Perception of space and time in a created environment

Abstract

A built environment is ambiguous, because space can be understood in a Euclidean way, symbolically, socially as well as architecturally, image-scientifically or psychologically. This conference paper is dedicated to learning about the correlations of these perceptions in a wider sense with means to disclose time-dependent and functional layers related dynamically to the space. We have chosen our campus for the case study, which was a garrison beginning in the 1930s and served different armies before it was converted to a university in the 1990s. Our intention is to offer social, informative benefits and knowledge about the campus, which in turn contributes to participatory development of the campus and hence to identification with the place as well as with collective memory, for everyone on site. We are developing an app that facilitates innovative space perception. The digital tools in the app consist of geocaching, an interactive map, communication tools and various multimedia information components. This so-called "geoknowledge-caching" shall be used to expand a university campus to a complex knowledge construct with buildings in which knowledge is imparted and a library that houses knowledge and a place for discussion, encounters and leisure activities.