Perception In Landscape Design

Perception is the experience of something by means of our sense organs. It is triggered by stimuli, that is, external physical conditions that activate these organs and, in so doing, awaken latent perceptions in the mind. Perception is both physiological and psychological, involving the aesthetic experiencing of a place. It includes the aspects of human interaction, security, symbolism, social conditioning and comfort. The sensuous quality of a place is, therefore, the synergism of its physical characteristics and the mind of the viewer.

Perceptual-cognition can be understood as a process by which sensual stimuli become mental entities. According to DeBono, the mind carries on a one-way dialogue with the environment. When stimuli confront the

Motloch, 1991, Van Nostrand Reinhold, New York

Environmental Perception is the process by which the individual acquires information through decoding environmental cues, affect is the individual 's appraisal of a setting, and cognition is the process whereby the viewer evaluates, ascribes meaning to, and constructs a mental image of place.

According to Kaplan, the individual needs to understand and explore the world, and desires to apply the fruits of this exploration to construct greater understanding and meaning. The individual, however, has a limited ability to process information, and through this processing to ascribe meaning (Worchel and Shebilske, 1986)

Image formation reduces perceived complexity by aggregating parts into some recognizable pattern. In doing so, imaging reduces information load and once images are formed, they become the pattern to which meanings are ascribed. These mental images are patterns, stored in the mind based on past experiences. The synergism of environmental stimuli with these stored patterns affect the perception and the formation of

It is a response to environmental stimuli, the individual 's goals and his or her ability to adapt to or cope with differences between the two (Baum, Singer, and Baum 1981; Lazarus 1982)

Information overload is a source of environmental stress, and as per many people, the urban environment is pushing the limit of one 's ability to cope with and adapt to, information overload and the resulting cumulative stress. This over-load of information leads to cognitive failure (Singer and Glass 1972), desensitization to setting, and decreased environmental awareness. The result is reduced sensory pleasure and degraded quality of experience. Relevancy of environmental information is extremely critical.

According to Hebb 's preferred arousal theory (1949, people prefer settings with a desired level of stimulus. Places with acceptable information load, and settings that allow the individual to affect their information load - open ended design, promote personalization and therefore offer opportunities to satisfy user needs for self-actualization