Vernacular housing and spatial logic: a space syntax analysis in Évora

This study examines the spatial logic of vernacular housing in Évora, Portugal—a UNESCO World Heritage city—by introducing a systematic space syntax framework into a heritage context where configurational analysis has remained limited, particularly in Portuguese vernacular research. While earlier studies have focused mainly on climate, material culture, and typology, this study addresses a methodological and conceptual gap by analysing how accessibility, privacy gradients, and patio-related domestic relations are structured through spatial configuration and visibility. Using justified graph and visibility graph analyses with AGRAPH and DepthmapX, five traditional houses were examined in terms of integration, depth, connectivity, entropy, and movement tendencies. The findings identify two dominant configurational tendencies within a shared patio-related domestic logic: houses organised around a clearly defined courtyard or patio as a central spatial core, and houses in which the patio connection is mediated through less defined external spaces and transitional zones. Across both models, shallow spatial hierarchies point to a vernacular logic that prioritises accessibility and controlled openness over strict segregation. By positioning space syntax as an interpretive framework for heritage contexts, the study reframes vernacular housing in Évora as a spatial knowledge system and contributes a replicable analytical model for bridging spatial analysis and vernacular heritage studies.