Evaluation of the interventions to built heritage: analysis of selected façades of Kaunas by space syntax and sociological methods

ENThis paper is an attempt to analyse the correlation between the perception of people and their evaluation regarding contemporary interventions and changes on the façades of cultural heritage buildings, which might affect cultural sustainability. The paper uses two different experimental methods for the analysis of the building façades from various eras in the city centre of Kaunas, which experienced interventions that affected the appearance of the structures. The first experiment performed is a sociological survey, and the second one is a façade analysis conducted by the space syntax method. The paper follows the theory of Nikos Salingaros for measuring the properties of the size distribution on the façades and implements Bill Hillier’s methodology for symmetry index analysis. The research demonstrates some significant correlations between the results of Space Syntax modelling and the sociological survey answers, thus demonstrating the possibility of modelling and predicting changes in the perception of architectural transformations of the façades with potential usability in the monitoring of the transformation of cultural heritage objects, preservation of the cultural identity of a cityscape, etc. Keywords: space syntax; façade configuration; visual perception; built heritage; Kaunas; cultural sustainability. [From the publication]