GATE Architecture Question

Urban design theory that deals with analysis of relationship between building mass and open space is

            (A) Open space theory                                     (B) Figure ground theory

            (C) Linkage theory                                           (D) Place theory

Answer: (B) Figure ground theory

Figure ground theory : A figure-ground diagram is a two-dimensional map of an urban space that shows the relationship between built and unbuilt space. It is used in analysis of urban design and planning. A figure ground diagram comprises entities called pochés. These are, in simple terms, groups of structures — or in even simpler terms the black figures on the diagram. A poché helps to define the voids between the buildings, and to emphasize their existence as defined objects in their own rights: spaces that are as much a part of the design as the buildings whose exteriors define them. Frederick Gibberd was a proponent of the reverse figure-ground diagram, where the buildings are in white and the spaces black, to focus the perception of the designer upon the space as an object.

Linkage theory: This theory involves the organization of lines connects the parts of the city and indicates flow of movement, axis and building edge.

Place theory: Place theory begins with understanding the cultural and human characteristics of physical space.

GATE 2005

source: GATE Arch/Planning by B K Das available on amazon.in