Behavioral Setting, Activity Analysis, and Spatial Analysis
Angelika Ortega1,
1
Eastern Visayas State University, Tacloban City, Philippines
Abstract
Relevant geographical conditions should be considered in
architectural planning and design. The aforementioned
conditions, which are required to ensure the right response
of structural components to geography and spatial order,
must be taken into account or have a high priority when
developing plans and other design documents. Spatial
analysis can quickly examine and show geographical
data. This study investigates the uses and applications of
behavioral setting, activity analysis, and spatial analysis
to architectural planning and design in conjunction with
its spatial analysis function, in order to increase planning
efficiency and quality.
Introduction
Due to the massive expansion of urbanization, architects,
designers, and planners are currently confronted with the
demand to probe into sustainable conceptual designs and
plans. In this sense, the path to sustainability through
architectural design adheres to a unique archetype of
sustainable urban development, notably in terms of green
design creation and implementation. They must alleviate
this problem together, with their respective roles and
responsibilities, despite the fact that they are nevertheless
linked in either a spatial system or not, which shaped the
urban areas.
In addition, there are many theories concerning space,
both indoors and outdoors. Positive space in artwork
refers to the subject or regions of focus, whereas negative
space refers to the space surrounding the main point. This
is why a diversified negative space with varying textures
creates a more fascinating and varied background for your
subject; this allows the focus of your image to be more
clearly identifiable. Indoor positive and negative space
have fundamentally related principles. Positive space is
seen to offer specific functional space, whereas negative
space is regarded to supply no specific functional space.
Behavior is influenced by any interior setting. Therefore,
social architecture is the purposeful design of a space to
support a specified array of social behaviors that lead to
several objectives or sets of priorities. The systematic
study of how individuals perform activities in order to
achieve their goals is considered activity analysis. This
understanding ensures that products and services are
made to deliver those purposes in an effective and
favourable manner.
This study addresses the relevance of behavioral settings,
activity analysis, and spatial analysis in architecture,
through which this paper provides a definition and
description of their uses or applications, as well as the
benefits and drawbacks of the topics.
Main body
The definitions of behavioral settings, activity analysis,
and spatial analysis, including their uses and applications,
as well as the advantages or disadvantages, if any, will be
presented in the following sections.
a. Behavioural Settings
In architecture, a behavior setting connects the impacts of
the external environment to the patterns of behavior of the
people who use the place. Knowing what is going on in
the area and how the inhabitants behave allows the
designer to generate algorithmic approaches for the
project. Proxemics and territoriality are two behavioural
components, with proxemics referring to how people
occupy a space depending on the environment and
cultural influences, and territoriality referring to
nonverbal engagement in declaring possession of a space.
Roger Barker was the one who proposed the behavior
setting theory to help us comprehend social systems and
the study of human behavior in its natural surroundings.
According to him, behavioral settings are independent or
autonomous entities in space, with spatial and temporal
constraints that have significant authority and power over
the behaviors that transpire within them.
Human behavior is considered to influence architecture,
yet architecture could also influence human behavior.
This is a relationship between architecture and social
progress in which both collaborate in a harmonious
setting. Human behavior is defined as a collection of
behaviors which humans express and which are impacted
by norms, dispositions, emotions, ethics, aesthetics,
dominance, influence, and heredity. Behavioral
architecture is an architecture in which behavioral
concerns are always included in the design of behavioral
relationships with the design and architecture. Human
behavior eventually changes based on the way a person
uses space. Such spaces are public space, social space,
personal space, and intimate space—a distant to closer
spatial relationship between humans.
Space Social Distance (in metres)
Public Space 3 m and beyond
Social Space 1.2 m – 3 m
Personal Space 450 mm – 1.2 m
Intimate Space 0-450 mm
b. Activity Analysis
An activity analysis is a methodical assessment of an
activity to identify its feasibility for a certain consumer or
activity. It analyses the temporal and physical
requirements for the activity, as well as the essential
consumer factor to consider and overall performance skill
demands for the activity, as well as the therapeutic value
of the activity. According to the online website Payroll
Heaven, the description and identification of activities in
an entity, as well as their implications on its
administration, is referred to as activity analysis. Activity
analysis is carried out using primary data, interviews,
questionnaires, and a review of activity records.
Furthermore, activity analysis considers any opportunity
for changing the activity to accommodate client change.
It enables an individual to discover the primary
components of any given work and comprehend the
qualities required to ensure that the project is performed
successfully.
The uses and applications of activity analysis are mostly
focused on everything related to an activity's workflow.
When conducting activity analysis, there are various
elements to consider. It starts by defining the problem and
developing a design brief that will be used to create a
workflow that illustrates the process from problem to
solution.
In architecture, activity analysis is amongst the most
essential aspects of the design thinking process. It aids in
the definition of the problem, the identification of
potential areas for improvement, and the generation of
ideas for the design approach. An activity diagram
showing the procedures that a person would perform to
fulfill a project is the most common input of an activity
analysis. In this graphic, you can describe the process
followed by the users to help them achieve their goals.
After you have settled out all the procedures, you will be
able to see in which alternative user assistance is needed
or unnecessary phases need to be removed in order to
reduce the number of initiatives that a user should perform
unassisted.
There are benefits and drawbacks to performing activity
analysis. Despite the fact that it is one of the most
effective tools in a competence, challenges do arise. The
challenging aspect is maintaining the user's point of view
in mind and resisting the urge to construct your own
explanations of the situation. Activity analysis is useless
unless it is supported by extensive research processes.
Without user-collected information, any attempt to move
forward with activity analysis will be in the dark and will
fail. Because design thinking will eventually take you
back to the first phase, which is the defining stage, task
analysis seems to be a dynamic process. Furthermore, task
analysis necessitates the investment of time, skills,
people, and money. Make sure to properly balance these
considerations and participate in the process.
c. Spatial Analysis
Spatial analysis in geography is the process of analyzing
the locations, properties, and relationships of elements in
spatial data using overlay and other analytical methods to
respond to questions or gather necessary
information. According to research conducted by
Xiaochu Du and Fangxin OuYang entitled Application of
Spatial Data Analysis in Architectural Planning (2019),
landform components, geological state factors, transport
location factors, landscape factors, existing building
factors, and other aspects should all be considered in the
project site selection.
In architecture, spatial analysis is the application of design
elements to distinguish and divide spaces. It enables you
to tackle complicated location-based challenges and gain
a deeper understanding of where and what is going on in
the environment. It goes far beyond simple mapping to
allow individuals to explore the properties of areas and
the interactions among them.
It is used to represent issues geographically, create
conclusions through digital signal processing, and
afterwards investigate and analyze such outcomes. Spatial
analysis examples include accurately measuring distances
and forms, developing pathways and tracing
transportation systems, and generating associations
between objects, occurrences, and locations by making
reference to their geographical locations.
Conclusion
During the architectural planning and design process, a
significant quantity of behavioral setting, activity, and
spatial information must be computed and analyzed. The
ability to advance the awareness and understanding of the
topics under study at hand is a major concern that we must
address. For this purpose, this paper explored the uses and
applications of behavioral setting, activity analysis, and
spatial analysis in architecture.
The definition and purpose of the abovementioned
concepts were discussed briefly based on their
characteristics. On that basis, this study described each
topic’s respective application, including the advantages or
disadvantages it exhibits.
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