From Ornamental to Strategic Vegetation: Space Syntax as an Evidence-Based Pedagogical Tool in a Sustainable Architectural Design Studio

Architectural design studios increasingly emphasize sustainable, people-centered outdoor space, yet students often treat vegetation as ornament rather than as a spatial and environmental device, rarely translating spatial analysis into explicit design decisions. This study examines how intermediate-level architecture students translate space-syntax indicators—choice/betweenness, local integration and visual integration—into strategic vegetation decisions for paths, pause areas, visual filters and comfort in a minimal sustainable shelter. Using an exploratory mixed-methods design, fourteen anonymized student sheets from a design-studio examination at Universidad Técnica Particular de Loja (Ecuador), located in Pucará Park, were assessed with a five-criterion analytic rubric (scored out of 1.00), complemented by content analysis coding nine vegetation functions. The mean score was 0.84 (SD = 0.06), with high internal consistency (Cronbach’s α = 0.93). Achievement differed across criteria (Friedman test, p = 0.014): graphic clarity was highest (87.1%) and the reading of spatial analysis—especially operationalizing choice/betweenness—lowest (82.5%). Spatial-analysis and vegetation-function scores were positively associated (Spearman’s ρ = 0.61). Coupling space syntax with strategic vegetation offers a replicable, evidence-based pedagogical model, while indicating that operationalizing configurational indicators requires more explicit instructional scaffolding.