Browsing by Author "Dharmasena, JH"

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The effectiveness of landscape elements in creating roadside urban landmarks: insights from the Galle road from Colombo to Panadura
(Centre for Cities & Department of Architecture, University of Moratuwa, Sri Lanka, 2023-04) Wickramasinghe, PP; Dharmasena, JH; Dayaratne, R; Wijesundara, J
Landmarks are any natural or man-made structures that are recognized by the public of a particular place that makes the place memorable for them. These are important in many ways especially in an urban context; hence landmarks should be given high priority in the planning of a city. Human memory keeps adapting to new places and regularly generates mental images to make decisions on spatial aspects. Landmarks contribute to creating such a mental representation of a particular place. Urban environment consists of both hard & soft landscape elements. It is important to realize how some of these landscape elements become landmarks. In this study, four fundamental rules (Similarity, Proximity, Simplicity, Continuity) of Gestalt theory of visual perception have been used to clarify the easiness of recognizing landscape elements; an object or feature as a landmark in commuter’s mind. A combined methodology of locational / photographic analysis and a route-based traveler analysis was used to assess how people recognize the locations with reference to the landmarks by considering hard and soft landscape elements. The results revealed the distinct visual characteristics of hard landscape elements and the distinct spatial character generated by soft landscape elements are important in creating memorable landmarks. Therefore, the sensitive use of landscape elements according to the above two factors can go a long way in creating a striking landmark. Spatial aspects of soft landscape landmarks can lead to more pleasant urban spaces. This study will help future approaches in planning and designing urban landmarks and streetscapes effectively.
item: Conference-Full-text
The utilization of leftover spaces of Sri Lankan expressways: insights from the Kadawatha interchange
(Centre for Cities & Department of Architecture, University of Moratuwa, Sri Lanka, 2023-04) Perera, MTSR; Dharmasena, JH; Dayaratne, R; Wijesundara, J
Expressways are a relative novelty to the transportation infrastructure and landscape development of Sri Lanka. The same is true of the leftover spaces created alongside said infrastructure. Leftover spaces are places that have been severely neglected in terms of landscape design over the years. Due to the development of transportation, the number of unutilized leftover spaces has increased and led to various misuses. This investigation focuses on how these leftover spaces can be utilized appropriately by analyzing the global perspective on such spaces. Meta-analysis and summarization of outcomes based on previous research are used to formulate a theoretical framework for the aspect of human perception and user preferences. A sequential mixed-method approach incorporating both qualitative and quantitative methods was used to evaluate physical, social, environmental, and economic aspects of expressway leftover spaces. The questionnaire (n=22) focused on the above selected aspects was given to two groups (users and experts in the field). Snowball techniques were used for data collection and statistical methods were used to gauge the importance of each factor. Locally, a series of interchanges have been studied for their locations and distribution in a pilot study and one case study was isolated for the main study. Both the users of these areas and experts on the subject have been surveyed for insights. The research provides 19 recommendations with high preferences for creating green spaces and public artworks in these spaces. They are meant to be scalable and easy to implement across a wide variety of conditions that are likely to arise in the expressway development. According to the survey, it is possible to create standards and guidelines that apply to most leftover highway space scenarios in Sri Lanka. Immediate utility and convenience to the user are given high importance with security being the most important aspect that should not be compromised. The survey can be used as insights for future developments.