Contemporary Urban Commercial Complexes as Urban Architectural Interfaces: Exterior Architectural Qualities, Positive Affect, and Visitation Intention in Bangkok

Contemporary urban commercial complexes have expanded beyond their role as retail facilities and have come to operate as urban architectural interfaces that connect buildings, users, and the surrounding urban context. Their exterior architectural qualities shape first impressions, place imageability, affective responses, and users’ expressed willingness to visit, spend time, explore, or return. This study examines exterior architectural qualities, positive affect, and visitation-related expressions in three major contemporary urban commercial complexes in Bangkok’s Siam district: Siam Paragon, Siam Discovery, and Siam Center. Guided by the Stimulus–Organism–Response framework, exterior architectural qualities were conceptualized as perceived architectural stimuli, positive affect as users’ internal experiential responses, and visitation-related expressions as review-based textual indicators of expressed willingness to visit, spend time, explore, recommend, or return. A qualitative–quantitative content analysis was conducted using 149 anonymized Google Maps reviews. The findings show that users described exterior architectural qualities through both architectural and experiential terms, particularly design, modernity, space, layout, uniqueness, and beauty. Spatial qualities and broader design-related attributes showed notable associations with positive affect, especially imageability, sensory stimulation, and safety. Positive affective responses were further associated with visitation-related expressions, including willingness to visit, explore, spend time, recommend, and return. The study contributes to research on buildings and architecture by reframing contemporary urban commercial complexes as urban architectural interfaces and by demonstrating the value of user-generated reviews for user-centered evaluation of exterior architectural qualities. The findings suggest that exterior architecture should be understood not only as a visual Facade, but also as a spatial, affective, and experiential interface within the urban built environment. As the reviews were purposively screened for positive affective expressions, these findings describe positive review discourse rather than user perception as a whole.