Visualising Data – Space Syntax
To design and build architecture, it helps to have an understanding of how the area around your site works and lives. To understand the intricacies of minute interactions at cross roads, or the urban density of a street allows for more informed decision making in the design process.
There are plenty of data points one can choose to collect and study, and generally it depends on the purpose with which you need to use them. Space Syntax is a London based spatial study group, with ties to UCL.
From their own website:
Space Syntax is an advanced spatial technology as well as a highly influential theory of architecture and town planning. It was originally developed by Professor Bill Hillier and his colleagues at University College London (UCL), one of Europe’s premier research universities. The network of Space Syntax companies works closely with UCL in
shaping knowledge to advance the technology,
informing practice by disseminating the technology through training and policy formation and
creating places by applying the technology through planning and design consultancy.
Space Syntax use various forms of data collected from cities to help determine the effectiveness of proposed plans. One of their most successful projects was to study the feasibility of a bridge outside the Tate Modern, known as the Millenium bridge, it now connects Tate Modern to St Paul’s, and is proof that understanding local data can help to ensure the success of projects in the future.
For more information, or to put Space Syntax’s services to use, click below.
Space Syntax
