Architectural legibility : an examination of the concept and its role in resolving urban pollution

Abstract

ARCHITECTURE IS A UNIVERSAL FORM OF EXPRESSION. It communicates messages through built forms and spaces. Perception and interpretation of these universal experiences lead them and guide them within the physical environment. Living in an urban environment provides complex experiences. People should be able to identify a place by the type of buildings, its physical form and the prevailing activity patterns. Urban landscape must have the quality of pleasantness. It must be remembered and understood by people. The willingness to live in the city depends mainly on the easy identification of the environment and its well-organised nature. Thus the clarity or clearness of buildings and spaces creates legible environment. A legible environment is useful in directing a person and grasping the where about. It makes it easy to find places that one has never visited before. Therefore good design in architecture should express what the building or place intend to serve. The expressive qualities that are generated should be clearly perceivable for example a church or a temple should express its sacred and spiritual values while public, commercial and office buildings should be identifiable by their own activity. Thus it is clear that people should be able to identify the environment in relation to these expressions. Otherwise it may cause the buildings or place in cities to be unanimous. .