SPACE SYNTAX ( SINTAXIS ESPACIAL)

San José, Costa Rica. 2015
Fabián Alvarado Aguilar

The term space syntax encompasses a set of theories and techniques for the analysis of spatial configurations. It was conceived by Bill Hillier, Julienne Hanson and colleagues at The Bartlett, University College London in the late 1970s to early 1980s as a tool to help urban planners simulate the likely social effects of their designs.

The general idea is that spaces can be broken down into components, analyzed as networks of choices, then represented as maps and graphs that describe the relative connectivity and integration of those spaces. It rests on three basic conceptions of space:

an isovist (popularised by Michael Benedikt at University of Texas), or viewshed or visibility polygon, the field of view from any particular point

axial space (idea popularized by Bill Hillier at UCL), a straight sight-line and possible path

convex space (popularized by John Peponis, and his collaborators at Georgia Tech), an occupiable void where, if imagined as a wireframe diagram, no line between two of its points goes outside its perimeter: all points within the polygon are visible to all other points within the polygon.

The three most popular ways of analysing a street network are Integration, Choice and Depth Distance.

 
In this project the exercises of space syntax were not associated with street dynamics, but with the ideas that explore space as a network of components working together. With these principles we thought that if space can be converted into graphs, graphs could be converted into space; and that is why we decided to explore ways of creating metaphorical spaces through the components that gave form to a poem (understanding the poem as a graph or visual map of ideas put together with specific or abstract purpose).

By this way of approaching architecture and its fascinating methods to understanding it better, each student was given a random poem to study and to apply syntax procedures (integration, choice, and depth distance) to create an architectural project that responded to its characteristics:

Style, Metric and Atmosphere

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