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Gert van Tonder
September 15, 2005, Small Hall
(cinema), Main Building @ Goldsmiths, 15h -- 16h
Arts Computing Lecture
Digital Studios @ Goldsmiths College
Abstract
Japanese dry landscape gardens show interesting visual effects,
especially where rich visual designs are presented as perceptually
calming environments. Drawing on visual psychology we use the concept
of "figure-ground" relationships to investigate the appeal of some
gardens. A "figure" of rocks and bushes is typically placed on an empty
"ground" of gravel. We show that texture patterns and grouping
arrangements between visual cues are repeated and balanced at multiple
spatial scales, qualifying as a naturalistic design. The structure of
visual "ground" is not so readily apparent and the analysis benefits
from a quantitative approach. Computed perceptual sensitivity maps
(Kovacs et al., 1998),
equivalent to medial axes, reveal the structure of empty expanses
between rocks in the famous Ryoanji garden. Medial axis loci have
numerous unexpected non-accidental properties that are destroyed with
random perturbation of the original design. The analysis leads to a
novel interpretation of structure in the "ground" of this garden
design. The structure of the "empty space" in some other famous dry
landscape gardens is found to be similar to that at Ryoanji, with some
interesting variations on a common theme. This suggests that designers
of traditional Japanese gardens
possessed sophisticated intuitive understanding of and control over
subtle visual effects. Our findings provide directions toward the
design of more naturalistic, calming visual environments.
References:
- Visual structure in Japanese
gardens, Gert J. van Tonder, Michael J. Lyons, and Yoshimichi
Ejima, Journal of the IEICE, 86(10):742-746, 2003.
- Visual Structure of a Japanese
Zen Garden, Gert J. van Tonder, Michael J. Lyons, Yoshimichi
Ejima, Nature 419, pp. 359-360, 2002.
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Last update: June 13, 2006.