The English Genius for Townscape, 1850-1950 download pdf
by Michael Hebbert & Andrew Crompton
Abstract --- The origins of Thomas Sharps Townscape movement are traced from its roots in Victorian eclecticism and picturesque art via Ruskin, Raymond Unwin and Trystam Edwards.
The double fractal structure of Venice download pdf
Space Syntax 6 Conference, Istanbul, 12th-15th of June 2007
co-authored with Frank Brown
Abstract --- Venice is the same size as Central Park yet seems much bigger, this paper explains why. The argument is based on a space syntax study thatilluminates the historical development of Venice and shows that its boundary between water and land lies at the junction of two fractals.
The fractal nature of the everyday environment download pdf
Environment and Planning B: 2001, volume 28, pages 243 - 254
Why do scenes of our childhood so often seem strangely smaller than we remember them?
Abstract --- If the size of a space is measured by counting the number of places available for a particular activity, rather than by using an absolute measure such as the square metre, then small people may find the world larger. Size measured by number of places becomes a function of the size of the user, and the form of this function suggests that the everyday environment has a fractal dimension, a single number which may be associated with architectural qualities. This measure was tested with an experiment based on children playing hide and seek and was used to explain some illusions of perception of size.
Fractals and picturesque composition download pdf
Environment and Planning B: 2002, volume 29, pages 451 - 459
Abstract --- In this paper fractals are identified in classical mouldings by means of an algorithm for drawing Levy staircases. It is argued that traditional rules of composition favour fractal forms such as these, and advice on composition, taken from Ruskin, is examined to support this view. Because fractals are ubiquitous in nature their use in design offers a way to appear natural. The lack of fractals in modern architecture may therefore be connected to a lack of interest in picturesque composition.
Scaling in a suburban street download pdf
Environment and Planning B: 2005, volume 32, p. 191-197
Abstract --- A fractal environment can accommodate more small objects than expected because fresh small spaces come into play as the size of object diminishes. Could the built environment behave like this? To test this hypothesis the number of cars that could be parked in a street was estimated for different sizes of car, the results indicated that scaling does occur. This suggests that space can be manufactured as if from nothing by designing at an appropriate scale. Countries such as Japan which have a small standard of personal space may in fact be larger than they seem on a map.
Perceived distance in the city as a function of time. download pdf
Environment and Behavior, Univerity of Arizona, March 2006
Abstract ---Estimates of walking distances up to two miles along a busy road were correlated with the length of time, between 2 and 26 months, that subjects had been acquainted with the route in question. It was discovered that perceived distances increased the longer subjects had known them. A mile was estimated, on average, to be 1.24 miles by a first year student, 1.33 miles by a second year student and 1.45 miles by one from the third year. It is argued that this increase supports the feature-accumulation hypothesis of distance perception as opposed to the route-segmentation hypothesis. This result is used to explain Lee’s anomaly, from this journal in 1970, that distances into a city are seen as shorter than equal outward journeys. A case is made for investigating distance perception in real rather than reduced cue environments.
Distance estimation in a small scale environment, co-authored with Dr Frank Brown. download pdf
Environment and Behavior, Univerity of Arizona, September 2006
Abstract ---In a test of cognitive distance perception subjects estimated a walk in a picturesque village to be on average twice as long as an equal length journey in a city. It is unlikely that any or all of the factors at present known to influence distance perception can account for such a large difference. A small correlation between estimate size and subject’s height in the village but not the city suggests that distance estimates were based on different factors in the two places and that the scale of our interaction with our environment may influence our judgment of distance. It is hypothesised that small-scale places without cars may seem much larger than expected, and that space may, so to speak, be made as if out of nothing by appropriate design.
The fractal nature of everyday space download pdf
Ffraq-Art Conference Madrid March 2004, paid contributor.
Abstract --- Heaven is often portrayed as being fractal, not just in painting and architecture, but also in literature. Both C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien depict a geometrically hyperbolic heaven that is fractal yet homely. Where does this idea come from? It is argued that picturesque everyday environments are actually slightly hyperbolic and images of heaven are an exaggeration of this quality.
The Secret of the Cenotaph download pdf
AA Files 34 1999 p64-67
The Cenotaph first erected as a temporary timber and plaster memorial for the Peace Celebrations in 1920 has survived to become Britains best loved monument. There are over fifty copies in the UK alone and others overseas. What is it that makes it so meaningful? A study of its history and form shows that it contains a hidden image and story to which we are predisposed to respond.
Lifelike Tessellations download pdf
MANCHESTER ARCHITECTURAL PAPERS 2000
Edited by Geoff McKennan. PAGES 17 –24.
ISBN 1 900756 14 5
Summary --- An account of the history, uses, and mathematics of lifelike tilings. Although most people know of lifelike tessellations through the work of M.C.Escher in fact they have their origins in Art Nouveau.
How big is your city, really? download pdf
Making Cities Livable Conference 2005, Venice.
Abstract--- Picturesque small scale environments may be much larger than they appearon maps if their size is gauged by their ability to house human activity. This, it is suggested, is because they are fractal and the size of a fractal is an ill defined quantity that depends on the unit of measurement. Since cities, especially old ones, are fractal,their size will depend on the scale at which they are used. Experiments at Manchester University exploring how size and scale are related, indicate that we may be able to make space appear as is from nothing by reducing our scale. These gains become verysubstantial when we go from the scale of cars to that of a pedestrian.
The Destruction of Durnford School download pdf
from 'Making Manchester' 2007, a Festschrift for J. H. .G Archer, Lancashire & Cheshire Antiquarian Society, ed. C Hartwell and T Wyke.
Summary An study of Durnford School, 1909, by architects Edgar Wood & J.H. Sellers, demolished in 2002 -- extract -- Wood’s architectural vocabulary is based on cottages, Tudor mansions, Cotton Mills, Art Nouveau, Fairy-Tale-Churches, Romantic vaulted gates, Moorish gilded screens and Butterfly-plans. He was a fin-de-siècle figure who collaged these themes like Barrie collaged themes of other children’s stories in Peter Pan. I venture that without the control and sophistication of his partner Wood’s later work might easily have seemed kitsch: what a good combination they made. Could things have turned out differently had Wood stayed the course after his father died instead of retiring to paint? Things were different after the war, but perhaps they could have gone on to rival the outrageous Komisarjevsky who incorporated Moorish, Venetian and Baronial Hall themes inside Art Deco cinemas, most famously in the Granada, Tooting in 1930. . .