PERCEPTION

PRINCIPLES OF ARCHITECTURE– II (AR-108 C)

Contents
• Perception
• Process Of Perception
• Visual Perception
• Points To Remember
• Creating A World Of Reality
– Perception Of Shape
– Laws Of Perceptual Organization
– Perception Of Space
– Illusions
 DO WE SEE WHAT WE SEE?

Very often the things that we see do not register in

our mind. Why?

Let us understand how we see things.

Visual
Perception This lecture will delve into visual perception as that
is how we generally perceive architecture.
 TO PERCEIVE:
▪ apprehend with the mind, observe, understand;
▪ apprehend through one of the senses, esp. sight;
▪ regard mentally in specific manner.

PERCEPTION:
▪ intuitive recognition;
Perception?
▪ action by which the mind refers its sensations to
external objects as cause.
 SOME SYNONYMS

▪ Apprehension,
▪ Awareness,
▪ Conception,
▪ Consciousness,
▪ Discernment,
Perception ▪ Feeling,
▪ Grasp,
▪ Idea,
▪ Impression
 SOME SYNONYMS

▪ Insight,
▪ Notion,
▪ Observation,
▪ Recognition,
▪ Sensation,
Perception
▪ Sense,
▪ Taste,
▪ Understanding etc.
 WHY PERCEPTION IS IMPORTANT?

▪ As humans we attach meanings, values and aims

to our actions.
▪ What we do in the world depends on how we
understand our place in it, what we
understand/assume of ourselves as well as our
social and physical environment.
▪ Or alternatively, we can say that human behaviour
Perception is function of the way in which a person perceives
the world around him/her, and how he/she
perceive other people and events in the world.
 ▪ Perception can be defined as a dynamic
Process of psychological process responsible for attending to,
Perception organising and interpreting sensory data.
What occasion is this?

The occasion can be easily perceived as a graduation ceremony.

Guess the ethnicity/citizenship of this person.

The person on the left is a Korean, while the group above is

Spanish.
Who Is This Person?

This is a native American warrior.

What these people are trying to do?

In all these images the ladies are trying to

appear beautiful.
Their perception of beauty is influenced by their
cultural and social backgrounds.
Who this picture brings to your mind?

On the left is a regular perception of an intelligent Alien And This?

life form.
On the right is human embryo in one of its developmental
stage. Can you draw some similarities between both?
 VISUAL PERCEPTION
• The discussion indicates that to see anything there
are a number of factors that effect the process.
• What we see makes sense only when it is
associated with what is known, otherwise more
information is required to perceive that view.
• Perception of the same view would change for
different persons and different peoples.

Therefore…
• This is how we ‘see’ things.
• Next time you are seeing something – do see it –
record it mentally, understand it and use it as
knowledge.
• PERCEPTION OF SHAPES AND
FORMS
 PERCEPTION OF SHAPE

▪ How do we perceive shape?

▪ Is our ability to understand shapes or forms innate
or learned behaviour?
▪ How do we segregate figure from ground?

Creating A ▪ Are there any laws/rules that govern organization

of perception?
World Of Reality
▪ What are illusions and why do these exist?
 HOW DO WE PERCEIVE SHAPE?

▪ Shape or form is area of visual field that is set off

from the rest of the field by visible contour.
▪ To perceive a shape, its contours must be sharp
enough to mark off region that is called shape.
▪ Generally, if the contour or defining edge becomes
Creating A too weak or disappears, the shape also disappears.
World Of Reality
 FIGURE AND GROUND
Figure-ground segregation is essential for the
perception of shape. It is not only the characteristics
of the visual perception, it is there in all sense
modalities.
▪ The figure has a shape, while the ground is
relatively shapeless.
▪ The ground seems to extend behind the figure.
Creating A
▪ The figure has some of the characteristics of a
World Of Reality thing, whereas the background appears like
unformed material.
▪ The figure usually tends to appear in front, the
ground behind.
▪ The figure is more impressive, meaningful, and
better remembered.
 LAWS OF PERCEPTUAL ORGANIZATION
Proximity
▪ All the stimuli that occur together in space or time
will be organized together.

Creating A
World Of Reality
 LAWS OF PERCEPTUAL ORGANIZATION
Proximity
▪ Also the objects placed closer together are
perceived as being more related than those spaced
further apart.
▪ But still it will be difficult to perceive all the varied
elements as individual elements.
Creating A
World Of Reality
 LAWS OF PERCEPTUAL ORGANIZATION
Similarity
▪ Other things being equal, elements which are
similar in structure or have common characteristics
will be grouped together.

Creating A
World Of Reality
 LAWS OF PERCEPTUAL ORGANIZATION –
GESTALT PRINCIPLES
Closure
▪ An incomplete figure will be perceived as a
complete one.

Creating A
World Of Reality
 LAWS OF PERCEPTUAL ORGANIZATION
Closure

Creating A
World Of Reality
 ILLUSIONS
▪ Illusions are misperceptions resulting from
misinterpretations of sensory information.
Creating A ▪ Illusions are also known as false perceptions.
World Of Reality
 ILLUSIONS
Muller-Lyer Illusion

Creating A
World Of Reality
 ILLUSIONS
Vertical-Horizontal Illusion

Creating A
World Of Reality
 ILLUSIONS
Panzo Illusion

Creating A
World Of Reality
 PERCEPTION OF SPACE
▪ It also refers to perception of size and distance.
▪ In fact the image of 3D world is projected onto 2D
retina. Then how do we perceive depth and
distance?

Creating A
World Of Reality
 PERCEPTION OF SPACE
▪ Perception of depth and distance depend on
certain cues.
▪ These include –

a) Non-visual Cues

b) Binocular Cues
Creating A c) Monocular Cues
World Of Reality
▪ Our major concern is with Monocular cues.
 PERCEPTION OF SPACE
Monocular Cues
▪ Monocular cues or pictorial cues because they
include the kind of depth information found in
photographs or paintings.
▪ These are the cues that we, as designers, are most
interested in.
Creating A ▪ We can use these cues to create interesting or
engaging compositions.
World Of Reality
▪ The following slides discuss some of the
monocular cues.
 MONOCULAR CUES
Interposition

Creating A
World Of Reality

▪ When an object partially blocks another object, the

blocked object is perceived to be farther away than
the object blocking it.
 MONOCULAR CUES
Aerial Perspective

Creating A
World Of Reality

▪ Buildings or natural features close by look clear

and well defined compared to the distant ones,
which look grey and hazy.
 MONOCULAR CUES
Aerial Perspective

Creating A
World Of Reality
 MONOCULAR CUES
Linear Perspective
▪ When parallel lines recede into the distance, as rail
roads, they converge towards a point in one’s
retinal image.
▪ In this situation the farther away two objects in the
visual field are, the closer they appear.
Creating A
World Of Reality
 MONOCULAR CUES
Lights and Shadows
▪ We are often aware of the source and direction of
light. It is generally from above, as sunlight. The
shadows cast by one object on another can indicate
which object is farther away.

Creating A
World Of Reality
 MONOCULAR CUES
Texture-Gradient Density
▪ The nearer objects look rough and the farther
placed objects look finer.
▪ Thus, the relative texture of objects can act as cue
to distance and depth of the objects.

Creating A
World Of Reality
 COLOUR PERCEPTION
Simultaneous Contrast
▪ Colours can look different when set against
different hues, and is perceived in relation to its
surroundings.

Creating A
World Of Reality
 COLOUR PERCEPTION
Advancing and Receding Colours
▪ Warm and bright colours give an illusion of being
closer to a viewer in a composition, while the cool
and dull colours appear to recede behind.

Creating A
World Of Reality
 COLOUR PERCEPTION
Colour Vibration
▪ Complimentary colours of equal saturation and
brightness compete for our eye’s attention when
seen in close proximity to one another.

Creating A
World Of Reality
 COLOUR PERCEPTION
Colour Weight
▪ Colours differ in visual weight depending on their
hue and intensity.

Creating A
World Of Reality
 • The Lecture helps us understand that to see
anything there are a number of factors that effect
the process.
• What we see makes sense only when it is
associated with what is known, otherwise more
information is required to perceive that view.
• Perceptual effects of specific configurations and
different spaces can be manipulated and
articulated to induce a better response in any given
setting.
Conclusion • This is how we ‘Design’ things.
• Next time you are seeing something – do see it,
understand it and use this knowledge to create
better more agreeable environs for the users
Assignment
• Discuss in detail the Process of Perception.
Thank You