Activity shapes: towards a spatiotemporal analysis in architecture

Computational spatial analyses play an important role in architectural design processes, providing feedback about spatial configurations that may inform design decisions. Current spatial analyses convey geometrical aspects of space, but aspects such as space use are not encompassed within the analyses, although they are fundamental for architectural programming. Through this study, we initiate the discussion of including human activity as an input that will change the focus of current computational spatial analyses toward a detailed understanding of activity patterns in space and time. We envision that the emergent insights will serve as guidelines for future evaluation of design intents motivated by spatial occupancy, since we –designers– mentally constructing a model of the situation and activities on it (Eastman, 2001).