Civil Engineering and Architecture Vol. 12(1), pp. 278 - 292
DOI: 10.13189/cea.2024.120122
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Design Characteristics of University Campus Outdoor Spaces and their Stress-Reducing Quality as Perceived by Students: Investigation in the Egyptian Context


Anne A. Soliman 1,2,*, Yasser M. Moustafa 1, Amgad Aly Fahmy 1
1 Department of Architectural Engineering and Environmental Design, Arab Academy for Science, Technology and Maritime Transport, Cairo Campus, Egypt
2 Department of Architecture, Faculty of Engineering, Misr International University, Egypt

ABSTRACT

The objective of this study is to investigate, in the Egyptian context, the relationships between the design characteristics of university campus outdoor spaces and students' perception of their stress-reducing qualities. The study relied on the rating of 25 photographs of university campus outdoor spaces by engineering students and professors of architecture from a different university. Professors (N=8) rated the photographs for the six more objective physical design characteristics: (1) Amount of vegetation, (2) Complexity, (3) Order, (4) Focality, (5) Variety of ground surface textures, and (6) Use of natural materials. A first sample of students (N=84) rated the photographs for six more subjective, emotional design characteristics: 1) Sense of spaciousness, (2) Sense of security, (3) Sense of mystery, (4) Sense of being away, (5) Attractiveness, and (6) Compatibility. Finally, a second sample of students (N=49) rated the spaces represented in the photographs in terms of stress-reducing quality. The results showed significant correlations between perceived stress-reducing quality and all the design characteristics investigated except Order and Focality. The study's results suggest different models for the relationship between the design characteristics of university campus outdoor spaces and the stress-reducing quality of these spaces as perceived by students. Future research will need to test these models.

KEYWORDS
Design Characteristics, Stress-Reducing Quality, University Campus Outdoor Spaces

Cite This Paper in IEEE or APA Citation Styles
(a). IEEE Format:
[1] Anne A. Soliman , Yasser M. Moustafa , Amgad Aly Fahmy , "Design Characteristics of University Campus Outdoor Spaces and their Stress-Reducing Quality as Perceived by Students: Investigation in the Egyptian Context," Civil Engineering and Architecture, Vol. 12, No. 1, pp. 278 - 292, 2024. DOI: 10.13189/cea.2024.120122.

(b). APA Format:
Anne A. Soliman , Yasser M. Moustafa , Amgad Aly Fahmy (2024). Design Characteristics of University Campus Outdoor Spaces and their Stress-Reducing Quality as Perceived by Students: Investigation in the Egyptian Context. Civil Engineering and Architecture, 12(1), 278 - 292. DOI: 10.13189/cea.2024.120122.