Maps, space and body: connecting mental representations of space to the production of space

Anna Kholina

This exposition investigates the relationship between maps, space and body. It looks at mental maps — images of the environment that we hold in our memory. It argues that a map we store in our minds is not merely a functional device for navigation, but a system of signs, values and meanings that allow us to re-imagine the space, appropriate it and develop new social practices. The study places mental images inside Lefebvre's triad of social space (Lefebvre, 1991). It suggests that mental images are a manifestation of the third component of the triad, the lived space, which includes alternative imaginations, symbolic values and appropriations of space. The exposition explores this claim via a dataset of 37 mental maps created by Masters-level students at Aalto University in Finland in November 2018. By qualitatively analysing the contents and the morphology of the hand-drawn maps, it traces how the lived space is both passively perceived and actively re-imagined. The main contribution of the exposition is bringing the imagined space to the attention of urban planning professionals. It suggests that the distorted, inconsistent and idiosyncratic mental images are more than a reduced schema of a physical environment. They support alternative re-imagining and catalyse the process of creative appropriation, enabling bottom-up urban transformation.

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Figure 12. Different methods to represent space on a mental image.

Figure 13. Path network for the student who lives in Otaniemi and actively moves around on a bicycle (well-connected path network).

Figure 15. Path network for the student who does not live in Otaniemi (disconnected path network).

1. INTRODUCTION

5. METHODS

9. REFERENCES

1. Representation methods

2. Path networks

2. COGNITIVE MAPS

6. RESULTS

6.1 OVERVIEW

6.2 BUILDINGS

6.3 OUTDOOR PLACES

6.4 MORPHOLOGY OF THE IMAGES

Despite paths being important components of a mental image according to Lynch (1960), their role was not especially evident in the dataset described here. Paths were absent from many mental images entirely (especially in the first three types of images — illustrations, collages and axonometric images), and only vaguely marked in most of the flat maps. Even when present, they were rarely continuous. Most of them were partial, fragmentary and did not end at any specific destination.

To analyse path networks, I removed everything but the paths from the mental images, and compared the results to the actual road network. Only three mental images out of 38 had a path network with a connectivity that resembled a physical road network, and according to the questionnaire, the authors of all of these images lived in Otaniemi. Moreover, the most connected map was from a student who uses a bicycle as the main way of moving around the campus. Figures 13 and 14 represent maps by students who live in Otaniemi, Figure 15 is a map made by a student who does not live there and lastly, Figure 16 shows the actual building footprints and path networks, extracted from a physical map. It is clear that the continuity of the path network increases with the degree of familiarity with the area or with more varied ways of moving around it.

The morphology of a map refers to its structure. Since no specific drawing convention was imposed on the students, they could freely decide how to organise the elements of their mental images. They could also choose the scale of the drawings. Some of them showed the area in a larger context, others focused on the whole area, and some portrayed only a part of the area. In terms of the morphology, two factors seemed important: the representation methods and path networks.

As the word 'map' was purposefully omitted from the task, the students used different methods of representations to express their experience of Otaniemi. In this dataset, there were four main approaches:

Illustrations: sometimes abstract, sometimes more specific, these mental images focused on the visual experience of forms, textures and surfaces. They conveyed an immediate sensation of being in Otaniemi or a combined visual impression that the space produced.
Collages: these images were collections of symbols, associations and notes sometimes connected with directional arrows. Although the position of the elements did match the geography of the space, the proportions and directions were mostly abstract. At the same time, the richness of the symbols used and notes clarifying their meaning created a detailed description of the experience.
Axonometric images: many images portrayed the space from a bird’s-eye view, keeping the volume of the objects visible. Most of the axonometric mental images had the same orientation, different from a traditional mapping convention where North is at the top. In this kind of image, the spatial relationships between the different objects were articulated better.
Flat maps: these maps resembled a geographically referenced map, but varied greatly in the degree of detail, representation of the road network and scale.

7. DISCUSSION

Figure 14. Path network for another student who lives in Otaniemi (somewhat-connected path network).

Figure 16. Physical path network for Otaniemi.

3. MENTAL IMAGES

7. DISCUSSION

4. RESEARCH QUESTION

8. CONCLUSION

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