Abstract
The justified plan graph (JPG) was the first practical analytical method developed as part of the theory of Space Syntax, which purported to provide a graphical, mathematical and associated theoretical model for analysing the spatial configuration of buildings. In spite of early interest, in recent years relatively little research using this method has been published, perhaps because the JPG method is rarely explained in its totality and when it is, the descriptions are often inconsistent or unclear. Although it is now embedded in several software programs and its use may be more widespread, it is no better understood and after processing there is a marked lack of consistency in how the results are interpreted. This paper provides a historical background for the development of the JPG and a discussion of its conceptual or theoretical origins, followed by a “worked example” of the mathematics of the JPG. In combination with the results for two further cases, the paper identifies some important interpretative limits in the method and uses the examples to explain its potential use in design analysis. Finally, the paper discusses how the consistent application of this method to sets of related buildings is likely to produce a more valuable, and statistically viable, basis for future work.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.
References
Alexander Christopher (1964) Notes on the synthesis of form. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA
Alexander, Christopher. 1966. A City is Not a Tree, Part I and Part II. Design 206 (February 1966): 46–55.
Alexander Christopher, Sara Ishikawa, Murray Silverstein. (1977) A Pattern Language: towns, buildings, construction. Oxford University Press, New York
Asami, Yasushi, Ayse Sema Kubat, Kensuke Kitagawa and Shin–ichi IIDA. 2003. Introducing the third dimension on Space Syntax: Application on the historical Istanbul. Proceedings: 4th International Space Syntax Symposium London: 48.1–48.18.
Bafna, Sonit. 2001. Geometric Intuitions of Genotypes.Proceedings of the Third International Symposium on Space Syntax, 20.1-20.16.
Bafna Sonit (2003) Space Syntax: a Brief Introduction to its Logic and Analytical Techniques. Environment and Behavior 35(1): 17–29
Birkerts Gunnar. (1994) Process and Expression in Architectural Form. University of Oklahoma Press, Norman
Ching Francis D. K (2007) Architecture: Form, Space and Order. Hoboken, NJ, John Wiley and Sons
Dovey, Kim. 2010. Becoming Places: Urbanism / Architecture / Identity / Power. London: Routledge.
Dovey Kim. (1999) Framing Places: Mediating Power in Built Form. Routledge, London
Frampton Kenneth. (1995) Studies in Tectonic Culture: The Poetics of Construction in Nineteenth and Twentieth Century Architecture. MIT Press, Cambridge, MA
Gelernter Mark. (1995) Sources of Architectural Form: A Critical History of Western Design Theory. St. Martin’s Press, New York
Hanson Julienne. (1998) Decoding Homes and Houses. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge
Haq S. (2003) Investigating the syntax line: configurational properties and cognitive correlates. Environment and Planning B: Planning and Design 30: 841–863
Harary, Frank. 1960. Some Historical and Intuitive Aspects of Graph Theory. SIAM Review 2, 2 (April 1960): 123–131.
Harary Frank. (1969) Graph Theory. Addison–Wesley, Reading, MA
Hillier Bill. (1995) Space is the Machine. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge
Hillier Bill , Alan Penn. (2004) Rejoinder to Carlo Ratti. Environment and Planning B: Planning and Design 31(4): 487–499
Hillier Bill , Julienne Hanson. (1984) The Social Logic of Space. Cambridge University Press, New York
Hillier, Bill and Kali Tzortzi. 2006. Space Syntax: The Language of Museum Space. Pp. 282–301 in A Companion to Museum Studies, Sharon Macdonald, ed. London: Blackwell.
Hillier Bill, Julienne Hanson , Graham H. (1987) Ideas are in things: an application of the space syntax method to discovering house genotypes. Environment and Planning B: Planning and Design 14: 363–385
Hopkins, Brian and Robin J. Wilson. 2004. The Truth about Königsberg. The College Mathematics Journal 35, 3 (May 2004): 198–207.
Jencks, Charles and George Baird, eds. 1969. Meaning in Architecture. New York: G. Braziller.
Jiang Bin, Christophe Claramunt , Björn Klarqvist. (2000) Integration of space syntax into GIS for modelling urban spaces. International Journal of Applied Earth Observation and Geoinformation 2(3–4): 161–171
Klarqvist Björn. (1993) A Space Syntax Glossary. Nordisk Arkitekturforskning 2: 11–12
Krüger, M. 1989. On Node and Axial Grid Maps: Distance measures and related topics, London: University College, London.
Leach, Edmund. 1978. Does Space Syntax Really “Constitute the Social”? Pp. 385–401 in Social Organisation and Settlement. Contributions from Anthropology, Archaeology and Geography, D. Green and M. Spriggs, eds. British Archaeology Reports 47. Oxford.
Major, Mark David and Nicholas SARRIS. 1999. Cloak and Dagger Theory: Manifestations of the Mundane in the Space of Eight Peter Eisenman Houses. Space Syntax: Second International Symposium, Brasilia. 20.1–20.14.
Manum, Bendik. 2009. AGRAPH: Complementary Software for Axial–Line Analysis. In Proceedings of the 7th International Space Syntax Symposium. Daniel Koch, Lars Marcus and Jesper Steen, eds. Stockholm: KTH, 2009. 070:1
Manum, Bendik, Espen RUSTEN and Paul BENZE. 2005. AGRAPH, Software for Drawing and Calculating Space Syntax Graphs. Proceedings of the 5th International Space Syntax Symposium, vol. I, 97. Delft.
March, Lionel (eds) (1976) The Architecture of Form. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge
March Lionel , Philip Steadman. (1971) The Geometry of Environment: An introduction to spatial organization in design. RIBA Publications, London
Markus Tom. (1987) Buildings as Classifying Devices. Environment and Planning B: Planning and Design 14: 467–484
Markus, Tom. 1988. Down to Earth. Building Design (July 15): 16–17.
Markus Tom. (1993) Buildings and Power. Routledge, London
Osman Khadiga M., Mamoun Suliman. (1994) The Space Syntax Methodology: Fits and Misfit. Architecture & Behaviour 10(2): 189–204
Pallasmaa Juhani. (2005) The eyes of the skin: architecture and the senses. Wiley–Academy, Chichester
Peponis, John. 1985. The spatial culture of factories. Human Relations 38 (April 1985): 357–390.
Peponis John, Jean Wineman, Mahbub Rashid, Kim S., Sonit Bafna. (1997a) On the description of shape and spatial configuration inside buildings: convex partitions and their local properties. Environment and Planning B: Planning and Design 24: 761–781
Peponis, John, Jean Wineman, Mahbub Rashid, S. Kim, and Sonit Bafna. 1997b. On the generation of linear representations of spatial configuration. Space Syntax, First International Symposium, vol III, 4.1–41.18. London.
Pevsner Nikolaus. (1936) Pioneers of Modern Design. Faber and Faber, London
Ratti Carlo. (2004) Space syntax: some inconsistencies. Environment and Planning B: Planning and Design 31(4): 501–511
Rowland, Ingrid, D., Thomas Noble, Howe (eds) (1999) Vitruvius: Ten Books on Architecture. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge
Seppänen, Jouko and James M. Moore. 1970. Facilities Planning with Graph Theory. Management Science 17, 4 (December 1970): 242–253.
Shannon, C. E. 1949. The Mathematical Theory of Communication. Urbana, IL: University of Illinois.
Shapiro Jason S. (2005) A Space Syntax Analysis of Arroyo Hondo Pueblo. School of American Research Press, New Mexico, Santa Fe
Steadman Philip J. (1973) Graph–theoretic representation of architectural arrangement. Architectural Research and Teaching 2: 161–172
Steadman Philip J. (1983) Architectural Morphology. Pion, London
Stevens Garry. (1990) The Reasoning Architect: Mathematics and Science in Design. McGraw Hill, New York
Stiny George. (1975) Pictorial and Formal Aspects of Shape and Shape Grammar. Birkhäuser, Basel
Taaffe E. J., Gauthier H. L. (1973) Geography of Transportation. New Jersey, Prentice Hall
Teklenberg, J. A. F. Timmermans, H. J. P. Wagenberg, A. F. 1992. Space Syntax: Standardized integration measures and some simulations. Environment and Planning B: Planning and Design 20: 347–357.
Thaler, Ulrich. 2005. Narrative and Syntax, new perspectives on the Late Bronze Age palace of Pylos, Greece. Proceedings of the 5th International Space Syntax Symposium, vol. II, 327. Delft.
Turner A., Doxa M., O’Sullivan D., Penn A. (2001) From isovists to visibility graphs: a methodology for the analysis of architectural space. Environment and Planning B: Planning and Design 28: 103–121
Xinqi, Zheng, Zhao LU, Fu MEICHEN and Wang SHUQING. 2008. Extension and Application of Space Syntax: A Case Study of Urban Traffic Network Optimizing in Beijing. IEEE Workshop on Power Electronics and Intelligent Transportation System: 291–295.
Zako, Reem. 2006. The power of the veil: Gender inequality in the domestic setting of traditional courtyard houses. Pp. 65–75 in Courtyard Housing: Past, Present and Future, Brian Edwards, Magdo Sibley, Mohamad Hakmi and Peter Land, eds. New York: Taylor and Francis.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
About this article
Cite this article
Ostwald, M.J. The Mathematics of Spatial Configuration: Revisiting, Revising and Critiquing Justified Plan Graph Theory. Nexus Netw J 13, 445–470 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00004-011-0075-3
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00004-011-0075-3