Exposition

Maps, space and body: connecting mental representations of space to the production of space (2019)

Anna Kholina

About this exposition

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.
typeresearch exposition
keywordsCognitive map, Mental image, Production of space, senses, embodiment
date24/02/2018
published14/06/2019
last modified14/06/2019
statuspublished
share statusprivate
affiliationAalto University, School of Arts, Design, and Architecture
licenseAll rights reserved
urlhttps://www.researchcatalogue.net/view/452508/452509
doihttps://doi.org/10.22501/ruu.452508
published inRUUKKU - Studies in Artistic Research
portal issue10. Catalyses


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id name copyright license
573525 Title bgrnd 1 Anna Kholina All rights reserved
573537 bgrnd-2 Anna Kholina All rights reserved
573610 Conceived space / Lived space Anna Kholina All rights reserved
574260 02 All mental maps Anna Kholina All rights reserved
574368 table 1 Anna Kholina All rights reserved
574371 table 1 Anna Kholina All rights reserved
574395 One node coding example Anna Kholina All rights reserved
581664 table 2 Anna Kholina All rights reserved
581671 table 2 Anna Kholina All rights reserved
581674 All nodes details Anna Kholina All rights reserved
581677 table 2 Anna Kholina All rights reserved
581698 05 Five main buildings Anna Kholina All rights reserved
581760 Appendixes-normal-sizes Anna Kholina All rights reserved
581782 Appendixes-normal-sizes2 Anna Kholina All rights reserved
581793 Appendixes-normal-sizes3 Anna Kholina All rights reserved
581808 Appendixes-normal-sizes4 Anna Kholina All rights reserved
581822 Appendixes-normal-sizes5 Anna Kholina All rights reserved
581931 Appendixes-normal-sizes6 Anna Kholina All rights reserved
581943 Appendixes-normal-sizes7 Anna Kholina All rights reserved
581953 Appendixes-normal-sizes8 Anna Kholina All rights reserved
581956 Appendixes-normal-sizes9 Anna Kholina All rights reserved
581958 Appendixes-normal-sizes10 Anna Kholina All rights reserved
581960 Appendixes-normal-sizes11 Anna Kholina All rights reserved
581970 RUUKKU exposition anonymised v2 Anna Kholina All rights reserved
581973 Appendixes RUUKKU exposition Anna Kholina All rights reserved
610147 map4 Anna Kholina All rights reserved
610148 map5 Anna Kholina All rights reserved
610149 map6 Anna Kholina All rights reserved
610155 map4 Anna Kholina All rights reserved
610163 map5 Anna Kholina All rights reserved
610164 map6 Anna Kholina All rights reserved
610165 map7 Anna Kholina All rights reserved
610167 map8 Anna Kholina All rights reserved
610169 map9 Anna Kholina All rights reserved
610170 map10 Anna Kholina All rights reserved
610171 map11 Anna Kholina All rights reserved
610183 01 conceived space 2 images Anna Kholina All rights reserved
610321 lynch-districts Anna Kholina All rights reserved
610323 lynch-edges Anna Kholina All rights reserved
610326 lynch-landmarks Anna Kholina All rights reserved
610328 lynch-nodes Anna Kholina All rights reserved
610331 lynch-paths Anna Kholina All rights reserved
610649 Vare Anna Kholina All rights reserved
610665 Vare Anna Kholina All rights reserved
610668 Vare photo copy Anna Kholina All rights reserved
610729 Otakaari 1 Anna Kholina All rights reserved
610733 Otakkari 1 bing Anna Kholina All rights reserved
610743 Library Anna Kholina All rights reserved
610745 Library bing Anna Kholina All rights reserved
610747 Dipoli Anna Kholina All rights reserved
610751 Dipoli bing Anna Kholina All rights reserved
610756 Design factory Anna Kholina All rights reserved
610759 Design factory bing Anna Kholina All rights reserved
610776 oak tree and amp 1 Anna Kholina All rights reserved
610780 oak tree and amp 2 Anna Kholina All rights reserved
610836 map12 Anna Kholina All rights reserved
610837 map13 Anna Kholina All rights reserved
610838 14-color Anna Kholina All rights reserved
610839 map15 Anna Kholina All rights reserved
610840 map17 Anna Kholina All rights reserved
610841 map18 Anna Kholina All rights reserved
610842 map19 Anna Kholina All rights reserved
610843 map20 Anna Kholina All rights reserved
610844 map21 Anna Kholina All rights reserved
610846 map22 Anna Kholina All rights reserved
610847 map23 Anna Kholina All rights reserved
610848 map24 Anna Kholina All rights reserved
610849 map25 Anna Kholina All rights reserved
610851 map26 Anna Kholina All rights reserved
610852 map27 Anna Kholina All rights reserved
610853 map27 Anna Kholina All rights reserved
610854 map28 Anna Kholina All rights reserved
610856 map29 Anna Kholina All rights reserved
610857 map30 Anna Kholina All rights reserved
610858 map31 Anna Kholina All rights reserved
610859 map32 Anna Kholina All rights reserved
610860 map33 Anna Kholina All rights reserved
610862 map34 Anna Kholina All rights reserved
610863 map35 Anna Kholina All rights reserved
610864 map36 Anna Kholina All rights reserved
610865 map37 Anna Kholina All rights reserved
610866 map38 Anna Kholina All rights reserved
610867 map39 Anna Kholina All rights reserved
610868 map40 Anna Kholina All rights reserved
610869 map41 Anna Kholina All rights reserved
611452 Anna Kholina Anna Kholina All rights reserved

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