On Space Syntax as a Configurational Theory of Architecture from a Situated Observer's Viewpoint

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Issue Date
2012Author
Rashid, Mahbub
Publisher
Pion
Type
Article
Article Version
Scholarly/refereed, author accepted manuscript
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Show full item recordAbstract
A confi gurational theory of architecture (CTA) from a situated observer’s viewpoint (SOV) is discussed. It includes
the levels of description-proper, representation, and interpretation. It takes a bottom-up approach because a situated
observer, who is on the ground with a building, typically builds her understanding of the building using immediately available
elements, called perceptual primitives. Evidence from geometry, psychology/cognition, and spatial reasoning suggests
that the level of description-proper of a CTA from a SOV must include unambiguously defi ned perceptual primitives
and their perceivable elementary topological and projective relations. Subsequently, in the levels of representation and
interpretation any complex relational properties of buildings must be constructed and their meanings must be explained
using these perceptual primitives. Early space syntax (SS), with its foundations defi ned using such perceptual primitives
as convex space and axial lines, helps capture the structure of visual experience of buildings but has limitations regarding
a CTA from a SOV. More recently, SS theorists have revised the foundations of SS using much simpler perceptual primitives
in an attempt to integrate the apparently disparate techniques of SS into a coherent mathematical system. As a result,
they have eliminated many limitations of early SS regarding a CTA from a SOV. However, in order to become a CTA from
a SOV, SS will still need to explain the importance of these newly defi ned perceptual primitives, and - provide a framework
for confi gurational studies using the mathematical system developed based on these primitives.
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Citation
Rashid M. “On Space Syntax as a Configurational Theory of Architecture from a Situated
Observer's Viewpoint.” Environment and Planning B: Planning and Design. 2012, 39, pp. 732-754.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1068/b37071
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