Cognitive Mapping and Wayfinding in Children’s Home- School Itinerary

According to environmental and behavioural theories, individuals in their early years of cognitive development enter a world full of environmental stimuli that motivate them to perceive and learn. As a result of many perception processes, people convert and transfer perceived information into cognitive patterns that inform their understanding of the surroundings in which they operate and navigate around them. This paper aims to better understand the processes involved in navigating the home-school journey for children and delve into the likely impact of gender and age group of children on their perception of the environment and attempt to identify some of the factors that may affect their spatial behaviour. In doing so, there is the intention to develop a new approach to investigating wayfinding for school age children during their home-school journey. The approach consists of combining the analysis of cognitive maps drawn up by children, observation of their travel routines and space syntax tools. After contextualising the research through a literature review covering issues such as children’s spatial perception, navigation, wayfinding, and imageability, the paper describes the methods used to carry out the research, presents the results of the research and discusses them in order to shed some light on children’s wayfinding on the school journey

Pedestrian itinerary choice: between multi-sensory, affective and syntactic aspects of the street pattern in the historic quarter of Bejaia, Algeria

Consideration of the five senses and emotions is not well explored in the urban environment. Different fields deal with the influence of the physical environment on human experience. However, the role of the multi-sensory experience and affectivity in selecting the itinerary for pedestrian mobility is not yet well studied. Several methods have been proposed to evaluate the correlation between pedestrian movement and the environmental configuration, where the visual parameter is the main determinant. Given that other senses could be used to select any itinerary, since the urban environment is perceived at a multisensory level, the aim of the present study is to investigate the relationship between people’s multisensory experience and their navigation in an urban environment in terms of itinerary choice. This study is carried out on the streets linking the city centre to the seafront in Bejaia, Algeria. The investigation was based on qualitative and quantitative methods. The former consists of the organised walk with running commentary technique. The latter consisted of a syntactic analysis of the street pattern. The results show that people choose their itinerary not only on the visual aspect created by the spatial configuration, but also on several variables related to the affectivity and multi-sensory experiences of the urban environment. The findings will be discussed with regard to their usefulness for the design and development of urban publics spaces

Cities' Identity Through Architecture and Art

Intended to be a guide for academics, scholars, and interested leaders, this book was designed to critically assess issues related to architectural identity, the city as a scene, the city as an organism, the city as a subject, and the planning or rather approaching of one. A pressing issue for many researchers in the field, the book discusses the negative repercussions resulting from globalization. Studies have indicated that globalization, despite all the positive effects, has resulted in a loss of identity within a city. As a city develops over time, its identity is evolving as well and may even be lost due to rapid and constant changes it is subjected to. Discussed as well are examples and tendencies in dealing with urban identities as well as the transformation of cities and urban cultures mentioned in terms of form, identity, and art. This book is a combination of innovative research submitted to a conference on Cities’ Identity Through Architecture and Arts (CITAA) whereas scholars from all over the world gather in one venue to discuss cultural, historical, and economic issues of the city. Thus, the book offers a collective and global solution that is applicable on a universal level. The research presented in this book was conducted by authors, or rather participants of the conference from, three different continents of the world and organized by IEREK. It was a distinct opportunity for them to share their thoughts with leading scholars and professionals in the field of Architecture, Arts, and Planning. The research and materials in this book are directed at those who are actively engaged in the decision-making processes and to a heterogeneous audience who has an interest to critically examine all the new literature available in the field. A special word of thanks should be made to the editors of this book and to all the authors and co-authors of the chapters who collectively provided the academic community with unique and increasingly valuable literature

University for the Creative Arts staff research 2011

This publication brings together a selection of the University’s current research. The contributions foreground areas of research strength including still and moving image research, applied arts and crafts, as well as emerging fields of investigations such as design and architecture. It also maps thematic concerns across disciplinary areas that focus on models and processes of creative practice, value formations and processes of identification through art and artefacts as well as cross-cultural connectivity. Dr. Seymour Roworth-Stoke

The Courtyard House: Can a Sustainable Future Learn from a Context Relevant Past

This paper looks at the courtyard house as a traditional urban dwellings of yesteryears with a view to explore its potential in informing the housing developments of the future.  In order to address the question, the paper starts with a historical overview of this built form as an urban dwellings that fulfilled its functional and spatial requirements in times gone by. It then goes on to highlight the inadequcy of post colonial housing solutions in Algeria and to look into two important aspects of this traditional housing typology; its socio-cultural relevance and environmental performance. The analysis is carried out using both secondary research in the form of three examples from the literature. and primary research carried out as field work in the form of temperature measurements inside a house, during the hot season, in Boussaada (Algeria). The discussion and concluding remarks attempts to make an arguments for re-considering what could be learned from such traditional housing typology to inform future urban development that would subscribe to the values of sustainable development.  Courtyard house, urabn development, typology, cultural relevance, environmental performance, traditional architecture, sustainable developmen

The courtyard house: can a sustainable future learn from a context relevant past

This paper looks at the courtyard house as a traditional urban dwellings of yesteryears with a view to explore its potential in informing the housing developments of the future. In order to address the question, the paper starts with a historical overview of this built form as an urban dwellings that fulfilled its functional and spatial requirements in times gone by. It then goes on to highlight the inadequcy of post colonial housing solutions in Algeria and to look into two important aspects of this traditional housing typology; its socio-cultural relevance and environmental performance. The analysis is carried out using both secondary research in the form of three examples from the literature. and primary research carried out as field work in the form of temperature measurements inside a house, during the hot season, in Boussaada (Algeria). The discussion and concluding remarks attempts to make an arguments for re-considering what could be learned from such traditional housing typology to inform future urban development that would subscribe to the values of sustainable development

A review of research on environmental noise barriers

During the past four decades, extensive research has been carried out on different noise barrier shapes using analytical and physical modelling as well as full scale testing. This paper reviews traffic noise barrier research and its findings to date. It provides a catalogue of noise barrier profiles; identifying the relative acoustic benefits of each and the physical principles on which they operate. The likely effects of ground and atmospheric conditions on their absolute acoustic performance are described. The types of barriers which are commonly used in practice and those deserving further attention are highlighted. Based on the findings of previous work, recommendations are made on possible areas of further research

Environment, technology and sustainability

This text covers the available technologies and techniques for establishing a suitable environment within buildings while minimising exploitation of scarce resources. It aims to explain environmental influences on buildings and to outline principles of design