RESEARCH WORK #2

THEORY OF ARCHITECTURE
ARCH 132
 VISUAL ACUITY AND PERCEPTION
VISUAL ACUITY
IT IS THE ABILITY TO DISTINGUISH FINE OR CERTAIN DETAILS OF THINGS
ONE SEES, LIKE SHAPES AND SIZES FOR EXAMPLE. IT IS ALSO DETERMINED BY
TWO FACTORS BASED ON YOURVIEWING: THE DISTANCE FROM THE OBJECT, AND
THE SMALLEST DETAIL OR SPACE YOU CAN SEE.

PERCEPTION
PERCEPTION IS THE PROCESS OR ABILITY OF BECOMING AWARE OF
SOMETHING THROUGH ONE'S SENSES. YOUR BRAIN WILL FIND A WAY TO MAKE
SENSE OR SIMPLE REASONS TOWARDS A SPECIFIC OR RANDOM OBJECT YOU
COME BY SINCE AN IMAGE CAN BE MORE THAN JUST AN IMAGE. EVERYONE HAS
THE ABILITY TO READ, UNDERSTAND, OR INTERPRET SOMETHING OF THEIR OWN.
SPACIAL PERCEPTION
IT IS THE ABILITY TO RECOGNIZE AND BE AWARE OF THE RELATIONSHIPS
WITH THINGS SURROUNDS YOU AND WITH YOURSELF, MOST OF BASING OFF THE
VIEWER'S EXPERIENCES. THE SPACES AROUND US AND EVEN ROOMS PLAYS A
PART OF IT AS WELL IN WHICH ARCHITECTURE IS ALSO BUILT UPONTO HELP US IN
UNDERSTANDING THE WORLD AND OUR INTERACTIONS BETTER.
THE ARE 2 DIFFERENT TYPES OF VISION:
• STEREROSCOPIC – IT IS WHEN THERE ARE OBJECTS OF SLIGHT
DIFFERENCES THAT ARE MERGED TOGETHER TO BECOME ONE IMAGE AND
THIS VISUAL PROCESSS CREATES AN ILLUSION OF THREE-DIMENSIONAL
DEPTH, MAKING IT POSSIBLE TO JUDGE DISTANCES.

• KINESTHETIC – WHEN A MAN EXPERIENCES SPACE IN MOVEMENTS OF THE

EYE FROM ONE PART OF A WORK OF ART TO ANOTHER. IT HAPPENS WHEN
ONE LOOKS AT A TWO-DIMENTIONAL SURFACE, AND OUR BRAIN MAKES AN
ATTEMPT TO PIECE TOGETHER AND ORGANIZE SEPARATE PARTS TO MAKE
A WHOLE IMAGE.

PERCEPTION OF OBJECTS
IT IS WHEN AN OBJECT CAN BE PERCEIVED USING MORE THAN ONE'S
SENSES, FROME FAMILIAR SOUNDS, TO TASTES, AND EVEN WEIGHT. WITH THIS
KNOWLEDGE ONE CAN CONTINUE TO EXAMINE WHAT THE ITEM USING THEIR
SENSE UP UNTIL THEY'VE THOUGHT UP WHAT THE OBJECT IS, LIKE A GUESS.

PERCEPTION OF SHAPES
 THE GENERAL OUTLINE OF A SHAPE IS ITS MOST IMPORTANT FEATURE, ITS
WHAT MAKES EVERY SHAPE DISTINGUISHABLE TO THE OTHERS. FROM HOW ITS
SEEN FROM A BACKGROUND AND CONTOUR, TO ITS POSITION.

PRINCIPLES IN PERCEIVING THE OBJECTS AND SHAPES

• FIGURE GROUND – IT IS WHEN DRAWINGS OR IMAGES ONLY CONSISTS OF
BLACK LINES OR ANY LINE THAT SURROUNDS IT, CLOSE TO WHAT A
SILHOUTTE IS. WITH THIS IT IS EASILY SEEN AND RECOGNIZED BY THE
VIEWER SINCE IT STANDSOUT FROM THE SOLID COLORED BACKGROUND.
THERE IS NO SINGLE DEAD LEVEL IN A FIELD OF VIEW. SOME OF FIGURES
TEND TO BECOME “FIGURAL” AND DISTINCTIVE TO THE OTHERS IN THE
SAME “GROUND” OR FIELD. AND JUST AS MENTIONE EARLIER IT STANDS
OUT EVEN WITH NOT MUCH GIVEN DETAILS.

REVERSIBLE FIGURE – WHEN AN IMAGE PRESENTED WHERE TWO

PARTS ARE EQUALLY ALIKE OR MEANINGFUL AND CAN BE AN
ALTERATION OF FIGURE AND GROUND BETWEEN THE TWO.
AMBIGUOUS FIGURE – IT IS WHAT IT SAYS, THE FIGURE AND GROUND
EFFECT IS AMBIGUOUS, ONE CAN SEE SOMETHING A LOT DIFFERENT
FROM OTHERS WITH THE SAME PHOTO, ITS EITHER A PRETTY YOUNG
WOMAN OR AN ATTRACTIVE OLDER LADY.

• VANITY - IF SEEN FROM A FAR YOU CAN SEE A SKULL BUT WHEN NEAR,
YOU CAN SEE A WOMAN IN FRONT OF A MIRROR.
• FLUCTUATION – A PHENOMENA OF AN ALTERNATING FIGURE AND GROUND,
IT BEING ITS PERSPECTIVES, AND RETINAL RIVALRY.
 • IMPOSSIBLE FIGURES - WHEN THREE-DIMENSIONAL FORMS OR FIGURES
ARE ILLUSTRATED ON TWO-DIMENSIONAL SURFACES.

VISUAL AND OPTICAL ILLUSIONS

AN ILLUSION AND ITS TRANFORMATION OF WHAT IS REAL INTO WHAT IS
BELIEVED TO BE REAL , HAS BEEN A STANDARD ARCHITECTURAL TECHNIQUE
SINCE THE RENAISSANCE.
AN ILLUSION CREATED BY THE VISUAL PERCEPTION AND IS
CHARACTERIZED BY VISUAL PERCEPTION, ARGUABLY DIFFERS FROM REALITY.
ILLUSIONS COMES IN MANY VARIETIES BUT ARE HARD TO CATEGORIZE BECAUSE
OF THE UNDERLYING CAUSE AS IT IS OFTEN NOT CLEARED BUT A
CLASSIFICATIONPROPOSED BY RICHARD GREGORY IS USEFUL AS AN
ORIENTATION AND INTRODUCTION TO THE TOPIC. ACCORDING TO HIS STUDIES,
THERE ARE THREE MAIN CLASSES: PHYSICAL, PHYSIOLOGICAL AND COGNITIVE
ILLUSIONS AND IN EACH THERE ARE FOUR KINDS OF: AMBIGUITIES, DISTORTIONS,
PARADOXES AND FICTION.

MONOCULAR CUES TO DEPTH

WHERE THE ARTISTS ARE ABLE TO GIVE DEPTH TO A AN IMAGE OR FIGURE
BECAUSE THEY CAN MAKE USE OF MANY MONOCULAR CUES THAT TELLS THE
DISTANCE OF OBJECTS
THERE ARE FOUR TYPES OF CUES THAT ARE USED IN DEPTH PERCEPTION:
1. SUPERPOSITION-
WHEN ONE OBJECT APPEARS TO CUT OFF THE VIEW OF ANOTHER, AND IS
USUALLY PERCEIVED AS THE FIRST OBJECT BEING NEARER

2. APPARENT MAGNITUDE AND RELATIVE SIZE-

IF THERE IS AN ARRAY OF LIKE OBJECTS OF DIFFERENT SIZES, AND THE
SMALLER ONES PERCEIVED AS BEING FAR AWAY.
3. HEIGHT IN PLACE/ ELEVATION

AS ONE LOOKS AT ALONG A FLAT PLANE, OBJECTS FARTHER AWAY APPEAR TO BE HIGHER,
SO THAT WE CAN CREATE THE IMPRESSION OF DEPTH FOR OBJECTS OF THE SAME SIZE BY
PLACING THEM AT DIFFERENT HEIGHTS.

4. TEXTURE GRADIENT

FOR IRREGULAR SURFACES LIKE ROCKS OR WAVING SURFACE OF THE OCEAN, THERE IS A
GRADIENT OF TEXTURE WITH DISTANCE SO THAT THE 'GRAIN' BECOMES FINER AS THE
DISTANCE BECOMES GREATER.
REFERENCES:

https://prezi.com/0nuzm73wguwk/chapter-5-visual-acuity-perception/

https://www.studocu.com/ph/document/bicol-state-college-of-applied-sciences-and-
technology/architecture/theory-of-architecture-i-visual-acuity-and-perception/19469976

http://www.psy.ritsumei.ac.jp/~akitaoka/reversiblee.html

https://isle.hanover.edu/Ch07DepthSize/Ch07MonocDepth_evt.html#:~:text=Monocular
%20depth%20cues%20are%20the,single%20retina%20(or%20eye).&text=That%20is%2C%20these
%20are%20cues,Try%20it%E2%80%94close%20one%20eye.

https://www.verywellmind.com/what-are-monocular-cues-2795829