The effect of spatial organization on direction finding in hospital polyclinics: The case of Diyarbakır Dicle University Hospital and Selahaddin Eyyubi State Hospital

In the design phase of buildings open to the public and used by everyone, it is necessary to be more sensitive than the buildings used privately. One of the structures that designers need to plan by examining user behaviors is hospitals. Since the users of space perception in hospital buildings are patients, it should be handled differently than other buildings. In hospital structures, patients and their relatives move within the building for a specific purpose. From the moment users enter the building, the architecture is affected by many elements. Depending on these effects, users need to find direction for their purposes. Within the scope of the study, the problem of direction finding of the users in the hospital buildings has been determined. It has been revealed as a result of the questionnaire questions directed to the patients and their relatives that the problem of wayfinding arises from perceptual and spatial reasons. Subjects and concepts such as the arrangement of spaces, spatial irregularities that may cause misdirection, behavior and perceptual selectivity within the field of view are emphasized. Space syntax complexity makes it difficult for users to access spaces within the building and causes problems in finding direction. Diyarbakir Dicle University Hospital polyclinics and Selahaddin Eyyubi Hospital polyclinics were chosen as the study area. Due to the wayfinding problem in the study areas, space syntax analysis and survey study were carried out. Depthmapx program was used in space syntax analysis. Depth analysis and peer analysis were performed on the space syntax model. Depth analyzes provide the opportunity to interpret the accessibility of the spaces. Peer-sight analyzes offer the opportunity to comment on which areas users can see and perceive. Therefore, it provides information about the wayfinding behavior of users. The spatial organizational differences of Diyarbakır Dicle University Hospital polyclinics and Selahaddin Eyyubi Hospital polyclinics are indicated. Comparisons were made over these two hospital outpatient clinics with different spatial organizations. Thanks to the space syntax analysis, the depth values, visible areas and survey results of the spaces were compared. As a result of the comparisons, solution-oriented suggestions were created.