cognitive mapping essay

SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE, BUILDING & DESIGN

BACHELOR OF SCIENCE (HONS) IN ARCHITECTURE

THEORIES OF ARCHITECTURE & URBANISM

( ARC 3233 )

PROJECT 2_________________________________

AN ILLUSTRATED ESSAY WITH A COGNITIVE MAPPING OF

CENTRAL MARKET

NAME: YAP ZHONG LIN

STUDENT ID: 0310557

TUTOR: MR. NICHOLAS

1. INTRODUCTION

1.1 Site Introduction

Figure 1: Location of Central Market

The Centre for Malaysian Culture, Heritage, Art & Craft. Central Market

Kuala Lumpur began life as a wet market in 1888; built by Yap Ah Loy, the city’s

Chinese Capitan. Central Market is one of KL’s most familiar landmarks and a

popular tourist attraction. Built in 1928, it is a short walk away from Petaling

Street, along Jalan Hang Kasturi. Also called Pasar Seni, it used to be a simple

wet market but in the early 1980s was revamped into a handicrafts outlet.

The focus for the city’s artistic community, inside the building is a warren

of boutiques, handicraft and souvenir stalls with traders selling local merchandise

such as authentic Malaysian batik prints and more. Central Market is located on

the opposite bank of the Dayabumi Complex and is an art-deco style building

with local ‘Baroque’ trimmings.

A Malaysian cultural landmark, it has been classified as a Heritage Site by

the National Heritage Department. Similar to London’s Covent Garden or San

Francisco’s Fisherman’s Wharf, the 120 year-old Central Market has undergone

several renovations over the years to attract younger generations and to foster

greater appreciation for racial tolerance and integration.

Central Market is strategically located close to major public transportation

links, making it easy to access from all major KL destinations. The second floor

has several restaurants and a food court serving Asian cuisine.

Figure 2: Art Deco Facade of Central Market

Source: http://www.kuala-lumpur.ws/attractions/central-market.htm

1.2 Introduction of Cognitive Mapping

The cognitive map, which was introduced by Tolman in his article "The

cognitive map in rats and men" (1948), refers to the encoding of large-scale

environments into memory and the use of such memories to aid navigation. Of

particular influence has been Kevin Lynch's The image of the City (1960), which

centered the environmental component of spatial memory, introducing the

"imagibility" and the discussion of spatial cognition into the discourse of

architects and urban planners. More recently, cognitive mapping has been

challenged by the notion of the "cognitive collage" (Tversky 2001: 12.1), which

recognizes the multi-sensory nature of spatial memory and the pre-perceptual

structures that lead to memory creation.

Figure 3: Participants drawing cognitive mapping

1.3 Participants Background

Name: Yap Zhong Lin

Background: Local students from Taylor's University

Reason for Selection: Local but not familiar with Central Market

Figure 4: My Own Cognitive Mapping

Name: Alex Tea

Background: German Tourist

Reason for Selection: Seek for tourist impression

Figure 5: Tourist's Cognitive Mapping

Name:

Uncle Tan

Background: Local Businessman

Reason for Selection: Familiar with Central Market for more than 10 years

Figure 6: Local Business Man's Cognitive Mapping

2. COMPARATIVE ESSAY

In city planning, Kevin Lynch used sketch maps to reveal human

knowledge of large-scale complex environments. During the research, asking

people to sketch a map of a location is a way to find out what its salient features

are for them around the chosen site which is Central Market. A cognitive map

can show what is important, and by omission, reveal what is less important.

Sometimes a standarized outline showing major feature of an area is used,

asking respondents to fill in the details. This procedure could be used by city

planners or landscape architects who want to know more about how a space is

seen or used.

A place can be seen or viewed differently due to personal perception and

experience around the site. Based on the three participants who is business

man, students from outside and tourists. We can see that from the scale of maps,

the business man has the broader image of Central Market compared to the

tourist and students. The local are very familiar around the area. From the map

drawn by the business man, certain district can be identified. As Kevin Lynch

stated in his book, The Image of The City, districts have various kinds of

boundaries. Some are hard, definite, and precise. They can be recognized

internally, and occasionally can be used as external reference as a person goes

by or toward them. In Central Market, the building typology is defined by the

building typology which are cultural, colonial and Chinatown walk. District

boundaries play an important role on organizing a city. These edges seem to

play a secondary role: they may set limits to a district, and may reinforce its

identity, but they apparently have less to do with constituting it. Edges may

augment the tendency of districts to fragment the city in a disorganizing way.

However, from all the three maps there are similarities in identifying the

path, edges and landmarks. Common landmarks are Central Market, the Wau,

Maybank, 7-Eleven, Hotel Geo and temples. Kevin Lynch stated that landmarks

become more easily identifiable, more likely to be chosen as significant, if they

have a clear form; if they contrast with their background; and if there is some

prominence of spatial location. Central Market itself is a great example of this

theory stated by Kevin Lynch. The number of local elements that become

landmarks appears to depend as much upon how familiar the observer is with his

surroundings as upon the elements themselves. For example, 7-Eleven and

Maybank as a landmark for the

tourist and the student from

Taylor's revealed that because

they are not familiar to the

place and they tend to

remember something that are

frequently seen in other places.

The other common landmark is

the LRT station because they

traveled by public transport and

they drew taxi, bus and the train. Furthermore, landmark is usually part of the

district which also can be use as a guidance or direction. For example, the tourist

said that she have to cross through the traffic light in front Maybank tower in

order to go to Central Market. By pointing the dominant landmark will led the

user to the district. Yet, the path makes immediate effect on the way finder to a

certain location. However, the business man has a different landmark which is

the temple because he is a Chinese. He tends to recognize the daily routine that

he will go to the temple every morning. In addition, another similarity from the

three participants is the strong edges formed by the Klang River. Klang River is a

best example of those edges seems strongest which are not only visually

prominent, but also continuous in form and impenetrable to cross movement. It is

inaccessible to pedestrians, at some points impassable, and is spatially

prominent. But it is only occasionally exposed to view. On the other hand, Central

Market was clearly located on the map, because of its alignment to the Klang

River. Yet, the business man had a secondary edge drawn on the map which is

the district edges shown in different colours because the business man had more

than 10 years experience of the place.

Figure 7: Maybank Tower

Moreover, Central Market itself considered as a landmark but the Kasturi

Walk placed right beside of the building may considered as a linear nodes. Kevin

Lynch also stated that although nodes are conceptually small points in the city

image, they may in reality be large squares, or somewhat extended linear shapes,

or even entire central districts when the city is being considered at a large

enough level. Kasturi Walk is a place where arrangement of stalls are place

linearly along the road which form little small nodes each store and end up a

linear nodes as a path. Furthermore, major railroad stations are almost always

important city nodes, although their importance may be declining. For example,

the LRT station is a very important node where all the bus and taxi will be

gathered there. Nodes may be both junctions and concentrations which is an

important bus and automobile transfer and is also a concentration of shopping.

The traffic light in front Central Market is also a recognizable nodes where most

of the user trespassed because of the public transport and also the cultural

landmark of the place, Central Market. A strong physical form is not absolutely

essential to the recognition of a node. But where the space has some form, the

impact is much stronger. For example, the Wau structure along the Kasturi Walk

made a different experience for the user as a roof shelter. The first prerequisite

for such perceptual support is the achievement of identity by the singular and

continuous quality of roof structure. The essence of this type of element is that it

be a distinct, unforgettable place, not to be confused with any other. The Wau

also considered as a landmark because of its sculpture like structure. It is also

easily identifiable and more likely to be chosen as significance because it is

contrast from the background.

Figure 8: The Wau Structure along Kasturi Walk

However, the experience of the tourist at Central Market is different. She

remembered the memory of the place by her shopping experience. She said

there were a lot of fruits stall and juices and also handicraft she bought for her

relatives. She also remembered the place by a row of palm trees at the entrance

of Central Market. Whereas the business man and the student remember Central

Market by its Art Deco facade itself and also the Wau because it is easily

identifiable to basically everyone and it's easier to explain the location. She also

remembered that she passed through a triangular path at the traffic light.

Because of the curvature

enclosed buildings that

enhance the sharpness

angled of the path. As Kevin

Lynch stated that if a break in

transportation or a decision

point on a path can be made

to coincide with the node, the

node will receive even more

attention. The joint between

path and node must be visible and expressive, as it is in the case of intersecting

paths. The traveler must see how he enters the node, where the break occurs,

and how he goes outward. Therefore, the traffic light node between the Central

Market and LRT station is very successful in helping the user to remember the

place not only for pedestrians but also the driver along the road. Each of them

may have different memory of place.

Figure 9: Palm Tree at the entrance of Central Market

Figure 10: Triangular Path

As for the business man, he remembered the journey of the path to the

Central Market by identifying coffee shops along the way. He introduced his

favourite coffee and he often go to the place. He remembered the path by smell

of coffee compared to the tourist that remembered the journey by shopping

experience. Usually he passes through a back-alley for short-cut to the coffee

shop he mentioned. Therefore, the width of the streets or junctions also made a

different experience to the user. However, it is usually very confused if there

were more than five junctions. Edges as well as paths call for a certain continuity

of form throughout their length. The edge of a business district, for example, may

be an important concept, but be difficult to discover in the field because it has no

recognizable continuity of form. Therefore, the district edges are not significant to

the other two participants who are the students and tourist because of the facade

treatment or the shop houses. The business can identify the district it is because

that he went through the past of Central Market and realize the changes of the

site.

Figure 11: Back Alley mentioned by the business man

Lastly, the map of the student and tourist are quite similar in identifying the

5 elements. The difference is the tourist captured the specific moment of their

journey. Yet the students tend to remember the landmarks and the path they

came from. As compared to the business man, he has the broader image of the

area while as students only remember the smaller district of Central Market and

its building features. The difference in scale is obvious.

3. DISCUSSIONS ON FINDINGS BASED ON KEVIN LYNCH'S

THEORY ON IMAGE OF THE CITY & IMAGEABILITY

Cognitive mapping is of practical use in many fields including community

design, architecture, and recreational planning. Factors that influence knowledge

and recognizability of places include:

Proximity: Nearby places tend to be more familiar to us than places that

are distant.

Size: Large places tend to be better known than small places (NYC vs.

Oshkosh).

Location: Places on the border are better known than places in the

interior (New Orleans vs. St. Louis).

Shape: Places with a distinctive shape are more easily recognized (e.g.,

the Eiffel Tower).

Social-cultural factors: Places with an important history or cultural

distinction are better known (Versailles, Valley Forge).

The main essence the theory defined by Kevin Lynch examines the visual

quality of the environment to investigates the “mental images” held by its citizens.

The objective is to find out what forms trigger lucid images in the observer. To

accomplish this, a field survey of the relevant areas of each city which can

produced by an experienced observer who recorded the various elements and

their visual impact of image frailty or strength. In parallel to the field survey,

engaged in long interviews held with a small proportion of citizens to help

establish their own personal images of the physical landscape.

4. CONCLUSION

In conclusion, Lynch also focuses our attention on the effects of “physical”

and “perceptible objects” which are fundamental forms in evoking a strong

environmental image. The various techniques for optimising and creating the

perfect city using these specific forms are defined as physical attributes and are

distinguished as “five elements”; “paths”, “edges”, “districts”, “nodes” and

“landmarks”. Based on the theories of the five elements implemented by Kevin

Lynch, Central Market is most recognizable by its edges which is the Klang River,

nodes generate at the traffic light in front of Central Market and also its landmark.

However, the paths and districts need to be strengthening as it is not significance

to the outsiders.

Although the majority focused on the “identity and structure” of elements

and their “patterning”, it was perhaps intended that these elements were to be

perceived as only a guide to help structure over time the prospective city as a

whole pattern so that it can a achieve a visible and all-embracing image Kitchin,

R. (2000). The path should be focusing on the spatial experience for the user

such as the width of the street, the speed of movement, and the Chinese shop

houses characteristics which is the continuous five foot walkway. The sudden

break of the continuity of streetscapes as a path need to be careful and take

consideration of the experience for the user whether it can affect the other

elements such as landmark, edges, nodes and district.

In addition, Lynch believes the city should not only be “organized,” but “it

should speak of the individuals and their complex society”. And finally, it must

carry some “'poetic and symbolic” meaning and be able to retain as much of its

historical past. For example, by preserving the Art Deco facade of Central Market

and also as a wet market transformed to a dry market which is still retaining the

ideas and arrangement of market give the sense of transforming from the past to

the future or vice versa. The feeling for every individual could be different from

one another. Thus, Central Market is a place where it belongs to the dominant

landmark that creates permanent nodes, linear path and cultural district. As it

stands out and contrast from the background. It is easily to identify the location of

the building rather than when every building, objects, and place wants to

communicate and announce its existence to us by yelling “I Am Here, Look at

Me!"

Still, “The Image of the City” is a classic work and can be reread as a fresh

work in this age. Lynch’ division of mapping/learning/shaping can well be applied

as important questions that can be posed for each locative media project. To

what extend do locative media accurately or insightfully map our (experience of)

environment? To what extend do locative media teach us to see and experience

our environment? To what extend do locative media enable us to shape and

modify our environment?

5. REFERENCES

Cannifee, E. (2006, January 17). ARCHITECTURE URBANISM. Retrieved 16th

of November 2015, from

http://architectureandurbanism.blogspot.my/2011/01/kevin-lynch-image-of-city-

1960.htm

Central Market Kuala Lumpur. (n.d.). Retrieved 18th of November 2015, from

http://www.centralmarket.com.my/index.php

Downs, R., & Stea, D. (1973). Image and environment; cognitive mapping and

spatial behavior. Chicago: Aldine Pub.

Kevin Lynch (1960). The Image of the City.

Kitchin, R. (2000). Cognitive mapping: Past, present, and future. London:

Routledge.

Review: Kevin Lynch – The Image of the City. (2009, May 8). Retrieved 16th of

November 2015, from http://themobilecity.nl/2009/05/08/review-kevin-lynch-the-

image-of-the-city/

Tolman E. C. (1948). Cognitive maps in rats and men. Psychological Review, 55,

189-208.

http://architectureandurbanism.blogspot.my/2011/01/kevin-lynch-image-of-city-1960.htm

http://architectureandurbanism.blogspot.my/2011/01/kevin-lynch-image-of-city-1960.htm

http://www.centralmarket.com.my/index.php

http://themobilecity.nl/2009/05/08/review-kevin-lynch-the-image-of-the-city/

http://themobilecity.nl/2009/05/08/review-kevin-lynch-the-image-of-the-city/

cognitive mapping essay

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