Aesthetic evaluations of interfaces with different levels of permeability and proximity to public open spaces

Abstract The aim of this paper is to carry out aesthetic evaluations of interfaces with different levels of permeability and proximity to public open spaces, by three groups with different levels and types of educational background, namely: architects, non-architects college graduates and non college graduates. These urban interfaces are characterised by: buildings inside the blocks with no direct relationship with the street; buildings on the block perimeter with doors and windows facing the street; buildings with blind walls facing the street; gated condominium walls facing the street; gated condominiums' green walls facing the street; and garage doors facing the street. Data gathering means include questionnaires filled out by the three groups of respondents in the LimeSurvey software made available on the Internet. Non-parametric statistical tests such as Kruskal-Wallis and Kendal were used to analyse the data. The main results show, for example, that buildings with blind walls, gated condominium walls and buildings with garage doors facing the streets tend to produce negative aesthetic evaluations, while the opposite tends to occur with buildings on the block perimeter with doors and windows facing the street.