KE-FAHP-Based CMF Translation Design for Light-Rail Passenger Compartments Inspired by Liaoning Coastal Vernacular Dwelling Culture: A Case Study of Dalian

To address issues such as semantic weakening, symbolic transplantation, and insufficient consideration of passenger perception in the application of Liaoning coastal vernacular dwelling culture to light-rail passenger-compartment design, this study proposes a Kansei Engineering (KE)- and Fuzzy Analytic Hierarchy Process (FAHP)-guided Color, Material, and Finish (CMF) design-priority translation pathway for integrating regional architectural culture into passenger-compartment CMF design. Taking representative Liaoning coastal vernacular dwellings as cultural samples and the Dalian light-rail passenger compartment as the application case, characteristics were first identified through a literature review and sample analysis. A total of 117 participants evaluated 12 dwelling images using ten bipolar Kansei descriptor pairs on a seven-point Semantic Differential (SD) scale, and exploratory factor analysis was applied to identify the principal passenger-perception dimensions. Subsequently, 12 experts participated in the FAHP evaluation to determine the relative priorities of six CMF design elements: Color, Material, Texture, Gloss, Pattern, and Surface Treatment, followed by designer-led conceptual CMF design and user evaluation. Results yielded an exploratory three-factor representation comprising Spatial Order, Material Texture, and Stylistic Tension, which accounted for 56.89% of the total variance. Material, Texture, and Color received the three highest FAHP-derived global priorities. User evaluation involving 115 valid participants yielded mean scores between 5.48 and 5.86 across the five evaluation dimensions, all significantly higher than the neutral midpoint of the scale (p < 0.001). The proposed framework provides a traceable, expert-guided process for translating regional architectural characteristics into conceptual CMF design decisions while retaining passenger perception as a key evaluative component.