The effect of rotation in the navigation of multi-level buildings: A pilot study

The aim of the present paper is to investigate user’s perception of buildings’ layouts with particular emphasis on navigation of multi-level buildings. Up to date, research seems to pay more attention to wayfinding in two-dimensional environments, investigating it in public buildings such as hospitals, airports or university departments where it is more common to experience disorientation. The present work deepens this issue and focuses on the effect of rotation – due to staircases – on people’s cognitive maps. The study consists of a pilot work based on two cases: one qualitative, conducted at the University of Bremen, and the other one quantitative, conducted at the Technical University of Bari. Main results suggests that staircases affect somehow people’s perception of layout during navigation of multi-level buildings.