Visual perception of traditional garden space in Suzhou, China: A case study with space syntax techniques

Abstract

Many scholars have realized the importance of view in traditional Chinese garden design. However, subject to limitations of research methods, the visual structure of traditional garden space has not been fully understood yet. Take the Lingering Garden in Suzhou as a case, this paper attempts to use the newly developed syntactic analysis techniques, to explore the hidden structure of visual perception of traditional garden space. Based on Depthmap, two types of visibility graph analysis were carried out. The visual integration analysis result shows that, at the eye-height level, the visual integration center locates in the central of the mountain and the pool area of the main garden. The isovist analysis result shows the complex and asymmetrical attribute of isovist field in the garden. This paper suggests that space syntax techniques should be applied to landscape design practice today because it could help designers better understand the invisible design rules.