Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- Acknowledgements
- Introduction
- 1 The problem of space
- 2 The logic of space
- 3 The analysis of settlement layouts
- 4 Buildings and their genotypes
- 5 The elementary building and its transformations
- 6 The spatial logic of arrangements
- 7 The spatial logic of encounters: a computer-aided thought experiment
- 8 Societies as spatial systems
- Postscript
- Notes
- Index
6 - The spatial logic of arrangements
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 18 December 2009
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- Acknowledgements
- Introduction
- 1 The problem of space
- 2 The logic of space
- 3 The analysis of settlement layouts
- 4 Buildings and their genotypes
- 5 The elementary building and its transformations
- 6 The spatial logic of arrangements
- 7 The spatial logic of encounters: a computer-aided thought experiment
- 8 Societies as spatial systems
- Postscript
- Notes
- Index
Summary
SUMMARY
The argument now returns to the foundation of the problem of order and argues that, by using the full framework set out in Chapter 1, it is possible to describe physical arrangements in terms of their abstract ordering principles in such a way as to relate order and randomness in a new way. Randomness emerges, in effect, as a form of necessary order both in spatial arrangements and in social systems. A general framework of relating different kinds of order is then established, dealing with both material and conceptual components of the arrangement in a unified way, and dealing with randomness and order in the same terms. The chapter ends by relating the dimensions of the arrangemental model to notions of ideology, politics and productive base of a society.
From structures to particular realities
In Chapters 2, 3, 4 and 5 the aim has been to show that, in spite of its variety, human spatial organisation has, however imperfect, a certain internal logic. This internal logic accounts, we believe, for the knowability of space. Because it has the property of knowability, space can operate as a morphic language, that is, as one of the means by which society is constituted and understood by its members. By embodying intelligibility in spatial forms, the individuals in a society create an experiential reality through which they can retrieve a description of certain dimensions of their society and the ways in which they are members of it. These descriptions are essentially abstract in nature, although they are drawn from a concrete reality. Descriptions are summaries of the principles of a spatial pattern, not simply an enumeration of its parts.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- The Social Logic of Space , pp. 198 - 222Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 1984