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

Abstract

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.