Visualizing Negative Space (1992)
article⁄Visualizing Negative Space (1992)
abstract⁄Designers and artists are, by training, accustomed to reversing figure ground relationships’ They can easily picture and sketch negative empty spaces in plan or profile. Such perceptual reversals help them understand the voids between buildings as the dynamic and characterforming entities they are. Traditional drawing techniques like pocheing or hatching, just emphasize the static 2 dimensional aspects of these curious spaces many sequential or layered views are needed to define their full 3 dimensional volume. Such multiple views are costly to produce and because of the 2 dimensional medium are inherently static and flat.This research applies and further develops an under used visualization technique that depicts negative spaces voids as true 3 dimensional solids. It focuses specifically on visualizing outdoor spaces defined primarily by vegetation. The preliminary results are volumetrically revealing depictions of complex spaces. They give the designer and client quick spatial feedback about the intended ‘‘open’ space in a given design.
