Learning About Wayfinding in Complex Interiors: the Airport as a Non Place

Abstract

Contemporary interiors increasingly involve a variety of functions that necessitate coordination within interiors. Undergraduate interior architecture programs thus, need to equip students with skills that answer current developments in complex interiors. This study was completed with the aim to instill research-based approaches in the Interior Architecture and Environmental Design program at Izmir University of Economics, Turkey. The aim of this particular research study is to investigate wayfinding issues in airports. The findings of the study have implications for pedagogical, theoretical, and professional purposes. For users in complex buildings, the most problematic issues are wayfinding, orientation, and time. If the spatial planning of the space is legible, spaces orient people without a need for signage. Thus, interior design of the spaces orient people with their own design elements. The study focuses on one of the most complex, busy spaces where timing is very critical -airports. Izmir Adnan Menderes Airport (ADB) in Turkey chosen for analysis. The study examines this question; ''Which spatial factors affect users' wayfinding in the interior context?'' Moreover, the terms, placemaking and non-place are discussed within the context of airports. The effectiveness of wayfinding system at ADB is examined using questionnaires with interior architects and architects, and observation methods applied at the site. As instruments, behavior maps are used together with time plots to understand users' experiences. Results showed that the airport passengers defined themselves as resolute and the wayfinding in ADB was at a medium level, with sufficient signage. Findings of the empirical study may contribute to interior architects of complex interiors, especially airports, while the overall research study has enabled an awareness of complex interiors and how users of these spaces interact with it, and wayfinding within a research-based approach including theoretical discussions of placemaking and non-places. The overall in-depth research-based approach has various implications for interior architecture education.