URBAN COMPLEXITY - TOWARD THE MEASUREMENT OF THE PHYSICAL COMPLEXITY OF STREET-SCAPES

This gaper introduces a method for measuring the physical complexity o f street-scapes. The objective is go operationalize the term ''complex ity,'' thus enabling urban designers and urban design review boards Po specify a desired complexity value for a building or a number of buil dings. Moreover such a measure - which is performance-based - will all ow architects to develop buildings that do not imitate the surrounding s but are equivalent, lower or higher than the established complexity value of the surrounding context. The measurement instrument is based on the Gestalt laws of visual organization and builds on previous find ings in the field of experimental aesthetics in order to accommodate t he nature of architectural organization principles. The usage of the i nstrument is illustrated through an application in a selected setting. Its validity is tested by conducting an experiment with 33 subjects. The results were encouraging and showed a high correlation between the instrument measures and the subjects' perception of complexity Howeve r; several limitations are present in the instrument and are discussed in the paper.