Ethiopian Institute of Architecture,

Building Construction and City development (EIABC)

Studio 1

Site analysis

Façade, aspect and space syntax analysis

DANSE LAMESSA DURESSA

GSR/0211/15

Nov/24/2022
 Façade analysis
What is façade?

façade is defined as the outside or all of the external faces of a building.

urban façade The relationship of buildings to the site, street and neighboring buildings
(alignment, setbacks, boundary treatment) and the architectural expression of their facades
(projections, openings, patterns and materials).

Façade is urban design context is not limited to just a building so when façade is analyzed in site
analysis we study the Height, Width , Setback ,Proportion of openings, Horizontal rhythms, Roof
form, Materials, Color, Sidewalk coverings and Signs of buildings, streets and open spaces. (Jr)

Space Syntax Analysis

Space syntax is a set of techniques for analysing spatial layouts and human activity patterns in
buildings and urban areas. It is also a set of theories linking space and society. Space syntax
addresses where people are, how they move, how they adapt, how they develop and how they
talk about it.

Space syntax is founded on two fundamental propositions:

1. space is not a background to human activity, but is intrinsic to it.

2. space is first and foremost configurational. In other words, what happens in any
individual space – a room, corridor, street or public space – is fundamentally influenced
by the relationships between that space and the network of spaces to which it is
connected.

Four components of space syntax

Space syntax comprises four fundamental components, which are used in all space syntax
applications.

1. Representations of space
Spatial elements are represented through their geometric forms and how people experience
them. They can be geometrically derived (for example, point, axial line, segment, convex
space and isovist) or functionally defined (for example, rooms in building).

2. Analysis of spatial relations

Relationships between spatial elements result from their configuration. These relationships can
be objectively analyzed using various measures, included among which are integration
and choice . These two measures reflect the two fundamental elements in human movement:
firstly, the selection of a destination, and secondly, the selection of a route. One measures the
ease of access (integration) and the other measures the passing flow (choice).
3. Interpretive models
Spatial models are developed to analyze, describe, explain and forecast different kinds of spatial
and socio-economic phenomena. Practically, models are created to investigate empirical
phenomena such as urban movement, urban crime, and centrality as a process as well as for
general processes such as spatial intelligibility.

4. Theories
Theories of the relations between spatial and social patterns are established to explore whether
and how space is internalized into socio-economic processes through which the built
environment is created. This has been done in two ways. Firstly, theories can be used to look for
commonalities in the pattern of models across functions and cultures. One example is the theory
of the generic city. Secondly, theories can use space syntax tools to explore what happens to
spatial patterns if objects in space are deployed and shaped in different ways. (spacesyntax)

1. Axial map

An axial line is defined as the longest line representing the maximum axial extension of any
point in a straight line. An axial map is the least set of the axial lines which pass through each
convex space

On an urban scale, Space Syntax regards movement as the generic function of street spaces and
hence; reduces these spaces to the longest accessible lines that cover all convex spaces in a map,
that is; the axial lines or lines of sight (Kinda Al_Sayed,Alasdair Turner,Bill Hillier,Shinichi Iida
and Alan Penn)

An axial line is the longest sightline that indicates a movement path in a certain space within the
built environment.

An axial map of a built environment is the set of the longest and the fewest axial lines. (Hillier)

2. Convex map

A convex space is defined as a space that covers “all points (locations) within that space can be
joined to all others without going outside the boundary of that space.”

Convex map: For spatial analysis, convex maps are used to analyze spaces inside buildings and
the public spaces between groups of buildings in a neighborhood or a small village. The
analytical scale ranges from architectural space to a neighborhood’s public realm. (Hillier, p. 5)

Aspect analysis
Aspect is the horizontal direction in which a slope faces, commonly expressed as compass
direction (for example, North, Northeast); degrees clockwise from the North.

Aspect is defined as the orientation of the earth's surface with respect to the sun.
Slope aspect, like slope gradient, can be mapped manually or with commercially available GIS
software. Typically, aspect is classified using eight categories: north, northeast, east, southeast,
south, southwest, west, and northwest. These are portrayed graphically by either shading or
color. Aspect influences microclimate by affecting the level of solar radiation that strikes the site.
Therefore, more shaded northern slopes (in the Northern Hemisphere) are rendered with cooler
colors or heavier hatching than are the other slopes with greater solar exposure. (Jr, p. 108)

variation in slope exposure and elevation influence the distribution of energy, meteoric water,
plant nutrients and vegetation by varying:

 the exposure of the soil to wind,

 the exposure of the soil to precipitation,
 the conditions for natural drainage,
 the conditions for runoff and erosion,
 the conditions for accumulation and removal of deposits by wind.

Aspect affects the microclimate of an area by regulating the angle and the duration at which the
sun's rays strikes the surface of the soil. In the Mediterranean region, slopes with south-eastern
and south-western-facing aspects are warmer and have higher evaporation rates and lower water
storage capacity than north-eastern- and northwester-facing aspects. Therefore, a slower recovery
of vegetation is expected in southern aspects and higher erosion rates than in northern aspects.
(esdac.jrc.ec.europa.eu)
References
esdac.jrc.ec.europa.eu. (n.d.).
https://esdac.jrc.ec.europa.eu/public_path/shared_folder/projects/DIS4ME/indicator_descriptions/slope
_aspect.htm. Retrieved from esdac.jrc.ec.europa.eu.

Hillier, B. Space Syntax—A Synopsis of Basic Concepts, Measures, and Empirical Application. In B. Hillier.

Jr, J. A. site analysis .

Kinda Al_Sayed,Alasdair Turner,Bill Hillier,Shinichi Iida and Alan Penn. space syntax methdology.

spacesyntax. (n.d.). https://www.spacesyntax.online/overview-2/.