Spatial familiarity as a dimension of wayfinding
Author(s)
Advisor
Erkip, FeyzanDate
2001Publisher
Bilkent University
Language
English
Type
ThesisItem Usage Stats
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Abstract
Spatial familiarity is a significant, yet insufficiently investigated factor that
affects wayfinding. The aim of this thesis is to explore spatial familiarity as a
dimension of wayfinding, and explain how it affects human behavior within
the built environment. Factors affecting wayfinding are defined under two
categories; environmental information and individual characteristics. Spatial
familiarity is a concept that comprises these two characteristics and thus, is
analyzed separately. Factors affecting spatial familiarity apart from those
mentioned above are defined as experience, spatial ability, meaning and
expectancy, and environmental complexity. The effects of individual and
group differences on spatial familiarity are identified and assessed through
an empirical study conducted in two buildings of the Faculty of Art, Design,
and Architecture, of Bilkent University. Spatial ability tests, wayfinding tasks,
and interviews were administered to subjects from the Department of Interior
Architecture and Environmental Design and the Department of Graphic
Design. The findings indicate that spatial and individual factors affect spatial
familiarity with the built environment.