Modernity vs. postmodernity: assessing the design quality of urban parks by AHP

Abstract

The perceptual design quality of physical spaces has been increasingly studied in the literature in recent years. However, the studies in the field of landscape architecture are insufficient about how the design quality of urban parks built in different periods is perceived today. This study aims to compare urban parks that reflect modern and postmodern designs in terms of design quality criteria. In this context, 4 subjective design quality criteria (imageability, legibility, vitality, diversity) were evaluated for Prospect Park and Parc des Buttes-Chaumont modern period parks, and Millennium Park and Parc de la Villette postmodern period parks. Expert opinion was consulted in design criteria and selection of city parks. Analytic Hierarchy Process was used to compare modern and postmodern period parks and Expert Choice software was used. In this study, 4 urban parks were defined as alternatives and 4 design qualities were defined as criteria. The results revealed that the designs of the city parks reflect the postmodern design line that perceived with higher quality. Besides, the most prominent criterion among the design criteria was found as Imageability. This study makes a perceptual contribution to the comparison of the design quality of urban parks of different periods.