The COVID-19 pandemic intensified the transformation of residential architecture by requiring the home to accommodate work, education, leisure, social interaction, and health-related needs within the same environment. This paper presents a qualitative literature review examining how these changes have influenced residential design and the emerging understanding of housing resilience. The reviewed literature is critically synthesized through four interconnected thematic domains: spatial modularity and adaptability, digital infrastructure and smart housing systems, health-oriented and biophilic design, and sustainability and long-term residential resilience. The findings indicate that the pandemic did not introduce an entirely new set of architectural principles, but accelerated the relevance and convergence of previously established approaches to flexibility, environmental quality, technological integration, and sustainable design. Spatial modularity is identified as one strategy within the broader concept of residential adaptability rather than as a universal solution. The review further demonstrates that post-pandemic residential resilience depends on the interaction of spatial, technological, health-related, and environmental characteristics, while the feasibility of individual strategies remains conditioned by economic, spatial, technical, social, and regulatory constraints. The paper contributes an integrated four-domain framework for interpreting post-pandemic residential transformation and highlights the need for further empirical evaluation of these strategies across different housing types and contexts.
In the field of morphological research, the relationship systems between small settlements, especially the situation of villages along borders, remain a grey area to this day. This is despite the location and nature of borders between countries having a profound impact on the fate of the settlements along them. This research seeks to answer the question of how the physical network connections and population indicators of a given, typically small settlement area have changed, with particular regard to the border situation. The sample area for the research is the Őrség region, located on the western border of Hungary and the eastern border of Slovenia. The research uses space syntax analysis to explore the network interrelationships of the settlements concerned. The study proposes a new classification-based method for interpreting the space syntax model at the regional level. With this tool, the spatial roles of settlements in the examined region were analyzed across three time periods, and the main hubs were identified, as well as the strength of their roles, and their temporal and spatial development. The results were compared with the population characteristics of the region, thereby identifying the most disadvantaged settlements. With its rural theme and regional approach, the research represents an innovation in space syntax analysis at an international level.
Urban sprawl has become one of the most prominent spatial phenomena in rapidly urbanizing cities, generating profound effects on the ecological environment, economic efficiency, and social sustainability. However, the comprehensive influence of urban sprawl on human settlements remains insufficiently studied in rapidly urbanizing regions of East Asia, particularly in Chinese cities. This paper investigates the spatiotemporal evolution of urban sprawl in Hangzhou, China, from 2014 to 2023, and evaluates its impacts on human settlements using Wu Liangyong’s five-system framework. Land use data derived from remote sensing imagery and statistical sources were analyzed with Geographic Information Systems (GIS), the Shannon entropy model, and the Sprawl Index to measure the intensity, direction, and equilibrium of the sprawl. A weighted index system based on the entropy weight method and Stepwise Regression analysis was employed to assess human settlement responses across five subsystems: Natural, Human, Social, Living, and Supportive Networks. Results reveal that Hangzhou experienced a significant expansion of its built-up areas, primarily through the conversion of cultivated land and woodland. The urban structure shifted from a monocentric to a polycentric pattern, with the main urban core approaching saturation and new growth concentrated in suburban centers and along transportation corridors. The Comprehensive Settlement Index improved markedly, with the Supportive Network and Living Systems most sensitive to sprawl, while the Natural System lagged behind due to ecological degradation. These findings highlight the dual role of sprawl – enhancing social and infrastructural systems while weakening ecological resilience – and underscore the necessity of integrated planning strategies to balance urban development with environmental sustainability.
This paper examines the concept of negative space in architecture, with the aim of determining its structural, perceptual, and organisational roles within architectural composition. The study addresses the lack of a unified theoretical framework in which negative space is treated as an active architectural element rather than a residual by-product of form. The central hypothesis of the research is that negative space becomes architecturally meaningful only when it possesses clearly defined geometric boundaries, perceptual legibility, and an organisational role within the composition. These conditions enable its recognition as an active component of architectural structure. The paper develops a framework that integrates formal, phenomenological, and perceptual interpretations of the relationship between solid and void. The methodology relies on qualitative analysis of selected architectural examples, evaluated through criteria that distinguish three positional types of negative space: internal, peripheral, and external negative space. The findings confirm the hypothesis, demonstrating that negative space influences spatial hierarchy, visual clarity, and ambient qualities, and therefore operates as a formative principle rather than a passive absence. The study further identifies limitations of the concept, particularly in dense urban contexts and in culturally diverse models of spatial perception. These observations indicate the need for future empirical work focused on user perception and applied case studies. The paper thus provides a coherent basis for advancing methodological tools and for incorporating negative space more systematically into contemporary architectural design practice.
This article examines contemporary residential interiors as adaptive systems shaped by spatial organization, material composition, and the integration of digital technologies. The study is based on the hypothesis that residential environments designed with flexibility, sensory comfort, and supportive technologies have a measurable positive impact on occupants’ well-being, productivity, and daily routines. The aim of the research is to identify and systematize key design principles that define high-quality contemporary housing. The methodological framework combines qualitative analysis of scientific literature published between 2021 and 2025, a review of international residential comfort standards (including WELL for Residential), and comparative analysis of contemporary interior design solutions using digital spatial modeling tools. The results demonstrate that effective residential interiors prioritize adaptability through mobile furniture, concealed storage, multi-scenario lighting, and zoning strategies that allow rapid functional transformation, while maintaining visual calm through natural materials, biophilic elements, and restrained aesthetics. Digital modeling tools are shown to enhance spatial efficiency and support everyday household routines without dominating the living environment. The scientific contribution of the article lies in framing the residential interior as a user-centered, dynamic system in which spatial flexibility, material quality, and technology are integrated to support personal autonomy, privacy, and contemporary life rhythms.
