Predicting experiential qualities of architecture by its spatial properties

While experiential qualities of rectangular architectural spaces can be effectively predicted from their proportions and area (Franz, von der Heyde, & Bülthoff, 2003), these factors obviously cannot be directly transferred on open-plan indoor spaces. We introduce an approach that relates experiential qualities of arbitrarily shaped architectural spaces to their spatial form using isovists (Benedikt, 1979) that allow to generically describe spatial properties. In an exploratory psychological experiment, 33 characteristic values derived from the isovists were tested on their predictive power on experiential qualities by correlating them with averaged affective appraisals. Thirty-four virtual reality simulated indoor scenes were rated by 2x8 participants using the semantic differential. Particularly measurands capturing the qualities spaciousness, openness, complexity, and order turned out to be effective predictor variables. The findings are discussed in terms of evolutionary and information rate related theories of environmental preferences.