Search Results (2)

High-profile projects promoted by governments, local municipalities, and the media do not always meet program requirements or user expectations. The Riverside Museum in Glasgow by Zaha Hadid Architects, which has generated significant discussion in the media, is used to test this claim. A multimodal inquiry adopts three factors: criticism, performance evaluation, and habitability. Results from this method are then correlated with visual attention scans using software from 3M Corporation to map unconscious user engagement. A wide spectrum of tools is employed, including a walking tour assessment procedure, contemplation of selected settings, navigational mapping, and assessing user emotional experiences. Key aspects of the design and spatial qualities of this museum are compared with an analysis of critical writings on how the project was portrayed in the media. Further, we examine socio-spatial practices, selected behavioral phenomena, and the emotional experiences that ensue from users’ interaction with the building and its immediate context. The findings suggest design shortcomings and, more worrisome, that spatial qualities relevant to users’ experiences do not seem to have been met. In going beyond the usual method of analysis, we apply new techniques of eye-tracking simulations, which verify results obtained by more traditional means. An in-depth analysis suggests the need for better compatibility between the imagined design ideas and the actual spatial environments in use. Full article

This paper examines visitors’ movement patterns at the Broad Museum designed by Zaha Hadid. Characterized with free, open, and generally unbound spaces, visitors explore a curated exhibition at their own pace, route, and agenda. Unlike most other public environments, a museum lends visitors greater choice and control, and does not hold the social or spatial expectations of other facility types that might subject the visitor’s path of travel. In this study, 72 visitors were observed. A space syntax-based visibility graph analysis (VGA) was then performed to compute the visibility exposure and the spatial position of each exhibit within the museum. Negative binomial regression was used to look at the effects of spatial variables on visitors’ wayfinding, contact, and engagement with the pieces. Results showed that both the amount of visibility area around each exhibit, and its spatial position measured using space syntax techniques explained why visitors established a contact with the piece and their wayfinding behavior. Interestingly, however, the saliency of exhibits along with spatial variables were both strong predictors for why people arriving in groups split to engage with that particular exhibit. The simulation used in this study could be useful in curatorial decisions. Full article