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Volume 31, Number 3, pages 261-277 (2020)
https://doi.org/10.26830/symmetry_2020_3_261
FROM SPATIAL FORM TO SOCIAL SENSE: SYMMETRY IN URBAN MORPHOLOGY
Deborah C. Lefosse*
* Departement of Archtecture and Design, Sapienza University of Rome, 359 Via Flaminia, Rome 00196, Italy.
E-mail: deborah.lefosse@uniroma1.it
Abstract: The word symmetry implies a plurality of meanings. It is not only a theoretical concept, a property and even an applied method, but also a phenomenon or a kind of transformation in science, technology and art. The presence or absence of symmetry has inspired theories and practices not only in the shape-based disciplines, but also in the scientific and social ones. Through a historical approach, this paper offers an ambitious, yet brief, evolutionary overview of the urban patterns which implemented, refused or broke the law of symmetry. This research aims to advance the interdisciplinary framework of research fields related to symmetry and analyse different settlements as a spatial model and human practice. Urban morphology helps to investigate symmetry as a process over time to understand how a morphological issue may turn into a social issue, namely the interaction between a shaped-oriented key principle and its changing significance within the urban scenarios.
Keywords: symmetry, urban morphology, spatial form, social sense, civil process
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