Outdoor-Spaces in Academic Institutions, Functional and Inviting Open Spaces

Abstract

Every student who goes to a college or university for higher education and experiences different kinds of spaces around the building in the educational campuses. These spaces are the areas where a student spends few years interacting with the fellow students and other educated and better knowledgeable people. These spaces have proven to add to the performance of a student in different ways. We live in a world with a very diverse population, and India is known for its diverse culture that changes in a short distance of travel within the country. Out of all the people the students are the ones who spend most of their useful time in outdoor spaces. Different outdoor spaces in campuses have different impact on a user. Some of the spaces are designed very beautifully and some are not designed very well. Some spaces in spite of being designed properly are sometimes seen unused. And these unused spaces are left unmaintained or sometimes are used by a small group. Whereas some spaces are used extensively and are always full of students and faculties. There are several possible reasons why such spaces are not used. The research is for the institutes of the semi-arid climate of Gujarat, the region of Ahmedabad and Baroda. This research is to find out what factors influence people to use outdoor spaces. Users of diverse backgrounds will be asked about outdoor spaces through questionnaires and interviews. The result obtained will be used to test such outdoor spaces in two different kinds of institutions; One located in the outskirts of the city and other in the center with all its buildings spread across the city. In both the institutions the movement of the people will be different and that will influence how the open spaces are used in them. This research will help us find out what factors play the role of being functional and inviting open spaces. A designer should consider those factors while designing outdoor spaces in the future. The designing of outdoor spaces should be rational as they are very important part of student life.