As the focus on higher education in China gradually shifts from rapid development to an emphasis on quality, the need for campus environments to become facilitators of education has gained increasing attention. The accelerated development of information technology has also led to tremendous changes in both teaching and learning methods, with informal learning taking on an increasingly important role. Furthermore, the development of human sensing technology, especially visual perception technology, has brought in new opportunities for the research and optimization of informal learning spaces (ILSs) in universities. This paper focuses on the ILS in Chinese universities by exploring optimal design approaches based on visual perception analysis. Through research and field investigation, this paper proposes revised theoretical research of classifications and spatial elements of ILS in universities more applicable to the architectural study of space. This paper also explores practical optimal design methods with two case studies and makes experiments with wearable eye trackers to study the users’ perception in these spaces before and after optimization. The optimal design is made from the aspects of physical space, facilities, and environment. Visual perception experiments and quantitative analysis were used to obtain a higher level of experimental accuracy than the previous studies and thus to study the real feeling of users in spaces. By these means, the effect of the optimized design was verified and the relation between users’ perceptions and the spatial environments was explored for further improvements to optimal design methods. This article can provide theoretical and practical references for campus space optimization research and design, especially for ILS on university campuses.
Numerous in number and mostly still in use, buildings built between 1840 and 1949 are valuable assets in the rapid development and renovation of Chinese cities. However, due to lack of maintenance and being inhabited mainly by the elderly and people with low incomes, many of these buildings are in poor condition and have much higher possibilities of being demolished. The objectives of ecological renovation presented in this paper are to improve building performance and to achieve higher levels of comfort and lower levels of energy consumption. The housings in Zhong-nong-li block in Nanjing are used as an example in this paper to show how a strategy of "basic" renovation and "thorough" renovation is used in the ecological renovation of housing stock between 1840 and 1949 in China. The paper demonstrates that these are very practical steps for this building stock in China and could not only help to balance social and economic factors in practice, but also improve the living conditions of the residents, and endow the old houses with a new, long life. Numerical simulations of the natural day lighting and ventilation situations before and after renovation are made to show the improvement in building performance after renovation.
With the rapid development of information and sensory technology, the construction mode of universities and the planning of campus public spaces are confronting great challenges and opportunities. It also brings about new perspectives for reconsidering the relationship between users’ perceptions and the campus environment. This paper reviews the research on the perception of university public spaces over the past 20 years and summarizes the research hotspots by using co-citation analysis, co-occurrence analysis, and burst detection analysis through CiteSpace software. The results demonstrate that the overall development of this field experienced three stages: the initial development stage (2000–2007), the rapid growth stage (2008–2017), and the stable development stage (2018–2021). In terms of research content, hotspot studies are emphasized from the perspectives of thermal perceptions, health impact perception, spatial configuration perception, and user activity perception of on-campus space. In addition, this literature review concluded the emerging research tendencies and new quantification methods in recent years, proposing an enormous potential for quantifying campus space research based on new perceptual technologies. It also encourages the research and optimal design of campus spaces for a more student-oriented campus environment based on the study of the student’s perception of the spaces.
High comfort and low energy consumption communities have become an important topic for community planning & design in China. Considering the special situation in China, the meaning of high comfort and low energy consumption communities lies in three aspects: making utmost use of natural climatic conditions, providing enjoyable indoor and outdoor living environments in circumstances of high-rise and high-density development, and holistic design of adjacent dwelling units to provide utmost flexibility. This paper uses design proposals for two real projects in two different cities in China - one in Yixing in South China and another one in Harbin in north China - as examples of how to design high comfort and low energy consumption communities by following local climatological factors and by respecting occupants’ needs in the long run. This paper shows that such communities can be planned in two steps, with special attention to the local climate. First, climatically responsive site planning determines building layout, height of each part, and also the design of open spaces. Second, detailed planning & design addresses the disadvantages of the site, improving space quality. Following local climatological conditions is also one of the key issues in housing design for high comfort & low energy consumption communities. In the housing design of the Harbin project, besides consideration to climate, special attention was also given to flexible/variable dwelling unit design according to occupants’ long-term needs. The “1+1 mode” is put forward to provide utmost flexibility for families with 3 generations for their current and future lives.
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