Behavioural Theories in Landscape Architecture

Way we look at a landscape - It is fluid action and not mono directional

 Perception
 Cognition
 Behavior
Perceive ---- Cognition -----Action ----- Imagibility

If we see grass blades- we remember

gold-glittering is my cognition.

Behavior is how one participates.

It also means choice making- preferences

that lead to action
 Eg. a chair – physical dimensions
and agronomics of a child don’t
permit him to sit on the chair
comfortably as a grown up can so he
may not chose to sit.

 There are inherent properties of an

object (physical) and one weighs
them for his own preferences.

 The user sees-perceives- cognizes –

judges his affordances and then takes
action

 For eg – a simple chair and a chair

with a swivel or then a chair with a
cushion.
Behavioural Theories in Landscape Architecture

1)Affordance Theory (J. J. Gibson)

 According to his theory, perception of the environment inevitably leads
to some course of action.
 Affordances, or clues in the environment that indicate possibilities for
action, are perceived in a direct, immediate way with no sensory
processing.
2)There are 2 schools of thought by Architects and
Geographers
• Spatial Environmental determinism and
• Social determinism- biological makeup.
•The fundamental argument of the Environmental
Determinists was that aspects of physical geography,
particularly that of climate, influenced the
psychological mind-set of individuals, which in turn
defined the behavior and culture of the society that
those individuals formed.
•For example, tropical climates were said to cause
laziness, relaxed attitudes and promiscuity, while the
frequent variability in the weather of the middle
latitudes led to more determined and driven work
ethics.

•Social Determinism is the hypothesis that social

interactions and constructs alone determine individual
behavior (as opposed to biological or objective factors).
3)Savanna hypotheses dates back to Darvin
• It states that all human beings prefer vegetation with spreading
canopy. That may be because of the belief that life originated in the
grasslands of savannah
4)Probabilism: Amos Rapport put forth the theory of
Probabilism (book: House form and culture by Amos
Rapport)

• Environment has its own Affordances. Certain choices

are more probable –”chances that certain elements will
be liked are higher.
• For ex colour:-Children like red colour as it runs in our
body so biologically we are associated with red.
5).Abraham Maslow –Theory of ‘Hierarchy of
needs’

•The hierarchy of needs assume that you are

motivated by your needs. These are things that
you want to enable to enjoy life. If you fail to meet
these needs then you become depressed ,sick or
even angry.

•There are different levels of needs, basics such as

food and shelter to more complex needs such as a
sense of belonging and accomplishment.

•The Abraham Maslow theory says that our needs

can be divided into five different levels. They are
laid out in a sort of pyramid. The needs at the
bottom are the most basic needs. These form the
foundation and they need to be met first. Once they
are met we can focus on the next level and so on
•Michael Laurie – in his book ‘Introduction to Landscape
Architecture’ has discussed about
•Physical needs – Comfort –agronomical
•Physiological needs – related to physiological processes-
warm, cold ,sweaty, fever, cold ,heaviness
•Psychological- or social need to interact with people to feel
accepted
6)‘Sociopetal’ and ‘Sociofugal’ were originally
coined by H.Osmond, a psychologist
‘Sociopetal space’, the antonym of which is a
‘Sociofugal space arrangement’

•An Alcove : Sociopetal space - Inward looking

•A Par : Sociofugal spaces- outward looking

Need for stability- less clustered spaces, less

confusing, simple and way finding should be
easier.
In a large environments we have feeling of fear -
no legibility or imagibility on vast grounds
7)Theory of Imagibility by Kevin Lynch in the book –Image of a city.
People remember cities in the form of
•1.Landmark- Significant buildings, Historic monuments
•2.Edges- Railway-lines, waterbody, river, embankment, Fortifications, walls
•3.Paths-Movement corridors
•4.Nodes- Flyovers ,Underpasses, Railway stations, bus stations
•5.District/Areas-Sarsbaug, Dahanukar, Lokmanyanagar

•Ex – concept of imagibility is used in Bernard tshumi’s ‘Park la Villete’

•-Follies as landmarks, edges as vegetation, paths as the pathways
running, nodes as the junctions created with the follies and areas/districts
as the activity zones.
ex in a campus- university tower is a landmark and is a guide to move
within
8)Habitat Theory by Jay Appelton :
• He states that people like
environments that fulfill their
biological needs or environments
that are favorable for survival.
• People like the sight of standing
sunflower because it is a food in
making
• We like flowing water because it
helps us survive.
• We like environmental conditions
that support our survival.
9)Prospect Refuge theory – (Jay Appleton -The Experience of
Landscape)
•Prospect is a view and refuge is a hideout.
•And the theory proposes that a landscape is very satisfying when
one can see the landscape without being seen

Landscape Characteristics- Prospect dominant , refuge dominant

•Avenue -Prospect dominant
•Convex landform- prospect dominant
•Concave landform – refuge dominant
•Barren ground- prospect dominant
•Flowing water -prospect dominant
•People tend to seek position in a park where
they get both. Certain activities are associated
with certain types of characteristics
•Corners in park-individual activity such as
yoga, reading- it is a refuge area
•Centers of park- group activities like play- it is a
prospect area.
•Edge design is very important for a park rather
than surfaces.
•Identity is needed.
10)Personal Space Theory- by Edward Hall, Taxonomy of spaces

•Intimate space--the closest "bubble" of space surrounding a person. Entry

into this space is acceptable only for the closest friends and intimates.
•Social and consultative spaces--the spaces in which people feel comfortable
conducting routine social interactions with acquaintances as well as strangers.
•Public space--the area of space beyond which people will perceive
interactions as impersonal and relatively anonymous.

• Intimate space- 0.3m - mother-child association, lover association

• Personal Space- 1.2m - one to one dialogue
• Social space- 2 - 4m - Classroom
• Public Space- 4m and above

Extensive lawns- classic example of underutilizing space.

11)Place Theory - David Canter
•We define places using prepositions---ex under
a tree, behind the bush, Over the mound or on
the table.David Canter gave space theories.
•Space itself
•Human activity
•Meaning after their intersection: Relationship

Eg -Adventure playground in newtown in

England

 Enrichment is needed-aesthetical and

pleasing environment.
 People prefer curvilinear forms, greener
spaces are preferred.
 Survey said that 80% people liked fountains
than any other water body
12) Space Syntax Theory.
•Connection of spaces in the whole layout
•The term space syntax encompasses a set of theories and techniques for
the analysis of spatial configurations. Originally 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
architects 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:
• 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, and
• 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, in
other words, all points within the polygon are visible to all other points
within the polygon.
The three most popular Space Syntax analysis methods of a street
network are Integration, Choice and Depth Distance.
13) Landscape Urbanism is a theory of
Landscape and urban planning arguing
that the best way to organize cities is
through the design of the city's
landscape, rather than the design of its
buildings. The phrase 'landscape
urbanism' first appeared in the mid 1990s.
The term is coined by Peter Connolly in
Australia
Charles Waldheim, Mohsen Mostafavi,
James Corner of James Corner/Field
Operations, Alex Wall, and Adriaan
Geuze, Tom Turner