- Title
- Representing architecture for fractal analysis: a framework for identifying significant lines
- Creator
- Ostwald, Michael J.; Vaughan, Josephine
- Relation
- Architectural Science Review Vol. 56, Issue 3, p. 242-251
- Publisher Link
- http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00038628.2013.810549
- Publisher
- Earthscan
- Resource Type
- journal article
- Date
- 2013
- Description
- Over the last two decades, a range of computational techniques have been developed for measuring the formal characteristics of architecture. One of the most widely used methods, fractal analysis, measures the typical or characteristic spread of visual information (form and texture) present in a plan or elevation. However, when preparing a plan or elevation for this method, several critical decisions must be made about which architectural features should be included in the representation and why. Without a consistent, reasoned way of making such decisions, isolated fractal dimension results for buildings are potentially meaningless. Therefore, the present paper draws on postpositivist reasoning to propose a framework for deciding which lines in an architectural representation are significant for a study and why. The framework contains five cumulative levels of representation that are defined and mapped against comparable research agendas. These levels are described and demonstrated using a plan and an elevation from Le Corbusier's Villa Jaquemet. In each case, the results of the fractal analysis of different representations of the Villa are used to demonstrate how decisions about significant lines have a direct impact on measures derived from fractal analysis.
- Subject
- computational analysis; fractal analysis; measuring; representation; postpositivism
- Identifier
- http://hdl.handle.net/1959.13/1055615
- Identifier
- uon:15908
- Identifier
- ISSN:0003-8628
- Language
- eng
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