Theft at the Public Till
as an ongoing process that is designed for dealing with unforeseen problems whenever they occur. The definition of spatial orientation as being the abil- ity of a person to determine where he is within a physical setting has to be extended to include an alternative ability that consists in determining what to do in order to reach a place. Instead of relying on a spatial representation of the physical environment to situate himself, the person may rely on a plan of action or a strategy to go somewhere. Information has to be picked up; it also has to be interpreted. Seeing a door, for example, a person has to understand its basic function, that of communicating to another space, and he might also have to decide whether that particular door is intended for the public or-only for private use. The in- terpretation is-facilitated by a number of design cues the person has learned to associate with private or public doors. The act of interpreting the meaning as to accessibility also applies to space itself. Territories are spaces that indi- viduals or groups claim as their own and over which they exercise control. In order not to intrude, a person has to pick up often subtle cues indicating the degree of personalization of the space. Private and semi private territories not only limit access, they also prescribe behaviors, and a misinterpretation can easily lead to antagonistic exchanges. There is a tension that emerges at the point of transition between the drawn and the built which every archi- tect and every policy planner must consider. We begin with some hypothesis or belief about the outcome or the de- cision we are about to make. As information is presented we compare our initial belief against the information. At the early stages incongruities from a credible source will cause us to question our belief and perhaps change it. At all times we have some answer if the question were put to us at that instant. The range of potential answers include postponement of a decision and abstention. The longer the process unfolds the more attached we become to our then working hypothesis. It requires ever more powerful evidence to overturn our belief. Once the decision is made, we experience relief and do not want to revisit the process again. Spatial orientation and wayfinding subsume an ensemble of complex mental processes. They allow people an idea of surrounding space, of their
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