Ideas are in things: an application of the space syntax method to discovering house genotypes

Hillier, Bill; Hanson, Julienne; Graham, Harry

doi:10.1068/b140363

Cited by 224 publications

(187 citation statements)

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“…For example, the studies of seventeen vernacular farmhouses in Normandy [Hillier et al 1987], seven Pueblo "room-blocks" [Shapiro 1995] and eighteen post-war suburban houses in London [Hanson 1998] are all informative because the body of data being analysed is large enough to not only make comparisons between the various values (TD, i, CV etc.) but to develop hypothetical genotypes for such sets.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Mathematics of Spatial Configuration: Revisiting, Revising and Critiquing Justified Plan Graph Theory

Ostwald

2011

Nexus Netw J

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Abstract. The justified plan graph (JPG) was the first practical analytical method developed as part of the theory of Space Syntax, which purported to provide a graphical, mathematical and associated theoretical model for analysing the spatial configuration of buildings. In spite of early interest, in recent years relatively little research using this method has been published, perhaps because the JPG method is rarely explained in its totality and when it is, the descriptions are often inconsistent or unclear. Although it is now embedded in several software programs and its use may be more widespread, it is no better understood and after processing there is a marked lack of consistency in how the results are interpreted. This paper provides a historical background for the development of the JPG and a discussion of its conceptual or theoretical origins, followed by a "worked example" of the mathematics of the JPG. In combination with the results for two further cases, the paper identifies some important interpretative limits in the method and uses the examples to explain its potential use in design analysis. Finally, the paper discusses how the consistent application of this method to sets of related buildings is likely to produce a more valuable, and statistically viable, basis for future work.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Mathematics of Spatial Configuration: Revisiting, Revising and Critiquing Justified Plan Graph Theory

Ostwald

2011

Nexus Netw J

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“…For axial analysis, street network is represented using the longest and fewest straight lines, which is generally regarded as axial map, and distance between different spatial locations (axial lines) is measured by topological depth. Two key metrics, integration and choice are calculated to describe respectively the 'tomovement' and 'through-movement' potential of a spatial location as well as the entire network (Hillier et al, 1987). For segment analysis, as suggested by the name, street network is represented following natural street segments and the distance between different spatial locations (street segments) is measured as total angular changes along the shortest path.…”

Section: Space Syntax and Urban Transformationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Exploring transformation of small and medium-sized historical towns in China with network analysis and user-generated open data

Zhang

Xie

Zhang

2017

Proceedings 24th ISUF 2017 - City and Territory in the Globalization Age

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Ye ZHANG1, Xiangya XIE2, Jie ZHANG2 1 Department of Architecture, School of Design and Environment, National University of Singapore, 4 Architecture Drive, Singapore 117566 2 School of Architecture, Tsinghua University, Beijing100084, P. R. China E-mail: akizy@nus.edu.sg; xiexy15@mails.tsinghua.edu.cn; zjzhangjie@tinsghua.edu.cn Keywords (3-5): urban transformation, small and medium-sized historical Chinese cities, big data While an increasing number of research on transformation and conservation of historical areas of major Chinese cities have been witnessed in recent years (e.g. Whitehand et al, 2011; Whitehand et al 2014; Whitehand et al 2016, among many others), endeavours to studying more ordinary and small and medium-sized historical towns in China are rare. In the near future, those historical towns will be confronted with a new wave of developments, given that urbanisation of small and medium-sized cities and towns is high on China’s 13th five-year plan (2016-2020). This will pose a serious challenge to the conservation of their already vulnerable traditional urban fabric. This study aims to develop an accurate description of the transformation of built form, in particular street and block patterns, of the small and medium-sized historical towns, and how this is associated with the change of spatial distribution of urban activities. A total number of 36 towns in Zhejiang province, China are selected as case studies. Transformation of the urban fabric is examined based on cartographical maps of different historical periods using combined methods of urban network analysis and field survey. A large amount of user-generated geo-referenced open data, such as social media reviews, point-of-interest mapping, microblogs and night time illumination maps, are harnessed to produce a detailed description of urban activity patterns, of which the relationships to the transformation of urban form are investigated using multi-variate regression models. The results show how basic built form parameters such as spatial integration, between-ness centrality, block size and block depth can effectively and accurately describe the transformation of the small and medium-sized historical towns and how the formal changes are linked to the geographical shift of different urban activities. In which ways the findings can inform decision making in urban conservation practice to better address the tension between conservation and developments is discussed at the end.References: Whitehand Jeremy WR, Gu Kai, and Whitehand Susan M. (2011). "Fringe belts and socioeconomic change in China." Environment and Planning B: Planning and Design 38 (1):41-60 Whitehand Jeremy WR, Gu Kai, Conzen Michael P, and Whitehand Susan M. (2014). "The typological process and the morphological period: a cross-cultural assessment." Environment and Planning B: Planning and Design 41 (3):512-533. Whitehand Jeremy WR, Conzen Michael P, and Gu Kai. 2016. "Plan analysis of historical cities: a Sino-European comparison." Urban Morphology 20 (2):139-158.

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“…This statistic describes the variance in integration within each structure, which may be a result of functional differentiation (Hillier et al, 1987). The difference factor statistic produces a value between 0 (maximum difference, or strong functional differentiation) and 1 (no difference, or complete identity).…”

Section: R We N D Y B U S T a R D • S P A C E E V O L U T I O N Amentioning

confidence: 99%

“…where a, b, c = integration values of the spaces, t = _ a, b, c, and ln = the natural logarithm (Hillier et al, 1987). This statistic describes the variance in integration within each structure, which may be a result of functional differentiation (Hillier et al, 1987).…”

Section: R We N D Y B U S T a R D • S P A C E E V O L U T I O N Amentioning

confidence: 99%

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Space, evolution, and function in the houses of Chaco Canyon

Bustard¹

1999

Environ. Plann. B

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From A.D. 860 to 1130, ancestral Puebloan peoples constructed more than a dozen multi-storey structures along a 14-km stretch of Chaco Canyon in the arid mountain desert of the Four Corners area in the American Southwest. These so-called 'great houses' ranged in size from 54 to 800 rooms. For the past 145 years, archaeologists have sought an understanding of the social organization that produced such monumental structures. Despite intensive study, the function of great houses in Chacoan society is unknown. Using space syntax access analyses, this research examines within-and amonggreat house spatial organization and evaluates social organisational models.Space syntax is used to analyse 11 discrete roomblocks from three excavated great houses.Access graphs are constructed and used to generate syntactic data. Using a three-phase temporal framework previously developed for the great house period, changes over time in patterning, spatial phenotypes, and functional genotypes are identified. The results of this research are used to evaluate the spatial implications of the currentlyproposed Chaco great house models. Syntactical analyses suggest that it is unlikely that any one of these models fits all the great houses. The syntactical evidence is best explained by a mixed-use model for great houses rather than a single function model.

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Ideas are in things: an application of the space syntax method to discovering house genotypes

Cited by 224 publications

References 0 publications

The Mathematics of Spatial Configuration: Revisiting, Revising and Critiquing Justified Plan Graph Theory

The Mathematics of Spatial Configuration: Revisiting, Revising and Critiquing Justified Plan Graph Theory

Exploring transformation of small and medium-sized historical towns in China with network analysis and user-generated open data

Space, evolution, and function in the houses of Chaco Canyon

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