Purpose This study investigates how speculative cartographic methods can translate historical urban data into rule-based analytical structures for exploring long-term metropolitan transformation under Anthropocene conditions. Using Istanbul as a paradigmatic case of planetary urbanisation, the research develops the Anthropocene Istanbul Atlas to examine how architectural knowledge can interpret cumulative spatial change and generate alternative future trajectories grounded in empirical cartographic evidence. Design/methodology/approach The research reconstructs Istanbul's urban transformation between 1923 and 2026 through the reinterpretation of eleven historical maps, aerial photographs and satellite images. A three-phase methodology structured as (re)reading, (re)coding and (re)interpreting identifies five analytical dimensions: ecological systems, architectural typologies, infrastructural networks, socio-morphological indicators and megaprojects. Comparative cartographic analysis extracts persistent spatial rule sets, which are extended into four behavioural-based scenario families across temporal horizons of 2035, 2050 and 2100. Findings The analysis reveals four persistent dynamics: continuous typological and infrastructural expansion, ecological fragmentation, intensified socio-morphological aggregation and metropolitan-scale restructuring under saturation conditions. These dynamics generate three rule sets aligning typological growth with infrastructure, converting ecological surfaces into built programmes and concentrating socio-spatial flows along accessibility corridors. Scenarios demonstrate how persistence, adaptation, rescaling and disruption reorganise metropolitan morphology under alternative transformation trajectories. Originality/value The study proposes speculative mapping as a transferable architectural research methodology that integrates historical cartography, rule extraction and scenario construction within a single framework. By positioning mapping as an epistemic instrument linking archival evidence to future-oriented spatial reasoning, the Atlas advances cartographic methods for investigating urban futures beyond predictive modelling.
PurposeChallenges exist in the design-build (DB) research field to situate the variety of practices and approaches. Much research captures project outcomes and describes the process, but there are minimal frameworks or models of DB pedagogy. The following literature review begins this process, examining trends in publications, definitions of DB, gaps identified in the literature and discussion of recurrent themes in the field. Design/methodology/approachTwo methods of literature collection are compared, presenting results of a systematic quantitative literature review search method and the author's exploratory search. Discussion of the literature follows a narrative approach led by key questions: What is the definition of DB education in architecture? What are the main gaps identified in the literature? What themes are recurrent in the literature? The findings from these questions precipitate a thematic review of selected book publications. FindingsThe review identifies incongruities in this globally expanding, yet nascent field of research and the opportunity for more consistent definitions and terminology. The thematic review of selected book publications identifies eight themes as key attributes to be considered in DB education: agenda, pedagogy, student experience, project type, staffing and leadership, facilities and funding, teaching research nexus and risk. The proposed themes provide a frame of reference that seeks to unify and consolidate future research in this field. Originality/valueThis review focuses specifically on DB education in architecture, presenting emergent research in a narrower scope of reference than recent reviews in this field, which tend to look at the broader field of live projects.
Purpose This study develops a multidimensional evaluation and design framework for conserving high-value heritage buildings (HVHB) in transitional urban contexts. It addresses the anticipated vacancy of heritage administrative buildings in Downtown Cairo following the relocation of governmental functions to the New Administrative Capital. The research supports informed, value-based decision-making concerning preservation, adaptive reuse or transformation, balancing architectural significance, economic feasibility and socio-cultural continuity. Design/methodology/approach A hybrid mixed-method approach synthesizes evolving conservation paradigms with value-based assessment models and design-oriented strategies. The framework integrates state-of-the-art conservation models along with innovative digital tools and is validated through expert semi-structured interviews and a prospective geographical information system-based simulation exploring adaptive reuse scenarios for former ministry buildings in Downtown Cairo. Findings The results demonstrate that sustainable regeneration requires a transition from static preservation models toward dynamic value management approaches. Effective conservation outcomes depend on balancing architectural significance, socio-cultural contributions and economic feasibility. The framework proves capable of guiding strategic decisions in data-limited environments and illustrates how at-risk administrative heritage buildings can shift from potential vacancy and decline to becoming drivers of urban resilience and local economic activation. Originality/value The study contributes an operational, decision-support framework tailored to transitional contexts where high-value heritage assets face functional displacement. By integrating multidimensional evaluation, digital tools and scenario-based simulation, the research offers a transferable framework that assists policymakers and practitioners in navigating complex urban transformations toward flexible, mixed-use environments.
Purpose Integrating competencies from other built environment disciplines into architectural curricula and studio projects fosters transdisciplinary education for students. Drawing on the core elements of the United Nations' (UN) Sustainable Development Goals – People, Planet, Prosperity, Peace and Partnership – and the UN's commitment to bridging theory and practice across disciplines through inclusive collaborations, the paper aims to explore how educational institutions can develop transdisciplinary approaches without compromising the disciplinary depth of architecture. Design/methodology/approach Following an ontological and epistemological commitment to addressing the ethical concerns and “wicked problems” of the urban condition in architectural education, this paper involves conceptual and critical analysis of transdisciplinarity in architecture curricula. It is based on empirical experiences in architecture education studios, interactions with built environment professionals, alignment with the criteria of four education-validating organizations and existing literature discussing transdisciplinarity in both the allied industries and education. Findings To avoid the pitfalls of rigid academic silos and to enrich architectural thinking, the paper suggests structural and cultural shifts, including co-teaching, curriculum co-creation and incentivizing other collaborative pedagogical innovations. Through studio-based problem-seeking and peer-to-peer solution development, students engage in cultivating critical competencies – systems thinking, dynamic negotiation and civic responsibility – essential for addressing today's urban challenges. Originality/value The paper highlights how collaborative pedagogical frameworks, spanning the built environment disciplines, reflect the real-world demands of integrated project delivery and regenerative design mandates, calling for new educational models that enable shared authorship of sustainable, inclusive and adaptive urban futures.
Purpose In the first instance, the article consolidates existing scholarship covering the Housing Research Unit (HRU) at the University of Edinburgh (HRU), developing a close reading of three housing projects designed by the unit from a typological perspective. A reflection on the potential contemporary utility of this investigation forms the latter portion of the article, articulating one answer to the question: “What role can history play in contemporary architecture practice?”. Design/methodology/approach The methodology of this research combines drawing from existing scholarship of the HRU, with new readings of the work generated through contemporary surveys. A photographic survey of the buildings in their contemporary state is central to this exercise, conducted in collaboration with the architectural photographer Fredrik Frendin. As a counterpoint to the photograph, the act of redrawing is utilised as a primary mode of research; the three selected projects are brought into a contemporary reading through the simple act of being clearly represented in a standardised format. The article thus straddles an architectural-historical and an architectural-disciplinary perspective, while maintaining an operative approach that seeks to understand the potential of these buildings beyond their historical relevance. Findings The primary finding of this research is the expanded and consolidated documentation of its subject, the HRU, through documentation that is projective and instrumentalised for contemporary practice. Additionally, this article develops strategies for an engagement with historical projects that centre on their employment of typology. This typological reading is set out as a point of confluence between the two perspectives of historian and practitioner: it becomes both a source of the project's architectural significance and meaning, but also the investigative lens through which to successfully read this meaning. Originality/value This article develops a typologically informed reinterpretation of existing scholarship of its subject, the HRU, informed and supported by a selection of newly produced drawings and a contemporary photographic survey.
Purpose This study examines how students construct meaning around research and inquiry in an upper-level architectural design studio and how these processes support or hinder inquiry-oriented learning. Design/methodology/approach Focus-group interviews were conducted with 28 students who had completed Architectural Design 4. Data were interpreted through a three-layer meaning-making framework – contextual (studio ecology), cognitive (epistemic work of inquiry) and reflective (reflection-in/on-action) – and analyzed using reflexive thematic analysis. Findings The findings show that the studio can move students from imitative, product-driven work toward research-informed and self-directed inquiry. However, students often struggle to translate research, precedent analysis and theory into design decisions under time, assessment and representational pressures. Research limitations/implications The study is limited to one institutional context and one studio level; therefore, the findings are not statistically generalizable. However, the three-layer framework offers a transferable lens for examining inquiry-oriented studio learning in comparable settings. Practical implications Studio teaching should scaffold source reading, precedent analysis, research-question formation and research-to-design translation. Critique, tutor guidance, timelines, assessment and representational expectations should be aligned to sustain inquiry and student authorship. Social implications Making inquiry processes explicit may support more reflective, context-sensitive and socially responsible architectural decision-making. Originality/value The study links meaning-making theory with inquiry-oriented studio pedagogy and foregrounds students’ accounts to explain how research, theory, critique and reflection interact in architectural design education.
Purpose This article investigates design methods in architectural and urban design, emphasizing the emerging role of gamification as a transformative educational tool. The study positions gamification within a broader classification of design methodologies - spanning traditional, computational, participatory and immersive methods - while critically examining its potential to advance human-centered and equitable designs in alignment with the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This aims to establish a taxonomy for integrating gamification as a design method to reshape design pedagogy and to evolve architecture and urban tools toward interactive, stimulating education. Design/methodology/approach The research begins with a literature review to map existing design methods and identify gaps regarding integrating gamification. This is complemented by a comparative analysis of global case studies where gamified approaches have been applied in architectural and urban design education. The developed taxonomy synthesizes cognitive, technological and participatory dimensions, framing gamification not only as a pedagogical strategy but also as a socio-economic catalyst for inclusive designs. Findings The study reveals that gamified methods enhance engagement, collaborative problem-solving, stimulation and design participation, enabling students to address complex socio-spatial issues such as housing equity, public space accessibility, circular design and climate resilience. Findings show potentials of gamification in achieving human-centered equitable designs, socio-economic impacts, changes in design thinking and competencies. The discussion highlights the implications for curriculum reform, suggesting that integrating gamification into design education can better equip future architects to operate in multi-stakeholder, SDG-driven contexts. Originality/value This article defines existing game mechanics in gamified design methods to advise future developers of gamified educational tools. It further depicts the relation between the potentials of gamified design methods and their alignment with SDGs. By contributing a refined taxonomy of design methods, this article offers theoretical advancement and practical guidance for embedding gamification in architectural pedagogy, ultimately bridging design innovation with equitable futures.
Purpose This paper examines how language-based prompts in generative AI reshape temporal and ontological conditions of architectural design pedagogy, positioning prompt crafting as a hybrid practice that bridges linguistic inquiry and spatial imagination, and brings them into productive relation. Design/methodology/approach Drawing on critical theories of temporality, semiotics and design literacies, this paper offers a conceptual analysis of pedagogical experiments involving the integration of text-to-image AI systems in architectural studio education. It examines prompt crafting as a semantic and narrative-based mode of design inquiry that disrupts conventional temporal regimes of design production. Findings AI language prompts interrupt the rush toward visual resolution, creating temporal space for dwelling in ambiguity, reflection and conceptual development. This condition of “temporal dwelling” reconfigures the ontological foundation of design education by shifting emphasis from outcome-driven production to process-oriented meaning-making that is enacted through linguistic structures. Research limitations/implications This paper is conceptual and interpretive rather than a comparative empirical study. It does not evaluate student performance quantitatively, compare AI-assisted and non-AI workflows or provide extended visual case analysis of studio outputs. Its contribution lies instead in theorising how AI-mediated prompting reshapes temporal experience, linguistic mediation and reflective inquiry in architectural pedagogy. The implications are pedagogical and research-oriented: educators may use prompt-based practices to cultivate hybrid literacies, temporal awareness and critical reflection, while future research should test these claims through longitudinal, visual and comparative studio-based studies. Practical implications The paper suggests that generative AI should be integrated into architectural education not simply as a tool for faster image production, but as a pedagogical medium for reflective, language-based design inquiry. It offers practical directions for studio teaching, including structured prompt iteration, reflective documentation, temporal scaffolding and hybrid workflows that move between linguistic, visual and material modes of design. These strategies can help educators cultivate prompt literacy, metacognitive awareness and critical AI literacy while resisting purely instrumental uses of AI and supporting more deliberate, conceptually grounded forms of design learning. Social implications The paper has social implications in how future architects are taught to engage with AI critically. By framing prompting as a reflective and linguistically mediated practice, it supports forms of education better equipped to address complexity, uncertainty and socially contested futures. It also foregrounds the need to interrogate bias, cultural stereotyping, environmental cost and the politics of representation embedded in generative systems. In this sense, the paper argues for an architectural pedagogy that prepares students not only to use AI, but to question its assumptions, consequences and uneven social effects. Originality/value Extending current discourse on prompt crafting, this paper argues that AI-mediated language practices constitute a hybrid methodology capable of reconciling immediate technological affordances with reflective, slowed pedagogical processes. By foregrounding language as a medium of spatial and conceptual exploration, the paper contributes to emergent debates on hybrid practices in architectural education and design research in the Anthropocene.
Purpose This study aims to redefine architectural measurement not as a technical tool, but as a bodily experience and a “hybrid epistemic practice.” Through Le Corbusier’s experience of visiting the Acropolis in 1911, it argues that the architectural journey is a form of knowledge production. Design/methodology/approach The study reads Le Corbusier’s Journey to the East through a “close reading” lens within the interpretive paradigm. The analysis focuses on narratives and representations of measurement shaped by tension, uncertainty, and bodily perception, which destabilise architectural certainty. Findings The analyses reveal that the Acropolis served as a “knowledge threshold” for Le Corbusier. The experience is defined as a five-stage process, extending from distant observation to bodily measurement, from doubt to acceptance. The study demonstrates that architectural knowledge is generated by the tension between the certainty of measurement and the uncertainty of experience, and that this process gives rise to the “hybrid practitioner”. Practical implications The study emphasises the importance of “slow” spatial interaction, which is increasingly lacking in contemporary architectural education and practice. It argues that methods requiring bodily participation, such as sketching and mapping, rather than rapid digital recording, enhance the architect’s intuitive judgment and “know-how”. Originality/value While Le Corbusier’s journey is widely researched, this study offers a contribution by focusing on the ambiguous thresholds of his encounter, which manifest themselves as personal inner conflict, crisis, curiosity, learning or obeying. By identifying the epistemic thresholds that emerge through narrative ruptures, it demonstrates how architectural knowledge is transformed into a hybrid form through architectural travel.
Purpose This article examines how small-scale, community-embedded spatial practices can generate durable sociocultural and ecological value despite limited resources and temporally constrained implementation. It reflects on broader lessons derived from three situated cases to articulate a set of principles for rethinking architectural agency, emphasising process-based design, collective stewardship and the integration of hybrid knowledge based on artistic, ecological and technical expertise. Design/methodology/approach The study adopts a qualitative, practice-based analytical framework grounded in ethnographic observation, participatory design methodologies and cross-case comparison. It examines how hybrid pedagogical-professional initiatives unfold in real time, analysing their negotiation processes, governance arrangements and socio-spatial outcomes. The approach foregrounds the situated knowledge generated through collaboration, making the process itself an epistemic lens. Findings The analysis identifies the emergence of a non-authorial design role centred on mediation, care and translation across institutional, ecological, neighbourhood and artistic domains. It highlights the long-term cultural and relational impacts of community-driven processes, and also exposes gaps in ecological design capacity, particularly within artistic and architectural education. Practical implications The article provides actionable insights for architects, cultural practitioners, educators and municipal actors seeking to support community-led initiatives. It demonstrates that collaboration with existing local processes, rather than imposing new prescriptive forms, enhances social cohesion, ecological sensitivity and project resilience. Social implications The study shows how participatory spatial practices can strengthen collective agency, cultural rights and local identity. Beyond the outcome achieved with the final design, the development processes of co-creation restructures social relations, mobilises communities and expands residents' capacity to imagine and enact more liveable, sustainable futures. Originality/value This article advances a process-oriented, hybrid understanding of architectural practice that positions urban space as a shared ecosystem shaped through learning, negotiation and care. It contributes original conceptual clarity on the epistemic value of “small” interventions and the importance of non-authorial, translational design roles for contemporary urban transformation.
Purpose Mitigating the impacts of climate change requires decarbonising transportation systems. One key challenge is the optimal allocation of electric vehicle charging stations (EVCS). This study aims to develop a strategic decision-support model to prioritise EVCS locations and enhance sustainability opportunities in urban environments. Design/methodology/approach The research employs a geographic information system (GIS) based multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA) framework. A four-step methodology has been developed. Firstly, determined seven main criteria and 59 sub-criteria. Secondly, the spatial interrelations between these criteria and the technical categories of EVCS were reached. Thirdly, indicators are weighted using the analytical hierarchy process (AHP) by experts with diverse backgrounds. Fourthly, the model's validity is tested using actual data and maps from Cairo City, resulting in a multi-layered suitability map generated from the criteria weights from the previous steps. Findings The study compiles and operationalises a comprehensive set of indicators for EVCS allocation and identifies priority areas for EVCS in Cairo. It can also be adapted to other cities that can provide the necessary spatial data. The results demonstrate that combining spatial context, technical parameters, and expert evaluation significantly improves the accuracy of EVCS site selection. Originality/value This study advances GIS-based MCDA and AHP approaches by integrating them in a sustainability-oriented, multimodal urban planning model. And incorporates multidisciplinary expert assessments, with urban planning specialists playing a central role in the weighting process to ensure alignment with real urban conditions and practical planning needs.
Purpose The study investigates how tourism-driven urban transformation impacts residents in the heritage city of Turkistan, Kazakhstan, and identifies the factors influencing their support for sustainable tourism development. Design/methodology/approach The research employs a sequential mixed-methods design, beginning with qualitative storytelling interviews followed by a quantitative survey of 425 residents. Data analysis used explanatory factor analysis to identify key dimensions for examining relationships between constructs. Findings Results reveal a complex picture of residents' experience of tourism-induced urban transformations. Residents positively evaluate macro-level improvements in urban tourism infrastructure and socio-cultural benefits, but these have not translated into improved material well-being. A significant discrepancy between high satisfaction with non-material quality of life (spiritual life and community) and dissatisfaction with material conditions (cost of living and income) creates an uneven development of urban tourism. Still, residents express strong support for the further development of urban tourism. Originality/value The current study provides an in-depth empirical analysis of residents' lived experiences of tourism-led heritage regeneration in a rapidly developing Central Asian city. It contributes a novel analytical framework that identifies and explains the contradiction between non-material satisfaction, material dissatisfaction and continued support for development. The work provides an essential perspective on equitable growth within the New Silk Road initiative and contributes directly to key debates on social sustainability in architecture and tourism planning.
Purpose This article examines how values are constructed and circulated in architecture through the lens of awards. Historically, architectural success has been measured through awards, project scale, progression to leadership, citations and jury participation. These entanglements between architecture and awards are examined by considering how awards shape architectural culture and what is valued within the field. The aim is twofold: to offer an overview of how current practitioners' perceptions and feelings oscillate between viewing awards as forms of “hopeful performativity” and “non-performativity”; and to consider how fostering positive change could become a shared agenda for the profession across Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom. Design/methodology/approach Qualitative interviews with architects across diverse practices and contexts are drawn upon to provide insights into how awards are experienced, interpreted and emotionally invested in. A feminist and intersectional framework, informed by Sarah Ahmed's work, is utilised to analyse these insights in terms of both structural inequalities and lived experience. Findings Findings suggest that awards act as affective mechanisms through which respondents oscillate between hope for change and a sense of frustration or ambiguity about what awards ultimately achieve. Originality/value This article contributes new empirical insights into the affective and institutional dimensions of awards in architecture. By situating professional recognition within the framework of “hopeful performativity” and “non-performativity”, it advances understanding of how emotion, value and privilege intertwine in shaping architectural culture.
Purpose This study explores the integration and use of AI tools in architectural education, focusing on the perceptions of a worldwide sample of architecture instructors and students. It investigates AI usage prevalence, patterns, motivations, ethical awareness, and offers suggestions for future integration. Design/methodology/approach A mixed-methods research design was employed, combining quantitative and qualitative research methods. Quantitative data were collected via two questionnaires from 97 instructors with different academic ranks and 324 students at various study levels, distributed across 32 countries and 90 universities, and were analyzed statistically. Qualitative data were gathered from the open-ended responses of the questionnaires and extended by two focus groups with students and instructors from Egypt, and were then analyzed using thematic analysis. Findings In architectural education, AI tools are widely used by students and accepted by instructors for design support and research, yet their design outputs remain of questionable quality and their impact on complex creative processes is limited. The motivations for using AI tend to be personal rather than institutionally encouraged. In addition to concerns about reliability and overreliance, transparency and ethical engagement are essential to uphold academic integrity. The findings highlighted the need for structured training and clear institutional policies to ensure AI complements, rather than replaces, human critical and creative thinking. The study also revealed differences between instructors' and students' perceptions of AI's capabilities. Research limitations/implications Limitations include a lower-than-targeted survey response rate, uneven geographic distribution, and small, homogeneous focus groups, however, the sample was sufficient to derive general indicators, as these remained stable with increasing sample size and closely approximated the target, Overall, the study highlights AI's transformative potential in architectural education, while advocating for ethical, informed, and context-sensitive integration across institutions. Originality/value This study contributes to the discourse on AI in architectural education by revealing the current state of AI use in architectural education and highlighting opportunities to enhance learning and design. Its international scope allows cross-cultural comparisons and provides guidance for curriculum development and institutional policies.
Purpose Studio is the centre of architectural education but has been criticized for reinforcing problematic hierarchies and power structures in the academy, hence reinforcing similar challenges in the profession of architecture. This paper studies an innovative graduate architectural studio framed from a critical pedagogy perspective which aimed to shift specific studio norms about work and processes of social relations concerning collaboration, co-design, the value of time and evaluation systems.Design/methodology/approach Reflections from student studio participants were collected through semi-structured interviews two years after the completion of the studio. The collected reflections were qualitatively analysed to uncover which non-normative elements of the studio were most salient to the first years of professional practice.Findings Upon reflection, participants revealed the fact that uniquely deep collaboration, the experience with a "real" project entailing physical construction and a stakeholder/client, respect for work-life balance and fairness of evaluation structures were of greatest value to them from their perspective as practitioners.Originality/value This paper sheds light on the specific value to practicing architects of student experiences in innovative studios which present non-normative modes of practice. This builds toward a greater understanding of how innovative architectural pedagogies may also lead to a shift in norms of practice.
Purpose This study aims to develop an evidence-based planning and assessment framework model for school-based Outdoor Learning Spaces (OLSs) in Egypt, by integrating the presence and readiness of OLSs, design quality, and sustainability indicators into a structured weighted model. Design/methodology/approach This study adopted a mixed-methods approach combining literature synthesis, a large-scale teacher questionnaire, and an expert Analytic Hierarchy Process survey. Teacher responses were analyzed to determine the perceived importance of outdoor learning zones, the amenities required, and the developmental affordance of each zone. The questionnaire also generated empirical insights into existing patterns of outdoor space utilization across different school types. Expert judgments were then used to generate priority weights for the framework’s main pillars and sub-indicators related to design quality and sustainability. Findings Results revealed disparities in the availability and frequency of use of OLSs across Egyptian schools, influenced by socio-economic and curricular differences. Teachers expressed high and closely clustered preferences for diverse zones, highlighting the value of multi-functional outdoor learning environments. Experts prioritized the presence and readiness of OLSs, followed by design quality and sustainability. Safety, functionality, and educational value emerged as key priorities across indicators. These findings were synthesized into a structured framework model. Originality/value This study presents one of the first empirically grounded frameworks for OLSs in Egypt. It is the first to integrate the three pillars: presence and readiness, design quality, and sustainability, into a single practical model aligned with pedagogical and spatial goals.
Purpose - This study aims to analyze global nomadism, transformed by the deepening crises of the Anthropocene, as a contemporary spatial reflex and to propose the conceptual model of "Escapecore," which redefines belonging through movement, adaptability and self-centeredness in a context where fixed geographies lose their validity. Design/methodology/approach - The study adopts a qualitative, holistic and visual - analytical approach to interpret spatial crises in the Anthropocene and to formulate "Escapecore" as an alternative spatial reflex to global nomadic lifestyles. The method involves concept coding, thematic clustering into a layered flow from the Anthropocene to Escapecore, and visual - spatial mapping through diagrams expressing its ontological coordinates. Validity is grounded in the coherence and contextual adaptability of the conceptual network. Findings - Spatial crises in the Anthropocene trigger individual housing reflexes, with "Escapecore" emerging as an alternative spatial behavior amid the collapse of permanence and the redefinition of belonging. Visual and conceptual analyses show a tendency to construct temporary yet meaningful places across digital and physical realms, indicating that nomadism has evolved into a form of existence based not only on mobility but also on emotional and cognitive flexibility. Originality/value - The article proposes a conceptual model that rethinks individual existence and spatial belonging in the Anthropocene through "Escapecore." By linking Anthropocene-driven crises to new practices of movement-based belonging, the study opens a pathway for future design research and spatial prototyping grounded in resilience and multi-scalar adaptability.
Purpose This study examines how temporary housing supports post-disaster resilience following the 2023 Kahramanmaras earthquakes, focusing on Hatay as a critical case. It argues that temporary housing is not only an emergency response but also a critical stage in the reconstruction of physical, social and institutional systems.Design/methodology/approach A qualitative multiple-case study approach was adopted to analyse three settlement models: Ko & ccedil; Umut Kent, Meydancik Container Settlement and & Ccedil;ekmece Neighbourhood. Data were collected through in-depth interviews, field observations and document analysis conducted between 2024 and 2025. The cases were examined using thematic and comparative analysis to identify variations in resilience dimensions.Findings The findings indicate that resilience in temporary housing is multidimensional and shaped by governance and community dynamics. While physical, economic and institutional resilience were strongest in public-private partnership settlements, social and place-based resilience emerged prominently in self-organised settlements. Environmental and economic resilience remained weak in all cases due to inadequate site planning, infrastructural deficiencies and restricted livelihood opportunities. These results highlight the importance of adaptability, participation and local knowledge in fostering resilient temporary housing environments.Research limitations/implications The study is limited to three cases in Hatay and relies primarily on qualitative data. Nevertheless, it contributes to resilience theory by framing temporary housing as an evolving socio-spatial process.Practical implications The findings inform policymakers and designers about the need for participatory governance, flexible design strategies and integrated site planning.Social implications The study highlights how inclusive and locally informed temporary housing can strengthen social cohesion and support an equitable recovery.Originality/value This research represents one of the earliest comparative studies examining temporary housing and resilience in the context of the 2023 Kahramanmaras earthquakes. By analysing diverse settlement models within a single regional recovery process, it provides socio-spatial insights into how governance structures and community dynamics shape distinct resilience outcomes, advancing a limited but emerging field of inquiry.
Purpose Circulation and transitional “grey spaces” in higher education buildings are often minimized as residual areas, despite their potential to support informal learning, social exchange, and environmental responsiveness. This study reconceptualizes circulation as an active spatial infrastructure and examines how it shapes student experience in a tropical Asian context. Design/methodology/approach A comparative mixed-methods study was conducted across three university buildings in Bangkok: one baseline case and two award-winning designs. A structured survey of 90 users was combined with on-site observations. Circulation was evaluated across four dimensions: human-to-human interaction, human-to-nature connection, sustainability and aesthetics, using descriptive statistics, ANOVA and thematic analysis. Findings Significant differences were identified among the cases (p < 0.05). Courtyard-centered and semi-outdoor systems performed strongest, fostering social engagement, environmental comfort and inclusivity. Efficiency-driven corridor layouts scored consistently lower across all dimensions. The results demonstrate that circulation design directly influences educational experience and institutional identity. Research limitations/implications The study is limited to three cases within a single metropolitan context and relies primarily on user perceptions rather than long-term behavioral or environmental performance data. Nevertheless, it proposes an integrated analytical framework that synthesizes fragmented literature on circulation by operationalizing it into four measurable dimensions. The research extends discussions on informal learning environments by providing comparative empirical evidence from a tropical Asian setting and offers a transferable conceptual model for future cross-cultural and longitudinal investigations. Practical implications The findings suggest that circulation should be treated as a strategic design component rather than minimized for efficiency. Courtyard-centered and semi-outdoor systems can enhance passive comfort, social interaction and spatial flexibility in tropical climates. Architects and campus planners are encouraged to integrate shading, ventilation, greenery and adaptable seating within circulation networks to strengthen informal learning and institutional cohesion without extensive classroom expansion. Social implications By enhancing belonging, inclusivity, and everyday social exchange, well-designed grey spaces contribute to student well-being and campus identity. In resource-constrained contexts, investing in circulation offers a cost-effective way to improve educational quality and environmental awareness, reinforcing the social role of architecture in shaping equitable and sustainable learning communities. Originality/value The study introduces a four-dimensional analytical framework that integrates social, environmental, and esthetic perspectives on circulation. By providing comparative empirical evidence from a tropical higher education context, it advances architectural research on informal learning environments and offers a transferable model for climate-responsive campus design.
