Study on the role of internal open spaces for student’s informal interaction in vertical university campus

Abstract

Social interaction among university students is a primary factor in their learning for higher education. In highrise vertical universities, the provision for designing any social space within a building complex is quite challenging. Due to land constraints & other financial factors, the private institutions construct a compact & introverted kind of highrise building where educational facilities are accommodated. Architects are found to design internal open spaces in the form of a central or linear-shaped plaza, surrounded by building blocks in the university campus. These open spaces have the potential to act as social spaces in this compact built environment. This research tries to find the spatial and design aspects of this internal open space to accommodate students' informal interaction. This research identified the campus activities of university students that are social interactions in learning scenarios through a literature review. These activities are explored in two case studies through student interviews and observation. The spatial values of internal open spaces are identified by measuring accessibility and visibility using space syntax. The correlation method revealed the relation of occurrence of interaction with the spatial values of the parts of the internal open space in these case studies. Findings show that, although having different morphological characteristics, the internal open space in both case studies plays a significant role in accommodating students’ informal interactions. The internal open space in both cases is spatially more integrated than other spaces in the total building system. The study also revealed, that in vertical university campuses, additional social space is needed for upper-floor students. The other findings from this research suggest few design guidelines for accommodating large or small group interaction and static or moving interaction in the internal open space.