14

In the last post, I mentioned that it may appear that the static uses in a floor plan are secondary to the circulation. This is true from square footage perspective, but perhaps more accurately, the design of a floor plan could be viewed as a dialog between the physical features and the circulation between the physical features. They each inform each other. The diagram in this post is intended to assist in illustrating this postulate. If all human-made features are removed from a floor plan analysis by studying a natural landscape, a couple obvious facts might be observed; that is, there are still physical features, and if people were to walk the landscape, they would walk somewhere, thus circulation. Essentially, there is no escaping a predetermined context and a predisposed circulation pattern within the context. In the diagram, I sketched a landscape that allowed for circulation through a natural landscape, from a start point to an end point (the solid line). For the sake of the diagram, the two rectangles, representing human-made structures, do not exist for the people walking the solid line path; these people are simply migrating through the particular portion of the natural landscape shown. The dots at the beginning and end of the line are to illustrate the start and destination points. Although this diagram represents a small portion of a greater landscape, and the solid line a part a greater circulation pattern, every single turn in a path can be seen as having a beginning and an end, or a starting point and a destination (this is an analytical tool I will discuss in more detail at a later time). The solid line might more or less represent how a trail might form. However, if the landscape were to change, based on human-made structures, this could greatly alter the general circulation in the area. The two rectangles, being structures, and the dashed line, being the circulation between these structures, illustrate this point. The structures may have been placed in the shown locations for a variety of reasons, including the possibility that the solid line became a well established egress route and that the buildings were required to be some distance from the route. So, the solid line was purely reactive to a natural context and, in turn, the placement of the structures responded to the circulation pattern defined by the solid line, which resulted in a new circulation pattern, and so on. It's impossible to escape history and nature in architecture. Even the orientation of your own home has a causal link from our hunter-gatherer days.

13

Circulation:

So far, this blog has concerned itself primarily with human circulation through spaces. It is typical to plan a building by first determining its spatial requirements through the needed static uses (eg. classroom, office, so on). Although this is critical in determining client goals, for spatial planning purposes, it is important to note that most of the space in a building is used for moving through and between the spaces, and not for it's static uses. Additionally, it is the static use that is typically subordinate to the circulation, if the building is to be designed to take advantage of our natural movement tendencies, as discussed in post 12.

Take the image to the right as an example. There are major circulation paths through the space from entrances and exits. This space is assumed to be part of a large public building, say a mall, and the upper left corner of this particular area is planned as a seating area.

First, the seating area was placed in the upper left corner because, after looking at the circulation patterns from the entrances and exits of the space, the upper left corner was the largest remaining contiguous area outside of the circulation paths. The image shows easy circulation from each of the entrances into the waiting area. The couches in the seating are are situated only where the circulation does not exist. I also placed a sign guide, and an electronic screen, in the voids between circulation paths.

Therefore, the seating area location was determined after the main area circulation was analyzed, and the furniture locations were determined after the circulation from the entrances to the seating area was determined.

This approach may appear reactive; that is, the spaces are resulting only from the circulation. However, the circulation will be designed as well as the static uses between.

12

Sight:

Sight is an integral factor in an individual's determination of how they move through space. Without sight, of course, the sensory input required for moving through space is radically different. There are some observable changes in our society to account for the blind, such as sound ques at crosswalks and surface texture changes intended as warnings or guides, as is the case near the edge of the station platforms in the New York City subway system. If most of us were without sight, I do not doubt that our built physical environment would be radically different, and would probably have a focus on sounds, odors, and texture.

Being that the vast majority do have sight, visual information is our primary guide, with the other senses taking on a fraction of the importance. And, as I have maintained throughout this blog, it is the form of the space itself that can guide individuals by virtue of how it is perceived by those passing though the space, through their vision. Alasdair Turner and Alan Penn explore this notion in their paper Encoding natural movement as an agent-based system: an investigation into human pedestrian behaviour in the built environment. They state:

People might, for example, follow a map, or signage, take into account the direction other people are taking, a glimpse of a familiar painting, reject a route on the grounds of personal prejudice against a style, and so on. On the other hand, the possibility of exploring the walkable surface of the layout ahead (the rooms of the gallery) may simply be enough for a human to do exactly that. If this is the case, we should be able to reproduce movement levels within [a] gallery by using an agent-based model, with movement rules based solely on building configuration, without recourse to models involving learned paths, goals, or destinations, or any more detailed social theory framework.

In their paper Mr. Turner and Penn go on to explore this notion through computer modelling, and illustrate the high similarities between their model and actual movements. Although, there are many possible methods that may be employed for guiding individuals through a series of spaces, including those mentioned by Mr. Turner and Penn; however, assuming it is practical to design a building so that the physical form itself is a guide, through the perspective of an individual's vision, then I am suggesting that this is a primary design principle in determining how spaces transition into one another, when practical.

11

In the last post I illustrate a winding path that was appropriate for a semi-public space. In post 8 and 9 I indicated that the layouts of a network of space can influence an individual's velocity.

Certain things can contribute to slowing the pace of individuals. The tighter the required turn the more one will be slowed. The more turns are required, the more an individual's pace will be slowed. The more constrained a threshold from one space to the next, the more an individual's pace will be slowed. Doorways, stairs and ramps will slow an individual's pace. Of course, points of interests, options, and activities will slow an individual's pace. The last point is more applicable to individuals open to being distracted.

Conversely, the more constraints, obstacles, turning or meandering, or distractions are removed from a space, the faster an individual will tend to move.

The English word corridor is derived from the Italian word corridore, or its infinitive verb root correre, meaning to run.

10

Deconstructing Flow: Assuming there are applicable guidelines to a comfortable turn, as indicated in post 9, as well as items in other posts, these guidelines can be combined to extract resulting human flows in a myriad of different conditions. Take the situation illustrated. Two identical adjacent rooms accommodating the semi-public velocity of an individual. If the individual's movement velocity is appropriately assumed, an individual will meander through these rooms very comfortably.

9

The required space to allow for a comfortable 90 degree turn by an individual depends a large part on the velocity of the individual. Reciprocally, the velocity of an individual is influenced by the spatial arrangements of spaces adjacent, and including, the space being analyzed. It is also influenced by the speed at which the individual feels they should move through the space.

To avoid some complexity, the internal motivations of individuals as well as local spatial arrangements can often be determined by the use of a space; such as in the case of an airport, where a speedy pace is commonplace, and accommodated for with the use of large open spatial arrangements that generally flow seamlessly together.

Also, a review of every type of use, and the associated velocity of an individual, may be avoided with three generalized rules of thumb as follows:

In the diagram, I show three turning radii, each representing a natural 90 degree turn in different contexts. Turning radius #1 represents intimate spaces; #2 represents semi-public spaces; #3 represents public spaces, such as an airport. Note the dimensions, which serve to provide some guidelines for actually generating the scale of a space.

These radii, and the corresponding purposes and dimensions I provide, are only guidelines to help simplify the understanding an individual’s velocity and the required space to accommodate their 90 degree turn.

8

People can occupy space by situating themselves in or on objects within a space (such as in a chair), or by situating themselves within the void of the space. When situated within the void of the space, such an occupation may be structured or unstructured. A structured occupation generally arises out of the managed use of a space; unstructured occupation may be a result of the spacial arrangement, but is not necessarily a direct result of the managed use of space. In this diagram a counter is again shown, but it also illustrates a positive example of how structured occupation should be considered in spatial planning.

When entering the space, the user will enter towards the counter. This is functional when the counter is an important stopping point (directing a path of travel towards a meaningful vantage point can be very useful, even if the vantage point isn't also the physical goal).

The left hand side of the counter is for developing one or more lines of people. This is a structured occupation of the space, as it is a result of managing individuals within the space. The projected length and width of the lines is represented by the larger dashed rectangle. The right hand side of the counter is task space. The task space would, of course, be only one individual deep. The task space might be used by people who have already waited in line, and now are filling out paperwork, for example. The smaller dashed rectangle represents the area consumed by people using the task portion of the counter.

The flow diagram shows the path of individuals who bypass the counter and move through to the next space. This layout would be practical in a situation, say, where there is a mix of people who will either stop at the counter, or who will simply proceed through the room; especially where the use of the counter may be particularly important for some individuals.

The arrangement accounts for both the intended managed uses of the space and also for the flow of people passing through the space, and actually, the flow depicted is encouraged, or guided, as a result of the structured occupation (at the lines and the task counter).

7

In this diagram, a room with an L-shaped counter is illustrated. The entrance and exit mirror each other and their right-hand jambs align with the outermost edge of the counter. This may appear to be a logical architectural alignment, but if the goal is to allow a person to walk from the exit to the entrance in a straight line, then it is impractical. It must be considered that people will stand on the left-hand side of the counter, if the counter is to be useful.

6

Objects in space:

Although my observations of human movement through space at this point are anecdotal, I believe that the essence of the diagrams is accurate. Studies tracing the footsteps of numerous individuals over a period of time would be required to accurately map movement through space. After that, it may be possible that mathematics and computer models may be applied to provide a tool for analyzing designs.

Computer models can be very helpful; however, producing drawings and diagrams manually based on approximations of movement, as part of the design process, is proactive and may be a tool for improving the designer's sensitivity to space.

Individuals will tend to center themselves in space. In this diagram, the view to the exit is clear from the entrance, and theoretically, a person is able to walk in a direct line from the entrance to the exit; however, unless pedestrians make a conscious effort to walk in a straight line, they will tend to move in a slight 's' pattern. Objects within a larger space can have an influence on movement. Short objects will generally influence movement and tall objects will tend to influence movement and sight lines.

There is also an additional influence taking place; that is, individuals will tend to keep a certain distance from objects.