Emergency departments (EDs) are demanding workplaces, but evidence linking their physical settings to staff stress outside high-income countries is scarce. This cross-sectional survey included 284 nurses from the EDs of six public and private hospitals in northern Jordan. Nurses rated their physical service setting with Steinke’s six-domain instrument and reported crowding and workload pressure, security climate, organisational support, resilience (CD-RISC-10) and perceived stress (PSS-10). Categorical confirmatory factor analysis supported the six-domain structure (WLSMV: CFI = 0.994, RMSEA = 0.017, SRMR = 0.047). In multiply imputed regression models (R2 = 0.40), nurses who rated their setting more favourably reported lower stress. This association was independent of the other factors but small (β = −0.13, 95% CI −0.22 to −0.03), and it reflected the overall appraisal rather than any single domain. Crowding and workload pressure showed a stronger association (β = 0.33, 95% CI 0.21 to 0.45), which remained when only three crowding-oriented items were used. This pressure also statistically linked longer working hours and more patients per shift to higher stress. As the findings concern perceived environments in six hospitals, design responses on capacity, circulation and companion management remain hypotheses for testing with objective spatial measures and longitudinal or intervention studies.
Parametric design provides an effective computational approach for developing adaptable architectural forms that respond to environmental conditions in hot-arid climates, particularly in cities with high levels of solar exposure, such as Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Traditional Hijazi architectural patterns and Islamic ornamental systems in Al-Balad, Jeddah, can provide a culturally grounded source of inspiration for responsive façade design. The architectural elements and ornamentation of historic Jeddah can be digitally reinterpreted through computational and parametric design as a potential façade screening concept. This study employed a computational design development framework combining cultural pattern analysis, physical origami exploration, and parametric generative modeling. The findings demonstrate that selected Hijazi patterns and origami principles can be translated into a reconfigurable parametric façade module. The developed module generated multiple geometric configurations through folding, repetition, and attractor-based control, illustrating variations in geometric openness and surface articulation. Future use of appropriate materials, sensors, and control systems could allow for automatic responses to the environment. The resulting framework links cultural pattern abstraction with physical folding, computational design, and parametric geometric control.
This preliminary study examines transition spaces in special schools and their use beyond movement and circulation. A descriptive analytical mixed-method case study approach was applied to three special schools in India, selected through purposive sampling to represent contrasting spatial configurations. Site observations documented the physical attributes and routine uses of transition spaces, while spatial configuration analysis described the connectivity within the corresponding floor plans. Corridors, courtyards, waiting areas, and other intermediate spaces were observed to accommodate circulation as well as assembly, eating, and movement-based activities. The findings indicate that transition spaces should be considered as active components of special school spatial planning rather than residual circulation areas. This preliminary study provides a descriptive basis for future participatory and outcome-based research and is discussed in support of Sustainable Development Goals 4, 10, 11, and 17.
This paper reimagines the architect’s role in fostering transformative resilience in flood-prone regional communities in Australia by examining how architects engage with participatory design processes. While participatory design is increasingly adopted to engage communities in disaster recovery, the role of architects within these processes—and the nature of their agency—remains under-examined. Using Critical Interpretive Synthesis, this paper brings together the literature across participatory design, transformative resilience, and architectural agency to critically examine why conventional, expert-led architecture practice models may limit transformative resilience potential. Drawing on relational and Indigenous knowledge frameworks alongside participatory design and the resilience literature, and examining the synthesis against published evidence from the 2022 Northern Rivers floods, the paper presents a conceptual exploration of how architectural practice might evolve to support more inclusive, adaptive, and community-driven approaches to recovery. By providing a theoretical bridge between disaster resilience scholarship and architectural practice, the paper proposes an emerging framework for practice that challenges traditional assumptions of architectural authorship and contributes to longer-term resilience-building. In doing so, the paper offers a provocation for rethinking architectural roles in times of crisis and identifies directions for future research and engagement.
The exploratory case study presented in this paper seeks to contribute to the methodology of empirical research of architectural atmospheres by developing and exploring the application of four atmospheric research principles based on Henri Lefebvre’s theory of rhythmanalysis: (1) investigation of extreme phenomena, (2) cross-referencing diverse sources, (3) perspective shifting, and (4) cyclical and linear data classification. The proposed mixed-methods framework was applied in an exploratory manner in two entrance zones of Odeon Cinema Palace in Belgrade, chosen as extreme situations where external and internal spatial forces intertwine, making them well suited for examining the physical-environmental dimension of architectural atmosphere. A simultaneous combination of threefold data collection was performed during ten site visits between November 2015 and January 2016: (1) field observation, (2) environmental measurement (illuminance, air velocity, and surface temperature), and (3) computer-aided volumetric analyses and airflow simulations. The methodology was initially conceptualized before the field research, based on Lefebvre’s theory of rhythmanalysis, and then further developed in accordance with the empirical knowledge gathered on site, with key emphasis being on establishing relations between the individually diverse methods. The results of the research provide new knowledge about the atmospheres of the two entrances of the Odeon building, namely their airflow and natural daylighting, obtained through the proposed research methodology. In entrance zone A, measured illuminance ranged from 70 to 1500 lx under sunny and from 8 to 100 lx under overcast conditions, and the simulations indicated three airflow states associated with door and window configurations; zone C showed two wind-direction-dependent airflow states and a stepwise reduction in daylight toward the depth of the niche. The simulations were used qualitatively, without quantitative validation, and sampling was limited to winter. The outcome of the exploratory case study suggests that the proposed methodology could be a valuable addition to existing and future empirical research on architectural atmospheres, although its general applicability has yet to be tested in other settings.
