The Impact of the Educational Process to the Perception; Evaluation of the Urban Elements Relative to the Gestalt Theory

Abstract

Urban elements are of capital importance and make different sense to both the city and the users. These elements enable users establish visual or physical relationship with the city, they are three-dimensional elements which provide visual richness and identity to the city and to define, identify and specialize the environment in terms of the city. As stated in Gestalt theory, perception of urban elements is the impact in the whole organized by the relationship between the element and other elements in its sight. In order to present the whole, the sight and viewpoint that change depending on the vertical and horizontal eye movements in different distances are to be discussed. Regarding the design of urban elements, the sight and viewpoint play important roles in making decisions for connecting the element with the main circulation of the place and designing other stable and moving elements such as tree, people, building and furniture surrounding the element. In this sense Ataturk Monument in Meydan Parki, one of the important focal points of Trabzon with its historical background and sustainability of city, is evaluated by the users as part of Gestalt theory and principles. The purpose of the study is to identify, in the distance with the highest perceptibility, how these urban elements are perceived and whether the other elements in the sight are effective in perception of the element or not. What the users perceive and how they perceive it in the point with the highest perceptibility, what are the prominent Gestalt theories and principles in the photo with the highest perceptibility, and these theory and principles are studied by means of the students of landscape architecture with different degrees. The study is composed of two sections, introduction and research. In the introduction, perception, environmental perception, factors that affect the perception, and Gestalt theory and principles are briefly explained whereas in the research the purpose of the study, the field of the study, the stages and the methods of the study are determined and as an analysis of data, results, discussions and conclusions are found out. The study indicates that the design problems of the urban elements are not limited with the single design of the element but also the contextual and perceptual aspects have to be discussed and interdisciplinary studies are required. It has been come through that in designing urban elements, determining where the highest perceptibility of the element is required and in this position everything/elements in the sight must be considered as a part of the design and the design of the element must be discussed as this whole. The study is important as it points to the extent of the design problem of an urban element.

Keywords: perception; Gestalt theory; Trabzon Meydan Park; Ataturk Monument;