Assessing the Role of the Visual Comfort Components in the Sense of Belonging to the Place of the Students; Case Study: Shahroud University of Technology

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Assistant professor of Architecture, Department of Architecture, Faculty of Architecture and Urban Studies, Shahroud University of Technology, Shahroud, Iran

2 Assistant Professor of Architecture, Department of Architecture, Faculty of Architecture and Urban Studies, Art University of Isfahan, Isfahan, Iran.

3 Associate Professor of Architecture, Department of Architecture, Faculty of Architecture and Urban Studies, Tabriz Islam Art University, Tabriz, Iran.

Abstract

Attachment and sense of belonging are among the most fundamental human needs to interact with space. Emotional interaction with the place makes the place meaningful and improves the quality of experiencing the place. The academic spaces are among the places where the existence and improvement of the sense of belonging to the place can enhance educational quality. One of the significant physical variables in educational spaces is visual comfort. In this regard, the present study evaluated the role of the visual comfort components in the students’ sense of place. Nine classrooms among three faculties of the Shahroud University of Technology were selected for evaluation. The main criteria included glare, brightness intensity, luminance intensity, and color rendering. A researcher-made questionnaire was filled by 385 students and analyzed using Spearman’s Correlation coefficient in the SPSS20 software. The results show that out of 75 components related to visual comfort, 24 components significantly correlated with the sense of belonging to a place. Chair and its improper layout (-0.147) had the highest share in explaining the sense of belonging to a place, and light (0.086), window (-0.082), and non-physical factors (0.0287) ranked next. It indicates that although the building orientation seems effective at first glance, it ranks the last in the mental perception of the individuals, and the chair layout and the view to the board are of higher importance. The layout and importance of the chair are not only due to the view to the board, but it is more related to the difference in the light indicators in the different places of the classroom, affecting the individuals’ mental perception.

Keywords

References

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Armanshahr Architecture & Urban Development
Volume 14, Issue 35
September 2021
Pages 195-204

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History

  • Receive Date: 25 November 2019
  • Revise Date: 08 February 2020
  • Accept Date: 03 March 2020

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