"The Image of PLAZA" : an analysis of an academic community web space using Kevin Lynch's approach for "The image of the city"
Name
55695105-MIT.pdf
Description
Full printable version
Size
13.88 MB
Format
Adobe PDF
Checksum (MD5)
b13121987bb572f8649ce7c6e76d4a51
Author(s)
Kim, Jaecheol, 1971-
Advisor(s)
Joseph Ferreira, Jr.
Date Issued
2004
Publisher
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Abstract
This thesis is a case study of how the design issues of a community web space can be approached from the viewpoint of urban design not in terms of appearance but in terms of its functionality. An urban public place like a plaza and a community web space both serve their residents' social lives whether real or virtual. There have been many efforts to replicate public spaces into the virtual world. However, considering the completely different materials that compose both spaces, it may be not proper to duplicate just the visual appearance of a city in the virtual world. Therefore, in this thesis, using not the literal adoption of but the functional analogy of urban design, I analyze the legibility of a community web space, 'PLAZA'. This analogy can be divided into two parts. The first part utilizes Kevin Lynch's methodology for the analysis of "the Image of City". I examine the design of PLAZA using the public's mental image of PLAZA, as he used the citizens' image of cities to analyze city spaces. The second part uses physical urban space to interpret the relation between users' mental image of PLAZA and its design. Spatial concepts that are familiar in designing physical spaces are used for this analysis; Graphic, Location, Vitality of a place, and Accessibility. The result of this case study shows both similarities and dissimilarities between an urban public space and DUSP PLAZA for each spatial concept.
Description
Thesis (M.C.P.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Urban Studies and Planning, 2004.
Some pages folded.
Includes bibliographical references (p. 111-113).
Subjects
Urban Studies and Planning.
MIT Department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Urban Studies and Planning
Terms of Use
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