Browsing by Author "Demirkan, Halime"
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Item Open Access Collaborating with elderly end-users in the design process(Springer, London, 2000) Demirbilek, O.; Demirkan, Halime; Scrivener, S. A. R.; Ball, L. J.; Woodcock, A.The fact that end-users can participate and contribute to the design process, was pointed out in previous studies on user participation to the design process conducted by Cavanagh (1996), Ciccantelli and Magidson (1993), Mitchell (1995), Morini and Pomposini (1996), and Reich et al (1996). For Howes, et al (1998), participatory design is a design methodology, European in origin, giving an important contributory role to the end-user in the development of products they would eventually use. This paper presents a study (Demirbilek, 1999) in which elderly end-users were invovled in the design process by means of participatory design sessions. In these sessions, the expertise of designers and the comments and ideas of elderly end-users were applied to how doors and door handles for domestic use should be designed. Two different design sessions were run for each group of elderly end-users.Item Open Access Color ambiance in interiors(Bloomsbury Publishing, 2012) Olguntürk, Nilgün; Demirkan, Halime; Delong, M.; Martinson, B.Ambiance is the character and atmosphere of a place that is of great importance to interior designers both to express themselves and to create emotionally fulfi lling spaces. Color and lighting are powerful design tools for creating different ambiances. This chapter purports to fi nd out how colored light is used in an interior to provide a specifi c ambiance. One hundred and fourteen undergraduate interior architecture students were asked to make twelve groups to create either a “calming” or “exciting” ambiance in a specially designed set-up. All groups were free to use red, yellow, green, blue, and white colored lights. Findings of the study indicated that for an exciting ambiance, general and foreground brightness were kept bright and color contrasts were used. A calming ambiance was created with dimmed general and foreground brightness and with subtle color differences. Furthermore, factor analysis was used to group the related items in creating an ambiance according to their importance.Item Open Access Distress, anxiety, boredom, and their relation to the interior spaces under COVID-19 lockdowns(Emerald Publishing Limited, 2022-08-12) Diker, Berk; Demirkan, HalimePurpose – This research is based on the idea that interior elements leave a wide variety of impressions on their occupants and that some interiors are likely to have more positive impressions than others. These impressions are especially prevalent when an individual cannot leave their homes for extended periods. The architectural elements of an interior where people are isolated can mitigate the adverse psychological effects. Design/methodology/approach – The study was conducted by surveying individuals under lockdown because of the COVID-19 pandemic. A total of 140 participants completed three different scales (GAD-7, K10, FTB Scale) to measure mental health problems often experienced in isolated and confined environments. Their responses were then associated with the interior environments of the participants. Findings – Statistically significant relationships were identified between the reported interiors and the results of the psychological evaluations. The level of psychological distress was associated with Volume and Visual Variety factors. Susceptibility to generalized anxiety disorder was associated with Visual Variety and Airiness factors. Finally, free time boredom was associated with Volume, Visual Variety, and Airiness factors. The Furniture and Clutter factor did not significantly contribute to any of the psychological evaluations. Originality/value –The study was performed in response to the severe lockdown measures taken in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. It successfully highlighted the need for a rethinking of interior design approaches regarding the design for isolated and confined environments.Item Open Access Enhancing creativity in activity-based offices: A critical incident study of knowledge workers(Life Science Publishing, 2021-10-18) Yekanialibeiglou, Sepideh; Demirkan, Halime; Denti, LeifThis study investigated the effects of activity-based offices (ABOs) on individual and group creativity. Adopting an interactionist perspective, we extended the theoretical framework of creative knowledge environments to find the link between ABOs and the concept of creative spaces. We employed the critical incident technique and collected data through interviews and participant observation methods for the case studies of three ABOs. The results show that privacy, noise level, and a distraction-free environment were the main factors supporting employees' individual creativity, as were open spaces with zones for different levels of noise and private enclosed spaces. For group creativity, the significance of providing suitable equipment and furniture in ABOs was observed—collaborative and disengaged spaces were found to be the recurring spaces for group creativity. Additionally, employee preferences were noted as an important component to consider when looking at environmental features, types of spaces and types of creative activities in creativity-enhancing ABOs.Item Open Access Ergonomics and universal design in interior architecture education(METU, 2009) Olguntürk, Nilgün; Demirkan, HalimeThe focus of this article is on the application of Human Factors and Ergonomics (HFE) principles on design process. Designers begin acquiring HFE principles and data during their university education. Universal Design (UD) approaches HFE as incorporating the whole of the population rather than a certain percent. This study explores the effectiveness of a specially designed course on UD in an interior architecture undergraduate program. After completion of the course, students were asked to evaluate their learning process. It was observed that learning UD principles is a process and requires some time, rather than being book information. The majority found the course helpful in increasing their awareness of UD issues. They also found the course helpful for improving their design work. The research suggests UD to be integrated into the interior design curriculum both as a separate course on its own and within the context of the design studios.Item Open Access Exploring staircases as architectural cues in virtual vertical navigation(Elsevier, 2020) Memikoğlu, İ.; Demirkan, HalimeArchitectural design requires experiencing the spatial organization of a building, discovering architectural cues and maintaining spatial orientation during navigation. Architects configure architectural cues in the initial phase of the design process. Staircases, as a feature of local architectural cues that provide access to the other floors in a multi-level building, can have an impact on vertical navigation and aid individuals during navigation and influence their spatial orientation. This study focuses on the issue of vertical navigation during virtual navigation by integrating the individual differences and the geometric attributes of a staircase pair within two different multi-level desktop virtual environments (VEs). The angle between the cue pairs with respect to the same observation point is altered in order to determine the staircase pair that is more efficient in navigation. Virtual vertical navigation is based on an egocentric frame of reference where the participants have control of their movements. Circulation paths, gender differences, navigational abilities and cue pairs are the factors that affect staircase preferences for ascending and descending. For the VE with a 180° difference between the cue pairs, a relationship was found between the ascending and descending staircases. Further analysis indicated that the staircase preference in ascending was either related to the first or last visited rooms on the ground floor. For the VE with a 90° difference between the cue pairs, no relationship was found between the ascending and descending staircases as well as with any other factor. There was only a significant relationship between gender and staircase preference in descending staircases with 180° difference between the cue pairs in favor of females. In addition, there was no significant relationship between the navigational abilities and staircase preferences.Item Open Access Frameworks for decision-making in design for the aging(Wiley, 2015) Demirkan, HalimeThis chapter focuses on how designers solve problems in the conceptual design phase; a phase in which information-processing and decision-making are very intensive as a consequence of generating and evaluating alternative ideas. The aim is to demonstrate an epistemological and methodological approach that permits researchers to capture, describe, prioritize, act on, and evaluate alternative design solutions. Thus, the main emphasis of the chapter is to provide a framework for understanding how methods and knowledge are linked within the cognitive strategies of design when creating interiors. The framework is discussed through a focus on aging adults. This population is selected as the focus because of the complexity of issues that confront designers when creating interior spaces for maturing populations. In the design of interior environments for maturing populations it may be necessary to apply variations of each of the priority-setting techniques.Item Open Access Housing conditions and activities of the middle-income Turkish household(Ural and Associates, 1998) Demirkan, Halime; Kutlusoy, SibelThe aim of this research is to study kitchen related space and storage requirements of residential units considering women's activity and practice patterns; and define current problems related to the kitchen of social houses in Turkey. It must be recognized that architects and designers have a responsibility to support changing lifestyles. The standards and performance specifications of the kitchen should be formed urgently, in order to improve the housing conditions in Turkey.Item Open Access Inclusive design: developing students' knowledge and attitude through empathic modelling(Routledge, 2014-06-26) Altay, Burçak; Demirkan, HalimeTo enhance the function and quality of built environments, designers should consider all possible users in their design projects. Therefore, it is essential to incorporate inclusive design in the education of the design student. This study focuses on the educational objectives of and related learning activities in a course where inclusive design is one of the main subjects. Through empathic modelling, students' engagement with the course was enhanced. Within the course, students simulated disabled users while they experienced the campus environment using wheelchairs, crutches or blindfolds. Their experiences were reflected through descriptive texts and poster designs. Descriptive texts were analysed through developing themes and codes whereas posters were analysed through a content analysis method. Our findings showed that students developed their knowledge of inclusive design concerning the physical environment, the self and the social environment. They also developed immediate emotional responses and a positive attitude towards diversity and inclusion. Thus, empathic modelling supported the development of cognitive and affective learning domains of the novice designer, supporting inclusive design education.Item Open Access The influence of virtual reality on design process creativity in basic design studios(Taylor&Francis, 2020) Obeid, Samah; Demirkan, HalimeWith the recent advancements in digital technologies, the design studios are transformed to virtual environments that offer both to design students and instructors a broader perspective in understanding the design process. As an integral part of design process, the supporting virtual tools enhance creativity in basic design studios. This study examines the influence of immersive and non-immersive virtual design environments on design process creativity in the first year basic design studio, through observing the factors related to creativity as the flow state and motivation. Consequently, an experiment is conducted to investigate the relationships between spatial ability, flow state and motivation in immersive and non-immersive virtual design environments. Forty-two first-year undergraduate basic design students participated in the experiment. The data analysis demonstrated that the immersive virtual design environment facilitates participants’ design process creativity more than the non-immersive one. Also, the findings indicated a positive strong correlation between motivations and flow state and a positive weak correlation between spatial ability and flow state. Study results contributed to a greater understanding of implementing immersive virtual reality as a creativity supporting tool.Item Open Access Reflection of empathic design process on interior architecture students’ universal design solutions(Middle East Technical University, 2023-01-26) Yeşiltepe, Melis; Demirkan, HalimeItem Open Access Setting the key issues and a prioritization strategy for designing sustainable interior environments(Middle East Technical University, 2018) Demirkan, Halime; Afacan, YaseminDesigners should operate an effective strategy to increase the possibility of creating sustainable built environments. This paper aims to evolve a framework that is composed of the sustainable interior environment issues acting as the basis that contribute positively to humans' well being through the efficient use of site, energy, water and materials and resources in the built environment. The C-K theory, which defines the design process as an interaction between the space of concepts (C) and the space of knowledge (K), is suggested as an innovative approach to design practice. Using morphological analysis with the cross-consistency assessment technique, all compatible relationships, with their assigned values, are determined. Further, the study prioritizes the components of a sustainable interior environment into most important, moderately important or least important and ranks them from highest to lowest. This study proposes an innovative approach to interior design practice that incorporates sustainable characteristics to the built environments.Item Open Access Strategic decision support for urban service design(Open House International Association, 2019) Öz, Necmiye Yaprak; Demirkan, HalimeThe aim of the study is to propose an ontology-based approach that provides a framework as a strategy decision tool for urban service design. The research methodology includes two phases to acquire the knowledge needed for urban service management of a city, as a case study. The first phase provides the priority list, through the Principle Component Analysis, for an age-friendly city determined by the citizens through a quantitative research. The second phase is a qualitative research among the public service providers, focusing on 'adequate community support and health services' feature which was the top priority of phase one. The repertory grid as a mapping tool consists of elements (age-friendly cities’ features) and constructs (municipality provided services) that interconnects the tacit knowledge with the external knowledge. The findings indicated the importance of the necessity of a shared understanding and conceptualization of what a service is among service providers and consumers. This paper makes an important contribution to urban service management by making the interconnection between tacit and external knowledge as a strategic decision support tool.Item Open Access Visual perception of the built environment in virtual reality: a systematic characterization of human aesthetic experience in spaces with curved boundaries(American Psychological Association, 2022-07-04) Boz, Tuğçe Elver; Demirkan, Halime; Ürgen, Burcu AyşeVisual perception of architectural spaces and human aesthetic experience in these spaces have recently received considerable interest in cognitive science. However, it has been difficult to construe a common understanding of aesthetic experience for architectural space, since different studies use different scales to measure aesthetic experiences. In this interdisciplinary study spanning cognitive science and architecture, we aim to provide an empirically driven systematic characterization of human aesthetic experience and investigate what aspects of the architectural spaces affect aesthetic experience. To this end, we manipulated various architectural variables including the shape of the curvilinear boundaries of architectural spaces as well as their size, light, texture, and color in virtual reality. We then had people evaluate these spaces by exhausting a large list of commonly used scales in the literature and applied principal component analysis to reveal the key dimensions of aesthetic experience. Our findings suggest that human aesthetic experience can be reduced to 3 key dimensions, namely familiarity, excitement, and fascination. Each of these dimensions are differentially affected by the various architectural variables revealing their differences. In sum, our study provides a comprehensive framework to characterize human aesthetic experience in virtual architectural spaces with curved boundaries.