatter settlements livable, dynamic, and adaptive to the users\u27 needs. The settlements are analyzed for their generative processes and the resultant structures and patterns that evolved over time. This dissertation is an explanatory case study. Its constructs are living structures, patterns/pattern languages, and generative development processes, as described by Christopher Alexander and Nikos Salingaros. This dissertation expands on the rich and diverse literature of informal settlements in general, Turkish and Istanbul informal settlements in particular, and generative urban design theory. This study establishes the Istanbul informal housing settlement and its processes, structures and pattern language as a defined, modern settlement typology in generative urban design theory

Landscope | Interpreting Environmental Consciousness

This thesis proposes a way in which architecture and the built environment might work to integrate human consciousness and natural process. A theoretical design entitled Landscope is presented as a responsive, sustainable landscape that offers understanding of nature through active observation, interpretation and transformation of the environment. The design proposal is situated at the edge of Hamilton Harbour, Ontario, Canada, adjacent to the existing facilities of the National Water Research Institute. Two extended studies accompany the design proposal. The first, Water, presents a poetic exploration of cosmic, responsive, and connective qualities of water relating to nature and technology. The second study, Connected Fields, focuses on the visionary American engineer Buckminster Fuller and his ‘Geoscope’ project, a geodesic dome designed to act as a monitoring and control centre for global material and resource flows. This section also includes a discussion of general conceptions of the world, focusing on key twentieth-century conceptions of the Biosphere, Gaia, and the Noösphere. Historical theories of environmental perception are discussed including Gestalt psychology and technical systems of observation. Drawing upon this cultural material, the thesis attempts to open boundaries that separate nature and technology, encouraging a complex, mutually dependent relationship between these traditionally separate realms. The general pursuit is a cybernetic and virtual model for environmental and ontological hybridity, involving an evolution of consciousness at both individual and global scales