Dear All,

My name is Matteo Mandrile, I am a young architect based in Turin, IT. I graduated in 2015 with a thesis entitled "Syntax and models for urban accessibility: the case of Porta Nuova in Turin" which study the area surrounding Turin train station with space syntax approach. You can find the complete work in english (except the firsts introductory pages which are in italian) here: https://issuu.com/matteomandrile/docs/syntax_and_models_for_urban_accessi

Me and a team of colleagues have recently been commisioned the design of several exhibitions which will take place in different cities here in Italy. Specifically, my role is to support the design phase with insights regarding different design propositions, by evaluating these with space syntax methodology and suggest which one will be the best solution to the specific needs.

I would really like to use this material (analysis, relations, design plan and details) to produce relevant papers regarding the use of space syntax in real case scenarios dealing with exhibition design. Therefore, I'm here to kindly ask advices about the current state of both research and application in the field, in order to avoid the production of redundant/irrelevant papers.
Furthermore, I would greatly appreciate suggestions about relevant topics which could be further explored, and might be of interest to researchers, professors and other professionals within the field.

Here are some information about the first of such exhibitions which will take place from the 27 to the 30 July 2017 in Cagliari (Sardinia), at the "Lazzaretto", a XVII sec. building originally built for quarantine of men, goods and animals from countries where  there were plague epidemics.
"Paratissima" was born as an experimentation field and democratic showcase of contemporary artistic activity, aiming to investigate and show the contemporary works of artists and creative minds. This year's theme is "IMPRESSION", an invitation to the talented participants to share a part of their lives with the visitors and to convey it through their work, leaving a trace, a sign, or a passage over time. Painting, sculpture, photography, engraving, illustration, graphics, craftsmanship, installation and performance: every form of visual art becomes a vehicle for the representation / reproduction of personal experiences to impress a personal contribution on the map of contemporaneity. During the four days, special attention will also be given to the disciplines of drawing, street art, street writing, illustration, screen printing and engraving, primordial means of expression par excellence in the relationship between the man and the world, as well as personal reality decoding tool since the dawn of time.

Given the restriced time frame for this exhibition we won't be able to change the current exhibition layout, but we will be able to conduct observations on site to gather some data regarding visitor behaviours. My intentions are to firstly analize the layout of the "Lazzaretto" without any alteration, in order to understand the intrinsic qualities of the space, then analize it with all the changes made to accomodate the exhibition, with the aim to propose alternatives to improve its layout for the next opening. Any suggestion and possible routes on how to achieve this would be very appreciate.

At the moment, I have read the following articles regarding the subject:

- Psarra, Sophia. 2005. “Spatial Culture, Way-finding and the Educational Message: the impact of layout on the spatial, social and educational experienced of visitors to museums and galleries.” In Reshaping Museum Space: architecutre, design, exhibitions, edited by S. Macleod. New York: Routledge. 

- Hillier, B. and Tzortzi, K., (2006), Space Syntax: The Language of Museum Space. In: Sh.Macdonald, ed. A companion to Museum Studies. Maiden; London: Blackwell Publishing, pp.282-301.

- Psarra, S., Wineman, J., Xu, Y., Kaynar, I., (2007), Tracing the Modern - Architecture and Narrative Content at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) and its latest Expansion. In A.S.Kubat et al., (eds), Proceedings of the 6th International Space Syntax Symposium. Istanbul: Istanbul Technical University, pp.70.1-70.16.

- Psarra, Sophia, Jean Wineman, Ying Xu, and Ipek Kaynar. 2007. “Tracing the Modern - the Museum of Modern Art in New York and its Latest Expansion.” In 6th International Space Syntax Symposium. Istanbul, Turkey. 

- Tzortzi, Kali. 2007. “Museum building design and exhibition layout: patterns of interaction.” In Proceedings 6th International Space Syntax Symposium, Istanbul. 

-Kaynar, I., Psarra, S., Wineman, J., (2009), Experiencing Museum Gallery Layouts through Local and Global Visibility Properties: an inquiry on the YCBA, the MoMA and the HMA. In D. Koch, L.Marcus and J. Steen (eds.) Proceedings of the 7th International Space Syntax Symposium. Stockholm: School of Architecture and the Built Environment KTH, pp.94.1-94.14.

- Psarra, Sophia. 2009. Architecture and Narrative: The Formation of Space and Cultural Meaning. London, New York: Routledge.

- Wineman, J.D. and Peponis, J., (2010), Constructing spatial meaning: spatial affordances in museum design. Environment and Behavior, 42 (1), pp.86-109.

- Zamani, P. and Peponis. J., (2010), Co-visibility and pedagogy: innovation and challenge at the High Museum of Art. The Journal of Architecture, 15, pp.853-879

- Tzortzi, Kali. 2011. “Space: Interconnecting Museology and Architecture.” Journal of SpaceSyntax 2 (1): 26-53. 


I hope that this will catch the attention of those among you who are interested with the subject, as there wll be extensive possibility to study different aspect of exhibiton design, and how space syntax approach can greatly improve both awareness and design outcomes. 

Thank you for your time!