Course leaders: David Leite Viana, Franklim Morais, Catarina Ruivo

Home Institution: Iscte-Instituto Universitário de Lisboa, ESAP-Escola Superior Artística do Porto, FAUL-Faculdade de Arquitetura da Universidade de Lisboa

Course pre-requisites: Although the techniques involved are wide-ranging, the course will be orientated to deal with architectural, urban and landscape space problems. Thus, the course will be more profitable for professionals and students in the areas such as Architecture, Building Engineering, Urban Planning, Urban Engineering and Landscape Architecture. Prior knowledge of digital CAD tools is advisable but not essential.

Course Overview
The explicit way in which spatial syntax relates space and society is one of the distinguishing characteristics. It is argued that there is an intimate relationship between space and society, in which the two dimensions influence and interact continuously. To understand space, spatial syntax moves the focus away from ‘surfaces’ and seeks to perceive emptiness, space (urban/exterior or architectural/interior), or the way in which space is organized.
When analysing urban space, the spatial syntax focuses on the street system of a city (including squares and gardens). Therefore, it is a paradigm shift. For example, for the discipline of architecture, a change of shape to space is proposed. This implies, for example, realizing that a space with a poorly defined geometry, or with a set of apparently poorly qualified surfaces, can be a successful space because of the space itself and because of the way in which it relates to others. spaces in the system. To understand the role of society, spatial syntax analyses, firstly, the way in which people use/travel through space and, secondly, how they organize their activities around that space. The movement of people can be quantified: in this context, a space, or a street, with people is a successful space. These ideas are expressed very clearly in the influential article 'Natural Movement' by Bill Hillier and colleagues published in 1993. This article argues that, in a city, the accessibility of the street system (and not land uses, as many theories propose) is the main generator of movement patterns. Space syntax research began in the 1970s in the Architecture Studies Unit of University College London. In 1984, the book The social logic of space, by Bill Hillier and Julienne Hanson, was published, proposing a theory of space as a dimension of social life. In 1996, Bill Hillier's book Space is the machine was published. At the same time, the first international symposium on spatial syntax is held in London. The symposium takes place every year. In 2010, the first issue of the Journal of Space Syntax was published.
SCAVA - Space Configuration, Accessibility and Visibility Analysis is a set of formal (mathematical) methodologies which have been used in the field of Architecture for over 30 years. This set encompasses methodologies such as isovists’ based analysis, space syntax, visibility graph analysis and agent-based analysis. As they require a large amount of calculations, they need to be handled by ICT tools.
This summer course has three fundamental objectives: i) to introduce formal methods in Architecture and Urbanism and, within this particular approach, SCAVA (its theories, concepts, and methods); ii) to provide students with knowledge of spatial syntax tools to describe the physical form of architecture/cities and explain their operation with a focus on the relationship between space and society, and on movement; iii) to provide students with tools to evaluate the impact of their proposals on the existing city, considering not only the immediate environment of these proposals, but also the city as a whole.
The course will articulate:
• theoretical fundamentals of SCAVA;
• presentation of several case-studies demonstrating the potential of SCAVA for in-depth analysis of spatial problems in architecture and aid the professional architect to produce better designs;
• practical training in the use of several academic or commercial digital tools currently available.

Learning Outcomes
Participants will be able to develop spatial analysis of projects in the areas of Architecture, Urban Planning and Landscape Architecture, informed by the theoretical formal methods of SCAVA, and using dedicated digital tools: DepthMapX, spatial analysis plugins for QGIS, DepthSpace3D and SCAVATools. These methodologies have proved to be useful both in the analysis of spatial problems and in architectural practice. They can help optimise solutions in:
• security (CCTV placement, agent placement, children surveillance);
• economy (value assignment to space, product placement, publicity);
• traffic (accessibility, clutter, jams prediction);
• aesthetics (monumentality, space diversity, remarkable places);
• urbanism (skyline protection, centralities, equipment distribution);
• social studies (social segregation, control, functional uses of space).
This know-how has a professional demand not only in the architectural office, but also in real-estate, large buildings’ management or public administration.

Course Content
A. Introduction: Formal Methods in Architecture – a global approach.
B. SCAVA (Space Configuration, Accessibility and Visibility Analysis) methodologies – theories and case-studies.
C. Workshops (if necessary, software installation can be done in the beginning of the workshops):
C.0. Global overview of SCAVA software applications –
• case-studies: the potential of the digital tools to solve architectural space problems;
• features of the available software applications.
C.1. Workshop 1: DepthMapX and Space Syntax Plugin for QGIS –
Creation and edition of the 2D geometries of the spaces considered for analysis – case-studies chosen by the participants.
For each of the four approaches:
• 'Isovist';
• 'Agent-based';
• 'Axial lines' and 'Segments';
• 'Convex Spaces'.
A set of processes will be produced with DepthMapX:
• creation and edition of the particular model;
• calculus of space syntax quantities;
• display of the results, both in graphical and numerical forms;
• interpretation of results.
It will be explored how DepthMapX articulates with GIS for the analysis of complex urban systems. Using the Space Syntax Toolkit (Gil et al., 2015) for QGIS, participants will explore:
• graph modelling through the manual drawing of axial lines or integration of existing road-centre-line maps;
• graph analysis with different attributes and radii;
• visualisation and interpretation of results.
C.2. Workshop 2: DepthSpace3D –
Brief introduction to the main differences between 2D and 3D analysis.
Operation with the digital tool, solving case-studies chosen by the participants.
Creation and edition of the 3D geometries of the spaces considered for analysis:
• ‘Viewing Space’ (with multiple Paths, with different visibility weights);
• ‘Viewed Space’ (two-sided Surfaces and Global Volume), also with different visibility weights, and with the possibility to introduce properties or attributes to different regions of the space;
• ‘Obstacle Space’, with different transparencies and opacities:
o calculus of space syntax quantities;
o display of the results, both graphical and numerical.
• 3D of the ‘Viewed Surfaces’;
• 3D of any slice of the ‘Viewed Global Space’;
• 2D of all the slices of the ‘Viewed Global Space’;
• 3D of the ‘View Points’;
• interpretation of results;
Some examples in middle-level operations:
• changing the user interface;
• creating new items in the geometry generator library.
Brief introduction to advanced themes:
• editing a generative grammar for the 'space syntaxes'. With this tool, the study is not limited to the standard concepts (depth, isovist, connectivity, etc.) as the generation of new concepts can be formalized;
• accessing the open Data Base with all the data (inputs and results) of the analysed cases.
C.3. Workshop 3: SCAVATools –
Global overview of SCAVATools:
• global scheme;
• architect's goals driven design;
• LoD (level of detail) from the full CAD project;
• interpreting the results.
Operation with the digital tools, solving case-studies chosen by the participants:
• ALPHA - creation of the 3D Space model;
• BETA, THETA - creation of the Active (Agents) Space;
• IOTA, GAMMA, DELTA, EPSILON - reduction to condensed space models;
• ZETA, ETA - Calculus of space syntax quantities;
• KAPPA - Display of the results, both graphical and numerical.

Instructional Method
The course will have several types of sessions –
• theoretical presentations;
• workshops:
o step-by-step instructions for using different digital tools, with small practical cases, with close proximity by two trainers;
o a case-study (chosen by each participant) that they will explore to carry out a deep analysis of spatial problems and search for optimized solutions.

Required Course Materials
The trainers will bring to the workshop –
• laptop;
• USB pens with software installation.
The participants are expected to –
• bring their own laptops (OS Windows only);
• have DepthMapX installed in the laptop;
• have QGIS installed in the laptop;
• have DepthSpace3D installed in the laptop (http://opoarch.com/ds3d_download/);
• have a 3D CAD software (Revit, ArchiCAD).
Logistic needs from the organizers –
• before the course: an updated list of participants and their e-mails (for information exchange, etc);
• a room with:
o tables for the laptops;
o a video projector, with HDMI connector;
o a whiteboard, board marker pens and eraser, or similar.

Assessment
Evaluation will be carried out through the final analysis of the case-study(ies) developed by the trainees, regarding their acquired knowledge in –
• theoretical basis of SCAVA;
• proficiency in the use of the digital tools;
• depth of analysis of the case-studies;
• creativity in discovering new functional uses of SCAVA concepts.