Space Syntax Lab Seminars: Autumn 2024

About

The Space Syntax Lab Seminar series brings together researchers and students to share their work at the intersection of architecture, urban space and society with a particular focus on space syntax theory and methods. It is hosted by The Bartlett’s internationally renowned Space Syntax Laboratory. The series features a mixture of invited international speakers, UCL researchers and PhD students providing diverse viewpoints on how we understand, analyse and design both buildings and cities.

Starting in 2022, the Space Syntax Laboratory began to invite expressions of interest from researchers who wish to present their work as part of the seminar series. Individuals interested can apply using the following online form.

Schedule

17 October 2024 | 16:00 | Mariana Diniz

From Types to Regions: a GIS Tool for Spatial Analysis.

Abstract

The practice of urban planning is intrinsically related to the sphere of designing and producing spaces. A ubiquitous topic for urban planners is the duality between the form and history of cities, which has been approached within several frameworks, most notably in urban morphological studies. A consistent interpretation of the city is the recognition that urban space is, in fact, a mosaic of urban patterns. These patterns represent the historical perspective of the city or its long-term occupation. In classic urban morphology, particularly the historico-geographical approach, we revisit the concept of Morphological Regions, based on the typomorphological classification of urban patterns, delimited by their degree of internal morphological similarity. From a methodological point of view, the delimitation of these regions remains labour-intensive, grounded in qualitative visual analysis and the personal expertise of the analyst. However, the conceptual framework and the identification of urban types are transferable to quantitative parameters. Therefore, the aim of this study is to test a GIS classification algorithm based on the combination of urban typomorphologies according to objective parameters. We test these measures empirically in São Paulo, to derive homogeneous regions of urban types.

Biography

Mariana Diniz holds an MSc in Architecture and Urban Planning (Brazil). She is currently a fourth-year PhD candidate at CITTA (Research Centre for Territory, Transports and Environment, UP), in the Spatial Planning Doctoral Programme, supervised by Dr Miguel Serra.

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31 October 2024 | 16:00 | Dr Onur Tümtürk

Urban Form and Change: Insights on Urban Form Evolution Through Configurational Morphometrics

Abstract

The importance of urban form in shaping future development and transformation patterns is well-recognized in urban morphology. However, despite the need for a diachronic approach to rigorously understand the form-change relationship, studies utilising longitudinal datasets remain scarce, and only a small fraction employs quantitative methodologies and morphometric approaches. This research, part of a recently completed doctoral study at The University of Melbourne, aims to quantitatively examine how urban form elements and their spatial arrangements influence patterns of physical change over time. Using a novel longitudinal geospatial database of New York, Melbourne, and Barcelona, spanning from the 1800s to the 2000s, a diachronic and quantitative methodology is presented to assess urban form evolution. The research compares the performance of geometric and configurational measures of plots, buildings, and streets in explaining physical change patterns. Findings demonstrate that while the prevailing hypotheses emphasising the effect of geometric measures, such as size and shape, are often off the mark, configurational and access-based measures of plots and streets can accurately describe the dynamic relationships between form and change. The shift from geometric to configurational analysis aligns with the fundamental principles of configurational and spatial morphology schools, underlining the importance of relational properties in explaining spatial processes. These empirical findings contribute to the expanding fields of Urban Morphometrics, Space Syntax, and Place Syntax and provide data-informed insights to enhance the resilience and adaptive capacity of urban spaces.

Biography

Dr Onur Tümtürk is an Assistant Professor of Urban Design and Morphology at Bilkent University. His research, established during his PhD at The University of Melbourne (2024), focuses on the relationship between urban form and various socio-spatial processes, employing morphological and spatial analytical perspectives. Onur’s work bridges urban design, urban morphology, morphometrics, and socio-ecological thinking in urbanism. His research and studies were recognised with the 2022 Doctoral Academy Fellowship from the Melbourne Centre for Data Science and the 2023 Bharat Dave Prize from the Melbourne School of Design.

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14 November 2024 | 16:00 | Dr Sam Griffiths

Everyday Heritage in 20th-Century Residential Developments on the sites of Demolished Country Houses 

Abstract

This seminar explores how ‘ordinary’ and ‘everyday’ heritages challenge traditional notions of heritage, focusing on what heritage is, where it resides, and how it is practised. Using space syntax methods 'archaeologically’, the seminar examines the role of spatial morphology in mediating the relationship between past and present in historic urban landscapes. Configurational analysis of street networks in six suburban developments, built on the sites of country houses demolished in the 20th century, reveals how historical spatial patterns are sometimes partially preserved within the larger structures of urban space. The research investigates the extent to which these developments retain the spatial signatures of their historic uses and reflects on how this contributes to their identities as local places.

Biography

Dr Sam Griffiths is an Associate Professor in Spatial Cultures in the Space Syntax Laboratory at the UCL Bartlett School of Architecture. His research addresses the historical relationship between people and their built environments, the spatial culture of industrial cities, the role of architecture in historical writing and space syntax as an interdisciplinary research perspective in the humanities and social sciences. He has published a number of articles and book chapters on these topics, including on the potential for using space syntax in urban heritage and conservation. He is co-editor with Alexander von Lünen of Spatial Cultures: Towards a New Morphology of Cities (Routledge, 2016), and author of Writing the Materialities of the Urban Past: Cities and the Architectural Topography of Historical Imagination
(Routledge, 2021).

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28 November 2024 | 16:00 | Dr Ana Cocho-Bermejo

Space Depth Analysis via Agent Oriented Programming: A Review and Update of Space Syntax Methodology

Abstract

This study aims to advance the application of Space Syntax by integrating it with Agent-Based System (ABS) features within the NetLogo environment, building upon the foundational work done using UCL DepthMap X. Initially, the research replicates Alasdair Turner's early 2000s experiments at Tate Britain to validate the results within this new framework, establishing a baseline using the original DepthMap outputs from Turner and Penn. The methodology progresses by constructing a parallel simulation framework in NetLogo, first confirming functional equivalence through integration diagrams before introducing key ABS elements—namely, agent communication and dynamic attractors in the form of spatial pins in a museum setting. These features are hypothesised to enrich the simulation of spatial dynamics by facilitating more nuanced interactions and emergent behaviours, potentially providing deeper insights into human spatial behaviour.

Biographies

Dr Ana Cocho-Bermejo is an architect and researcher based in London. She focuses her research on the intersections of Artificial Intelligence and Design for the Built Environment. She holds a PhD in Technology in Architecture and an MPhil in Artificial Intelligence. An alumna of the Architectural Association DRL and The Bartlett’s Adaptive Architecture & Computation programmes, she is currently interested in DAI (Distributed Artificial Intelligence) processes. She is also interested in Machine Learning processes, having focused in the past on ANN (Artificial Neural Networks) implementations. Through her teaching, she aims to enhance students’ skills in the implementation and understanding of complex protocols, while recognising the need for research within the architecture field on AI-based processes for design innovation.

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12 December 2024 | 16:00 | Linh Phamvu

The Spatial Culture of 'Hẻm' in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.

Abstract

Since the beginning of the twenty-first century, numerous studies have depicted alleyways in various Asian countries as relics of the urban past due to their deep-rooted presence in the spatial grid and their vulnerability to vanishing amidst the modernisation process. Despite some typological similarities, however, Vietnamese alleyways, or 'hẻm', tell a different story. Hẻm are a distinct Vietnamese urban phenomenon and are home to more than 80% of the population in two major cities: Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC). Even so, the formation and growth of hẻm in the two cities are fundamentally different. The urban grid of Hanoi is originally rooted in traditional village structures. Unlike Hanoi, HCMC underwent substantial urban transformation during the colonial period, with large-scale demolition of traditional villages. This study investigates how HCMC has been transformed from a Western colonial city to one characterised by an extensive number of hẻm since national reunification in 1975 and the economic reforms of 1986. Far from being an informal urban element suggesting marginal status, do hẻm provide the means for HCMC to establish an indigenous post-colonial identity? This study proposes a socio-spatial approach to the issue, using both configurational analysis and ethnographic fieldwork to examine hẻm as examples of local cultural continuity. This presentation will discuss the preliminary findings on the spatial and morphological roles of hẻm in the post-colonial urban structure of Ho Chi Minh City.

Biographies

Linh Phamvu has been a PhD candidate at The Bartlett School of Architecture, UCL, since 2022. Her interest in collective memory and spatial arrangement began during her undergraduate studies in Interior Design and evolved over more than seven years of professional experience. Specialising in hospitality projects across diverse cultural contexts—from developed to underdeveloped countries, spanning Europe to Southeast Asia—her work as an interior designer has deepened her exploration of 'interiority' as an urban quality. This professional background has been instrumental in shaping her research interests, challenging conventional boundaries and conceptions of interiors through a spatial-socio approach.

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More information

• Space Syntax: Architecture & Cities MSc/MRes at The Bartlett School of Architecture
• Find out more about the Space Syntax Laboratory
• Watch previous seminars on The Bartlett Vimeo Channel

Image: Dr Kimon Krenz.