Making socio-spatial knowledge explicit in architectural interpretation

a framework for neighbourhood-scale housing

Abstract

This study addresses the challenge of operationalising socio-spatial knowledge in architectural interpretation. Although Environment–Behaviour Studies provide empirical evidence on relationships between spatial configuration, everyday practices, and socio-spatial effects, this knowledge is typically reported as context-specific findings and lacks an explicit structure for interpretative use. Adopting a Design Science Research approach, the study develops a method-oriented artefact comprising an analytical–operational framework that reorganises existing evidence into a structured inferential system. The framework is constructed by synthesising empirical associations into relational units, consolidating them into relational structures, and incorporating patterns from A Pattern Language as heuristic references for interpretative qualification through spatial analogy. The framework is operationalised through analytical sheets and demonstrated by an analysis of a cohousing site plan. The study contributes by making the inferential logic of architectural interpretation explicit and operationalisable, enabling the structured mobilisation of socio-spatial knowledge without assuming deterministic relationships between spatial configuration and socio-spatial effects.