The design of artificial lighting systems in office workspaces in Indonesia generally refers to the 350-lx illuminance standard. However, these standards do not fully reflect the actual visual needs of users, particularly when it comes to visual performance and visual perception. This study aims to determine the optimal level of desktop lighting and the optimal lighting ratio between the desktop and the surrounding area in achieving the visual comfort of the office workspace. This study uses a quantitative method through visual performance and visual perception experiments. Visual performance data was analyzed through homogeneity test and ANOVA test, while visual perception data was analyzed using the Multidimensional Scaling (MDS) method. The results showed that the best visual performance was achieved at the desktop illumination level of 200 lx, while the highest visual perception was obtained at the desktop and surrounding illumination ratio of 1:2. MDS analysis confirms that the most visually comfortable lighting conditions are achieved at a desktop lighting level of 200 lx with a desktop–surrounding ratio of 1:2 (200 lx : 400 lx). These findings provide empirical evidence for the development of office workspace artificial lighting design guidelines that are more responsive to user needs, beyond conventional lighting standards.
Biophilic design scholarship has expanded rapidly, yet Islamic ecological ethics remain marginal, weakening cultural fit in Muslim-majority contexts. The study’s aim is to systematically map the field and assess where Islamic principles appear or fail to appear and translate those patterns into actionable design and decision indicators. A Scopus-only corpus was assembled and screened using PRISMA 2020, yielding 70 English-language publications. Science mapping in VOSviewer v1.6.20 produced citation, author and reference co-citation, and keyword co-occurrence networks. Thresholds balanced clarity and coverage. Right-censoring was addressed via publication year and citations-per-year, and self-citations were excluded. Results show three dominant clusters which is Well-being and Psychology, Urban Sustainability, and Evolutionary Frameworks that are underpinned by a Western canon. Output rises sharply in 2021, while influence remains concentrated in earlier landmark works. Crucially, Islamic terms and principles are absent from frequent keywords and peripheral in co-citation structures, signalling limited integration of faith-informed ethics. The contribution is twofold: (i) a transparent profile of the field and (ii) an analytic crosswalk linking clusters to Sakinah (tranquillity), Hima (conservation), Mizan (balance), and Khalifa (stewardship), from which practice indicators are derived. Embedding these ethics as design parameters can improve cultural resonance and guide biophilic practice in Muslim-majority contexts while enriching the canon.
This study explores the effects of the thermal environment on the microclimatic conditions at the Faculty of Built Environment and the Faculty of Art and Design at UiTM Puncak Alam. It focuses on key microclimatic factors such as temperature, humidity, and wind speed, which significantly influence urban heat island (UHI) issues in urban settings. The research examines how thoughtful design elements such as building orientation, greenery, and water features can create a more comfortable and sustainable campus in a tropical climate. By combining field measurements with ENVI-met simulations, the study reveals that areas with well-placed vegetation and water features experience significantly lower temperatures and more stable humidity, contributing to a more pleasant outdoor atmosphere. Additionally, strategically designed building layouts enhance natural airflow and reduce stagnant air zones, further improving comfort. The study emphasizes that ENVI-met is a valuable tool for analysing and predicting microclimatic conditions, demonstrating how green infrastructure and sustainable planning can transform campuses into cooler and more resilient spaces. Results indicate that, during peak hours, the air temperature reaches a maximum of 32.8°C at 15:00, while the minimum temperature is 23.5°C at 22:00. In terms of relative humidity, the highest percentage recorded is 98% at 03:00, which decreases to 62% at 15:00. The wind speed recorded at the site shows a maximum of 1.16 m/s at 07:00, while the lowest measurement is 0.01 m/s at 06:00. These findings provide practical recommendations, including increasing green coverage, optimizing campus layouts, and incorporating water features. Such measures can help universities address environmental challenges, such as the UHI effect, and create healthier, more comfortable learning environments.
This study investigates how children perceive and cognitively represent their urban neighborhoods through the analysis of mental maps. The research was conducted with 100 children aged 9–11 years from two different types of neighborhoods in Batna, Algeria. The study adopts an integrated mixed-methods framework combining Lynch’s (1960) theory of urban imageability and Matthews’ (1992) representational typology to analyze both the spatial content and representational forms of children’s drawings. Quantitative analysis based on Lynch’s framework revealed that landmarks and paths dominate children’s spatial representations, appearing in 91% and 83% of the drawings respectively. MANOVA results demonstrated a significant effect of neighborhood morphology on children’s spatial representations (Pillai’s Trace = 0.211, F (5,84) = 4.489, p = 0.001, η² = 0.211). In contrast, age and gender showed limited overall effects. Qualitative analysis revealed that the progression toward schematic representations was not solely associated with age-related cognitive development but was also linked to neighborhood morphology, indicating that the configuration of the built environment plays an important role in shaping how children organize and internalize spatial information. To deepen the interpretation of representational patterns, the study employed a complementary coding framework based on ten analytical axes addressing dimensions such as spatial organization, detail, perspective, labeling, and social interaction. The findings reveal that both developmental progression and neighborhood form jointly contribute to the way children construct and express spatial representations. The study contributes empirical evidence from the Algerian context and highlights the importance of legible and child-sensitive urban environments in supporting children’s spatial cognition and environmental engagement.
This study offers a theoretical perspective on the Melanau tall house as a form of defensive architecture, examined through physical, environmental, and sociocultural dimensions of the typology using a grounded theory approach. The inquiry initially began as a general investigation of architectural characteristics, hence academic discourses linking the typology to defensive architecture gradually emerged. This shift was prompted by the recurring and consistent reference to defensive architecture throughout the analysis, despite its underdeveloped treatment in academic literature and its largely fragmented documentation within collective memory. Building upon the established physical and environmental dimensions, the analysis further examined how the identified defensive architectural characteristics evolved in response to shifting sociocultural dimensions of the Melanau society. This progression provided an opportunity to identify plausible indicators, within the lifespan of the typology, that best articulate its defensive imperatives across chronological and temporal transformations. Consequently, this perspective reaffirms the heritage resilience of the Melanau tall house, which is best understood through the adaptive continuity of sociocultural practices shaped by technological, environmental, and social change.
