056

SPACE SYNTAX IN
ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN

Pelin Dursun Keywords:

Faculty of Architecture, Istanbul Technical University
Architecture
Design
Space syntax

Pelin Dursun
Faculty of Architecture,
Istanbul Technical University,
Taskisla, 34437, Taksim,
Istanbul, Turkey
[email protected]

Abstract
In architecture, design begins by generating ideas and continues by transforming them
to concrete spatial formations. Architects learn about the design problem by creating
alternatives and testing them in order to gain desired spatial formations. A
comprehensive architectural knowledge helps architects in this process. This knowledge
is a synthesis of practice and theory, in other words mystery and certainty, intuition and
science, experience and research. Architects must proceed in two ways and bring all
components together in a creative way. This paper aims to explore contribution of a
scientific, and research based approach, namely space syntax, in the design process.
Space syntax is based on configurational theory of space and attempts to decode
spatial formations and their impacts on human activity. By the development of new
techniques for representing and analysing space, space syntax appears as a tool for
architects to explore their design ideas and understand possible effects of their
proposals. By illustrating a link between research and design, this study attempts to
create new horizons for those professionals in architectural practice as well as
academics in architectural education.

Introduction
In architecture, design is a kind of activity that is learned by doing and
experience and architects discover much about design problem by
evaluating their solutions. A comprehensive architectural knowledge
helps architects in this process. Critical questions arise at this point:
How does an architect evaluate his/her ideas? How does an architect
test the spaces that s/he has created? What kind of architectural
knowledge leads to this process? Does this knowledge include
intuition, feelings, and experiences or does it consist of theory,
science and research? Similar to Vitruvius’ (1990) definition,
architectural knowledge is a synthesis of practice and theory. During
the design process, the architect has to bring intuitive and rational
ways of thinking together, in other words mystery and certainty,
intuition and science, practice and research. By linking these two ends
together, this paper aims to focus on the configurational theory of

Proceedings, 6th International Space Syntax Symposium, İstanbul, 2007

Dursun; Space Syntax in Architectural Design

space, namely space syntax, and to explore its contribution to

architectural design process.
This paper investigates the research theme by focusing on:
1. Design activity itself, its nature and architectural design process,
2. Space syntax itself, its main idea and its role in architectural
practice.
Three case studies, from architectural education (Principle Project in
British Museum, MSC Course, UCL), and practice (Proposal for
Extension to Tate Britain and Urban Design Project for Trafalgar
Square) are explored to illuminate the discussion.
056-02
Design Activity
Design is a sophisticated cognitive activity. In architecture, this activity
begins by generating an abstract idea and continues by transforming it
to concrete spatial formations. Whether it is called as “image”
(Alexander, 1964), “primary generator” (Darke, 1984), “conjecture”
(Hillier, et al., 1984), “organising principle” (Rowe, 1987) or concept
(Lawson, 2003) all refers to the same: the idea that makes an
architectural design unique or different from all others. Finding a
unique way in which spaces are formulated to reflect these ideas
constitutes the next step of design activity; in other words to find a
way to transform these abstract ideas into spatial formations, which
are occupied and experienced. By generating different proposals and
testing them, the architect consolidates his/her ideas or re-defines
them in order to gain satisfied spatial formations.
Design is not a procedural or systematic activity as design
methodologists have expressed (Alexander,1964, Jones, 1984,
Archer, 1984) in which designer must carry out sequential activities
such as problem definition, analysis, synthesis, decision making and
evaluation, in a definite order in order to attain a final solution. Design
is a process in which problem and solution emerge together (Lawson,
2003). There is no definite direction of flow from one activity to
another; each activity can be seen as a reflection of the other. Rather
than producing optimal solutions (Simon, 1996), design is about
experimenting and probing. Experiments lead architects to discover
something, and then these help them to redefine their underlying
concepts (Figure 1).
Figure 1:
Design Process

This idea is well clarified by Schön’s statement on design. Schön saw

designing as a kind of “making” (Schön, 1987), which is largely
learned and practiced through “action and reflection”:
“Designing in its broader sense involves complexity and synthesis. In
contrast to analysts or critics, designers put things together and bring

Proceedings, 6th International Space Syntax Symposium, İstanbul, 2007

Dursun; Space Syntax in Architectural Design

new things into being, dealing in the process with many variables and
constraints, some initially known and some discovered through
designing. Almost always, designers’ moves have consequences
other than those intended for them. Designers juggle variables,
reconcile conflicting values and manoeuvre around constraints- a
process in which, although some design products may be superior to
others, there are no unique right answers.….Beginning with the
situations that are at least in part uncertain, ill defined, complex and
incoherent, designers construct and impose a coherence of their own.
Subsequently they discover consequences and implications of their
constructions – some unintended – which they appreciate and
evaluate. Analysis and criticism play critical roles within their larger
process. Their designing is a web of projected moves and discovered 056-03
consequences and implications, sometimes leading to the
reconstruction of initial coherence – a reflective conversation with the
materials of a situation.” (Schön, 1987).
Lawson’s experimental work has supported the idea, the idea of
thinking and learning by doing, by introducing two types strategy in
design: problem focused strategy and solution focused strategy
(Lawson, 2003). He observed two different groups, architects and
psychologists, under the given design task. Based on the findings
Lawson showed that while scientists focused their attention on
understanding the underlying rules, architects were obsessed with
achieving the desired result. According to him architects learned about
the problem through attempts to create solutions rather than through
deliberate and separate study of the problem itself. In other words,
architects as well as designers discover much more about the design
problem as they critically evaluate their own solutions.
Then, we come across the questions of, how does an architect
evaluate his/her ideas, in terms of spaces that s/he creates and what
are the constituent elements of his/her architectural knowledge
leading to this process? Does this knowledge include intuition, feeling,
and experiences or should it be based on a theory, science and
research? Answer is simple: Both. Architect on one hand has variety
of scientific or research based knowledge related with the human
being, building, environment, history, design activity, etc. On the other
hand s/he has intuitions and experiences, ideas, believes and values
or guiding principles (Lawson, 2004). In the design process, by
interpreting design constraints (user requirements, cost, technology,
etc.) the architect brings two types of knowledge together, both to
generate ideas and test them in a subjective way.
According to Ziesel (1984), design interconnects three constituent
activities: imaging, presenting and testing. Appraisals, refutations,
criticism, judgments, comparisons, reflections, reviews and
confrontations are all types of tests. After presenting a design idea in
whatever form, designer steps back with a critical eye and examines
his/her product (Hillier and Leman, 1974). Design testing means
comparing tentative presentations against an array of information like
the designer’s and the client’s implicit images, explicit information
about constraints or objectives, degrees of internal design consistency
and performance criteria -economic, technical and sociological
(Ziesel,1984).
Ziesel argues that designing works with two types of information:
heuristic catalyst for imaging and a body of knowledge for testing. This
means that designers rely on information to tell them how things might
be, but also that they use information to tell them how well things
might work (Lawson, 2003). By creating a link between research and
design activity, the next step of this study focuses on an approach,
namely space syntax, which attempts to produce a kind of knowledge

Proceedings, 6th International Space Syntax Symposium, İstanbul, 2007

Dursun; Space Syntax in Architectural Design

which helps architects to find out how well their designs might work,
what their solution means, their implications and consequences.
Space Syntax
Space syntax is theory of space and a set of analytical, quantitative
and descriptive tools for analysing the spatial formations in different
forms: buildings, cities, interior spaces or landscapes (Hillier and
Hanson, 1984, Hillier, 1996). Main interest of space syntax is the
relation between human beings and their inhabited spaces. It is
believed that distinctive characteristics of societies exist within spatial
systems, and their knowledge is conveyed through space itself, and
through the organisation of spaces (Dursun and Saglamer, 2003).
056-04 Space Syntax calls this relational characteristic of space as
configuration and proposed the idea that it is this characteristic forms
the human behaviour thus contains the social knowledge.
The aim of space syntax research is to develop strategies of
description for configuring inhabited spaces in such a way that the
underlying social meaning can be enunciated. This is turn can allow
for secondary theories or often practical explanations to be developed
regarding the effects of spatial configuration on various social or
cultural variables. A related theme in space syntax research is to
understand configured space itself, particularly its formative process
and its social meaning (Bafna, 2003).
In brief, space syntax is an attempt to constitute a configurational
theory in architecture by generating a theoretical understanding of
how people make and use spatial configurations, in other words, an
attempt to identify how spatial configurations express a social or
cultural meaning and how spatial configurations generate the social
interactions in built environments.
Great variety of research and publication shows that earliest space
syntax works focused on real environments and tried to identify the
intrinsic nature of man made environments. By developing consistent
techniques for the representation and analysis of spatial patterns,
recent space syntax works attempt to simulate spatial design
proposals and arrive at a basis for predicting how they would work.
“Space syntax research is reason based, and more rigorous than
most, but it has effectively led to the study of architectural intuition
through its creations. In practice, design proceeds by mixing intuition
and reason. Space syntax makes the deployment of non-discursive
intuition more rational and therefore more discursive “(Hillier and
Hanson, 1997). Three case studies, both from architectural design
practice and architectural education, are good examples to identify the
role of space syntax in design process.
Space Syntax in Architectural Design and Education
Design Practice in Urban Context: Trafalgar Square
National government aimed to improve the network of public spaces in
central London between Trafalgar Square and Parliament Square and
a master plan for the area was commissioned in 1996, calling for
improvements in the quality of the public realm which was perceived
to be unpleasant, unsafe and dominated by traffic (Space Syntax,
2004). In this design competition, the works of space syntax have
underpinned Norman Foster’s proposal. Space Syntax Laboratory has
contributed to design process both by diagnosing problems in the area
with analyses of the existing space use and movement patterns in and
around the square and helping design team to generate and evaluate
their design solutions.

Proceedings, 6th International Space Syntax Symposium, İstanbul, 2007

Dursun; Space Syntax in Architectural Design

056-05

During the project, Space Syntax Laboratory counted pedestrian Figure 2:

movement in over 300 locations at different times of the day, on
Trafalgar Square (Space
different days of the week, and in different seasons of the year. The Syntax)
result of the survey has shown the key features of space use in and
around Trafalgar Square: Trafalgar Square appears to be cut off from
its surrounding by dense traffic. Londoners avoid the centre of
Trafalgar Square and leave this space to visitors. There is virtually no
movement across the heart of the square especially because of
existing design of corner stairs. Londoners prefer to move around the
outside pavements and visitors chose to meander slowly within the
square. There is much informal road crossing by visitors, especially
from the south side of Trafalgar Square in order to get to the best
views of the area (Hillier, 1998).
Figure 2 shows the detailed observation related to pedestrian
movement and activity pattern in the area. In Figure 2, the most
striking point is that the observed pedestrian activity in the area has
totally been corresponded the computer model of the square which
has been carried out by the space syntax software. In these
simulations more accessible spaces are indicated by thin red lines.
The findings of these analyses have generated a number of key
design ideas for Trafalgar Square. These included a new staircase

Proceedings, 6th International Space Syntax Symposium, İstanbul, 2007

Dursun; Space Syntax in Architectural Design

into Trafalgar Square, selective pedestrianisation of the public realm

and the re-connection of Parliament Square to the wider area (Space
Syntax, 2004). The designer of the project described the key
resources for generating their design proposals as follows: “I would
just mention that the sources of our proposals have an interactive
relationship to each other. Many have emerged from these
experiences; but they have also come out of the brief. They have
resulted from our observations, but at the same time here is constant
crosschecking between those findings and public consultation. It is
this symbiosis which demonstrates to me what a very creative tool the
space syntax theory is” (Foster, 1997).

056-06 In the World Square project space syntax has both shown designers
the nature and problems of the area by analysing the existing spatial
layout. When the characteristics of the area were underlined it then
helped designers to generate design proposals as well as evaluate
them by providing new generation computer software.
Design Practice in Building Context: Tate Britain
Administration department of Tate Britain has decided to improve
museum layout by providing new exhibition spaces. The idea was to
design a new wing with a sculpture courtyard as extension to existing
gallery. Space Syntax has been commissioned by Tate Britain to
assist Tate Britain and its architects Allies and Morrison.
Space Syntax Laboratory has contributed to the design process both
by illuminating the social culture in the museum which was conveyed
through the spatial configuration itself and helping architects, Allies
and Morrison, to evaluate their three proposals (Figure 3). During the
project, Space Syntax Laboratory counted pedestrian movement in
over 300 locations at different times of the day, on different days of
the week, and in different seasons of the year.
During the project, the routes of 100 people for the first ten minutes of
their visits were recorded. The result of the survey has showed that
some spaces in the museum are much more visited than others
(Hillier, 2004, Hillier and Tzortzi, 2006) (Figure 3). Visitors tend to
move along the central axis from the main entrance and intensify
especially on the left side of the building. Visibility graph analysis
confirmed this characteristic by simulating the observed visitor
movement.
After being defined how the existing spatial layout works spatially,
comparative analyses of proposals in term of their possible effects on
the museum have been carried out. Among the proposals first one
intended to create a new gallery wing for the permanent collection
having a passage entrance through the Clore Gallery. An external
sculpture court was planned at the back of this wing. In the second
proposal, some of the new gallery spaces were added on the north
side of the building linearly and the others were designed at the back
of this as a separate wing shaping an open court at the centre. Third
one introduced a new north wing that will be used as temporary
exhibition space and the area which is currently used for temporary
exhibition was designed to host the permanent collection. In this
option, external sculpture court was formed between the new gallery
wing and the Clore Gallery having a link to new café and bookshop
space.
Based on the visibility graph analyses of proposals it has been shown
that among the three proposals, third proposal provides the most
intelligible layout by making the new temporary exhibition space well
integrated and well connected to the core of the building (Space
Syntax, 2002). By introducing a new link between the left side of the
Gallery, the Clore Gallery and the new spaces, and by creating a new

Proceedings, 6th International Space Syntax Symposium, İstanbul, 2007

Dursun; Space Syntax in Architectural Design

route to Clore Gallery, this proposal also impacts positively on the

existing building by giving the plan a strong global structure (Figure 3).

056-07

This exploratory work on Tate Britain has both shown designers the Figure 3:
social codes in the museum by analysing the existing spatial layout
and helped them to test their design proposals during the design Tate Britain (Space Syntax,
2002)
process. By simulating the possible effects of design decisions on
existing plan layout, designers had a chance to evaluate and evolve
their ideas in the light of scientific evidence.

Proceedings, 6th International Space Syntax Symposium, İstanbul, 2007

Dursun; Space Syntax in Architectural Design

Architectural Education:
Principle Project in MSc, Advance Architectural Studies
Course, UCL, The Bartlett School of Graduate Studies
Space Syntax constitutes the main core of Advanced Architectural
Studies (AAS) at the Bartlett School of Graduate Studies, University
College London. The course is built around the idea that by studying
buildings and cities as patterns of space, we can derive wholly new
insights into the relations between them and the individuals,
communities and organisations that inhabit them (Webpage of Bartlett,
Faculty of the Built Environment, Graduate Studies, 2006). The
modules in this course are mainly formed by a variety of researches
056-08 as well as experiments related with the application of these
researches to design through consultancy projects.
In the 2004-2005 academic year, British Museum was chosen as the
theme of the Principle Project in MSc course. In this project the
students were asked to investigate how British Museum is embedded
in its urban context affects the way it functions, how the building
operates as a social object, how people move around the building,
how the spatial layout of the museum affects patterns of movement,
how does the Great Court designed by N. Foster in 2000s figure as an
open space at this scale (Penn, 2004).
One of the student works which is related with the theme of this study
focused on the Great Court by underlining these following research
questions: Can one influence the sequence of movement throughout
the museum by reconfiguring the spatial morphology of the Great
Court? To what degree does the spatial configuration of the Great
Court effect the movement flow through the galleries? (Chiken, et.all,
2004). After defining the existing spatial functioning by observing
visitors and implementing syntactic analyses which correlates with
these observations, three different scenarios were compared by using
the theory and the tools of space syntax.
Among these three scenarios, scenario A reflects the original layout of
the museum before the Foster’s intervention. Scenario B proposed to
remove the reading room by providing bigger open court without any
closed space inside. Scenario C reflects the idea of preserving
Foster’s proposal by opening new entrances from the great court
towards the galleries. Figure 4 shows the axial line analyses of the
museum in each particular scenario showing the intelligibility of spatial
whole which means the degree which what we can see from the
spaces that make up the museum (Hillier, 1996).
These analyses showed that the most intelligible spatial layout
appears in scenario C. This scenario was the most well performed
alternative among the three and this was also confirmed by visual
graph simulations (Figure 4). The students reached to a conclusion
that the significant factors increasing the “intelligibility” of the spatial
arrangement seem to be a combination of long axial lines as well as
ring structures that allow multiple choices for movement at key
locations (Chiken, et al., 2004).
This study has illustrated that the space syntax provided a useful tool
for students to think about space. By employing evidence based
approach, first it became possible to capture the spatial characteristics
of the museum and then different ideas were tested in terms of their
effect on the whole spatial configuration to see how space will be used
and experienced by their inhabitants. If design is a kind of activity that
can be learned by doing and experiencing, this approach provides a
useful tool for students to learn from their design decisions. This then
can lead them in creating new ideas as well as developing and
evolving their proposals.

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Dursun; Space Syntax in Architectural Design

Figure 4:
British Museum (Chiken, et
al., 2004)

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Dursun; Space Syntax in Architectural Design

Conclusion
Design process in architecture is not a systematic or procedural
process. It is rather a making and discovery process which proceeds
by creating and testing design ideas. By taking into account design
constraints, architects use a great variety of science based knowledge
as well as his/her individual experiences and beliefs in this process.
The way how the architect brings these together or what are his/her
priorities, or how s/he understands and evaluates them is totally
subjective.
Space syntax which is the subject of this study is a scientific or
research based approach for understanding and evaluating
056-10 architectural space. In searching for the relation between space
syntax and design activity, critical issues underlined with the three
case studies can be reviewed as follows:
Case 1: Space syntax creates an alternative way to interpret and
conceive an urban space, to clarify its potentials and exhibited living
patterns. By making intangible aspects of urban performance more
tangible, this way of understanding enriches the discussion on design
of a public space: How it is possible to enhance the living quality in an
urban space? How it is possible to integrate a public space with
surrounding city in a successful way?
Case 2: This time the space is investigated in building scale. Space
syntax provides the design team important data about gallery spaces.
This data has emerged from the interaction between user and space.
However it has never been revealed in a discursive way. By accepting
gallery as context for socialisation and clarifying implicit aspects of its
space and culture, it helps the designers to clarify their guiding
principles for improving the existing built environment and tests their
proposals in terms of their performance.
Case 3: Moving from abstract ideas to designed spaces, space syntax
provides an informative tool for students both to conceive and criticize
the space in design education.
Based on the three case studies which are examined in this study, the
role of space syntax in architectural design can be summarised as
follows:
1. In the dialogue between architect and designed space, space
syntax presents a language for thinking and talking about space. This
is a language which architects aren’t familiar to use. It is more
scientific, more mathematical. However it is important as it makes
non-discursive characteristics of space discursive and puts the space
into a more extensive debate.
2. Space syntax carries science based knowledge into design process.
It establishes a link between research and design; in this way
constitutes the core of “evidence based design” (Hanson, 2001).
3. If design is an activity which is learned by making and testing,
space syntax contributes to this process by providing tools for
architects to explore their ideas, to understand the possible effects of
their proposals, as well as to show how their designs will work.
4. The striking point is that space syntax gives a chance to the
architect to evaluate his/her designs not simply as a physical and
static entity, but as a living organism, which is experienced by its
inhabitants. This kind of evaluation which is based on the interaction
between human beings and designed spaces is differentiated from
those which only test or indicate the performance of the space against
a number of criteria such as cost, energy consumption, level of light,
etc.

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Dursun; Space Syntax in Architectural Design

Here, it must be clarified that space syntax is only one way of thinking
about space by focusing on the organization of spaces, movement
patterns and their social meanings. If we think that the architect is the
person who has a comprehensive conception about human being and
inhabited space, his/her duty must be to be aware of different tools
and knowledge resources and to have a capability of using them to
lead his/her design thinking.
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Dursun; Space Syntax in Architectural Design

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Proceedings, 6th International Space Syntax Symposium, İstanbul, 2007