Space syntax

Space syntax is like a puzzle where we try to understand how buildings and cities are organized. Imagine you are playing with toy houses and roads. You put the houses and roads in a certain way, and this creates a special path for you to follow. Space syntax is about studying how these paths work in real cities and buildings.

Think of a city as a big house with many rooms. Some rooms are more important, like the living room, and others are less important, like a small closet. Space syntax helps us understand which rooms are important and how they connect to each other. It’s like a treasure map that we use to find the most important parts of the city.

To do that, we use a special tool called a graph. A graph is like a picture of the city or building, but instead of showing the details, it shows how the paths connect to each other. Think of it like a map that you draw with lines between important points.

For example, if you draw a graph of a city, the most important parts will have the most lines connected to them. This is because more people need to go through those parts to get to other places. By looking at the graph, we can tell which parts of the city or building are busiest, which parts are more isolated, and how people move from one place to another.

In summary, space syntax is about studying how buildings and cities are designed, and how people move through them. We use a special tool called a graph to understand which parts are more important and how they connect to each other. This helps us design better buildings and cities that people like to use and enjoy being in.