Strategies to Design University Dormitory Based on the Analysis of Behavioral Settings (Case Study: Female University Dormitory of Shiraz University)

Behavioral setting, as a result of ecological psychology knowledge, investigates the behavior and experiences of people in their daily lives and the real environment. From this perspective, the study of human behavior depends on the study of the environment in which the behavior is formed. Therefore, the designer, in addition to identifying repetitive behavioral patterns and the environment in which the behavior is formed, needs to recognize the relationship between these two factors. Statement of the problem: Dormitories as a kind of residential places accommodating a variety of users and embracing lifestyle diversity, induce a variety of activities due to synchronicity with other activities. Therefore, the disruption of permanent behavioral patterns in the built environment are studied in this paper. In fact, lack of comprehensive knowledge and understanding of the needs, habits and behaviors of students in dormitory spaces has led to such conflicts between the space and the users. Since in the last few decades the number of students have increased in our country, the problems of their accommodation and providing sufficient space per capita in dormitories have arisen, and behavioral and physical conflicts have become obvious. Thus, today, it is essential to study the behavioral patterns from a psychological point of view carefully and methodically to build a compatible environment with the users’ needs. On the other hand, research shows that female students are under more emotional pressure caused by being away from family members and the inability of the individual to adapt to the difficult conditions of the dormitory. So, we found it necessary to focus on designing dormitories for girls. The aim of this research is to find architectural designing guidelines for student dormitories in accordance with Iranian female students' spatial behavior based on “behavioral settings.” What are the different types of behavioral settings in the studied girls’ dormitory?  How is the current identified function of the behavioral settings in the studied case evaluated from the students’ point of view? What are the appropriate space characteristics related to the behavioral patterns for students in dormitories?

Given the cultural diversity among the residents of a room in the dormitory, as well as age differences, educational level and different personality traits and consequently their multiple needs, it was considered necessary to assess repetitive users’ behavioral patterns and physical aspects of their living space using their own opinion. This study uses non-intervening methods including being present in the environment, as well as field observation method. A group of two hundred students of four female dormitory complexes of Shiraz University at different levels (undergraduate, Master and PhD) were observed. An open questionnaire and content analysis of qualitative data were applied to determine the weight of the effective components in the design including current behavioral patterns, physical characteristics, and disruptive factors of the current synomorphic pattern of behavior-milieu during identifying behavioral settings.

At the end of this study, qualitative data were analyzed by content analysis method. After determining the frequency of effective components in the design, which include repetitive behaviors of students in their living environment and the physical dimensions of the dormitory space, the degree of synomorphic relationship was evaluated and finally design guidelines were presented in three broad categories: private space of individual activities, semi-private space of individual activities, and public and semi-public spaces of collective activities. This research is based on theoretical and practical background of the case study, and attempts to show design techniques tailored to each guideline and provides a suitable platform for identifying behavioral patterns in the dormitory. Through structural testing and considering the degree of interdependence between the synomorphies of a behavioral setting, the five major behavioral settings including “residential suites”, “self-governing stores”, “learning communities”, “social interactions” and “sports and health” are detectable in the design of dormitories and each is affected by the larger context to which they belong.

Residential suites with high number of synomorphies have been recognized as one of the most important behavioral settings in this study. Students living space is a place where they spend most of their time and where they perform many activities. The spatial boundary of their living space includes a wide range of place-behaviors, each of which can be defined structurally as a separate behavioral setting; because they have more detailed synomorphies within themselves. Therefore, they have a more complex combination of behavior-milieu synomorphies. As a result, residential suites are more important than other behavioral sites in this study. They have to be carefully designed to realize multiple behavioral patterns of residents that occur simultaneously in the form of individuals’ different cultures and habits. In addition, the function of residential suites has a significant impact on the function of other behavioral settings. In fact, if the accommodation suites play a key role in meeting the primary and basic needs of students including the need for sleep and rest, health and personal hygiene, study, etc., the desire to do voluntary and social activities to meet the transcendent needs of other students will increase and the performance of other settings will be improved.