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Seeing and being seen inside a museum and a department store. A comparison study in visibility and co-presence patterns

Kwon, SJ; Sailer, K; (2015) Seeing and being seen inside a museum and a department store. A comparison study in visibility and co-presence patterns. In: Karimi, K and Vaughan, L and Sailer, K and Palaiologou, G and Bolton, T, (eds.) Proceedings of the 10th Space Syntax Symposium (SSS10). (pp. 24:1-24:15). Space Syntax Laboratory, The Bartlett School of Architecture, University College London: London, United Kingdom. Green open access

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Abstract

Regardless of their different purposes – one being educational and the other commercial, both museums and department stores show similarities in the structuring of spaces due to their nature of exhibiting material collections. Another overlap is found in their history of development, as they both had a purpose in reforming society. It is evident that inter-visibility among visitors inside these two buildings played a crucial role in this purpose. Therefore how inter-visibility is shaped by their spatial layouts is of interest. In this paper, co-presence, which is a fundamental element in creating interactions, is interpreted as a by-product of seeing and being seen among visitors in buildings. This paper is designed to study the patterns of co-presence within these two building types and to make comparisons across them. The study employs a new methodology, combining Edward Hall’s dimension of space and isovists, at room level to measure different degrees of co-presence. With this methodology, two sets of measures have been derived – boundaries and behaviours. Boundaries are based on visitors’ personal, social and public dimensions defined by Hall. Measures of behaviours are derived from directed isovists and categorised into three types: spectating, acting and interacting. The paper demonstrates how this methodology can be applied to quantify degrees of co-presence inside a selection of rooms in a museum and a department store in London in relation to their spatial configurations. Results indicate that the phenomenon of being seen is strongly associated with integration of spatial configurations. The relationship between these behaviours and spatial layout suggests that the patterns of co-presence seem to be generically formed by configurations. By introducing methodology to measure degrees of co-presence and comparing the different co-presence patterns generated by the two building types, the paper contributes to understanding of patterns of co-presence inside buildings at micro-scale.

Type: Proceedings paper
Title: Seeing and being seen inside a museum and a department store. A comparison study in visibility and co-presence patterns
Event: 10th International Space Syntax Symposium
Location: London
Dates: 13 July 2015 - 17 July 2015
ISBN-13: 9780993342905
Open access status: An open access version is available from UCL Discovery
Publisher version: http://www.sss10.bartlett.ucl.ac.uk/category/02-ar...
Language: English
Additional information: This version is the version of record. For information on re-use, please refer to the publisher’s terms and conditions. Copyright © Space Syntax Laboratory, UCL, 2015.
Keywords: Co-presence, inter-visibility, isovist, museums, department stores.
UCL classification: UCL
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of the Built Environment
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of the Built Environment > The Bartlett School of Architecture
URI: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/1470602
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