Read the City—Art Experience and Urban Space

Author: Cheng Yan
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Features: The author of this book believes that using literary works for urban spatial cognition is feasible. The foundation of literary creation is the author's understanding of the objective world. The representation of space in literary works is not a strict imitation but rather a "presentation" of space in a relatively broad and stable manner. This presentation style originates from some inherent characteristics of literary works, such as the author's ability to rely on intuition, select typical subjects, and reflect the overall picture of life. Therefore, the author of this book argues that using literary works for urban spatial cognition is not only feasible but also can play a unique role. In fact, everyone has such an experience: the content conveyed by literary works cannot be fully obtained through scientific methods. The experiential approach creates a "sense of place" in the reader's imagination, connecting the author's and reader's worlds, as well as the past and present of space. Thus, the deep-seated meaning of space gradually becomes apparent through this cognitive process. Cognition is the starting point of design and the key to forming design concepts. The experiential approach to cognition can help designers broaden their horizons in both horizontal and vertical directions. The horizontal perspective refers to the ability of designers to understand other similar types of spaces through this cognition. The vertical perspective refers to the ability of designers to understand the same space at different times, such as the "space in memory," the "space in reality," and the "ideal space." With such a perspective, urban designers can more appropriately handle the relationship between "the city" and "people."