The history and revival of representing urban space with figure-ground diagrams

Michael Hebbert, "Figure-ground: history and practice of a planning technique," The Town Planning Review 87 (2016): 6

The take-away: This article concerns the historical roots and mid-20^th century revival of ‘figure-ground’—a kind of map that represents urban space by showing “the footprints of buildings and the pattern of unbuilt voids”.  

Abstract: Figure-ground plans show the footprints of buildings and the pattern of unbuilt voids in urban  space. Compared historically they reveal the erosion of the public realm over time and provide  an analytical basis for tissue repair. The paper traces the communicative power of figure-ground  technique to its roots in gestalt psychology, and follows its revival from Colin Rowe's studio at  Cornell through to controversies in post-reunification Berlin. The impact of computerisation is  discussed and the paper ends with illustrations drawn from current practice in the representation  of urban past, present and future.

Full article (FREE public access)