What Makes a Space Relatively Memorable A Study on the Recollection of Spaces through Space Syntax and Imageability Theories

Space is a fundamental component of our existence, without which we cannot live or think. During our daily lives, we perceive various components of space concurrently and we build an understanding of the environment in our memories. The spatial properties/qualities of the environment have their own unique place in this context and have been studied in psychological and several non-psychological disciplines such as architecture, phenomenology, sociology and geography. In this frame, imageability theory focuses on the environment’s visuo-spatial quality, whereas space syntax theory focuses on its spatial configuration, and they both enable the systematic evaluation of numerical data. Starting with the question "What makes a space memorable among all its different components/features?", the research aims to investigate the effect of certain spatial qualities on spatial memory through quantitative research on an architectural scale. Within a multidisciplinary framework, the methodology presents a unique approach that integrates space syntax with memory data. Firstly, content analysis was applied to cognitive maps, and the obtained data were redefined according to the configurational (syntactic) and imageability qualities of the real environment they represent. Secondly, the redefined data was tested to evaluate the effect of spatial qualities on memory. 77 participants (age 23-75; 52M/25F) attended the case study and drew the plan schemas of the school building they graduated from. The relation between memory and (1) spatial units’ imageability categories is searched through ANOVA tests, and (2) spatial units’ syntactic values is searched through correlation tests. The significant results reveal that configurational and visual qualities of spaces are essential factors on what will be stored in memory depending on their lead of participants’ spatial experience routines via their formal qualities. Furthermore, the case study presents multidisciplinary data that contributes to architectural design, environment and behavior, and space syntax theories and provides new insight into cognitive research on memory.